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Gerald Crofts (1888–1934) was one of a small group of musicians and lyricists who made a huge contribution to the Irish independence movement in the early 20th century. He came from Capel Street originally, where his family had a shop and he was a popular singer. His brother Joseph was a composer who arranged the words and music for this marching song, which was dedicated to Crofts.Gerald had joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914 and he was a close friend of some of the leaders of the Rising. He was imprisoned in Dartmoor and Lewes prisons in England and suffered poor health for the rest of his life. Crofts continued his republican activities after his release from prison although he was curtailed in what he could do by a problem with his hands, which meant he could not hold weapons. Family papers suggest that he was involved in intelligence work with Michael Collins. In the later years of his life he was well known for singing his friend Constance Markiewicz’s anthem 'A Battle Hymn’ (dedicated to the Irish Citizen Army) at political gatherings and concerts. He died on 14th November 1934. History Document of the MonthEvery month the Dublin City Council Historians in Residence will be highlighting a document from Dublin City Public Libraries and Archives Digital Repository.  An image of the selected document will be on display in branch libraries during the month.Historians in Residence are available to meet groups and schools, give talks, walks etc, run history book clubs and advise on historical research.

Dublin supported James II at the Battle of the Boyne, but following his defeat by William III, a protestant ascendancy resumed control of the city and began to forge links with the new and successful monarchy. This process intensified after the death of Mary II in 1695 left William III as sole monarch. Dublin Corporation added William’s arms to the City Sword; in 1697 and in the following year, the king presented a chain of office to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, carrying the monarch’s bust on a medallion, which is in use to this day.

Our featured online resource this week is Freegal ,a free music service which offers access to about 15 million songs, including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists, and over 40,000 music videos.The Freegal Music website has thousands of artists, tens of thousands of albums, and millions of songs.In total the collection is comprised of music from over 40,000 labels with music that originates in over 100 countries. There is no software to download, and there are no digital rights management (DRM) restrictions. Dublin City Public Library users have unlimited streaming and can download 5 songs per week. All you need is your library card number and PIN. Go to https://dcpl.freegalmusic.com/ or download the free App from Google Play or the Apple Store  

This week, we are going to take a look at TumbleBooks, an online resource especially designed for the little ones in your life. TumbleBooks are animated, talking picture books which teach children the joy of reading in a format they'll love. TumbleBooks are created by taking existing picture books, and then adding animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic picture book which you can read, or have read to you. This resource also includes National Geographic videos and games.(Example of National Geographic Videos)Available on TumbleBooks:Story Books: This option features animated, talking picture books for the younger reader. The reader has the option to automatically or manually turn the pages.  Chapter Books/Read-Alongs: While this option does not include animation, the ebooks are narrated. They also include Chapter menus so that you can jump chapters, and a bookmarks and notes feature which are cookied onto your computer. Chapter Books also allow readers to change the colors of the background and text, as well as the font style, size, and line spacing. This helps to make the ebooks even more accessible to a wider range of readers. Videos are from the world renowned National Geographic! Simply click on "Watch Online" to watch the 2-5 minute clips on various topics. Most of these videos have been paired with ebooks as a way to introduce a topic! Featured is where teachers, librarians, parents, students, and TumbleBooks staff can recommended a book! It's a quick and easy way to find books on those rainy days! Puzzles & Games accompany each book and reinforce concepts from the books, allowing for a fun and educational learning experience. Language Learning is an easy way to access our French and Spanish titles! Non-Fiction contains a growing collection of non-fiction titles in subjects such as health, science, astronomy, biology, and nature.Playlist allows you to access the pre-loaded playlist. The eBooks play back-to-back just like a music playlist! In addition, you can create your own playlist! Simply click on the "Add to Playlist" button below a TumbleBook to create your own!(Example of Foreign Language eBooks)Access How:Website; Follow link below. To register; select the "My Cloud" tab, click where it says "Register" and enter your library card number and pin as your username and password.App; Select "Library" tab, in country box fill in "Ireland" (Note; state is NOT required), select Dublin City Council Public Library and enter your library card number. In main menu select "View by Detail" to add your favourite books to "My Favourites."URL: http://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/autologin.aspx?UserID=08Hezhy7Lfgp480vNdjp%2bw%3d%3d 

