In line with the national move to Level 5 Dublin City branch libraries are closed as and from Thursday December 24th until further notice. We continue to operate our home delivery and online services.
'History on your Doorstep' is back with a second volume of six short essays with the Historians in Residence bringing their research and stories to the page for your reading pleasure. Did you know that Lemon Street in Dublin city centre is named after Graham Lemon, the famous Dublin sweet-maker who set-up Lemon’s Sweets in 1842? Or that the Dublin Cattle market in Stoneybatter was once the busiest in Europe?From the ground breaking St. Ultan’s hospital for children, to the life-story of the gifted traditional musician Séamus Ennis, social housing on Dublin’s southside 100 years ago or the city and the War of Independence, there is something to show the history of Dublin, wherever you are in the city.'History on your Doorstep' is brought to you by Dublin City Council’s Historian in Residence programme. A team of six Historians in Residence work across Dublin city to talk to people about history and promote its sources, especially documents, photos, and books in Dublin City Libraries and Archives. The project is an initiative of Dublin City Council under the Decade of Commemorations (1919-22) and strives to break down barriers to history.History on your Doorstep Volume 2 is available in all Dublin City Libraries now in hardcopy only.In case you missed a copy of History on your Doorstep Volume 1, check out our online version of the booklet. (PDF). Or reserve it on our catalogue.
The 20th annual Sir John T. Gilbert Commemorative Lecture, 'Gentlemen’s Daughters in Dublin Cloisters: The social world of nuns in early eighteenth century Dublin', is now available for purchase in book form. The lecture looks at the social world of the communities of Poor Clare and Dominican nuns who established themselves in the Oxmantown/Grangegorman area of Dublin in the early eighteenth century. The 20th Gilbert lecture was given by Bernadette Cunningham, at Dublin City Library & Archive on Wednesday 25 January 2017.The book was launched on Wednesday, 24 January, on the occasion of the 21st Gilbert lecture at the Dublin City Library & Archive in Pearse Street. Price is €8 and details are available on how to purchase / check availability in the library catalogue.Listen to Bernadette's lecture "Gentlemen’s Daughters in Dublin Cloisters: The social world of nuns in early eighteenth century Dublin" on which the publication is based.Dr Bernadette Cunningham is Deputy Librarian at the Royal Irish Academy and she is an expert on the history of 17th and 18th century Ireland. She is a graduate of University College Galway and University College Dublin, with degrees in History and Political Science and a PhD in Irish. She holds a post graduate qualification in librarianship from Aberystwyth.Bernadette has published widely on early modern Irish culture and intellectual history. Books include The world of Geoffrey Keating (Dublin, 2000); The Annals of the Four Masters: Irish history, kingship and society in the early seventeenth century (Dublin, 2010); Clanricard and Thomond: 1540–1640: provincial politics and society transformed (Dublin, 2012), and (with Raymond Gillespie), Stories from Gaelic Ireland: microhistories from the sixteenth-century Irish annals (2003).
On Tuesday, 3rd October, 2017 in the Mansion House, Dawson Street, an tArdmhéara Míchéal Mac Donncha, launched a new Guide ‘Knowing Dublin – Know Your City Council’; an introduction to the work of Dublin City Council and the role of our elected representatives in the life of the city. Download a copy of Knowing Dublin - available in English and Irish.Knowing Dublin – Know Your City Council is a simple introduction to the work of Dublin City Council and the role of the elected representatives in the life of the city. It is a nuts and bolts piece, told in plain language, designed to inform those with little or no knowledge of the many services that the Council provides. As such, it is relevant for young adults, new citizens, immigrants, and anyone who wants to know more about how Dublin City functions. It is also a useful tool for teachers as a basis for class lessons.Listen back to Sheela Keane discussing 'Knowing Dublin - Know Your City Council' on NearFM's Northside Today programme: http://nearfm.ie/podcast/?p=23766Many thanks to NearFM for permission to reproduce this recording.“Local democracy is strengthened by the active participation of citizens working towards a shared future. The active engagement of citizens can lead to an improvement in the quality of services delivered and the quality of democratic debate and dialogue surrounding decisions about the future of the city. Tá an daonlathas aitiúl mar bunú d’ár daonlathas náisiúnta” said Ardmhéara Míchéal Mac Donncha.The guide describes in detail the work of the local government elected representatives. There is a strong emphasis on voting: how to vote and why it is so important that citizens use their vote.“One of the main aims of Dublin City Public Library Service is to inform, educate, and enhance the lives of the people it serves. This guide is designed to give citizens an understanding of the way local government functions; by doing so, it facilitates greater participation in the democratic process and strengthens our shared citizenship” commented Margaret Hayes, Dublin City Librarian.Download Knowing Dublin in English (PDF, 3.2MB) Cannot access PDF?Download Knowing Dublin in Irish (PDF, 3.15MB) Cannot access PDF? The Guide forms part of Dublin City Council’s calendar of events supporting Social Inclusion.
