In 2013, the National Museum of Ireland undertook the digitisation of its historical documents and associated archives. Over 39,000 pages were photographed using specialised equipment such as medium-format cameras and using low UV techniques to avoid damage to artefacts while capturing important details.

This project involved multiple departments in the National Museum of Ireland (Registration, Art & Industry, ICT, Photography) as well as external contractors.

The Historical Collections Catalogue Online was made possible by this project. The images produced are connected to our Collections Management System records and provide searchable access to artefacts never before seen by the public. This is a very valuable resource now available to both the general public and researchers through the World Wide Web.

The project was funded by a special grant from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Art, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. The National Museum of Ireland would like to formally acknowledge and thank its parent department for providing a special fund for this project.