RTÉ and UCD have announced a partnership for the long-term preservation of a unique archive of national cultural importance. RTÉ maintains and preserves the largest archive of Irish audio-visual material in the world and the new partnership will mean that the UCD Archives will be the custodians of this RTÉ Collection of Cultural Documents.
The archive comprises not only radio and television programmes, but also still images, production files, scripts, music scores and manuscripts. In all, the collection comprises c.1200 Irish language radio scripts, 1800-2000 English language radio scripts and circa 6000 Radio Drama scripts, some of which are in manuscript form. The collection includes material from Samuel Beckett, Austin Clarke, Mary Lavin, Máirtín Ó Cadhain and many other distinguished Irish writers and commentators.
Some of the materials date to the 1920s and comprise a unique collection of primary source documents for research. RTÉ’s aim is to ensure the long-term preservation and access of these and other documents.
Speaking at the announcement of the partnership the RTÉ Director-General, Cathal Goan commented: “For archives to be truly valuable they must not only be dynamic and also accessible. It is for this reason that RTÉ has entered into this partnership with UCD to ensure that these important national cultural documents, in both Irish and English, can be maintained and accessible to all, free of charge, so as to help us better understand our past, present and future.”
He also thanked RTÉ’s former Executive Archivist for his work in preserving the documents thus far: “RTÉ is extremely grateful to our now retired Executive Archivist Brian Lynch for his unstinting efforts in collecting and preserving this material for posterity. Thanks to Brian’s diligence this unique collection embodying Irish cultural heritage can now be safeguarded into the future and made available for countless researchers.”