The 19th annual Sir John T. Gilbert Commemorative Lecture, 'Rioters, Looters, Lady Patrols & Mutineers: Some reflections on lesser visited aspects of the Irish Revolution in Dublin', is now available for purchase in book form. The lecture was given by Pádraig Yeates (in photo), at Dublin City Library & Archive on Thursday 21 January 2016.The book was launched on Wednesday, 25 January, on the occasion of the 20th Gilbert lecture at the Dublin City Library & Archive in Pearse Street. Price is €8 and details are available on how to purchase / check availability in the library catalogue.Listen to Pádraig Yeates' lecture "The women were worse than the men: crime in Dublin in 1916" on which the publication is based.Pádraig Yeates is a journalist, trade union activist and distinguished social and labour historian. He is an expert on the history of Dublin in the early decades of the 20th century. He is best known as the author of a series of books on Dublin in the revolutionary period as published between 2000 and 2015: A City in Wartime: Dublin 1914-1918, A City in Turmoil: Dublin, 1919-192 and A City in Civil War : Dublin, 1921-1924. He is the author Lockout, the standard work on the great 1913 labour dispute in Dublin.
On Tuesday 14 June, at 7.00pm, 'The Dublin Civic Portrait Collection: patronage, politics and patriotism, 1603–2013' by Dublin City Archivist Dr. Mary Clark will be launched in the Oak Room of Dublin's Mansion House. Lord Mayor of Dublin Críona Ní Dhálaigh will officially launch the book and Professor Christine Casey, Department of the History of Art & Architecture, Trinity College Dublin will be a guest speaker.Please join us to celebrate the publication of this unique and momentous book. Booking required in order to attend, please email [email protected] details / how to purchase. | In the Catalogue | View large image of book cover.About the BookBeginning in the early 17th century and continuing to the present day, the city of Dublin has built up a portrait collection that is unique on the island of Ireland in terms of range and diversity, and is brilliantly expressive of the political aspirations and realities that have informed its creation. The collection contains sixty-six works in oil-on-canvas and eight statues in bronze and marble. These can be placed in three principal categories: royal personages; lord lieutenants of Ireland; and lord mayors and aldermen of Dublin. It includes works by Irish artists Thomas Hickey, Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Martin Cregan, Stephen Catterson Smith, Dermod O’Brien, Robert Ballagh and Carey Clarke and by leading English portraitists including Sir Joshua Reynolds, George Romney, Sir William Beechey and Sir Thomas Lawrence.This book contains a catalogue of the entire collection with an introduction placing it within the broader context of civic imagery and regalia, giving due regard to ceremony, heraldry, dress and accoutrements of office. The Dublin collection is placed within its historical context to show how developments in Dublin and in Ireland as a whole influenced its formation. This lavishly illustrated book illuminates the complex relationship between politics, pageantry, art and history in the Irish capital over a sustained period of 400 years.It is published by Four Courts Press and supported by Dublin City Council.
