London Met welcomed Irish Ambassador Martin Fraser and key community leaders for a tour of its Archive of the Irish in Britain, celebrating a "living history" of resilience
Date: 18 June 2026
On Monday 15 June, London Metropolitan University hosted a historic visit to its Learning Centre and the Archive of the Irish in Britain. The University welcomed the Irish Ambassador to Great Britain, Martin Fraser and his wife, Deidre, alongside Séamus MacCormaic, CEO of the London Irish Centre, and other distinguished guests.
With archived posters, books, oral histories and personal everyday items, a story of Irish resilience, LGBTQIA+ rights and cultural identity was shown with works that carried the essence of those who created them. The archive tells a story of cultural resistance and the importance of community built by and for the Irish public throughout the 20th century.
The visit began in the Special Collections Reading Room on the first floor, with a presentation on how London Met students engage with the archive through practical projects.
On the visit, Naomi Elliott, the Director of Library and Special Collections, said: “This has been an excellent opportunity to show off all the amazing archives that London Met has and the work that the team does to preserve and promote it.
“Every time you open a box there's something exciting in there. It's someone's history, a living thing. We want this archive to mean something, to become something bigger and to inspire community. That doesn't work if it’s just sitting in a box. It has no meaning if we don’t engage with it,” she added.
After a careful look at various works, the group visited the main archive store room where most of the pieces were stored. As the guests looked through the many boxes, Vice Chancellor Julie Hall was pleased to share her own connection to the archive, “I’ve got Irish heritage myself, so I was particularly interested in the archive. I’ve visited before but having the Irish ambassador here today was really special, I just had to be here for that,” she said.
The Special Collections team is dedicated to the preservation of and access to the Archive of the Irish in Britain, prioritising digitisation of records to make the work available on their online catalogue so students, staff and the wider public can access it for teaching and research.
David Baldwin, Head of Special Collections, said: “We were really pleased to welcome the Irish Ambassador to visit the Special Collections at the Learning Centre yesterday. It was a great opportunity to share student work and discuss how the Archive of the Irish in Britain supports school workshops, live brief projects and the National Saturday Club, showing the archive as a living archive, shaped by young people with learning and ongoing engagement with communities today" he said.
The Archive of the Irish in Britain and many others are available to students in the Learning Centre by appointment and online through the Special Collections catalogue.
