TII Digital Cultural Heritage Collections Launch

The launch

On Monday 19th June 2017 the Transport Infrastructure of Ireland (TII) in collaboration with the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) and the Discovery Programme, launched the TII Digital Heritage Collections in the Royal Irish Academy. Speaking at the launch were Rónán Swan, Head of Archaeology and Heritage at TII, Edel Breathnach, CEO of the Discovery Programme, Anthony Corns, Technology Manager at the Discovery Programme and Natalie Harrower, Director of the Digital Repository of Ireland.

The collections

TII Digital Heritage Collections include more than 1,500 archaeological excavation reports, representing approximately 80% of all archaeological excavation reports commissioned by the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) during Ireland’s infrastructure building programme between 2001 and 2016. In addition, the Collections include 90 papers from the NRA’s seminar proceedings, published between 2003 and 2009, as well as TII’s downloadable audiobooks and short videos.

The launch featured in an Irish Times news story, which commented on the collaborative nature of the project and the significance of many of the archaeological sites recorded. These collections are now securely preserved for the long term, and are accessible through the Digital Repository of Ireland. They will also be accessible from a variety of important national and international platforms, including:

• Ireland’s Open Data Portal
• HeritageMaps.ie (an initiative of the Heritage Council)
• the ARIADNE portal (a European-wide Research Infrastructure for archaeology)
• Discovery Programme
• TII websites

These multiple points of data discovery provide access to these rich collections to the general public and professionals alike. Read more about the TII Collections launch. The collections can be accessed directly in the Repository

Photo caption LtoR: Edel Breathnach, CEO, Discovery Programme; Anthony Corns, Technology Manager, Discovery Programme; Natalie Harrower, Director, Digital Repository of Ireland; Ronan Swan, Head of Archaeology & Heritage, Transport Infrastructure Ireland; Laura Mahoney, Executive Director, Royal Irish Academy; Michael Nolan, CEO, Transport Infrastructure Ireland. Photo credit: John Ohle