About Voices 16

A century on from the events of 1916, BBC Northern Ireland revisits the testimony of those who were witness to history and looks at how people's lives were affected by the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme.

These are not the stories of the history text books. Ordinary people lived through these tumultuous times and Voices 16 aims to bring their experiences to life.

Discover personal perspectives from those who experienced the events of 1916, as well as some of the social context during a pivotal year in Ireland's history.

Voices 16 on Twitter

Voices 16 on Twitter provides daily updates on life in Ireland 100 years ago throughout 2016. Newspaper reports and personal accounts mix to provide a rich picture of how people lived and what was reported back then.

Voices 16 characters

Get under the skin of the characters who provide the voices behind the project with biography pages that reflect the progression of our character's lives as the events of 1916 unfold.

Voices 16 objects

Watch historical objects come to life with short films that explore the history and importance of such artefacts as the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and the flag of the 36th Ulster Division at the Somme.

Creative collaborations

Voices 16 would not be possible without the vast resources made available to us by the families of our characters and our wide range of creative collaborators on the project, listed below...

• Church of Ireland (Representative Church Body)
• Creative Centenaries
• Inniskillings Museum
• Irish Jesuit Archives
• Libraries NI
• Linen Hall Library
• Living Legacies
• Military Archives Dublin
• National Archives of Ireland
• National Library of Ireland
• National Museums Northern Ireland
• Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
• Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum
• Royal Ulster Rifles Museum
• The Somme Association

We are also indebted to the archives of the following newspapers...

Northern dailies:

• Belfast News Letter
• Belfast Telegraph
• Irish News
• Northern Whig

Regional papers:

• Anglo-Celt
• Armagh Guardian
• Ballymena Observer
• Ballymoney Free Press
• Banbridge Chronicle
• Co Down Spectator
• Derry Journal
• Derry People & Donegal News
• Donegal Vindicator
• Downpatrick Recorder
• Drogheda Independent
• Dundalk Democrat
• Fermanagh Herald
• Fermanagh Times
• Frontier Sentinel
• Impartial Reporter
• Lisburn Herald
• Londonderry Sentinel
• Lurgan Mail
• Mid-Ulster Mail
• Newry Reporter
• Newtownards Spectator
• North Down Herald
• Northern Constitution
• Northern Standard
• Portadown Express
• Strabane Chronicle
• Tyrone Constitution
• Ulster Echo
• Ulster Guardian
• Ulster Herald