The 15th Annual Sir John T. Gilbert Lecture
Published on 9th February 2012
'Sir John T. Gilbert (1829-1898): Life, Works and Context' by Brendan Twomey.
Brendan Twomey spoke about John T. Gilbert at the 15th Annual Sir John T Gilbert commemorative lecture at Dublin City Library and Archive on 23 January 2012.
Born in 1829, Gilbert was author of the influential three volume 'History of the city of Dublin', published from 1857-59. He was a firm advocate of documenting the history of his native city using primary sources. His work on manuscripts relating to the city alerted him to the need for the preservation of Irish public records, many of which were in a neglected and vulnerable condition. He commenced a campaign, which eventually led to the setting up of the Public Records Office in the Four Courts. He calendared the records of Dublin Corporation, which date from the twelfth century, and began the series of printed volumes The calendar of ancient records of the city of Dublin.
John T. Gilbert's valuable library of mainly 17th and 18th century books and manuscripts relating to Dublin and Ireland was purchased by Dublin Corporation after his death in 1898. It forms the nucleus of the special collections of Dublin City Public Libraries.
Follow the lecture in its entirety here (duration 51 minutes, also Transcript):
Audio only
Brendan Twomey
Brendan Twomey has published many books on the history of Dublin including 'Dublin in 1707: A year in the life of the city' (2009) and 'Smithfield and the Parish of St Paul, Dublin 1698-1750' (2005).
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