Archives donated - A window to our past

Saturday, November 07, 2009

YESTERDAY we reported that one in 20 British schoolchildren thought Adolf Hitler was the German football coach; that a similar proportion thought the Holocaust a celebration at the end of World War II.

This is the ignorance that undermines societies and democracy. Understanding how the past has made us who we are is one of the ways we try to avoid repeating the mistakes of our ancestors.

That is why the decision of Charles Colthurst of Blarney Castle House to presented the entire Blarney Estate archive to the public is so welcome. Included is a parchment deed written in 1334 and another, a livery patent of 1602, carries the Great Seal of Elizabeth I.

Many similar and equally valuable archives have been lost to our turbulent past and it may be that these papers will help fill some of the gaps in our understanding of this country’s divided history.

If they do the gift is doubly welcome.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, November 07, 2009