Tuesday 5 August 2014

PRONI launches monthly First World War blog

To mark this week's centenary of the start of WW1, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has published the first in a series of reports on the lives and experiences of the men and women who lived through the conflict.

This First World War 'Blog' will be updated on a monthly basis with short transcripts from the wide range of records held in PRONI, including letters, diaries and memoirs, that provide firsthand accounts of all aspects of the War as well as everyday life on the Home Front. Each month, PRONI will focus on the papers of three or four individuals who lived through these years.

August's reports are as follows:
  • Extracts from the Diary of Lillian Spender [D1633/2/19]
  • Extracts from the Diary of Charlotte Despard [D2479/1/2]
  • An abridged letter from Gwen Savage Armstrong of Strangford [D618/16]
  • Extracts from the Diary of Lieutenant Charles Mulholland, 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars [D4179/9/2/2]
All four reports are presented in pdf format and can be downloaded from the First World War Blog page of PRONI's website.

And here's a timely reminder for the second of the Road to War lecture series:  

Thursday 7 August: The outbreak of the First World War, with Dr William Mulligan. Hosted by PRONI and National Museums Northern Ireland. Venue: Ulster Museum Lecture Theatre, Botanic Gardens, Belfast. 7pm. Free but booking essential. Email proni@dcalni.gov.uk or phone 44+ 028 905 34800.

UPDATE 7 August: PRONI has launched a new webpage on which details of its talks, sources, projects, activities and events relating to the First World War will be published. It can be found here.