Launch of Duanaire: a treasury of digital data for Irish economic history

The event will be chaired by Dr Marie-Louise Coolahan (School of Humanities, NUI Galway) and opened by the President of NUI Galway, Dr James Browne, followed by a short presentation by Dr Aidan Kane on the Duanaire project. The keynote address will be:

The Information Revolution in History

Professor Peter M. Solar

(Vesalius College, Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Peter Solar has made major contributions to the field of European economic history, including seminal studies of the pre-famine Irish economy, and the European cotton and linen industries, amongst other subjects. In recent years he has worked especially on maritime economic history, with a particular focus on constructing a unique database of British and Irish steamships, and on the use of sources such as Lloyd’s Registers of Shipping to illuminate technological and industrial change.

The event will conclude at 12noon—light refreshments to follow.

About Duanaire

Duanaire aims to open up a wealth of Irish economic history data, and in particular, Irish historical fiscal and trade data, by making accessible online a range of datasets in flexible forms for diverse audiences.  Duanaire is led by Dr Aidan Kane (Economics at NUI Galway) and partners with the Whitaker Institute, the Moore Institute, and the James Hardiman Library at NUI Galway.

Two key projects currently underway at Duanaire are

• a database of 18^th century Irish public finances:  www.duanaire.ie/finances18

• a major project to digitise, capture and make available very detailed data (at port level) on Ireland’s international trade in the 18^th century: www.duanaire.ie/trade