Taoiseach and Minister Lawless launch national platform to position Ireland as global leader in digitally-enabled historical research

Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD and Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, have today brought forward a significant strengthening of the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland (VRTI) project. Housed within Trinity College, the VRTI was established to re-create the archives lost in the fire in the Four Courts in 1922.

The VRTI aims to position Ireland as a global leader in digitally-enabled deep historical

research. It will operate as a National Platform for Digital History and Heritage, harnessing advanced technologies including responsible A.I. to create a shared digital infrastructure for research on Ireland's deep history. This will provide a hub for national and international research partnerships and will transform access to Ireland’s documentary heritage.

Currently the VRTI is home to half a million records and 340 million words of searchable Irish history, replacing the great loss of 1922. This reconstruction is thanks to partnerships with some 100 archives around the world, and through the application of new digital innovations. Building on the achievements to date, the VRTI is progressing to be the world's most technologically advanced platform dedicated to a single nation’s past, creating a web of knowledge featuring millions of records from right across Ireland’s history.

Importantly, the platform will support both traditional humanities scholarship and data-intensive research, drive innovation across disciplines through frontier digital technologies and enable discovery at every level — from advanced researchers to students, engaged citizens and the Irish diaspora.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “In an era when trust in information is slipping, the VRTI’s National Platform for historical research will make Ireland a global leader in digital research, and in access to historical sources, thereby ensuring that our shared story is verifiably and reliably accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. These kinds of projects are vital tools for our researchers, and indeed for our citizens, in ensuring that we can build a shared understanding of our past”.

Minister Lawless said: “I was delighted to visit the Virtual Record Treasury recently and see first-hand the remarkable work being carried out by the team and their partners. What struck me most was the ambition of the project, not only to recover Ireland’s lost historical records, but to make them accessible to people across Ireland and around the world.

"This next phase will bring together new partners, new collections and new knowledge, creating a shared digital home for trusted historical records and research. With millions of records and billions of verified historical connections available through a single platform, the Virtual Record Treasury is transforming how we access and understand our shared past, ensuring Ireland’s rich history can be explored by generations to come.”