PRONI and the Nerve Centre were awarded the first consortium grant by the Archives Revealed programme in March 2025. The “Now We’re Talking” project will catalogue and widen access to the archives of two significant cultural figures: Sam Hanna Bell and Michael J Murphy.
Archives Revealed
Archives Revealed is a partnership programme between The National Archives, the Pilgrim Trust, the Wolfson Foundation and The National Lottery Heritage Fund which aims to unlock collections across the UK and build the skills needed to care for them into the future.
Background
Although coming from different traditions, Michael J Murphy and Sam Hanna Bell were friends and collaborators. Their archives document the rich folklore, oral traditions and cultural heritage of Northern Ireland.
The project combines PRONI’s archival expertise with the Nerve Centre's experience of using creativity and technology to deliver inter-generational community engagement. The project also draws on wider support from the families of Sam Hanna Bell and Michael J Murphy, the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin, BBC NI, Northern Ireland Screen and Cuimhneamh, a cultural community group from Mullaghbane, Co. Armagh.
Project Progress
The 18-month project started in April 2025. The first half of the project focused on the archival collection of writer, broadcaster and folklorist, Michael J. Murphy. The second half of the project will focus on the archival collection of writer and broadcaster, Sam Hanna Bell. Bell is best known for his first novel, December Bride (1951), set in rural community on the banks of Strangford Lough around 1900. He published three other novels and produced hundreds of radio features for BBC NI leaving behind a rich archival collection full of literature and local history.
The team began by cataloguing and digitising unique phrases and sayings collected by Michael J. Murphy over the course of his 34-year career as a folklore collector for what is now the National Folklore Collection. Over 1,000 pages of ‘Idioms, Expressions and Placenames’ have been digitised and are available to view on the PRONI eCatalogue.
Over 500 of Michael J. Murphy’s research files have been catalogued. These files are small collections of newspaper cuttings, typed articles and handwritten notes on a vast range of topics. Each research file was stored in a brown envelope with the subject written on the outside. The team organised these files based on the index Murphy created to keep track of them. 50 of these files are now digitised and available to view on the eCatalogue.
The team has also catalogued papers relating to Michael J. Murphy’s creative writing including his books, plays, short stories and articles.
Michael J. Murphy wrote many plays but only two were staged professionally. Scripts of these plays and correspondence surrounding their production have been catalogued and are available to order alongside other plays written by Murphy.
Michael J. Murphy published hundreds of articles and short stories in his lifetime. Many of these were compiled into collections of short stories and studies in folklore published as books. Most notable of these are At Slieve Gullion’s Foot (1941), Tyrone Folk Quest (1973), and Now You’re Talking: Folk Tales from the North of Ireland (1975).
Members of the public can follow the process of cataloguing the archives (PRONI catalogue reference numbers D4642 and D4643) in a series of regular blogs and occasional vlogs.
News about public engagement events being carried out as part of the project can be found on the Nerve Centre's website.
