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Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 2009-12 > 1261004362


From: Montgomery Michael <>
Subject: Re: [S-I] SCOTCH-IRISH Digest, Vol 4, Issue 323
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:59:22 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <mailman.621.1260432077.9391.scotch-irish@rootsweb.com>


Here again is the link to a selective bibliography on the 1641 depositions provided at a TCD website.

http://www.tcd.ie/history/1641/readinglist.php

It includes the essay by Aidan Clarke along with oter pertinent reading for doing one's homework.

Michael Montgomery

--- On Thu, 12/10/09, <> wrote:

> From: <>
> Subject: SCOTCH-IRISH Digest, Vol 4, Issue 323
> To:
> Date: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 3:01 AM
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Re: 1641 Depositions (Edward Andrews)
>    2. Samuel Greg of Magilligan emigrant
> 1724 (Robert Forrest)
>    3. Course on Parliamentary Papers ()
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 09:27:06 -0000
> From: "Edward Andrews" <>
> Subject: Re: [S-I] 1641 Depositions
> To: <>
> Message-ID: <>
> Content-Type: text/plain;   
> charset="us-ascii"
>
> I tried to send this a few days ago and it hasn't arrived
> so here it is
> again
>
> According to the October 09 edition of "Trinity Today", the
> Alumni magazine,
> which I believe can be got on the College Website, "In
> Trinity, we are
> embarked on a very special ground-breaking project to
> unleash the power of
> the 18th century Long Room Library with all its hidden
> treasures, by the use
> of technology and digitisation. The Book of Kells is but
> the tip of the
> iceberg. Our plan is to define Trinity and its partner
> universities, and
> Ireland, as an international hub of scholarship in
> advancing the
> understanding of the human condition, drawing on these
> unique capabilities.
> One specific project is extremely interesting. In 1641, the
> outbreak of a
> rebellion by the Catholic Irish is alleged to have begun
> with a general
> massacre of Protestant settlers. This allegation has been
> the cause of much
> bitter historical controversy ever since. The 1641
> Depositions are the
> witness testimonies of the Protestant settlers (men and
> women of all
> classes) gathered by Government appointed commissioners
> after the Rising.
> All 19,000 pages have been in the Trinity Library since
> 1741. Our goal, with
> funding from the IRCHSS, is to digitise these unique
> testimonies and make
> them available to scholars all over the world for analysis.
> IBM is intensely
> involved with the project.
>
> You might ask why IBM would be interested in such an event
> in the distant
> past? The reason is that the documents are difficult -
> being handwritten,
> with little grammatical structure, and in which the same
> word is often spelt
> differently on the same page. The most advanced digitising
> technology is not
> able to interpret such complex information - only the human
> brain can. IBM
> would like to understand the mental process involved and
> simulate it with
> entirely new innovative technology. Here is a situation
> that you might not
> predict - the Humanities and human curiosity having the
> ability to transform
> technology. My point is that breakthroughs can come from
> the most unlikely
> quarters. The Humanities meeting the technologies can spark
> the most
> extraordinary developments and the University is an ideal
> meeting place for
> both."
>
> Even if you get some of the 19,000 pages, you will have
> considerable
> difficulties with some as the script is difficult.
> Edward
>
> PS I just want to add on the basis of Dr Montgomery's
> letter that I attended
> a lecture by Aidan Clarke in the late 1960s in which he
> touched on the
> Depositions. ISTR that they were apparently fiendishly
> difficult to find
> your way round. I once saw (but didn't handle) a volume. I
> wish anyone
> working with them luck
> We can hope that the IBM contribution quite literally
> sheds light on them.
> Can we have a reference to the Clarke article please?
> Edward 




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