Library Of Trinity College Dublin & Google Collaborate For Dublin 1916-2016 Exhibition

Posted on: 13 January 2016

Rare and previously unpublished material held in the Library of Trinity College Dublin is now accessible to a global audience, thanks to an online collaboration between Trinity and Google. Dublin Rising 1916-2016, an interactive Google Street View tour narrated by actor Colin Farrell, lets visitors virtually explore the city streets, events and people who shaped history 100 years ago.

Dublin Rising 1916-2016, which was developed by Google in collaboration with the Library of Trinity College Dublin, as well as the National Library of Ireland, Royal Irish Academy, Abbey Theatre and Glasnevin Cemetery, showcases an exhibition of 44 photographs taken by Thomas Johnson Westropp in the aftermath of the Easter Rising.

In the weeks following the Rising, Limerick-born archaeologist and antiquarian and Trinity graduate Westropp shot a sequence of photographs of the affected buildings and streets of central Dublin. He took most of these photographs between 17th and 18th May 1916, with some additional ones taken in July 1916.

He developed, printed and mounted the photographs into four albums and gifted copies to prominent archival institutions: Trinity College, the Royal Irish Academy and the National Library of Ireland. Trinity’s album is the most extensive of the four albums.  The Westropp Online exhibition

Other highlights from Thomas Johnson Westropp’s photos include:

• Shots of the interior rubble of the GPO
• Shots taken from the vantage point of Nelson’s Pillar
• Shots of women and children in the streets near the Linen Hall

See here for the  complete Westropp Online exhibition

In addition, Trinity Library’s copy of the Proclamation is said to have been torn from the walls of the GPO by a British army officer, whose family donated it to the Library. It was also pasted over 11 First World War recruiting posters, which also remain in the collection of the Library of Trinity College Dublin.

The Westropp album is part of an important and diverse collection of 1916 related archives and publications held in the Library of Trinity College Dublin. The Library is exploring these collections through a year-long blog project ‘Changed Utterly – Ireland and the Easter Rising’ http://www.tcd.ie/Library/1916/.

Commenting on the collaboration, Trinity Librarian and College Archivist Helen Shenton said: “The Library of Trinity College Dublin is for the second time partnering with Google Cultural Institute to create a free, easy-to-use online resource for anybody with an interest in Irish history. The last successful collaboration related to the First World War; it was so popular that Trinity is delighted to work together again and this time we have focused on the Dublin Rising 1916-2016.

“Very early on, the Library decided that one of the best ways to commemorate the Rising was to find ways to share these heritage materials with anyone who wanted to see them. That’s what great Libraries do ? mind and share national memory and that’s what we are doing today. Out of a wide range of unique, never-before-seen artefacts we are offering, through Google, access to the amazing Westropp photographs of the destruction of the physical centre of Dublin city a century ago.”

Dublin Rising 1916-2016 Tour can be accessed at: https://dublinrising.withgoogle.com

The Westropp Online exhibition can be accessed at: https://library-trinity-college-dublin.culturalspot.org/exhibit/the-ruins-of-dublin-1916-a-photographic-record-by-thomas-johnson-westropp/0AICSjZuexeEKA

Media Coverage:

• RTE 1, Nine News, January 12, 2016
• Irish Times, January 13, 2016
• Irish Independent, January 13, 2016
• Irish Examiner, January 13, 2016
• The Herald, January 13, 2016
• Irish Daily Mail, January 13, 2016
• UTV.ie, January 12, 2016
• BusinessPost.ie, January 12, 2016
• SilliconRepublic.com, January 12, 2016