The DRI’s Atlantic Philanthropies Digital Archive and Oral History Project. Can you help?

The DRI’s Atlantic Philanthropies digital archive of selected research collections about the foundation’s approaches and impact across Ireland is making great progress. We are working closely with Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Ithaca, New York, where the documents from The Atlantic Philanthropies’ foundation’s complete paper and electronic records spanning 30 years of grant making are being catalogued.

In addition we are also collecting oral histories from Atlantic’s Grantees from all over Ireland in the areas of Human Rights, Education and Communities. The information gathered will add to the history of the transformational impact of Atlantic’s E1.6billion investment on this island: https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/our-story

We are presently looking at the area of Educational investment from the 1990’s onwards, in particular the impact of the first three cycles of PRTLI investment in Research and Infrastructure when Atlantic’s funding was matched by the Irish government bringing about a total investment of IR600m. It is thought to be Chuck Feeney’s biggest legacy and one of the most successful things that Atlantic did anywhere in the world. DRI oral historian Bláithín Ní Chatháin is currently researching PRTLI projects and archives from UL/DCU/TCD/UCD/UCC/Queens/NUI Galway/RCSI and Irish Government and HEA contacts with Atlantic.

Please contact Bláithín if you have any stories of successful PRTLI projects or graduates from the Atlantic funding period. CONTACT: b.nichathain@ria.ie