Coming to RTÉ One this September, The Records Show sees presenter Katie Hannon exploring the shelves of Ireland's National Archives, digging out previously undisturbed documents, before heading out across the country to follow the trail of the stories behind them.
Katie introduces The Records Show below...
As a young political journalist a favorite assignment was the annual excursion to the National Archives to preview of the State papers that would be released every January.
Over two days in December a gaggle of journalists would descend on the Reading Room to examine Cabinet papers that have remained untouched and unseen for 30 years, all under the watchful eye of the team of dedicated archivists, the custodians of the nation's collective memory.
This was before the days of Freedom of Information, which inevitably promoted a more cautious approach to what would be put on the record. These Cabinet papers would be peppered with hand-written notes scribbled by politically astute civil servants with revealing references to previous correspondence or pending decisions. State secrets openly discussed with the freedom that came with knowing the document’s details would not be divulged for decades.
The business of the National Archives is not just preserving paper. It is preserving and providing public access to the stories of people of Ireland and the lives they lived.
The fruits of that labour would be a brace of stories to populate the news pages during the lean days of early January when the pickings would otherwise be slim. For us political nerds, these were our sacred scrolls, with the power to settle age old debates about that really drove the big decisions of the time. But, as the upcoming series of The Records Show demonstrates, these annual releases are just the tip of a very large iceberg.
The National Archives, housed in Dublin’s south city centre on the site of the old Jacob’s biscuit factory, holds over 60 million records dating from the 14th century to the modern day, documenting all aspects of life on the island of Ireland.
The sheer breadth of what is documented and preserved for future generations is staggering. With so many to choose from, the challenge for The Records Show was deciding which boxes to open, what ribbons to untie, and whose stories to tell.
Some files immediately grabbed our attention. Who could ignore a folder from the Department of the Taoiseach with the title 'Rudolf Squires claim to have discovered petrol substitute, 1943’? The documents tell how Mr Squires offered to make Ireland a world leader in the energy industry by sharing his secret formula for a substitute fuel that could replace petrol. It did not take off.
Another folder tells the story of a court case in which a girl was found guilty of ‘offending modesty or causing scandals or injuring the morals of the community...’ Julia Clarke was sentenced to a month in prison. Her crime? She was seen kissing a boy. The boy got off with a token fine because he was under the influence of drink.
There’s a file that reveals the background to an extraordinary international collaboration that saw President Éamon de Valera contribute a message from the Irish people, as gaelige, which would be etched on to a tiny silicon disc and be planted on the surface of the moon by Neil Armstrong. It remains in place to this day.
In another file, we uncover the frank correspondence behind the ambitious plan to build luxury cars for the American market in County Monaghan - and we hitch a ride in the only surviving roadworthy prototype.
Another story I loved was about an American pilot, who landed in Ireland in July 1938 with no passport or permission, and with a tall tale to explain himself, was wined and dined by both the Taoiseach and the President within a day of his arrival.
Over the three episodes of The Records Show, we get to tell the story of the humble beginnings of the annual presentation of the bowl of shamrock to the US president by the taoiseach of the day. And we learn of a plan to move Nelson’s Pillar to Howth.
Wills and Administrations are among the most popular collections requested by members of the public visiting the National Archives. And, as we discovered to our great surprise, you never know whose will you might find if you go looking!
There’s also separate collection of wills in the National Archives , all handwritten on pages torn from the pocket books issued to the Irish troops before they marched off to the trenches of World War One. There is a real poignancy to these handwritten wills, written in many cases by men whose adult lives had barely begun, and who would be dead within weeks. Very often they specified that their worldly goods and what pay was owed to them should go to their parents.
These and so many other records were a reminder that the business of the National Archives is not just preserving paper. It is preserving and providing public access to the stories of people of Ireland and the lives they lived.
And with 2026 just around the corner, the story of those who lived through the birth of the nation is about to be revealed for the first time.
During our time in the National Archives we learned that there was an area that was off limits to most. Only those with special authorization were allowed to sight of the documents that were being restored and cataloged in this inner sanctum.
The documents in question were the 1926 census returns, the first to be carried out under the Free State. As we approach the centenary of that census, the race is on to put all the preparations in place for the release of the more than 700,000 pages that genealogists and historians have been desperate to see for decades.
We were privileged on The Records Show to get a sneak preview and see the hard work and palpable excitement driving this momentous operation.
The Records Show, Sundays at 6.30pm from September 14th on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
