National Library of Ireland

10/11/2026

💾 From Floppy Disks to Digital Futures: Preserving Our Digital Heritage

How do we preserve digital files stored on technology that is becoming increasingly difficult to access?

On 20 October, the National Library of Ireland (NLI) hosted its annual digital preservation event, welcoming Dr Leontien Talboom of Cambridge University Library, one of the world's leading experts in floppy disk preservation.

Through a hands-on workshop, participants from across Ireland explored:

Identifying different floppy disk formats, from 5¼-inch and 3½-inch disks to 3-inch Amstrad disks.

– Safely identifying and removing mould and surface contamination.
– Setting up a Greaseweazle workstation to connect legacy disk drives to modern computers.
– Interpreting disk images and using emulation software to recreate original computing environments.
– The workshop highlighted a growing challenge for digital preservation: functioning disk drives are becoming increasingly scarce, making access to the information stored on these once-common formats more difficult.

A huge thank you to Dr Talboom for sharing her knowledge and expertise, and to everyone who joined us for a day of learning, collaboration and practical skills development.

Together, we're helping to safeguard our digital heritage and build a more resilient, forward-looking GLAM sector.

Discover more:

From Floppy Disks to Digital Futures: Exploring Legacy Media Preservation By Leona Fearon | Digital Preservation Analyst Thursday, 5 November 2026 Dr Leontien Talboom. Photo by Mark Stedman. On 20 October 2026, the NLI hosted its annual digital preservation event, featuring a hands-on workshop on fl...

10/11/2026

This winter, the National Library of Ireland continues its celebration of Live Aid with a new season of events.

🎤 Ireland in the 80s: The Full Picture
Explore the programme: https://www.nli.ie/news-stories/news/live-aid-2026-winter-programme

Inspired by our Live Aid exhibition, this new talk series brings together leading writers, broadcasters and historians to revisit a decade of profound change and explore the cultural shifts, creative energy and experiences that helped shape modern Ireland.

Next talk:
► MUSIC: Niall Stokes in conversation with Donal Fallon

📅 Tuesday, 17 November | 6pm

Niall Stokes, founding editor of Hot Press, joins historian Donal Fallon to explore the music, sounds and changing cultural landscape of 1980s Ireland.

Generously supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

10/11/2026

► The Global Jukebox | Live Aid Tours

📅 Fridays at 2pm
At the National Photographic Archive, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, Dublin, D02 WF85

🎶 Free guided tours of the Live Aid exhibition:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/day-world-rocked-live-aid

No booking required.

A Guided Tour of the latest National Photographic Archive Exhibition

10/11/2026

Gusts and Gales in Heaney's Poetry 🌬️

'We just sit tight while wind dives
And strafes invisibly.'

📅 Saturday, 14 November at 2pm:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/gusts-and-gales-heaneys-poetry

As we enter the blustering winter months, join us at Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again on Saturday 14th November for a talk exploring the effect Ireland’s stormy weather has had on Seamus Heaney's poetry. From frightening squalls in Storm on an Island, to invigorating gusts providing poetic inspiration in Postscript, and gentle breezes of 'Had I Not Been Awake,' we shall see how various winds have stirred his imagination to give us some of his most beloved poems across his whole career.

Gusts and Gales in Heaney's Poetry Date Saturday, 14 November 2026 | 2.00pm - 3.00pm Location Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again, Westmoreland Street, Dublin, D02 VR66 Category Event Price Free Book now Book now Date Saturday, 14 November 2026 | 2.00pm - 3.00pm Location Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again,...

09/11/2026

Director's Tour of the National Library of Ireland 🏛️

📅 Thursday, 12 November at 5.30pm:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/directors-tour-national-library-ireland-16

Dr Audrey Whitty, Director of the National Library of Ireland, leads a special guided tour of the Library’s historic Victorian building on Kildare Street.

Visitors will discover the history of this remarkable building, explore the iconic Reading Room, and learn about the Library’s connections with some of Ireland’s greatest writers and thinkers. The tour also includes visits to the Richard Hayes Room and the Art Room, offering a unique opportunity to experience spaces not usually explored in depth.

