Legislation to seal millions of child abuse records for 75 years was drafted so “all possible provisions” of the National Archives Act, which allows the public or State bodies to access records, would be disapplied.

Controversial new laws to seal the testimony of those abused in residential institutions for 75 years are to be debated in the Dáil today.

Thousands of testimonies relating to child abuse in institutions and related records should be redacted and anonymised, instead of being sealed for 75 years.

Just over a week ago, it emerged that the Cabinet did something very “dangerous”.

When, on Wednesday, Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley insisted that killings by the British army or police during the Troubles were “not crimes” she gave a perfect example of what happens when politicians are ill-informed and have no empathy with their brief. Despite her immediate apology, the blunder suggests she is hardly the person

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Education Minister Joe McHugh have sought to defend a “dangerous” decision to seal records of testimonies relating to child abuse in residential institutions for 75 years.

The Government must push the Catholic Church and religious orders to open their records to abuse survivors and academics.

As historical advisor on the film Jimmy’s Hall, Donal Ó Drisceoil is happy the incredible story of Jimmy Gralton is reaching a new audience with a stage version at the Abbey

Peter Charleton, who will chair the inquiry into the alleged smearing of a garda whistleblower, believes that lies underpin evil, says Dan Buckley

Anybody who wants to find out about a relative’s time in the RIC needs to start with their service record and find the service number, according to Michael Guilfoyle.

In the wake of a National Archives of Ireland survey Dr Ciara Breathnach and Dr Laurence M. Geary call on Minister Simon Harris to legislate for our now vulnerable medical heritage.

Its doors may have closed to pupils 40 years ago but a Dublin school’s roll books are opening a window into the hidden past of the lives of inner city children.

This is how the men and women who would be involved in the looming rebellion spent this week 100 years ago — some deeply involved in its planning, others still oblivious.

How this week 100 years ago was spent by the main players behind the Rising, based largely on observations of their movements by police.

Another glance at the activities 100 years ago this week of key figures in the upcoming Rising, as recorded by authorities at the time, or recalled later by the participants.

The victims of the Great Famine were not just the poor, as new research shows that many middle-class people, including lawyers and doctors, ended up in the workhouse.

The hell of Gallipoli has inspired the latest drama from Anu, writes Padraic Killeen.

According to records held in the archives of the Kerry County Library, in December 1929 the Department of Local Government and Public Health (DLGPH) issued a circular to all Irish local authorities requesting information on "unmarried mothers" in county homes.

PLANNING to be a “disorderly rogue”, steal a turnip or even just wash your car this weekend? It might be worth thinking twice.

IT’S a pity that neither President Barack Obama nor Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II will be on southern Irish soil until next month.

THE launch of the Dublin 1911 census website by the National Archives of Ireland earlier this week was the first stage in a project that will ultimately result in the full digitisation and indexing of the 1901 and 1911 census records, accompanied by a wealth of historical writing and visual material to help place the records in their proper historical context.