Louth County Archives announce online exhibition launch

Louth County Archives in collaboration with the County Louth Archaeological & Historical Society has produced an online exhibition on the post-Truce period 1921 – 1923. It includes extant documents and photographs from the era mainly drawn from the collections in the County Archives to illustrate and narrate this tumultuous episode in our history.

Vice-president of the Society, Donal Hall, researched and wrote the exhibition’s narrative. The project is part of the Louth County Council Decade of Centenaries Programme 2023. The Decade of Centenaries Programme is funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

The narrative focuses on local events that occurred in County Louth and includes topics such as the Dáil courts, policing and justice, elections, infrastructure damage and compensation claims, the role of women, the ‘Big House’ burnings, and the border and customs controls. The exhibition is available to view under the County Archives web-pages on https://www.louthcoco.ie/en/services/archives/louth-1916-1923/.

Louth County Archives preserves and makes available local records illustrating the development of the county. It is part of the former prison that became a chief factor in the revolutionary period in Co Louth. In addition to holding political prisoners, the prison was the setting for hunger strikes, several escapes and three executions. The service is interested in acquiring donations of any archives relating to the period such as letters, photographs, diaries or election material. Please contact the County Archivist by email archive@louthcoco.ie or telephone 042-9324358.

The online exhibition follows on from the ‘Dundalk Jail during the Civil War’ book produced in 2022 about events that led up to the ‘Hole in the Wall’ jail escape in July 1922. This book is available from the County Archives.