Summer Stars runs from Tues 4 June to Sat 31 August. Get Reading! Now that school is over you can still spark your imagination, join in activities and take part in our exciting Summer Stars challenge.
The general strike as a political weapon was used very effectively in Ireland on several occasions between 1918 to 1922. It was part of the successful resistance to the imposition of conscription in April 1918. One hundred years ago, on 12 April 1920, worked ceased all over the country, but especially in Dublin, as another general strike was called.Several thousand republicans had been imprisoned in previous months, as part of the British government’s response to events in the War of Independence. Over one hundred political prisoners were in Mountjoy Gaol in April 1920, when many of them decided to go on hunger strike in protest against the absence of formal charges against them. They were also angry that the authorities were breaching an agreement to treat them as prisoners-of-war rather than criminals.At Mountjoy Gaol tens of thousands of people demonstrated outside for the release of the republican prisoners. Women were especially prominent in the demonstrations, many of them on their knees and praying for the hunger strikers. British army soldiers were posted behind the walls of the gaol, which were covered with barbed wire to prevent any attempt to break in and release the prisoners. Soldiers were standing with bayonets fixed while Royal Air Force planes flew towards the crowd at rooftop height, to intimidate them.The Irish trade unions - led by the Irish Transport and General Workers Union - organised a general strike in support of the hunger strikers and all the political prisoners. In many areas the strike committees took over the organisation of civic duties like food distribution and policing. After two days of general strike, on 12 and 13 April, the British authorities caved in and released all the republican prisoners. It was an effective demonstration of the general strike’s use as a political weapon.Sometimes economic and political demands could be mixed. On 17 April the dockers at the North Wall refused to load food for England. This action relieved the scarcity in Dublin, which was particularly bad in these years when large quantities were being shipped to Britain under the food control orders. In May 1920, railway workers began refusing to move British troops or military supplies in Ireland, restricting the military to the use of roads, which were constantly being trenched and blocked by IRA guerrillas. The boycott lasted until the end of the year, when the men were instructed to finish it to stave off the danger of retaliation by the state.Want to spend this ‘Stay At Home’ time reading, or even studying more history? Why not try out some of Dublin City Libraries history resources, you can use them with your library card and everything is free:BorrowBox has lots of history books including historical novels, non-fiction tomes and history audio books.RBDigital app has history magazines like BBC History, Military History and the genealogy magazine Who Do You Think You Are. Browse and download over 43,000 old photographs, maps and documents and thousands of old photographs, maps and historical documents available free-of-charge on our digital repository and image galleries.Find out the history and provenance of Dublin place names and monuments with the Historians in Residence live Facebook talks (https://www.facebook.com/DubHistorians) and online video lectures. On the library blog you can read the historians’ quick reads on topical subjects like the flu pandemic of 100 years ago, Molly Malone (did she really die of a fever?), when Dublin Telephonists challenged the government, and lots more.Read the book of local history essays written by Dublin City Council’s Historians in Residence History on Your Doorstep Volume 1. Dublin City Council’s history on your doorstep programme brings this history & heritage to life.There are 30 online history courses on Universal Class complete with assignments and a tutor, including the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, Ancient Civilisations, and economic history.Keep in touch by following us on twitter at @histfest @dubhistoriansMary Muldowney, Historian in Residence Dublin City Council, Central Area
While #stayathome is in force lots of people are getting to spend more time in their own local area. As you stroll around your 2km zone, you may not know that you’re surrounded by history and heritage, in the streets and buildings that make up our city and suburbs!Dublin City Council’s history on your doorstep programme brings this history & heritage to life.Do you know how your housing estate or street got its name? Join Cathy Scuffil in her live Facebook talks on the street names and place names of some of Dublin's best loved areas, including the Liberties and the housing estates in Crumlin, Ballyfermot and Drimnagh.Watch out for history on your doorstep panels and read about the place you are standing in, and see what your area looked like in the past through the thousands of photographs online in our digital collections.You may not be able to visit the City Centre, but James Curry’s illustrated videos about the statues on O’Connell Street, the City’s bridges, and other monuments, will give you lots to think about. You can find out that mistakes are sometimes set in stone, how Dubliners were able to drink the water, and why Rosie Hackett came to be celebrated in a bridge over the Liffey.On the library blog you can read the historians’ quick reads on topical subjects like the flu pandemic of 100 years ago, Molly Malone (did she really die of a fever?), the general strike of April 1920 and lots more.Podcasts are great company on a walk or doing the ironing, and we have a brilliant selection of talks from international and Irish historians on the Dublin Festival of History podcast. With two episodes a week you’ll have hours of listening with topics including the War of Independence, the Crusades, the rise of Hitler, and Great Irish speeches. Subscribe now!We also have lots of reading material, with a great selection of history books on BorrowBox and history magazines on RBDigital, and thousands of old photographs, maps and historical documents available free-of-charge on our digital repository and image galleries.Keep in touch by following us on twitter at @histfest @dubhistoriansSo, while you #stayathome, why need visit the city and the world through great history content, brought to you by Dublin City Council.
Whatever your area of interest, we have an online resource for you. Today we’re going to take a look at The Great Courses Library Collection. This resource gives our library members access to an amazing world of knowledge.