The tour will last from 5:30 - 6:30pm | Entry free but booking required.

Director's Tour of the National Library of Ireland Date Thursday, 12 November 2026 | 5.30pm - 6.30pm Location National Library of Ireland, 7-8 Kildare Street, Dublin, D02 P638 Category Tour Price Free Book now Book now Date Thursday, 12 November 2026 | 5.30pm - 6.30pm Location National Library of Ir...

09/11/2026

Rediscovering Eithne Strong: a voice that deserves to be heard.

On Sunday, The Lyric Feature on RTÉ lyric fm explored the remarkable life and work of West Limerick writer Eithne Strong (1923–1999).

In 'In The Deeps', presenter and producer Joanna Marsden traces Eithne’s journey from a restrictive Catholic upbringing to an unconventional life within Ireland’s early Freudian psychoanalytic circle, exploring her writing, her search for freedom and her place in Irish literary history. Learn more: https://www.rte.ie/culture/2026/1105/1597854-resdiscovering-eithne-strong-the-lyric-feature-goes-deep/

The programme draws on materials from the National Library of Ireland's collection, with some of the recording taking place here at the NLI.

Despite her remarkable contribution, Eithne remains an overlooked voice in Irish literature. This programme offers an opportunity to rediscover her work and celebrate her legacy.

As Eithne wrote in her 1943 poem Glenasmole: “There is a great troubling in the deeps of me.”

🎧 Listen back to 'In The Deeps' on The Lyric Feature, RTÉ lyric fm: https://www.rte.ie/radio/lyricfm/the-lyric-feature/episodes/a12acb9f-f0fc-471b-858b-b4fa008e7076/

In this Sunday's Lyric Feature, presenter and producer Joanna Marsden goes In the Deeps as she unfolds the life of West Limerick writer Eithne Strong

09/11/2026

9 Novenber 1791, James Napper Tandy convened the first meeting of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen, marking an important moment in the movement for Irish political reform.

Tandy had previously been a member of the Irish Volunteers, whose campaign for legislative independence helped secure the establishment of Grattan’s Parliament in 1782.

This striking print depicts Tandy in uniform, holding a scroll bearing the word “Congress” in his left hand and a hat in his right, which rests on the muzzle of a cannon; https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000189425.

09/11/2026

The Journey To A Vision - November Tour
A Guided Afternoon Tour of the WB Yeats Exhibition

📅 Tuesday, 10 November at 1pm:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/journey-vision-november-tour

Discover the two decade long project that WB Yeats pursued and what drove him to create 'A Vision'.

Explore the people, events and other influences that would lead William Butler Yeats to write his most mysterious and esoteric work, A Vision, on this special tour of the National Library of Ireland’s Yeats Exhibition.

A Guided Afternoon Tour of the WB Yeats Exhibition

08/11/2026

Ireland in the 80s: The Full Picture | Media, TV and Radio 📻
Rick O'Shea in conversation with Prof. Kevin Rafter

📅 Monday, 9 November at 1pm:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/ireland-80s-full-picture-media-tv-and-radio

How did Ireland see and hear itself in the 1980s?

Broadcaster Rick O’Shea and Professor Kevin Rafter of Dublin City University explore a decade of change in Irish television and radio: the programmes and personalities that had the country talking, and the role broadcasting played in public and political life.

Inspired by the National Library of Ireland’s exhibition at the National Photographic Archive, Temple Bar, marking 40 years since Live Aid, 'Ireland in the 80s: The Full Picture' takes a fresh look at the decade.

Rick O'Shea in conversation with Prof. Kevin Rafter

08/11/2026

For STEM Day, we're celebrating the science behind the natural world with this botanical illustration, dating to circa 1890, featuring a cross-section of a (literal!) plant stem. 🌱

Celebrated annually on November 8, STEM Day highlights science, technology, engineering and mathematics through activities, events and educational initiatives. And when you add art to the mix, you get STEAM!

A lovely reminder that science and art have long gone hand in hand. 🪴🎨

https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000538974.