These slides are from a presentation delivered by Dr James Louis Smith, postdoctoral fellow at University College Cork for the Ports, Past and Present project, delivered on 17 Sept 2021 as part of ‘Dublin in the Archives: Digital collections exploring the city and county’, a webinar hosted by the Digital Repository of Ireland as part of the Culture Night 2021 programme of events.

1. ARCHIVING PORTS, PORTS AS ARCHIVES
THE ARCHIVE OF DUBLIN PORT IN THE PORTS, PAST AND PRESENT PROJECT
FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND THROUGH THE IRELAND WALES
COOPERATION PROGRAMME
Dr James Louis Smith, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University College Cork

2. PORTS, PAST AND PRESENT
 5 port towns: Dublin,
Rosslare, Fishguard,
Pembroke Dock, Holyhead
 4 partners: University
College Cork, Wexford
County Council, UWTSD
Centre for Advanced
Welsh and Celtis Studies,
Aberystwyth University
 3 routes: Rosslare &
Fishguard, Rosslare &
Pembroke Dock, Dublin &
Holyhead
 2 countries: Ireland &
Wales
 1 vision: Creating a
new future for port
towns in the Irish sea
basin, based on a
deeper understanding
of their past
"Holyhead Breakwater" by Ian Capper is licensed
under CC BY-SA 2.0

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
James Baker: Fishguard (1797)
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales
Project Aims and Objectives:
• Cultural heritage & heritage
tourism.
• From ‘through places’ to
‘stopping places’
• Formation of Tourism
Networks across the Irish Sea.

5. MAKING ARCHIVES AND PROMOTING ARCHIVES
Ports, Past and Present is undertaking two main archiving
activities in the Dublin docks:
1. Creating a new archive of material (images, stories, recordings,
videos, artworks, films) about life in Dublin and its port, the docks and
the role of Dublin in the Irish Sea Basin. These stories will be archived
in the DRI for posterity.
2. Using the stakeholder relationships and connections of the project to
advocate for greater visibility of existing archival material (e.g.
Dublin Port Company the Dock Workers Preservation Society), its
sustainability and its wider use, as well as using the material within
the project.

6. portspastpresent.eu

10. Opportunities
 Active local history and
community groups passionately
invested in the preservation of
their archives
 We are in a position to help with
the visibility and longevity of
collections that will be around
after project end.
 New opportunities: e.g. The
opening of the Port’s Heritage
Centre, expanding role of the DRI.
Challenges
 Ensuring even and equitable
access to the reams of material
available (the Dockers have over
2400 photographs)
 Linking infrastructures (DRI,
Dublin City Library/Archives,
Universities) with the custodians
of archives.
 Our role is limited beyond our
own activities, so we largely act as
a mediator.
MATERIAL FROM THE DOCKS

13. The Flour Mill Masterplan, Grafton Architects, September 2020, https://www.dublinport.ie/wp-
content/uploads/2020/11/The-Flour-Mill-Masterplan-Grafton-Architects-DPC.pdf

14. 2022-23
Between now and the middle of 2023, Ports, Past and Present will:
 Complete its work programme, including creative pieces tied to Dublin,
the bay, and the Port, a Dublin-specific and Dublin-Holyhead crossing-
specific short film, a collection of over 200 stories including a corpus for
Dublin, an app ‘Experience’ for Dublin and the crossing, new signage, and
a series of ‘Port Fest’ events in 2022.
 Archive its material on Zenodo (the project documents) and the DRI (the
cultural heritage material)
 Work with Dublin Port to embed this material into its plans for port
heritage.
 Work with community groups to support the visibility and sustainability of
their work (get in touch, we’d love to talk to you!)

15. Website: http://portspastpresent.eu
Thanks for listening!
Please do get in touch via ports@ucc.ie or social media if you have
Dublin Port material in need of archiving, are interested in telling
stories from your material, or just want to talk.
Twitter: @PortsPastPres Instagram: @portspastandpresent