Crossing Boundaries: Language and Identity in the ULTACH Trust Archive

The ULTACH Trust (Ulster Language, Traditions and Cultural Heritage) was operational from 1989 to 2014, a pivotal period for the Irish language in Northern Ireland, and it was dedicated to its promotion across political and cultural boundaries. Its archive comprises papers relating to these developments and also includes details of the Trust’s origins, the challenges it faced, and the range of projects that it led. As PRONI’s first bilingual archive, it demanded new approaches to cataloguing and raised questions about representation, balance, and inclusivity. This talk reflects on the journey of the ULTACH Trust papers from community to catalogue.

Bhí Iontaobhas ULTACH (Ulster Language, Traditions and Cultural Heritage) gníomhach ó 1989 go 2014, tréimhse ríthábhachtach don Ghaeilge i dtuaisceart na hÉireann, agus bhí sé tiomanta dá cur chun cinn trasna teorainneacha polaitiúla agus cultúrtha. Baineann ná páipéir sa chartlann leis na forbairtí seo agus tá sonraí ann faoi bhunús an Iontaobhais, na dúshláin a bhí roimhe, agus an réimse tionscnamh a stiúraigh sé. Is í seo an chéad chartlann dhátheangach i bPRONI, rud a d'éiligh cur chuige nua maidir le catalógú agus a thóg ceisteanna faoi ionadaíocht, cothromaíocht agus cuimsitheacht. Machnaíonn an chaint seo ar thuras pháipéir Iontaobhas ULTACH ón phobal go dtí an chatalóg.

Ailbhe Nic Lochlainn is an archivist at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). She undertook the cataloguing of the PRONI’s first bilingual collection, the ULTACH Trust archive. A graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, with an MA in Irish Literature, her research focused on cross-community aspects of the Irish Literary Revival. She has worked across cultural and community organisations in information governance, and her work in PRONI focuses on widening access to records, promoting inclusivity, and exploring the intersections of language, identity, and cultural memory in a post-conflict context.

Is cartlannaí í Ailbhe Nic Lochlainn in Oifig Thaifid Phoiblí Thuaisceart Éireann (PRONI). Rinne sí catalógú ar an chéad bhailiúchán dátheangach i bPRONI, cartlann an Iontaobhais ULTACH. Céimí de chuid Ollscoil na Banríona, Béal Feirste, le MA i Litríocht na hÉireann, dhírigh a cuid taighde ar ghnéithe trasphobail d’Athbheochan Liteartha na hÉireann. Tá taithí aici ag obair le heagraíochtaí cultúrtha agus pobail i rialachas faisnéise, agus díríonn a cuid oibre i bPRONI ar rochtain ar thaifid a leathnú, cuimsitheacht a chur chun cinn, agus trasnú teanga, féiniúlachta, agus cuimhne chultúrtha a iniúchadh i gcomhthéacs iar-choimhlinte.