The online resources featured in this week’s blog are ‘Who Else Writes Like…?’ and ‘Who Next…?’Both resources are compiled by two professional librarians of long experience, drawing on contributions from other librarians.To access either one of these resources, all you need is your Dublin City Public Libraries card.Just log in with your library card number at the links below, and then select Dublin City Public Libraries.  ‘Who Else Writes Like…?’“I’ve read everything written by my favourite authors, what shall I read next?”Sound familiar? Well this online resource helps answer that dilemma. ‘Who Else Writes Like…?’ is an established reference web resource and reading promotion tool. It is designed to help anyone who enjoys reading fiction to expand the number of writers they read.With the click of a mouse, youi can browse by genre or go straight to an author of interest, check up on characters and series or the latest prize-winning writers, and follow the links to authors' websites for additional information.So click on 'Browse authors' to get started and discover a whole new world of fiction writers based on your favourite authors.https://www.whoelsewriteslike.com/   ‘Who Next...?’ is specially designed to help parents, teachers and librarians in encouraging children and young people to explore the world of reading. When children ask: “Who can I read next?” or “Who writes like my favourite author?”, the answers are here in ‘Who Next…?’  Writers of children’s fiction are listed with suggestions of other authors who write in a similar way, together with key book and series titles.You can browse:Four age groups: 5-7, 8-11, 12-14 and 14+Genre and themeGraphic novels, read out loud titles, short stories and titles for dyslexic or struggling readersPrize-winning children’s booksCountry of birth of authorsOther useful linksThis is an invaluable tool for parents, teachers and librarians to help children explore the world of reading. As the award winning author, Alan Gibbons, says “A reading child is a successful child”.https://www.whonextguide.com 

The e-resource featured in this week’s blog is World Book Online. A suite of three websites from the publishers of the famous World Book encyclopedias. Supplying you with accurate information at age appropriate levels in a controlled safe learning environment.From pre-primary to secondary school – from the wobblers and toddlers to tweenies –  World Book provides fast and accurate information at every level in an immersive learning environment. The information is reliable, age-appropriate, and easy to read and comprehend.·         Early World of Learning for ages 3 to 6 years: this is a resource for preschoolers and children in early primary education. Developed with experts on early childhood education, it offers rich resources designed for the younger child.(An example of a webpage on World Book Online)·         Kids for ages 7 to 11 years: this is a premier reference website developed especially for young students. It features an intuitive user interface, thousands of easy-to-read articles packed with stunning illustrations, videos, interactive maps, and a wealth of engaging games and activities.(Example of the search function on World Book Online)·         Student for ages 12 to 15 years: this contains numerous tools to engage users in 21st-century education and blended-learning practices.(Further example of the search function on World Book Online)And best of all, it’s free with your Dublin City Public Libraries membership card.See World Book Online for more details.

As the world commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx, it may come as some surprise to hear that both Marx and Fredrich Engels, authors of The Communist Manifesto and creators of modern-day Marxist thought, were both strong proponents of Irish independence.

