Madam, – Dr Ciarán Ó Murchadha’s concern (January 10th) at the destruction of OPW records is a timely one. Two decades ago a long-retired OPW solicitor recalled how, aware by accident of what was happening to Famine-year records, he queried their destruction.
When the matter was put to the OPW, even with the help of a senior OPW official and a retired but knowledgable staff member, the precise date and circumstances could not be clarified. Inspection of the contents of the OPW offices simply proved that the records of the division which handled relief works during the Famine were missing in their entirety, thus at least confirming the recollection of the solicitor.
Jack Lynch as taoiseach in 1970 issued a circular to departments calling for a halt to destruction, It was not observed. The destruction of 30,000 pre-1960 files of inmates of care institutions occurred at a date which the Department of Education has conceded could be as late as 1976. A senior officer of the Department of Justice destroyed the files of the Waterford Court House (an old and valuable collection) in 1979, and the department fought tooth and nail for years though in the end without success – to conceal the circumstances.
Other cases are likely to occur on an ongoing basis. These simply happen to be three documented incidents. – Yours, etc,