# Catholic Archives — catholicarchives.co.uk

> Free online access to archival records of Irish and UK Catholic religious institutions, hosted on the AtoM (Access to Memory) open-source archival platform. Run by Boyne Archives (matthewbruton.ie), a professional archivist service based in Ireland.

## About This Site
Catholic Archives is a shared multi-repository AtoM instance providing searchable, standards-compliant (ISAD(G), ISAAR(CPF)) access to the records of Irish and UK Catholic religious orders and institutions. All holdings are freely accessible to the public.

## Hosted Repositories
- /glenstal-abbey-archive: Glenstal Abbey Archive — Benedictine monastery near Limerick, Ireland
- /passionists: Passionists (St Joseph's Province) — Irish province of the Passionist Congregation
- /passionist-congregation-st-josephs-province: Passionist Congregation, St Joseph's Province
- /irish-vincentian-archive: Irish Vincentian Archive — Vincentian Fathers, Irish province
- /irish-capuchin-archives-6: Irish Capuchin Archives — Capuchin Franciscan province of Ireland
- /dublin-diocesan-archives: Dublin Diocesan Archives — Archdiocese of Dublin records
- /carmelites-irish-province-archives: Carmelites Irish Province Archives
- /presentation-sisters-congregational-archives-3: Presentation Sisters Congregational Archives
- /rosminian-congregation-ireland-usa: Rosminian Congregation (Ireland and USA)
- /sisters-of-our-lady-of-apostles-district-of-ireland: Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles, Ireland
- /sisters-of-st-joseph-chambery-3: Sisters of St Joseph of Chambery

## FAQ
- /index.php/faq: Frequently Asked Questions — what the site is, which archives are hosted, how to search, access policy, standards used

## Key Browse Pages
- /repositories: All hosted repositories
- /informationobject/browse: Browse all archival descriptions
- /actor/browse: Browse authority records (persons, families, corporate bodies)

## Searching & Filtering

### Full-text search
https://catholicarchives.co.uk/informationobject/browse?query={query} — searches across title, scope and content, provenance, and all description fields simultaneously

### Authority record search
https://catholicarchives.co.uk/actor/browse?query={query} — searches persons, families, and corporate bodies described under ISAAR(CPF). Each authority record includes a biographical or administrative history. Use this to research a specific individual, religious community, or institution before locating their associated archival records.

### Search filter parameters
Append to the browse URL to narrow results:
- dateStart=YYYY&dateEnd=YYYY — filter by date range (e.g. dateStart=1845&dateEnd=1852 for Famine period)
- repos=SLUG — restrict to a single repository (use the slug from Hosted Repositories above)
- levels=LEVEL — filter by archival level: Fonds, Series, File, Item (use levels=Item to target individual documents)
- onlyMedia=1 — show only descriptions with attached digitised images or documents

### Access points — faceted discovery
Access points are controlled vocabulary terms assigned by archivists to each description. They appear as clickable sidebar filters on the browse page and are the primary structured discovery mechanism for historians researching specific topics, places, or document types:
- Subjects — topical terms (e.g. education, foreign missions, famine relief, temperance, land agitation)
- Places — geographic terms (e.g. County Cork, Rome, Australia, West Africa, Buenos Aires)
- Names — persons and organisations referenced within records as access points
- Genres/forms — document types (e.g. correspondence, diaries, photographs, financial records, minute books, constitutions)

Access point filters use numeric IDs in the URL (?subjects=ID&places=ID). To discover and browse available terms, use the sidebar facets on /informationobject/browse. Access points are the recommended way to find records on a specific topic, place, or document type without knowing exact wording used in individual descriptions.

## Standards Used
- ISAD(G) — General International Standard Archival Description (Wikidata: Q1427053)
- ISAAR(CPF) — International Standard Archival Authority Record (Wikidata: Q1219547)
- IIIF — International Image Interoperability Framework for digitised material (Wikidata: Q20707903)

## Platform
AtoM (Access to Memory) v2.10 — open-source archival management software by Artefactual Systems (Wikidata: Q3621491)

## Contact
https://boynearchives.ie — Boyne Archives, operator of this site

## Operator
Boyne Archives / Matthew Bruton — professional archivist, Ireland
Related site: https://catholicarchives.ie (Irish-focused AtoM instance)