Minister Heather Humphreys today (Tuesday 26 January) joined Professor Mike Cronin (Academic Director, Boston College) and Glen Killane (Managing Director of Television, RTE) for the launch of the new Boston College/Century Ireland 1916 online exhibition at the National Library of Ireland. Created especially for Ireland 2016, the online exhibition features previously unseen archival images and footage, as well as specially commissioned articles, which reveal the hidden stories of 1916.

The site features:

• A series of features relating to 1916 including the destruction of city, the women of 1916, the lead up to the rebellion, the British and 1916, and much more. These pieces have been specially commissioned from a wide range of leading historians from across the world.
• A series of pictorial galleries showcasing images from 1916 and newly digitised collections from the national cultural institutions.
• Coverage of all the main people and places of 1916 with specially commissioned films about the signatories and key historical locations.
• Archival material from Century Ireland and RTE —both video and audio—featuring interviews with those who took part in the Rising as well as contextual pieces about the 2016 commemorations.
• Special school’s material from the Department of Education, including objects from our national cultural institutions, that relate to 1916 and include lesson plans for various age groups.

In March, during the Easter week commemorations, the site will be accompanied by a live tweeting of the events of 1916 in realtime. With our partners in RTE we will showcase the history of 1916 as well as covering the acts of commemoration in 2016.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys TD., said: “Century Ireland has been providing an unrivalled online catalogue through the decade of centenaries with fascinating real-time news reports and other material on the events of 100 years ago. I am delighted that my Department was in a position to support this latest venture; a dedicated online resource on 1916. The archival material from the Rising period and its aftermath is particularly fascinating. This site is another great addition to the wide array of digital material coming online as part of Ireland 2016 which is helping to bring our history to the widest possible audience.”

To get a sense of what we do visit Century Ireland www.rte.ie/centuryireland or our award winning site dedicated to the Irish in Gallipoli www.rte.ie/gallipoli or specifically here the 1916 site http://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/easterrising

This is a unique project for online realtime digital history and has co-operated with various partners to bring the Decade of Centenaries to life—it is a major legacy project for the state as it combines the events if 1913-23 from an historical perspective as well as archiving the acts of commemoration from the 2013-23 period. It also serves as the single portal where all materials from the various national cultural institutions are brought together.

The Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme, led by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, T.D., is a year-long programme of activity to commemorate the events of the 1916 Rising, to reflect on our achievements over the last 100 years and to look towards Ireland’s future. Full details on Ireland 2016 is available at www.ireland.ie

Funded by the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Century Ireland is the online repository for the Decade of Commemorations and is supported by a daily twitter feed @CenturyIRL and associated Facebook page Century Ireland