Dublin City Council had a strong connection to the 1916 Rising through the involvement of elected members and Dublin Corporation employees, while the City Hall was a garrison building, held by the Irish Citizen Army. A new book, Dublin City Council and the 1916 Rising, published on 9 May, is the first detailed study of the impact of Dublin City Council on the 1916 Rising and in turn its effect on the council. The thirteen essays in this book, researched and written by experts in their field, explore the events and strategies leading into and following the Rising as it concerned the City Council.The book features biographies of 151 persons who were involved in the Rising and were either employed by the Council at the time, or subsequently. This wide-ranging book is essential for a complete understanding of the Rising.A number of elected members of Dublin City Council fought in 1916, including Councillor Richard O’Carroll, who fought with the Irish Volunteers at an outpost of Jacob’s Factory. Two of the men executed after the Rising – Eamonn Ceannt and John MacBride – were council employees. Ceannt, also known as Edmund T. Kent, was a valued employee in the Rates Department, while Major MacBride was the city’s Water-Bailiff. City Hall, the Corporation’s premier building, was garrisoned on Easter Monday by the Irish Citizen Army under Captain Sean Connolly, who in civilian life was an official in the Motor Registration Department; his brother Joseph Connolly, a member of Dublin Fire Brigade, fought with Michael Mallin and Countess Markiewicz at the College of Surgeons. Ever concerned with delivering information services, staff of Dublin Public Libraries also played an active role in communications during the Rising.The contributors are Sheila Carden, Shay Cody, Evelyn Conway, Donal Fallon, Las Fallon, David Flood, John Gibney, Anthony Jordan, Conor McNamara, Martin Maguire, Thomas J. Morrissey SJ, Seamus Ó Maitiú, Lawrence White, Padraig Yeates.The book is edited by John Gibney, a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the author of several books on Irish history. He has been a research fellow at the University of Notre Dame and NUI Galway. In 2012 he produced the acclaimed RTÉ Radio 1 documentary The Animal Gangs (broadcast July 2012) on the folklore of inner city Dublin. He has worked in heritage tourism in Dublin since 2001.The book is available from Four Courts Press and other bookshops.
Seeing the year that's in it, Dublin City Council and its Library Service are delighted to be publishing three new titles in the Decade of Commemorations series. The first of these, 'Richmond Barracks 1916: We were there, 77 women of the Easter Rising', was launched on Tuesday night last (8th March), and we just yesterday posted photos of the launch here on our blog. Another publication in this series is due to follow in April, namely 'Dublin City Council and The 1916 Rising' edited by John Gibney. But lest you think that's it, read on!Right: Finnian O Cionnaith was interviewed about his new book by Pat Kenny for The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk 106-108FM . (view larger image)The first publication we delivered this year was that of the 18th annual Sir John T. Gilbert commemorative lecture, delivered in January 2015, titled 'Dublin in its Global Setting: From Wood Quay to Silicon City' and authored by Kevin Whelan. Details of the other seventeen titles in the series are also available on our Publications page.On the 10th February an tArdmhéara Críona Ní Dhálaigh launched a new book titled ‘Exercise of Authority’ and written by Finnian O‘Cionnaith. This book tells the story of the formative years of the Georgian Paving Board who were responsible for paving, cleansing and lighting of 18th century Dublin, from the viewpoint of one of its most important officers, surveyor Thomas Owen.‘Exercise of Authority’ is the second in a new series of books issued by Dublin City Council which explores the engineering history and heritage of Dublin city. This richly-illustrated book is essential for a complete understanding of Georgian Dublin. The legacy of the Paving Board can still be seen today in the antique setts and granite kerbstones which can be found in Dublin’s historic core. (read the full press release)On Wednesday night last (9th March), an tArdmhéara Críona Ní Dhálaigh launched yet another new book, titled 'The Three Castles of Dublin' written by Michael English. This fascinating and richly illustrated book follows the eclectic history of the city as it tracks the evolution of this notable graphic symbol that has remained the official symbol of the city for nearly 800 years.Dublin City Council is also pleased to support two new books during this, the centenary of the 1916 Rising. These are 'The GPO Garrison Easter 1916: A Biographical Dictionary' by Jimmy Wren, and 'More than Concrete Blocks: Dublin’s Buildings and Their Stories (Volume I, 1900-1939)', edited by Dr. Ellen Rowley (due in May 2016).Most of the titles above are available for purchase from Four Courts Press and other bookshops, also to borrow from Dublin City Public Libraries.
