In the run-up to the referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment in May 2018, a mural appeared near the George Bernard Shaw pub in Portobello, Dublin. The mural by Aches graffiti artists depicted Savita Halappanavar who died in Galway University Hospital in October 2012 following a septic miscarriage. Dublin City Library and Archive photographed some of the messages that were left at the Memorial Wall so that a record of these transient notes might be preserved for future scholars and historians on what was a transformative event in Irish social history.
No longer faceless or nameless – write the story of your First World War soldier
A long, long alphabetical list of 174,000 Allied soldiers who died on Belgian soil in the First World War; this is the new and emotive exhibit on display in Dublin City Library and Archive on Pearse Street until the end of March 2017.
Rare and Dramatic First-Hand Account of 1916 Rising
Dublin City Council’s Public Library Service organised a preview of a rare eye-witness account of the outbreak of the 1916 Easter Rising at The Mansion House, Dawson Street today (Wednesday, 27th May 2015).The letter was written by Elsie McDermid, a popular opera singer of the era. She was in Dublin to perform in Gilbert and Sullivan Shows at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. However, the performances were cancelled as a result of the dramatic outbreak of the Easter Rising on Monday 24th April 1916.
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association (RDFA) was established in 1996 to commemorate all Irish men and women who volunteered, served and died in the First World War 1914-1918. The RDFA fulfils its remit by organising public exhibitions, lectures, seminars, visits and the publication of a journal, Blue Cap. In 2005, the RDFA decided to place its archive with Dublin City Library and Archive, where it is available for public consultation in the Reading Room. The RDFA Archive is managed by Dublin City Archives.Note: The RDFA collects personal papers of individuals who participated in the First World War. Service records for the Royal Dublin Fusiliers are held in The National Archives, Kew, London.ExhibitionsDublin City Archives has generated a travelling exhibition based on the RDFA Archive, called Letters from the Great War. For further information, and to book this exhibition, e-mail [email protected]/001: Monica Roberts CollectionRDFA/014: Moriarty CollectionRDFA/017: The Keogh Collection PostcardsRDFA/020: Irish National War Memorial CommitteeDownload the various catalogues of the collections.