An Cosantóir

archives | 13 ously, we can't keep every scrap of paper we receive so some- one has to decide on the historic value of each record - to predict what is going to be important, without the benefit of hindsight - and that's what our people are trained to do. And it's not all glamorous stuff either; after all, today's accident and injury report may be required to decide a court case in 10 years time." BY WESLEY BOURKE PHOTOS BY ARMN NEVILLE COUGHLAN nyone who has ever spent time in Military Archives, researching for a thesis or looking up a relation's Farewell to Mr Archives A service-records, will surely have met Comdt Victor Lang, OC Military Archives. Over the last 25 years Comdt Lang, who retired this February, has been one of the main drivers in bringing Archives from little more than a storeroom up to an invaluable national asset. This is his story. "I joined the Defence Forces in 1974, serv- ing with 4 Inf Bn before moving to QMG's Branch in 1983. Following a tour of duty with UNIFIL in 1985 I was sent to Archives and as I had a degree in history I was looking forward to the posting. On completion of my JCSC I did a post-graduate diploma in Archival Studies in UCD." "Comdt Peter Young was in charge at that time and Archives was part of Int Branch, based in the Red House on Infirmary Road. When he arrived in 1977 there were 200 boxes of col- lections: when I went in as a young captain there were 4,000. The Red House was clearly not suitable and in 1987 we identi- fied St Patrick's Hall in Cathal Brugha Bks as a suitable building. At the time it looked like there was ample storage space and reading areas but no sooner had we moved in than we were handed a further 4,000 boxes of collections." "Since then Archives has grown significantly due to sys- tems in place whereby units around the country and overseas regularly send information to us. Today we have 35,000 boxes, with a further 25,000 in storage. In 1987 there were 63 per- sonal collections; today there are over 1,100." "Military Archives holds records on every aspect of the De- fence Forces from its foundation up to the present, and other material going back to the 1916 Rising and the foundation of the state. Our records aren't all paper based either; there are photographs, film, computer-generated material, maps, plans and drawings." "I spent the first few years learning the modus operandi and what was in the various collections. Working in Archives back then were Sgt Billy Norton, Sgt Joe White and Cpl Brendan Mahoney, guys who loved handling the records, and knew how to put them into context and make that information eas- ily available for the public. I have to pay tribute to these fellow archivists who guided me in those early years." "The people you meet in Archives range from secondary school students to university students, family historians, aca- demics working on a new book or paper, and Defence Forces personnel doing research." "There are a number of popular collections, such as 1916, the Civil War, the Emergency, and the Congo, but you could also get people coming in to research something like sports in the Defence Forces. Then you have those people who pop in as part of a tour of the barracks. I've met wonderful people who have come in to ask one question and five hours later you are still chatting. A few days later they'll be back with a box full of documents, diaries, letters, and photographs from their grandfather's service." "Archives is not one of those jobs where you can spend two years and then hand over to someone else. If you talk to any of the staff they will tell you that you are constantly learning, keeping up with the latest publications, books, and theses, especially relating to the Defence Forces. It takes years to build up knowledge and expertise on the various collections to the point where you can hopefully point a researcher towards the relevant collection." "I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here. It has been a very re- warding career through which I've met many members of the Defence Forces, serving and retired, and their families. I also had the pleasure of meeting people involved in the foundation of the state and of the Defence Forces: people who had spo- ken to Pádraig Pearse and Michael Collins. There are not many people who can say that!" "The success of Archives can be measured in the amount of its material that gets published and used by people through- out the country. It is hugely rewarding when you pick up a book in Eason's or read an officer's thesis in the Defence Forces Review and you see accreditation given to Military Archives." www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

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