Down by The Salley Gardens, Thíos cois garraithe na Saillí le WB Yeats
Bhain slua maith taitneamh as seo ó Ghuthanna Binne Síoraí (Everlasting Voices) ar Lá Filíochta na hÉireann, Déardaoin, 26 d’Aibreáin i mBliain na Gaeilge, 2018. Bhí filíocht ó WB Yeats curtha i láthair i mbéarla agus Gaeilge ag Cathal Quinn, Acadamh Lir agus seinnteoir, Enda Reilly. D’aistrigh Gabriel Rosenstock na dánta ó bhéarla go Gaeilge.We celebrated Poetry Day Ireland, 26 April and Bliain na Gaeilge with a great event, "I Hear It in the Deep Heart’s Core" with Guthanna Binne Síoraí at Dublin City Library and Archive.
In April and May of 2017 Dolphin's Barn Library hosted a series of workshops where young historians learned how to combine research, storytelling, drawing and digital animation to tell a tale from Irish history.Expert facilitators included historian Conor Kostick and author and illustrator Alan Nolan. The result is this exciting video set in Dublin 1920.
Dublin: A Year in Words is a Dublin UNESCO City of Literature project which showcased the breadth and diversity of our city’s living poets through a year-long series of poetry videos filmed across 12 Dublin bookshops.Like the city itself, the poets featured in the series are more than the sum of their parts. Collectively they tell of a Dublin full of light and shade, a city of contradictions, in constant flux. They show us that the story of Dublin is everybody’s to tell. It has no fixed points. Beyond wild, it exists far more in the unspoken and the unseen than any attempt to distil it down to a neat package can do justice to. And yet it is our poets perhaps more than anyone who have grappled with the task of laying our lifelines bare and bringing voice to the city. Dublin A Year in Words presents a cross-section of 12 poets who do just that, filmed in establishments that keep the city’s essence alive.Here's a playlist featuring all 12 poems from the series:'Dublin' by Kerrie O'Brien filmed at Books Upstairs. (August 2016)'Native' by John Cummins filmed at The Winding Stair. (September 2016)'You Think I wear this for you?' by Raneem Saleh filmed at An Siopa Leabhar. (October 2016)'vinyl Sublime' by Richard Brennan The Secret Book & Record Store. (November 2016)'The Ghost Song' by Paula Meehan filmed at Ulysses Rare Books. (December 2016)'Grangegorman' by Hazel Hogan filmed at Oxfam Books. (January 2017)'Story Buddleia' by Ophelia Mc Cabe filmed at Hodges Figgis bookstore. (February 2017)'Six Harcourt Street (An Conradh)' by Ciara Ní É filmed at Forbidden Planet. (March 2017)'City of Foot Soldiers' by Matty Tamen filmed at Eason Bookshop. (April 2017)'Some Advice' by Darragh O'Reilly filmed at Alan Hanna's bookshop. (May 2017)'Lullaby' by Stephen Clare filmed at Rathgar Bookshop. (June 2017)'Críochfort' by MC Muipéad filmed at the Gutter Bookshop. (July 2017)Dublin: A Year in Words is a celebration of what is happening in ‘the now’, supporting our living poets instead of drawing from the past.Dublin: A Year in Words was curated by Linda Devlin and Stephen James Smith and filmed by Design for Life.This Dublin UNESCO City of Literature project is kindly supported by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Highlights from the International Dublin Literary Award 2017
On Wednesday, 21 June author Jose Eduardo Agualusa and translator Daniel Hahn were announced as winners of the 2017 International DUBLIN Literary Award for Agualusa's novel A General Theory of Oblivion. The Award is organised and sponsored by Dublin City Council and at €100,000 is the world's largest prize for a single novel published in English.
Messines Peace Park: Its contribution to Irish-British reconciliation
Dublin City Library and Archive and The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association presented a seminar titled 'Messines Peace Park: Its contribution to Irish-British reconciliation' on Friday 19 May at The Council Chamber, City Hall, Dame Street.
Listen to Liz D’Arcy talk about conserving the Wide Street Commission Maps. Hear how she painstakingly removed sellotape, cleaned, repaired and strengthened these important maps. Liz D'Arcy, Paperworks, Studio for Paper Conservation is qualified with an MA in Conservation of Fine Art on Paper. Liz is an accredited member of the 'Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic works in Ireland' (I.C.H.A.W.I) and a member of the 'Irish Professional Conservators and Restorers Association' (I.P.C.R.A).Between 1757- 1851, the Wide Street Commission had a major impact on the development of the city, transforming it from a medieval city to the Dublin we know today. Its function was to provide “Wide and Convenient Streets” for Dublin and it had extensive powers to acquire property by compulsory purchase, develop new streets, demolish buildings and impose design standards on building lots which were sold to developers. Dublin City Archives hold the Wide Street Commission Archives, which comprises maps, minute books and drawings. www.dublincityarchives.ieRead more about the conservation project and view Wide Street Commission map collection image gallery.Search and browse the Archive of the Wide Street Commission Maps online.Conserving Wide Street Commission Maps - TranscriptAudio only:Recorded at Dublin City Hall on 24 August 2016 at Dublin City Archives' 'Living in Georgian Dublin' seminar. Part of Heritage Week 2016 programme.Dublin City Archives is grateful to the Heritage Council of Ireland for funding under the Heritage Management Project Scheme 2016 to conserve 23 Wide Street Commission Maps in 2016. Conservation NoticeIn order to reduce handling damage and to ensure the long term preservation of these fragile maps, all researchers are requested to view the digitised images in the first instance. High-Res versions can be provided on request. Viewing of original maps is strictly by appointment only: please apply to [email protected]. Please note: A minimum of 3 days notice is required to process your request and a maximum of 10 maps may be ordered per visit.