# The Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA): Connecting Artists and Archives

In this Botkin Lecture, Liam O’Connor, Director of the Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) in Dublin, discusses Ireland’s national reference archive and cultural resource center for Irish traditional song, instrumental music, and dance. Founded in 1987 and now the world’s largest specialist repository for Irish traditional performing arts, ITMA documents traditions and performers on the island of Ireland, within the Irish diaspora, and among global practitioners. The lecture explores how ITMA connects artists, archivists, and communities through archival preservation and creative programming, including initiatives such as the Drawing from the Well concert series, tours, and film projects that link archival research directly with the creation of new work, alongside expanding digital access to a living tradition. In addition, AFC folklorist Steve Winick provides an overview of the AFC’s Irish and Irish American holdings. Introductory remarks are provided by AFC Director Nicole Saylor and Stephen O’Shea, Press and Public Diplomacy Counsellor at the Embassy of Ireland in Washington.

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2026
- Runtime: 1 h 14 min
- By: Winick, Stephen
- Genres: Music
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/video-12014/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/video-12014?play=1)