Now We're Talking Project

PRONI and the Nerve Centre were awarded the first consortium grant by the Archives Revealed programme. The “Now We’re Talking” project will catalogue and widen access to the archives of two significant cultural figures: Sam Hanna Bell and Michael J Murphy.

Portrait photograph of a man with a moustache and photograph of a man smoking a pipe and writing in a notebook while sitting on the side of the road — Sam Hanna Bell and Michael J Murphy

Although coming from different traditions, Michael J Murphy and Sam Hanna Bell were friends and collaborators. Their archives document the rich folklore, oral traditions and cultural heritage of Northern Ireland.

Archives Revealed is a partnership programme between The National Archives, the Pilgrim Trust, the Wolfson Foundation and The National Lottery Heritage Fund which aims to unlock collections across the UK and build the skills needed to care for them into the future.

The project will combine PRONI’s archival expertise with the Nerve Centre’s experience of using creativity and technology to deliver inter-generational community engagement. The project will also draw on wider support from the families of Sam Hanna Bell and Michael J Murphy, the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin, BBC NI, Northern Ireland Screen and Cuimhneamh, a cultural community group from Mullaghbane, Co. Armagh.

Members of the public can follow the process of cataloguing the archives (PRONI catalogue reference numbers D4642 and D4643) in a series of monthly blogs.

Logos of Archives Revealed, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Pilgrim Trust, The Wolfson Foundation, The National Archives

Image of Sam Hanna Bell (PRONI D4643)

Image of Michael J Murphy (M004.30.00002 reproduced by permission of the National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin)

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Now We're Talking Project

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