Blogs

On December 6, 1922, the Irish Free State came formally into existence after the Free State Act gave effect to the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was exactly one year after the signing of the Treaty. Under the Free State Act, the Governor General would be the King’s representative in Ireland. The first holder of the post was former Irish Parliamentary Party MP Timothy Healy, who was sworn in at his home in Chapelizod.Opposite an undated portrait of Tim Healy (Dixon Slides Collection, DCLA)Healy was born in Bantry, Co. Cork in 1855. He worked in England as a railway clerk and then from 1878 in London as parliamentary correspondent of the Nation. He followed the family participation in Irish politics (his elder brother Thomas was a solicitor and Member of Parliament for North Wexford and his younger brother Maurice was a solicitor and MP for Cork City. After being arrested for intimidation in connection with the Land League, Tim was elected as MP for Wexford in 1880.In Parliament Healy became an authority on the Irish land question, and created the ‘Healy Clause’ of the Land Act of 1881, which protected tenant farmers’ agrarian improvements from rent increases imposed by landlords. This not only made him popular throughout nationalist Ireland but also won seats for the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) in Protestant Ulster. He was called to the Bar in 1884 and became a Queen’s Counsel in 1899In the IPP, Healy’s relations with Parnell were always strained and he finally broke with ‘the Chief’ in 1886 when the Kitty O’Shea divorce scandal became common knowledge. Although he was a strong supporter of Home Rule, he was not an admirer of Parnell’s successors in the IPP and he supported Sinn Féin after 1917.During the War of Independence, Healy recognised the futility of the insistence by the Ireland Secretary, Sir Hamar Greenwood that the IRA should surrender their arms before engaging in talks about a truce. He said:The point I gather, taken by the blessed Cabinet donkeys, was that the Shins should surrender arms before a truce. This is worthy of Gallipoli, Antwerp, Deniken, Wrangel and the cohort of cods. I am for doing business and making peace.Because he was regarded as an elder statesman by the British and Irish governments, both sides proposed him in 1922 as governor-general of the new Irish Free State. The Office of Governor-General was largely ceremonial but many Nationalists regarded the existence of the office as offensive to republican principles and a symbol of continued Irish involvement in the United Kingdom.The office's role was diminished over time by the Irish Government and it was officially abolished on 11 December 1936. The Irish government set the term of office for the Governor General at five years. Tim Healy died at his home in Chapelizod in March 1931, aged 75 years.Dublin Irish and Local Studies The Dublin and Irish Local Studies Collection includes new and second-hand material on Dublin City and County covering a range of books, newspapers, periodicals, photographs, maps, prints, drawings, theatre programmes, playbills, posters, ballad sheets, audiovisual materials and ephemera. Library and archive material cannot be borrowed or removed from the Reading Room. Collections can be accessed by filling out request forms and can be viewed in the Reading Room only.Blop post by: Dr Mary Muldowney, Dublin City Council Historian in Residence, Dublin Central. 

Muhammad Ali (1942-2016), the most iconic athlete of the twentieth century possessed Irish ancestry and visited Ireland on three occasions during his lifetime. Accompanied by his fourth wife Lonnie, Ali’s final visit to Ireland occurred in 2009. After attending a fundraising dinner at the Ballsbridge Court Hotel in Dublin, he travelled westwards to Clare and received the honour of becoming the first Freeman of Ennis during a civic reception held at Waterpark House, Drumbiggle.In Ennis, the birthplace of his maternal great-grandfather Abe Grady, Ali unveiled a monument at Turnpike Road commemorating his visit and the recent launch of the ‘Alltech Muhammad Ali Center Global Education and Charitable Fund’, and attended another fundraising event held at Dromoland Castle.Ali’s previous visit to Ireland had occurred during the summer of 2003, when he was among the special guests in attendance at Croke Park for the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics World Summer Games, the first time that this event was held outside the United States. Ali won a Gold Medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome when aged only eighteen, and in a moving spectacle overcame his Parkinson’s syndrome to light the Olympic Flame during the opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. While in Dublin for a second time, Ali enthusiastically mingled with Special Olympics athletes across the city and met former South African President Nelson Mandela at the Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge the morning after the event’s opening ceremony.Famously, Ali’s first Irish trip took place in the summer of 1972 when he fought at Croke Park against Alvin ‘Blue’ Lewis, a tough and powerful yet limited fighter from Detroit. Touched by the friendliness and sincerity of the Irish people, Ali was also exasperated at the almost total whiteness of the local populace and isolation of his hotel on the outskirts of south county Dublin, where he stayed for nine nights. The fight, which occurred on 19 July 1972, was a one-sided yet spirited affair in which Ali dominated his game opponent while rarely getting out of second gear, perhaps due to a head-cold he had caught a couple of days earlier.Ali dropped the Michigan fighter with a chopping right hand near the end of the fifth round, but a slow count of fifteen seconds and the sounding of the bell allowed Lewis to get off the canvas and continue. The referee later stopped the fight in the eleventh round, awarding Ali a technical knockout victory.Blogpost by: Dr. James Curry, Historian in Residence, North West Area.Dublin North West Historian in Residence Dr. James Curry will be giving a talk on ‘Muhammad Ali and Ireland’ during the Dublin Festival of History 2019. These will take place at Cabra Library on Thursday 10th October from 6:30-7:30pm, and at Donaghmede Library on Thursday 17th October from 6:30-7:30pm.Booking required: [email protected] and/or [email protected]

