● Newspapers: They report on political, social and sporting events.
● Government records: Data from the Central Statistics Office gives
us
information on births, deaths and much more in Ireland. This information is collected from a national census that takes place every six years.
● Diaries: If someone keeps a diary, they keep a record of their day-to-day
lives and events.
● Correspondence (e.g. letters/emails): When people write letters and emails
they comment on events happening around them.
that are
● Speeches: Political speeches made in parliament or at events are often recorded. ● Interviews: These are recorded conversations with someone about their life and their experiences.
● Photographs: Historians can see exactly what happened by looking at photos of events. Photos also show how people dressed at that time.
● Paintings and posters: Before the camera was invented, people had to paint what they saw. Therefore, paintings are very useful because they often show important events, allowing historians
to see what happened and who was involved.
● Autobiographies: Famous figures – political and otherwise – sometimes write an account of their lives. This can be a very useful primary source as the person was present for all of the events that
took place in his/her life. Source A
Fig 1.2 The diary of Anne Frank tells us about her life and how she felt. We can learn from it what it must have been like for a girl your age during World War II.
Looking at the evidence
The photograph on the left shows Vladimir Lenin, leader of Russia, giving a speech while Leon Trotsky stands beside the podium surveying the crowd. Later, Trotskywas removed from the photo – see the photograph on the right. Why do you think Trotsky was removed from this picture?