Mayo library digitising unique historical records
MAYO County Library proposes to digitise some of its unique historical records and make them available to the public as a major part of its 2024 Commemorations programme.
The items will be selected based on their rarity, condition and interest to a wider public.
County librarian Austin Vaughan updated members of Mayo County Council's Corporate, Education, Culture, Heritage and Library Services Strategic Policy on the nine sets of records proposed for digitisation, as follows.
Report of the Erris Survey, August 1990-May 1994 (six volumes, approximately 180 pages in each): Carried out between 1990 and 1994 as part of a community response project, sponsored by FÁS and Turasóireacht Iorrais Teo., the aim of the survey was to research and compile a comprehensive report on the various features of the Erris area to include historical, archaeological, environmental, social and cultural information. The report also covers subjects such as crafts of erris, local history, lighthouses, congested districts board, dress in erris, resource inventory, schools projects, folklore, landlords, currachs, saints in erris, and parishes, and placenames.
Achill Mission Herald - four volumes: Founded by Rev. Edward Nangle in 1837 as a means of furthering his Protestant evangelical views, the Achill Missionary Herald provides an important insight into the activities of the Achill Mission Colony across several decades and particularly through the Great Famine years.
Land League and Boycotting in County Mayo - A Contemporary Police Archive 1880 -1890: This archive includes boycotting notices and police reports.
Day book for Ballindine RIC Station: A unique 300-page pre-famine record of the day-to-day workings of an RIC station.
An archaeological survey of the Belcarra area (two volumes): Survey carried out from 1987 to 1988 under the guidance of Leo Morahan, archaeologist, which turned up a wealth of archaeological monuments and artefacts. The report is a comprehensive inventory of archaeological resources, complete with drawings, descriptions, and historical notes and is a primary reference source for archaeologists and historians.
Poor Law minute books for Castlebar, Claremorris and Swinford (three volumes).
Newport Union workhouse ledgers (10 volumes): These are the only copies in existence and are in very poor condition.
Castlebar graveyard survey (FÁS) carried out in 1988: This includes a map of the graveyard.
Within the Mullet by Rita Nolan: A book first published in 1988, it is long out of print but is constantly in demand.
Digitisation of The Enniscoe Agricultural Credit Bank records held in the National Archives: In 2023, the council, under the Decade of Centenaries programme, funded the preservation of and digitisation of all the EACB records held by the North Mayo Heritage Centre. This year the centre propose to complete their EACB archive by copying and digitising all relevant documents which are currently held in the National Archives in Dublin.