Instrument Carousel - a partnership between Girls Rock Dublin and Dublin City Libraries was a smash hit with all the teenagers in Pearse Library on Culture Night last Friday. Instrument Carousel was an opportunity for participants to explore their musical potential.It marks the launch of the “GRD Gear Library”, the gear loan service designed for teenagers by Girls Rock Dublin & Dublin City Libraries. Sixteen teenagers took over the Library in a fun & loud experiment involving electric guitars, basses, synths, keyboards & drums. By moving through different rooms and engaging with GRD coaches, participants learned a song on each instrument, and finished by performing the song together.Girls Rock Dublin is a non-profit, volunteer-led organisation that builds girls’ self-esteem through music creation and performance. Providing workshops and technical training, GRD creates leadership opportunities, cultivates a supportive community of peers and mentors, and encourages social change and the development of life skills. ​From Culture Night any teenager who is a member of Dublin City Libraries can borrow their preferred instrument for three weeks. All you need is your library card!Teenagers will need the signature of a parent or guardian when completing the membership form. Their parent or guardian will need to bring photo I.D. and proof of address. Get access to great online resources, borrow books, DVDs and now musical instruments! There are no fines and you can use your card in any library in Ireland.    Joining is easy. Call into Pearse Street library and borrow what you like. The GRD Gear Library is a collection of  instruments, amplifiers and musical accessories that Girls Rock Dublin are now making available through Dublin City Libraries all year round.     The collection is made up of donated gear from people in the community who value the work of Girls Rock Dublin and from purchases made from funding received with thanks to ​Reverb.com​. GRD Gear Library also welcome donations of 'gear'.The library is an ongoing project, more pics from Culture Night 2019 on flickr. Dublin City Libraries are free,fun and easy to use. Find out more.       

I guess it’s that time of year again! If you’re back to school or college, read on to find out about our amazing array of FREE online research and reference resources. We have something here to help you with your studies, whatever level you’re at.Visit our website at http://www.dublincity.ie/library-eresources to explore all the free online resources available through Dublin City Libraries. All for FREE!All you need to register or to log on is your Dublin City Libraries card. And remember to tell your friends and family and classmates too!AdultStudentJuniorEarly LearningKidsStudentOxford Research and Reference Encyclopaedia, featuring the following topics:ClassicsClimate Science CommunicationCriminology        Education              Environmental ScienceInternational StudiesLiteraturePolitics    Psychology                 Religion                                  Social Work           Oxford English DictionaryOxford Dictionaries, featuringSpanishArabicGermanFrenchItalianPortugueseRussianChineseOxford Bibliographies – British and Irish Literature and Victorian LiteratureOxford Music Online (Grove Music)Oxford Art Online (Grove Art Online/Benezit Dictionary of Artists)American National Biography OnlineYou can access 1,000s of articles in newspapers and magazines from Ireland and around the world with Proquest and PressReader.Proquest  PressReader Finally, we also have the following research and reference tools available to you on your device when you visit your local library:Dictionary of Irish BiographyEmerald InsightScience DirectJSTOR – The Irish CollectionIrish Times Digital ArchiveIrish Newspaper ArchiveHappy studying from Dublin City Libraries!

King George V ascended to the British throne on the 6th of May 1911, following the death of his father, Edward VII. After being crowned in Westminster Abbey, George and Queen Mary embarked on a tour beginning in Ireland and ending in India.

