Wicklow and the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
Wicklow County Archives are delighted to be a Participating Institution in the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland – where our digitised Grand Jury collection is shared. The Virtual Record Treasury is an all-island and international collaborative research project working to create a virtual reconstruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland, which was destroyed in the opening engagement of the Civil War on June 30th, 1922. You can learn more about the project here.
People, Place and Power: Grand Jury Records and Local History
This is a very productive and enjoyable collaboration which developed in late 2020 with the Local Government Archives and Record Managers (LGARM), and the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland. (LGARM is the group representing county archives across Ireland, including Wicklow County Archives). This collaboration resulted in a successful research showcase entitled ‘People, Place and Power: Grand Jury Records and Local History’, marking the centenary of the destruction of another great Dublin building, during the attack on the Custom House during the War of Independence on the 25th of May, 1921.
Grand Jury booklet & list
A precursor to modern local government, the county Grand Juries had a detailed and intimate connection with their local population. While extensive series of Grand Jury records were destroyed in 1922 an impressive amount of their records survive in county archives and other repositories.The historian Brian Gurrin (a Wicklow native!) produced a valuable and richly illustrated user’s guide booklet to these records for local and family historians. This is attached below as a PDF or can be downloaded from the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland website here.
Grand Jury Maps resource
In addition, another Participating Institution, the L. Brown Collection, contributed hi-resolution images of wonderfully detailed Grand Jury maps for sixteen counties. These pre-date the Ordnance Survey and are available to view (in great detail!) here.
Showcase video
You can watch the full People, Power and Place showcase which was broadcast by the Trinity Longroom Hub on the 25th May 2021 below: