A unique event took place over the weekend when the National Archives office held its first open day.
Visitors from around the country used the occasion to discover the inner workings of the facility, located on Dublin's Bishop Street.
The National Archives has over 260,000 archive boxes, which the public can access. It has archives of State departments, the oldest complete set of Irish census returns, and wills. It also features court records that date back to the 17th century, national school records, prison records and business records.
The open day allowed visitors to sample the historical, social and curious nature of the information in the archive.
Among the items on show was the original 1901 census form filled in by the family of writer James Joyce, when the author-to-be was only 19 years old. In a revealing - and, in hindsight, highly ironic - comment on the times, it requires the householder to state whether each person in the dwelling can read or write.
Visitors could also pick up a photocopy of W. B. Yeats's will. One curious stipulation in this document was for a sword to be returned to the son of a Japanese dignitary from whom the item had originally been received.
There were also more poignant items exhibited, such as a register of admissions and discharges to the North Brunswick Street workhouse, in 1847 ("Black '47", as it has become known).
A transportation register for 1837-1838 documented how two women were transported to New South Wales (now Australia) and imprisoned for seven years. Their crimes? Stealing a snuffbox and a handkerchief.
However, as senior archivist Ms Catriona Crowe explained, many of those who survived transportation and prison were then able to make prosperous lives for themselves. Australians now make up a substantial proportion of the foreign visitors who call in to the National Archives each year.
Aside from the documents on show and an exhibition detailing the history of the National Archives, visitors were also given a tour of normally-restricted areas. This included a visit to storage rooms, and a demonstration of how delicate, paper records are preserved.
Conservator Ms Zoe Reid revealed that paper - particularly old paper made from cotton - is considered better for preservation than most other data recording media. Compact discs, for instance, are estimated to only have a five-to-20 year life-span. However, this hasn't deterred the National Archives from producing its own CD-Rom, which will be launched in November.
"Counties in Time", which was demonstrated on Saturday, aims to introduce a sample of the records held in the archive to a wider audience. Ms Dympna Fahy, who had come up from Galway specially for the day, was particularly impressed. "There will be so much information for me that will be a big help," she said.
The idea for the open day came from Ms Aideen Ireland, head of reader services. She said the aim was to show the general public what was available in what she describes as a "terrific public facility". "The National Archive takes in all sorts of records - particularly those that are of interest to ordinary people," she said. Ms Ireland added that she was delighted with the response to the open day and hoped that it would become an annual event.
Seán Doyle, an 18-year-old student from Kildare, went to the National Archives to see if it could help him in a history topic he's working on for school.
"It was useful. I didn't even know it existed before," he said.
The National Archives office is open, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.