Launch of Richmond Barracks 1916: We were there - photos
The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Críona Ní Dhálaigh, launched the book 'Richmond Barracks 1916: We were there, 77 women of the Easter Rising' to a packed audience at the Chapel, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin 8, on International Women's Day, Tuesday, 8 March 2016. This new publication gives voice to the 77 women who were arrested and held at Richmond Barracks following the Easter Rising. A leather bound edition of the book was presented to President Higgins and Lord Mayor Críona Ní Dhálaigh. The audience was entertained by an instrumental performance by Cora Venus Lunny and and Kate Ellis, poetry recitals by Jo Kennedy and Jane Clarke and Damien Dempsey singing Aunt Jennie.The 77 Women Commemoration Quilt was also unveiled at the event. This unique quilt commemorates the 77 women arrested after the Easter Rising and forms a link to the present through the 77 contemporary women who crafted each special panel.View the photo slideshow of the event below. View the photos on flickr.Lord Mayor Críona Ní Dhálaigh said:This excellent book, We were There, 77 Women of the Easter Rising, shines a light on the women of the rising and in many ways unfreezes them, it shows their legacy of activism, in labour, nationalist and feminist politics. The legacy that many of us, women from all our different backgrounds have taken up.
This International Women's Day we remember the women of the 1916 Rising and their place in Irish history. You can discover more about these women and their determined commitment to Ireland’s revolutionary movement in a new book Richmond Barracks 1916: We were there, 77 women of the Easter Rising.All over Dublin city on Easter Monday morning 1916 hundreds of women assembled and marched with their male comrades to their appointed garrison positions to take part in the uprising. Women of the Irish Citizen Army, Cumann na mBan, the Clan na nGaedheal Girl Scouts and individual women spent the next few days running first aid stations, cooking, provisioning, fighting and, crucially, delivering dispatches and food between the insurgent outposts, running the risk of death as they dodged bullets in a city in revolt.After the surrender, seventy-seven of these women were arrested along with their male colleagues and taken to Richmond Barracks in Inchicore, a British Army stronghold on the southside of the city where they were held overnight in the married quarters of the Barracks. It is these seventy-seven women, representing a cross section of Irish society at a pivotal time in Irish history, whose histories, activism and legacies form the nucleus of this new book, published today by Dublin City Council.The book includes detailed biographies of the seventy-seven women accompanied by historical essays providing a deep and unique standpoint on how the Rising and the garrison battles were experienced by women and in particular the seventy-seven women. The research reveals the motivations and the triggers that led to women becoming active in labour, nationalist and feminist politic, their politicisation in the period preceding the Rising and what happened to them after Independence.The book is available to borrow from Dublin City Public Libraries and can be bought in bookshops (distributor: Four Courts Press)Our 1916: The Women behind the Men image gallery also offers an insight into the integral role of women before, during and in the aftermath of the Rising. Although it is well known that Countess Constance Markievicz fought in St Stephen’s Green, other important roles played by Cumann na mBan and women such as Dr Kathleen Lynn, Elizabeth O'Farrell and Margaret Skinnider are perhaps less known. Read more about 1916: the Women Behind the Men. Photograph right: Margaret Skinnider wearing boy’s clothes. From Doing my bit for Ireland by M. Skinnider, New York, 1917. (click on image to see more)
The 18th annual Sir John T. Gilbert Commemorative Lecture, 'Dublin as a global city: through time and space', is now available for purchase in book form. The lecture was given by Kevin Whelan (in photo), Director, Keough-Naughton Institute, Notre Dame Centre in Dublin at the Dublin City Library & Archive on Thursday 22 January 2015.The book was launched on Thursday, 21st January, on the occasion of the 19th such lecture at the Dublin City Library & Archive in Pearse Street. Price is €8 and details are available on how to purchase.
