The VOICES project, recently featured in the Irish Examiner, is a groundbreaking five-year ERC-funded initiative led by Prof. Jane Ohlmeyer, Erasmus Smith Professor of Modern History at Trinity College Dublin. The project unites historians and computer scientists to restore the lives of women in Ireland between c.1550 and 1700.
By leveraging transcription tools and generative AI, the team mines depositions, burial records, and other archival material to build a detailed knowledge graph mapping women’s relationships, activities, and experiences.
Among the project’s fascinating discoveries is Catherine Strong, a 17th-century “dung queen” of Dublin. Paid to clear streets of waste, Strong cleverly reduced the number of carts used, leaving the city awash in complaints, but boosting her own earnings. Fired by Dublin Corporation, she later became a money lender.
“This woman, a phenomenal entrepreneur, turned trash into treasure,” says Ohlmeyer. VOICES illustrates how AI and digital tools can piece together fragmented historical records, from documents damaged by rodents or fire to newly digitised archives, revealing lives previously hidden in plain sight.
By connecting these disparate sources, VOICES recovers the rich, complex stories of ordinary women whose contributions have long been overlooked.
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