A collection of around 20,000 manuscripts, books and archive material has secured the Heritage Lottery Fund's (HLF) initial support in a bid for nearly £773,000, including development funding of £83,000 to protect and open up the rare collection.

The Servite Priory library at Benburb, Co. Tyrone, is made up of a number of valuable collections with some material dating back to the mid 16th century. The Servite and Marian collections provide the core of the collection but these are supported by excellent Irish literature and general religious collections. The library also contains extensive archival material relating to the Servites over the past 150 years, including personal records of 300 friars.

Some of the books have been in a Servite Library for over 400 years and have had an amazing journey to reach Benburb. Initially they would have been in Florence, Vicenza or Innsbruck. At the time of the Servite Friars coming to London in 1864 several volumes were brought there for safe-keeping during the time of Italian reunification.

In the late 1940s, when the Benburb Priory was founded, an excellent student library was established with some valuable endowments from the founding American friars. In the year 2000 with the amalgamation of the Irish and English friars, many of the books were brought to Benburb, from the English Servite Priories and the library there was expanded to its present size.

The planned project will see the restoration and preservation of the collection which is currently at risk of further deterioration as it is spread over five disjointed sites within the Priory. The project will also see the collection relocated to the Victorian stables building which will be refurbished to meet conservation requirements of the library material and create a space for people to meet, view and access the collection.

Paul Mullan, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund Northern Ireland, welcomed the initial award: "We consider the care of this collection a high priority and we are delighted to be able to give the project the necessary support to further develop their plans to secure funding. This is an incredibly valuable collection, and the outlined plan will provide the proper care and public access to an absorbing historical collection."

(CD)