Ireland Plans Major Upgrade and Expansion of Its National Archives in Dublin

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Photo courtesy of National Archives, Ireland

Good news for researchers, historians and archivists, for the people of Ireland and for the Irish Diaspora. 

This week the Irish government announced a major investment of €37m in re-developing the archive repository at the National Archives on Bishop Street in Dublin.  The projects is expected to last about 16 months. See press release here.

The project is part of the National Cultural Institutions investment program, a component of Project Ireland 2040. It is being funded by the Department for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and is being delivered in partnership with the Office of Public Works.

Speaking at the National Archives, Catherine Martin, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, said, "This is a significant project for one of our cultural institutions and ensures the National Archives can meet its evolving needs in a sustainable and future-proofed manner.”

The new repository will increase the capacity of the National Archives by two-thirds by inserting a second floor within the existing repository structure and providing for state of the art racking and shelving systems.


Photo courtesy of National Archives, Ireland

The National Archives holds the official records of the State, as well as private collections. The collections held in the National Archives total over 50 million records dating from the 16th century to records relating to the modern Irish state. The National Archives also holds early Census records including the 1901 and 1911 censuses that are publicly available. The National Archives team is currently working on the public release of the 1926 Census, the first census of the Irish Free State, which will be released on 18th April 2026.

Despite its very large footprint, the National Archives building on Bishop Street has been unable to take records at volume since 2013. The re-development will accommodate over 300,000 archive boxes in a purpose-built, dedicated archival repository, designed with ground works, foundations and services that offer the potential to develop future archival storage vaults on top of the new archival storage vaults if required over time.


From an Exhibit: Society and State - Ireland Through its Records

This development is a project under the National Development Plan, Project Ireland 2040, which will see many of our much-loved National Cultural Institutions, restored and renewed for generations to come.

See the latest news on exhibitions, programs and lectures at the National Archives. 

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