Welcome to the third entry in our blog series 'Lost in the Stacks' - recommendations by Dublin City Libraries staff exploring overlooked gems and helping you find your next read!Our entry today comes from one of our wonderful librarians, Jessica, and looks at some of the best essay collections in our libraries!Essay CollectionsIs there a greater joy than settling comfortably with a beverage of your choice and reading a well-crafted essay?There is a particular form of literary alchemy that takes place in the best essays - the fusion of the personal with social commentary combined with a stylistic elegance. Often offering a unique perspective on a cultural moment or a brief window into another world, a good essay has a habit of staying with you long after the pages have turned and the book is closed.Here is a selection of the very best essay collections for you to enjoy. If you'd like to borrow any of the books discussed below, simply click on the book cover or title to be taken to the reserves page, where you'll need your library card and PIN to request the book.1. Pulphead: dispatches from the other side of America by John Jeremiah SullivanPulphead is a fascinating collection of essays exploring pop culture and subcultures of American life fused with memoir and aspects from the writer’s own life. Written with a gentle wit and probing intelligence, it is hard to resist reading the entire collection in one go.2. Changing my mind: occasional essays by Zadie SmithThis is a fabulous collection of Zadie Smith’s book reviews, film reviews and non-fiction prose. Witty, honest and refreshing, it is a pleasure to dip in and out of.3. Naked by David SedarisDavid Sedaris has cornered the market in humorous memoir based essays. The stories here are sardonic, wry and darkly hilarious with a touch of pathos and just the right amount of hindsight and self-knowledge to balance the comic absurdity.4. Men explain things to me by Rebecca SolnitThe title essay of this book has gained iconic status since it was published but each of the essays in this book are powerful reminders of why we need feminism. Essential reading.5. This is the story of a happy marriage by Ann PatchettAnn Patchett is best known as a novelist but this book collects her earlier non-fiction articles. This is a fabulous collection of personal essays and memoir pieces that explore key moments in her life. Her writing is warm, engaging, and shining through with humour and kindness.

It is impossible to say with any degree of certainty how many Irish took part in Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June, 1944. A precise figure for Irish enlistments in the British forces for the war as a whole is not available and estimates vary between 70–120,000 men and women.

In 1921, the Leinster Football Association separated from the parent body, the Irish Football Association (IFA), and subsequently formed the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). Soccer had been governed on an all-Ireland basis for 40 years beforehand. The split that happened in 1921 remains to this day, unlike most sports in Ireland that are still governed on a 32-county basis. Although football was divided the same year that Ireland was divided politically by the partition of the country, the primary reason for the split was an internal power struggle between Belfast and Dublin. The IFA, headquartered in Belfast, was believed by the football community in the south to be biased towards northern based teams. Most players selected for the Irish international team were from Ulster-based teams.Of the 48 international matches held in Ireland before the split, only six were held in Dublin, all the rest were hosted in Belfast. Most members of the IFA Council and its sub-committees were from the north also, and the allocation of funding favoured Ulster clubs over others.Left, an image of the Shelbourne team from 1914. The catalyst that led to the split involved one of Dublin’s oldest clubs, Shelbourne. After Shelbourne had drawn against Lurgan-club Glenavon in an Irish Cup semi-final tie in Belfast in 1921, it was almost universally believed that the replay would be held in Dublin.The IFA Protests and Appeals Committee ruled it was too unsafe for matches to be played in Dublin due to the prevailing conditions caused by the War of Independence, and Shelbourne was ordered back to Belfast for the replay.The club refused to do so and was removed from the competition.The action was roundly condemned by the Leinster Football Association and all associated with the game in Dublin. It was the spark that led to the division months later. Many attempts were made from 1921 to 1932 to re-unify the game in Dublin, all failing, leaving soccer in Ireland today divided, as it is politically, north and south.Blog post by: Cormac Moore, Historian in Residence, North Central Area.

