The next lecture in the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society’s Spring series is entitled The Imirce project: collecting Irish emigrant letters and memoirs from North America.

It will take place in the city’s Harbour Hotel, next Monday, February 10, at 8pm, and all are welcome.

The speaker is Marie-Louise Rouget, a digital archivist at the University of Galway. Marie-Louise has been leading the digital project to make this collection of Irish emigrant letters and memoirs –  donated to the university by historian Kerby A. Miller – accessible to the public through the online portal, Imirce.

The Imirce Digital Collection represents a significant advancement in the preservation and dissemination of Irish emigrant letters and life stories, spanning more than 250 years.

This lecture will cover the project’s development, beginning with the generous donation by Kerby A. Miller to the University of Galway, and discussing some of the project’s technical aspects, including the use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to enhance text searchability.

The lecture is free and all are welcome. However, the organisers are advising people to arrive in good time as several recent lectures from the Society attracted more people than could be admitted.

Pictured: Marie-Louise Rouget, a digital archivist at the University of Galway.