The Methodist Historical Society of Ireland is a non-profit charitable organisation which has been serving Irish Methodism since 1926. Throughout this time its work has been supported entirely by members subscriptions and contributions from churches and circuits throughout Ireland.
Those who work at the archive and library every week do so in a voluntary capacity so that all funds go directly to the conservation and research facilities at the Edgehill centre. Each year as new material arrives for deposit items are cleaned, catalogued and placed in acid free folders and boxes. This and the programme of binding is costly but vital.
Centenary Project
In April 2020 the Society launched it’s most ambitious programme to date to mark the Society’s centenary in 2026. It is planned to digitise the MHSI library holdings of over 150 years of Irish Methodist periodicals. The aim is to unlock and give word search facilities to a recorded history that has significance not only to Irish Methodism but also Irish society, politics and religion.
The project is under way with the scanning of the first 20 years of the Christian Advocate (1883-1902) – a weekly periodical that ran at over 800 pages per year. The project has been entrusted to the Dublin-based firm Informa. The cost of this initial phase is covered by existing funds but going forward it will require the launch of an appeal to wider Methodism and also to commercial and charitable trusts.
All contributions towards this work are gratefully received and go directly towards the work of preserving the heritage of the Irish Methodist people.
The Methodist Historical Society of Ireland is a registered UK Charity. No. XT26552.
Registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland – NIC103661