ICRI Heritage Week: Conservation in Practice

Join the Institute of Conservator-Restorers in Ireland (ICRI) for two back-to-back talks from conservation professionals at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and National Museums NI.

Sarah Graham, Head of Conservation at PRONI, will explore how preventive conservation has enabled original archival documents to travel beyond Belfast through loans and outreach programmes. The talk will examine the practical measures that support the safe display of original records while broadening public access to Northern Ireland's documentary heritage.

The second presentation, delivered by Rebecca Laverty, Bethany Skuce and Harriet Gillespie of National Museums NI, examines the conservation and interpretation of collections relating to the Troubles. Through case studies including attenuating energy projectiles ("plastic bullets") and paper objects on long-term display, the speakers will discuss the challenges of preserving contested heritage, caring for unstable materials, and balancing preventive conservation with public access and collective memory.

Together, these presentations offer insight into the diverse role of conservation across archives and museums, highlighting the practical, ethical and interpretative challenges involved in caring for collections of national significance.

Speaker's bio

Sarah Graham is Head of Conservation at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and an accredited book and paper conservator. She graduated from Lincoln University and was an intern at the National Archives of Ireland and Glasgow University. Sarah went on to be a project conservator at Glasgow before moving to The London Archives to work on their Anglo-Jewish collections. She returned to Ireland in 2018 and was book conservator at Maynooth University before taking up her current role at PRONI.

Rebecca Laverty is a Curator of Modern History at National Museums NI, working with the Ulster Museum collection and covering the period 1500-present day.

Bethany Skuce is an Object Conservator at National Museums NI. She has a primary responsibility for the multidisciplinary History and Art collections of the Ulster Museum.

Harriet Gillespie is the paper conservator for National Museums N. Her remit includes wokring across art, modern history, folk and transport collections.