Blogs

In the wake of the Norman Invasion of Ireland, Dublin was seized in 1170 by Richard de Clare, better known as Strongbow.  Watch a recording of a seminar organised by Friends of Medieval Dublin and Dublin City Libraries to mark the 850th anniversary of Henry II’s grant of Dublin to Bristol, 1171–72.

The City Hall lectures started in September 2001, the format is that lectures take place at lunchtime, each Tuesday in April and October, and a specific Dublin-related theme is chosen for each month. 2021 marks the 34th lecture series.

Book Launch - Thomas Fitzpatrick and The Lepracaun Cartoon Monthly 1905-1915.Dublin City Public Libraries and Archive has announced the publication of a new book which promises to offer the reader an irreverent take on a tumultuous period in Irish History.James Curry and Ciarán Wallace’s new book 'Thomas Fitzpatrick and The Lepracaun Cartoon Monthly 1905-1915' introduces a new generation of readers to the work of Thomas Fitzpatrick owner and chief cartoonist of the ‘Lepracaun’ monthly which was a best seller on Dublin’s news-stands a century ago.View Book Launch Photo slideshow below.Browse and search The Lepracaun Cartoon Collection online.The monthly satirised the leading politicians, publicans, clerics, suffragettes, trade unionists and industrialists of its day for the price of a penny. It also countered the ape-like Irishman and the noble figure of ‘Pat’ that featured in the contemporary London publication Punch.Dublin’s Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr. Larry O’Toole launched the new book at Dublin City Library & Archive, 136-144 Pearse St, Dublin 2 on Thursday 19th February. He said "This new publication reminds us of how courageously the ‘Lepracaun’ took aim at the vested interests of its day. At a time when some would seek to question the value of satire in society I congratulate the book's authors and Dublin City Council’s library service for publishing this book."View the The Lepracaun Cartoon Monthly and the 1913-14 Dublin lockout Image Gallery.Author James Curry said, "in a decade when separatists, suffragettes, home rulers and unionists were battling for Ireland’s future – the ‘Lepracaun’s’ cartoonists were spoilt for choice."His co-author Ciarán Wallace said "The ‘Lepracaun’ lampooned it all: the arrival of the motor-car, Dublin’s slums and hilarious fashions in hats appear alongside votes for women, workers’ rights and the Ulster Crisis."See below photo slideshow from the launch :Check for the Publication in the Library Catalogue.Watch this fabulous interactive video, courtesy of RTÉ  (view on RTÉ website)

John Thomas Gilbert, born in Dublin on the 23rd January 1829, was the author of the influential three-volume 'History of the City of Dublin', published from 1854-59. He was a firm advocate of documenting the history of his native city using primary sources.

Monday, 26th August, marked the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the strike in Dublin of 700 tramway-men belonging to James Larkin’s Irish Transport and  General Workers’ Union (IT&GWU), a strike that developed into a general lockout of union members. On 30th August 1913 there were riots in Ringsend, Beresford Place and Eden Quay, during which the police baton-charged the crowds. One hundred years ago next Saturday (31st August) James Larkin, wearing a beard as a disguise, spoke to striking tramway workers from the balcony of the Imperial Hotel, O’Connell Street (now Clery’s Department Store). A riot followed Larkin's arrest at the event, and over 600 people were treated in hospital for injuries. That day became known as "Bloody Sunday".Left: Image from A Capital in Conflict, Dublin City and the 1913 Lockout. Copyright: Dublin City Library & ArchiveThe Lockout continued into January 1914 when the IT&GWU finally called off the strike and advised its members to return to work. In the intervening period, with over 20,000 workers either on strike or locked out, families enduring widespread hardship, poverty and hunger. Right: William Martin Murphy, the owner of the Dublin Tramway Company who locked out members of the IT&GWU who refused to sign a pledge and leave the union. Picture is from "The Lady of the House 1910".EventsDublin City Public Libraries and Archive has organised a number of events over the coming months to mark the centenary of the 1913 lockout, including the following:Digging the Monto: tenement archaeology and the 1913 Dublin Lockout (photographic exhibition).Jacob’s Biscuit Factory and the 1913 Lockout (lecture), City Hall, Tuesday 1st October.Collapse of Church Street tenements in 1913 (lecture), Central Library, Wednesday 2nd October.Women, children and food provision in the 1913 Lockout (lecture), Charleville Mall Library, Thursday 3rd October.The story behind the Jim Larkin Monument on O'Connell Street (lecture), Dublin City Library and Archive (Pearse Street), Saturday 5th October.An inspiration to all who gaze upon it: the Jim Larkin statue (lecture), Marino Library, Monday 7th October.The above listed lectures form part of the programme for the Dublin Festival of History 2013, an initiative of Dublin City Council's library and archive service, which runs from 26th September until the 9th October. Further events marking the 1913 lockout centenary will be publicised in due course on the Libraries' Events listings page.Image GalleriesA number of our online galleries contain images of Dublin from the period around the 1913 lockout. At this time the city could indeed have been described as being in the midst of the worst of times. The lockout brought immeasurable suffering to the families of those involved, adding yet another circle of hell to the lives of those living in the slums, slums which had been justly described as “infernos of degradation.” Our images galleries Derelict Dublin and Dirt and Disease give some insight into the lives of these people.Yet there was another side to life in the city at the time. To learn more about a Dublin of contrasts, read A Tale of Two Cities and view the associated image gallery.Further LinksCentury Ireland (Online newspaper hosted by RTÉ. A collaborative partnership, the project is funded by the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht).1913 Committee.A Capital in Conflict, Dublin City and the 1913 Lockout (Publication).The Dublin Lockout (National Library of Ireland Exhibition).RTÉ Radio One Lockout Website.Library Catalogue (Subject: Dublin, Lockout, 1913, History)

Dublin Digital Day Event, Grafton Street, Friday, 8th March.Create a digital memory, using your old photographs, on Digital Dublin Day, Friday 8th March. Do you have some old photographs of Dublin or Dubliners lying around at home? Perhaps a snapshot of friends meeting under Clery's Clock? Or photographs that show Dublin shops, pubs or other buildings in the background?Or perhaps you have photographs of friends or family doing jobs that no longer even exist? You might not think these photographs are important or of interest to anyone else - but Dublin has changed so much over the years that even photos taken ten or twenty years ago can show parts of Dublin that look very different to what we see today. We have found people love looking at photographs of Dublin as they remember it in their own youth - no matter if that was in the more recent 1990s or 1980s or as far back as the 1950s or 1940s or even earlier!We would love you to bring your photographs in to Grafton Street, in the centre of Dublin on Friday next, 8th March, Digital Dublin Day. Library staff will be on hand in our Library Learning Bus to scan your photographs and upload them to the internet to share with the wider world.We will be parked at the top of Grafton Street, at the corner of Stephen's Green, between 10am and 4pm. Look out for the Big Blue Bus!There is no charge for this event, which is part of a citywide series of events to mark Digital Dublin Day. Digital Dublin Day is a day of fun, designed to demonstrate to Dubliners the impact and potential of modern digital technologies and to encourage innovation and creativity in the ways we all harness technology in the city. So - join us in creating more digital memories, for ourselves and for the future!