I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £3,633 chun slánuithe na suime is gá chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1930, chun Tuarastail agus Costaisí Oifig na nAnnálacha Puiblí agus Ciméadaí na Stát-Pháipéar, Baile Atha Cliath (30 agus 31 Vict., c. 70; 38 agus 39 Vict., c. 59; agus 39 agus 40 Vict., c. 58).
That a sum not exceeding £3,633 be granted to complete the sum necessary to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1930, for the Salaries and Expenses of the Public Record Office, and of the Keeper of State Papers, Dublin (30 and 31 Vict., c. 70; 38 and 39 Vict., c. 59; and 39 and 40 Vict., c. 58).
There is no change practically in the Vote in this Office. There is a slight reduction in the Estimate. The work of the office since 1922 has been almost altogether confined to the examination of papers salved from the wreckage of the office after the burning and explosion in 1922 and the reception and filing away, temporarily, of records which, being out of current use, are being got rid of by the various public Departments. It is important to have a clear view of the actual physical conditions at present in this office. There are three physical structures concerned, namely: (1) the Bermingham Tower in Dublin Castle; (2) The Record Office Treasury, and (3) The Record Office itself. The Bermingham Tower in Dublin Castle remains intact. Its contents have not been in the slightest bit destroyed but the documents which it contains are, for the greater part, modern and not very interesting. The only documents which are interesting are those connected with the 1798 Rebellion. They were kept there and not transferred to the Public Record Office because they showed certain secret matters which the British Government did not want to have disclosed. There were lists of secret service agents and persons of that kind, persons thought to be on the side of the rising but who, it transpired, were not on that side, and their names were not disclosed. These are the only papers which are in any way interesting.
The Record Office consists of two buildings, one being the Treasury in which all the valuable documents, and some of them were of great historical interest indeed, were kept. Of course some of them were absolutely irreplaceable. There were especially on the floor some very interesting "show documents," such as the original letters of Owen Roe O'Neill and Cromwell. There was an outer room, and a few things which were not very valuable were kept there. A few of the valuable documents out of the Treasury were in actual use at that time and had been placed in the outer office. They happened to escape destruction, but a great number of deeds and other things which were in the cellars were burned. After the explosion took place, a considerable number of documents were blown up and fragments of a few of them were given back, some of them from places very far away from the Courts, but nothing like as many as were expected.