The Dublin City Library and Archive holds a beautiful image of the old Weaver’s Hall on The Coombe Dublin, a  building still fondly remembered by older citizens in the area. The image shows a dignified guild hall, with a statue of King George II by Van Nost holding shuttles and other implements used in the weaving process set in an alcove above the main entrance. Although the Weaver’s Hall is long gone, there is still a lot of evidence of this once major industry that existed in this area over a 1,000 year timespan. The most obvious are various placenames. Weaver’s Square off Cork Street, and the adjacent Ormond Street commemorated both the Huguenot weavers who settled here in great numbers from the late 1600’s and the man who invited them over, the Duke of Ormond. Nearby Newmarket was constructed in the 1670’s by the Earl of Meath in response to this rapidly growing industry, to facilitate trade in wool, hides and flax and also the finished products. The Earl also included space for his own market, and this added to the unique shape and layout of Newmarket, still with us today.Above: Illustration showing statue of George II in niche on first floor facade.Earlier evidence of weaving has also been found in recent archaeological excavations prior to new developments in The Liberties. Items from the Hiberno-Norse era, such as whorls, spindles, weights and bone needles have been found, together with evidence of a thriving cap and scarf/shawl industry in both wool and dyed, watered silk  - an indication of ‘high status’ - being found.Above: Framed painting of Weaver's House in the Liberties by Rose Barton.The imposition of tariffs and taxes on the Dublin weavers eventually caused the slow decline of this tradition, but not before it re-invented itself into other related industries.  The manufacture of poplin gave way to a significant upholstery industry, providing seating, padding and also lace for carriages, the mode of transport at the time.  Later, with the coming of the motor-car, a thriving industry arose specialising in ladies and gents motor scarfs and mufflers. Frys of Cork Street also announced that it was possible to get the latest in bow-ties to finish the ensemble!Above: Horse-drawn Omnibus, Westmoreland Street, Dublin (circa 1865). Courtesy: National Library of Ireland (Original)Today, there is a renewed interest in this oldest of trades, with the Botany Weavers – the one remaining company near Dolphin’s Barn who operate from premises that once housed the City Woollen Mills and who are key suppliers to Aer Lingus and City Jet, recently announcing an expansion to its business, thus continuing a tradition of 1000 years of weaving in this area.Blog post by: Cathy Scuffil, Historian in Residence,Dublin South Central.

Last May, I was delighted to attend the Dublin launch of a book entitled 'Essays by an Irish Rebel: revolution, politics and culture' by Liam Ó Briain.  A very enjoyable read, the book features twenty-five essays by the Dublin academic and revolutionary Liam Ó Briain (1888-1974), all of which were published in Irish from 1934 to 1968, as well as three appreciations of the author.All have now been edited and translated into English by Eoin Ó Dochartaigh, a retired doctor from Galway who graduated from University College Galway (now NUI Galway) and knew Ó Briain as a family friend.Above: Eoin Ó Dochartaigh speaking at the launch of his edited book 'Essays by an Irish Rebel: revolution, politics and culture', at the Mansion House in May 2019.The launch inspired me to read 'Insurrection Memories 1916', a complimentary volume described by historian Owen Dudley-Edwards as ‘a rich memory of a great man’. This personal account of the Easter Rising was first published in Irish in 1951 as 'Cuimhní Cinn'. In 2014 Fran O’Brien, the author’s grand-niece, translated the work into English and published it as a bilingual volume. Two years later, to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising, Ó Dochartaigh then brought out a new translation. Like 'Essays by an Irish Rebel', this was published by Ardcrú Books in Galway.Above: Undated postcard showing the entrance to St. Stephen's Green Park. Courtesy of Dublin City Library & Archive. [PCV04-90] Access over 40,000 images and postcards in the  Dublin City Libraries and Archive Digital Repositary .'Insurrection Memories 1916' is an intimate account of what Liam Ó Briain observed while participating in the Easter Rising. The book begins in 1914, with Ó Briain returning to Ireland after spending three years studying on the continent (mostly Germany). Joining the Irish Volunteers, Ó Briain also became a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood the following year and went on to take part in the Easter Rising. As a member of F. Company of the First Battalion of the Volunteers, Ó Briain had been scheduled to join the Four Courts garrison under the command of Ned Daly. However, after getting waylaid carrying out messages for Eoin MacNeill on the morning of Easter Monday, he found himself instead spontaneously joining the Stephen’s Green garrison with his friend Harry Nicholls.During the Rising Ó Briain impressed Captain Bob de Couer of the Irish Citizen Army enough to be promoted to the rank of Corporal. Afterwards he was among those imprisoned in Wandsworth Common prison in London until late June, and Frongoch Camp in North Wales until Christmas 1916 (which he later described as ‘the best university’ he ever attended). Ó Briain stood as a Sinn Fein candidate in Armagh during the 1918 General Election and was imprisoned in Galway during the War of Independence. A native of Dublin, he would go on to serve as Professor of Romance Languages at University College Galway from 1918 to 1959.Above: Photograph of the College of Surgeons taken after the Easter Rising to show 'where Countess Markievicz surrendered'. Courtesy of Dublin City Library & Archive. [BOR F34-18]Blog Post by: Dr. James Curry, Historian in Residence, North West Area.