Sometimes we forget that much of what we take for granted today was achieved by the struggle of people who fought against huge obstacles, whether it was in the national struggle for independence that we are commemorating in this decade of centenaries or in the striving to achieve decent working conditions, equality for all citizens and wide-ranging social justice. Despite the fact that women played a significant role in most of those struggles, too often the perception lingers that they were only the passive beneficiaries of men’s activities. One of the reasons for that misperception was the social policy that underpinned the institutionalisation of gender inequality, even after women gained access to the vote in 1918. In January 1919, the first Dáil adopted a Democratic Programme which was based on the republican and semi-socialist ideals of the pre-war years. It asserted that the nation’s sovereignty extended ‘to all men and women of the nation’ as well as to its material wealth; that the country should be ruled according to the principles of ‘Liberty, Equality and Justice for All’; that ‘every man and woman’ had a right to ‘an adequate share’ of the produce of the nation’s labour; that the ‘first duty’ of the Republic was to provide for the well-being of the children and it was a duty of the Republic to ‘safeguard the health of the people’. While that Democratic Programme was not the basis of the state that emerged from the War of Independence and the Civil War, many of the women who had been active in the struggle to establish that state still believed in the ideals that it represented.Portrait of members of the first DáilThe 1913 founding manifesto of the Irish Volunteers had conceded that ‘there will be work for the women to do’ but did not say what that work would be. Since all the founding documents and the rhetoric at inaugural meetings referred to Irish manhood it is hardly surprising that women who did not want to be in the Volunteers in a subsidiary capacity decided to create their own organisation and Cumann na mBan was set up in April 1914, albeit as an auxiliary body. They wore uniforms and participated in a number of activities that would prepare them for involvement in armed conflict, such as drilling and first aid, but not as combatants.The Irish Citizen Army was founded as a workers’ defence militia during the 1913 Lockout and women joined on an equal basis with men, although they also organised themselves into a women’s section. One of the key points of the constitution of the ICA was the demand that members must also join a trade union, if at all possible. The cause of women and the cause of labour was one of the main points of co-operation between middle and working class women in this period.  The release of applications made under the Military Service Pensions Acts in recent years sheds light on the breadth of activity undertaken by women in the course of the War of Independence and subsequently in the Civil War. Nevertheless, the Military Pensions Act 1924 made it extremely difficult for women to meet the criteria for a pension in its definition of eligibility:            In this Act the expression “military service” means active service in any rank, whether as an officer, non-commissioned officer, private or volunteer in any of the following forces, that is to say—“Oglaigh na hEireann” or the military body known as the “Irish Volunteers” or the military body known as the “Irish Citizen Army” or the body known as “Fianna Eireann” or the body known as the “Hibernian Rifles” or the “National Forces” or the “Defence Forces of Saorstát Eireann” or any branch of any of those forces.The language of the application forms assumed that the potential pensioner was male. When Margaret Skinnider - a member of the Irish Citizen Army who should have been eligible on several grounds, applied for a pension on foot of being shot on active duty during Easter Week 1916 she was refused on the grounds that the Act was only ‘applicable to soldiers as generally understood in the masculine sense’. She re-applied in 1937 following changes to the Acts and this time she was awarded an annual pension of £30, in respect of eight years’ pensionable service.The Military Service Pensions Act 1934 widened the criteria for inclusion:This Act applies to every person:who served in the Forces at any time during the week commencing on the 23rd day of April, 1916, or who served in the Forces continuously during either of the following periods, that is to say, the period commencing on the 1st day of April, 1920, and ending on the 31st day of March, 1921, and the period commencing on the 1st day of April, 1921, and ending on the 11th day of July, 1921, andwho served in the Forces at any time during the period commencing on the 1st day of July, 1922, and ending on the 30th day of September, 1923, andwho is not a person to whom the Act of 1924 applies.Cumann na mBan was now listed as a qualifying organisation but the types of activities covered by the Act still excluded many women. It was not until 1949 that the two acts were amended by widening the criteria to such an extent that military activity included running safe houses, intelligence work and delivering weapons, much of which had been undertaken by women.Portrait of members of Cumann na mBanDr. Mary Muldowney, Historian in Residence, Dublin City Library and Archive.Dublin City Council Historians in Residence are available to meet groups and schools, give talks, walks etc, run history book clubs and advise on historical research.

