In The Records Show, Katie Hannon explores the shelves of Ireland’s National Archives, digging out previously undisturbed documents, before heading out across the country to follow the trail of the stories behind them. The hundreds of thousands of records held at the National Archives have been gathered from all walks of life: there are maps, plans, secret reports, census returns, wills, prison and court records, as well as the archives of various government departments.
This three part series takes Katie from the surface of the moon to Steven Speilberg’s Co Wicklow bunker to the epicentre of Ireland’s international sports car industry – Castleblaney. She hears of a strictly no-nonsense judge and his moral vigilantes, a plan to turn Nelson’s Pillar into Ireland’s Statue of Liberty, an illegal arrival who has lunch with the President and both Lennon and McCartney turn up at the National Archives.
These files are an adventure. There are stories about astronauts, rock stars, and Hollywood actors … about presidents and Queens and royal banquets. But more than anything, The Records Show is about people and the lives lived in this country. Throughout this series Katie will be following the preparations for the much-anticipated release of the 1926 Census – the first to be taken since independence, revealing the story of those who lived through the birth of this nation.
Episode 1 – Sunday 14th September 2025
In the first episode of The Records Show, the Queen of England is wined and dined, a St Patrick’s Day tradition is born by accident and there’s an inventor who promises to make Ireland a world leader in the energy industry.
Episode 2: Sunday 21st September 2025
In the second episode of The Records Show, Katie rides in Ireland’s rarest car, the small seaside village of Curracloe becomes a war zone, a Rathmines shopkeeper becomes embroiled in the Dublin Castle scandal and there’s the curious case of rugby and the mugwumps.
Episode 3: Sunday 28th September 2025
In the third episode of The Records Show, Katie goes back to a time when Ireland had the best health service in Europe, there’s a Los Angeles-bound pilot who ‘accidentally’ lands in Baldonnel, Star Trek reunifies Ireland, a British war hero is blown to pieces and there’s the biggest event to hit Irish genealogy in generations.
The Records Show tells a number of stories of an emerging state and how it was documented and also shines a light on exactly how Ireland’s story is preserved and kept.
The series is produced by Midas Productions and is commissioned by RTÉ in association with the National Archives and is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.