In anticipation of the National Folklore Collection’s (NFC) relocation to UCD’s newly-built Cultural Heritage Centre in early 2027, we were brought in to help prepare some of the collection for this move. As students from UCD’s MA in Archives and Records Management, graduating in winter 2026, we were excited to put what we’ve learnt throughout the year into practice.
During our six week internship at the NFC we worked on a variety of rehousing and packing projects. These included tinsmithing objects, wax cylinders, St Brigid’s crosses, reel-to-reel tapes, film negatives, and rolled plans and maps. We even practised pest management! Clearly, we covered more than one blog’s worth of material. So, here are our highlights from the experience, which we hope you find as interesting as we did.
Wax Cylinders
The background to these wax cylinders has already been covered in detail here by the NFC’s audio specialist, but to summarise, these were the result of nationwide folklore collecting carried out by the Irish Folklore Commission in the mid-1900s. Only particular cylinders were kept, such as those which captured endangered dialects. The majority, after being sent back to Dublin and their contents transcribed; were then shaved so that they could be used again.
The NFC holds over 1200 (!) cylinders in their cardboard tubes, as well as original packing boxes. These boxes range from commercial cardboard to wooden crates, which, like the cylinders they contained, varied greatly in condition (see figure 1). After cataloguing hundreds of these cylinders, small and large, damaged and intact, they were rehoused alongside their individual tubes in bespoke archival boxes and moved to their temporary home in UCD Special Collections. The digitised sound recordings made from these cylinders can be accessed in the NFC reading room by appointment. They include music, singing, stories and more. After a thorough appraisal process, only a representative sample of the original boxes were retained, while all of the cylinders and tubes were kept.
Figures 1, 2 and 3: Mould on wax cylinders, Cardboard Ediphone branded tube, and an example of wooden crate used to carry the cylinders
St Brigid’s Crosses
Anyone who attended an Irish primary school remembers making Brigid’s crosses every February. However, the four-legged cross, with which most people are familiar, is but one of many different styles from across Ireland. Most of the crosses pictured in Figure 6 were created by Pádraic Ó Bruadair, who was originally from Co. Mayo. He made these crosses to his own design or to designs he had seen elsewhere using rushes and/or wood. Finished with varnish, these crosses feature many traditional elements like wheel crosses and diamonds.
The crosses were already numbered, so we measured them before strapping them onto Plastazote® foam panels cut to fit into archival boxes, using unbleached cotton tape and pins to hold them in place. This system both protects them during the move, but also serves as a rehousing system into the future. The more objects are handled, the more likely they are to become damaged. This tray panel system reduces handling, as the crosses can be viewed without being touched and yet remain fully accessible if necessary.
Figures 4 and 5: St Brigid’s crosses, before and after being rehoused
Integrated Pest Management
As part of our internship, we spent a day learning about the NFC’s integrated pest management system. While pest management is less glamorous than other elements of archival work, it is an integral part of a collection’s preservation policies. It allows staff to monitor what insects are present, and safeguard the material against future damage. Pests like silverfish and woodlice enjoy humid, dusty environments and feed off paper and other materials. Since the NFC is currently housed in a building not suitable to house archival material, it is more vulnerable to these pests.
The NFC uses sticky traps, which are a non-invasive pest trap. (Figure 6) First, we collected the traps which had been placed in dedicated locations previously. The staff aims to check and replace these traps every six weeks. We then identified the insects found in the traps and recorded them in a spreadsheet to keep a clear record of pest activity in different locations. This helped us to understand what pests are present and if there is a threat to the collection. Finally, we placed new traps in the building. The best location to place these traps is alongside external walls near windows and doors, as that is usually how the pests enter the building. The new NFC store in UCD Cultural Heritage Centre is being built according to best environmental standards, which should significantly reduce the number of pests present in the building.
Figure 6: Example of bug-filled sticky traps
Conclusion
The NFC contains a wealth of fascinating archival material we were grateful to work with. It was interesting to see the archive through the eyes of a conservator, and to put our knowledge into practice, using preservation techniques. Another highlight of our internship was talking to readers, learning about their research and realising how important the collection is to such a variety of people. We were honoured to have a part in the NFC’s relocation efforts and are especially excited to visit their new premises in the UCD Cultural Heritage Centre in March 2027.
This guest blog post was written by interns Kat Guiry and Lydia Flanagan, MA in Archive and Records Management, while on placement with the NFC in May-June 2026.
The NFC is grateful to the Heritage Council of Ireland for their generous support in the purchase of archival material and boxes, in preparation for the relocation of the collection.
