As we celebrate Pride Month, many of us are thinking back on how much Ireland has changed and, more importantly, how that change happened. Part of the work at the National Library of Ireland (NLI) is keeping LGBTQ+ history alive as part of the national collections. Read here to find out more.

Over 1,000 photographs from the Yes Equality archive are now publicly accessible through the NLI’s online catalogue. They form one of the Library’s earliest born-digital collections, which means that the materials were preserved without ever existing as physical documents.

The archive is a vivid record of a turning point in Irish life, but also a reminder that history never stands still. It is constantly being reexamined and reinterpreted. Preserving our past ensures that no part of our shared story is lost.

No Story Untold
Preservation is power. And that power is at the heart of the NLI’s mission: to collect and safeguard the record of Irish life in all its diversity. For LGBTQ+ communities in particular, that work holds deep meaning. For generations, LGBTQ+ lives were undocumented or deliberately omitted from national memory.

The NLI’s growing LGBTQ+ collections address that omission. Among them is the Irish Queer Archive (IQA), Ireland’s most extensive collection of LGBTQ+ materials. Transferred to the NLI in 2008, the IQA spans everything from press cuttings and newsletters to photographs, posters and zines, many of which were created under difficult, even hostile, conditions. They represent the work of people who refused to let their stories be forgotten.

Another more recent addition is the Michael Barron Papers, a personal and political archive documenting over two decades of activism. Barron co-founded Belong To, Ireland’s LGBTQ+ youth organisation. The archive includes campaign strategy notes, educational toolkits, personal writings, press coverage and even protest badges and bags.

 

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Why Digital Collections Matter
These collections are essential to researchers and historians, as well as to anyone who wants to understand how progress is made — and who makes it happen.

By preserving these stories, the NLI plays a crucial role in ensuring that Ireland’s cultural memory reflects everyone who calls this country home. But this is not just about looking back. It’s about building a future in which all citizens can see themselves in the national record.

Digital preservation is especially important for marginalised communities. For groups whose histories have often been excluded from the official record, the archive becomes a space of recognition. The NLI’s work in this area also includes the Waking the Feminists digital archive, which is a record of the 2015–2016 grassroots campaign that challenged gender inequality in Irish theatre and sparked a national conversation about representation.

But unlike a printed book, digital formats change quickly. Files can become unreadable. Links break. What feels very accessible today could easily disappear tomorrow. That’s why the NLI is working to ensure our digital collections can be accessed not just next year but in a hundred years. It’s complex, careful work — and something the Library is proud to be a leader in.

Dr. Audrey Whitty, Director of the NLI, emphasises this commitment: “The National Library of Ireland is Ireland’s memory-keeper. In the 21st century, as the world embraces digital over print, it is essential that we evolve with technology so that culturally significant ‘born digital’ collections can be collected, managed and available for future generations. Collections like these are particularly important to those whose voices were not heard in the past.”

Explore the Yes Equality digital archive and learn more about the NLI’s LGBTQ+ collections at nli.ie.