Consortium Grants Awarded 2025
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and The Nerve Centre – £145,000
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) will work in partnership with the Nerve Centre on “Now We’re Talking”, a project that will catalogue and widen access to the papers of two of Northern Ireland’s significant cultural figures: author and broadcaster, Sam Hanna Bell, and folklorist, writer and broadcaster, Michael J Murphy.
David Huddleston, acting PRONI Director, said: “Murphy and Bell were chroniclers of Northern Ireland’s people, culture and traditions and their works provide a unique lens through which to view the region’s history. Using their extensive archives as a starting point, this project aims to reconnect communities with their shared cultural heritage through an exploration of tradition, memory, and identity”.
PRONI is the official archive for Northern Ireland tasked with identifying records of historical, social and cultural importance, preserving them and making them publicly accessible. The Nerve Centre is Northern Ireland’s leading media arts centre.
Image Credit: Papers from Michael J Murphy’s archive (PRONI, Catalogue Reference No. D4642/6/12)
Image Credit: Photograph of Sam Hanna Bell (left hand side) on Rathlin Island (PRONI, Catalogue Reference No. D4643).