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Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes: The Gregory O’Connor Seminar Room

At the end of 2020, our beloved colleague, archivist, Gregory O’Connor, sadly passed away. In tribute to our greatly missed and highly esteemed colleague, the National Archives hosted a small reception in honour of Gregory which took place on his birthday, 28 April, to rename the Seminar Room the ‘Gregory O’Connor Seminar Room’. It was a small gathering with members of the O’Connor family and colleagues, past and present, in attendance. Brian Donnelly, Senior Archivist, shared some memories he had of Gregory and Orlaith McBride, Director, recited the words of a researcher from Australia who spoke extremely highly of Gregory and their experiences they had with him when they came to visit the National Archives.

In the reading room, Gregory was generous in sharing his knowledge and helped generations of researchers – academics, genealogists, family historians and local historians. He was renowned for his lectures and talks on a variety of subjects so it is very fitting that the Seminar Room is now called ‘The Gregory O’Connor Seminar Room’.

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