The 1966 Irish history syllabus for secondary schools was consistent with the focus of the 50th anniversary celebrations. It highlighted the role of advanced nationalists and downplayed and even deliberately obscured the role of individuals and groups who might possibly undermine the conservative hegemony of the Irish state. These included the organised labour movement and several women’s organisations, who were described essentially as auxiliaries to the independence struggle.Thankfully historiography has broadened in scope and there is general recognition now that the story of the Irish state is not simply one of emergence from the oppression of British rule. While there has been welcome attention paid to the women who were involved in various organisations during the revolutionary period, much less interest has been shown in the extent to which female solidarity cut across class lines and challenged social hierarchies, particularly in trade union circles. Many members of the Irish Women’s Franchise League, for instance, were also active in the 1913 Lockout and were also to play a critical role in the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence, with many of them on the anti-Treaty side in the Civil W Irish Citizen Army on parade at Liberty Hall, 1915 Far from simply supporting the separatist agenda, in the early years of the revolutionary period it is arguable that labour, particularly trade union forces had the most clearly laid out ideas for the shape of the state that would emerge from a successful revolution. James Connolly visualised a very clear strategy of attempting to unite all the most progressive forces in Ireland around their own revolutionary labour-based force, which was centred on the Irish Citizen Army, primarily in Dublin. As far as the organised labour movement was concerned, the revolutionary period can be divided into two phases: the first culminating in the Rising and its catastrophic casualties, as well as the symbolism of the destruction of Liberty Hall. The second phase saw a certain retrenchment behind industrial relations issues in the aftermath of the Rising, albeit with some notable exceptions. Despite the post-Rising caution of the Irish Trade Union Congress, between 1918 to 1922 there were no less than three national general strikes, called for political rather than industrial reasons.Consideration of the revolutionary period must also include the impact of the First World War. The Irish Trade Union Congress and Labour Party (ITUCLP) had an affiliated membership of 110,000 in 1914, mainly comprised of craft unions but including the general workers of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU). From its earliest stages, the Irish trade unions warned that the war would not be in the best interests of Irish workers. The National Executive of the ITUCLP frequently reminded Irish men and women of how the British Empire had treated them in the past.In the spring of 1918 the Irish trade unions played a prominent and crucial part in successfully opposing the introduction of conscription into Ireland. The ITUCLP made frequent representations to the British government in the course of the War of Independence, but they had lost the opportunity to lead their members politically when the Irish Labour Party opted not to contest the 1918 General Election, leaving the field free for nationalist forces that were frequently antagonistic to the best interests of the working class. Liberty Hall in the aftermath of the Easter Rising, 1916Dr. Mary Muldowney, Historian in Residence, Dublin City Library and Archive.Dublin City Council Historians in Residence are available to meet groups and schools, give talks, walks etc, run history book clubs and advise on historical research. 

On Friday 17 May 1918 the British government ordered the arrest and imprisonment of all leading members of Sinn Fein. They claimed they were involved in a plan to import arms from Germany. Among those arrested were Countess Markievicz, Eamon de Valera, Arthur Griffith and W.T. Cosgrave. They were quickly removed from Dublin and lodged in prisons across Wales and England. The arrests did dislocate Sinn Fein’s organisation but did not paralyse it; for example, Michael Collins was one of those who avoided capture.Following on from the conscription crisis in April 1918, the German Plot arrests provided another issue for the republican movement to rally around, particularly the injustice of the prisoners being held without charge.On the 27th of September 1918, Áine Ceannt presided over a protest meeting at the Mansion House. Addressing it in both Irish and English, Áine called for the government to release the prisoners at once. She was a founder member of Cumann na mBan, deeply involved in the Irish language movement and republican politics and was the widow of the executed 1916 leader Eamon Ceannt. The meeting was a remarkable cross-section of the nationalist movement and illustrated the continuing high profile of women in the politics of the time. Letters of support from the Bishop of Killaloe and Irish Parliamentary Party MP Timothy Healy were read out while William Smith O’Brien, Cathal O’Shannon, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, Eoin MacNeill, Countess Josephine Plunkett, George Gavin Duffy, Muriel MacSwiney and Alderman Thomas Kelly were all in attendance.De Valera escaped from Richmond prison in February 1919 and the British government finally bowed to public pressure, releasing the remaining prisoners in March. By then, the war of independence had broken out and Ireland was gripped by the insurgency that the government had hoped to avoid by arresting the leaders in the first place. Bernard Kelly, Historian in Residence, Dublin City Library and Archive.Dublin City Council Historians in Residence are available to meet groups and schools, give talks, walks etc, run history book clubs and advise on historical research.