About the Project

Letters 1916-1923 is Ireland's first participatory digital humanities project. Begun in September 2013 as Letters 1916, it expanded its collection period to the end of the Civil War through a generous grant from the Irish Research Council.

Letters 1916-1923 is a window into what life was like in Ireland a century ago, told in the voices of those who lived through it. This digital collection includes letters held at institutions in Ireland and abroad alongside those in private collections. There are hundreds of letters connecting thousands of lives, commenting on topics from politics to romance, from public administration to medicine. Letters 1916-1923 adds a new perspective to the events of the period, a confidential and intimate glimpse into early 20th-century life in Ireland, as well as how Ireland was viewed abroad.