Blogs

[Update, 24 Nov 2015: Due to data protection reasons, information from Jacob's Biscuit Factory employee records which are less than 100 years old, will  be made available to direct family members only.  All requests regarding individual employees should be sent to [email protected] in the first instance. The cataloguing project will be completed by the end of December 2015 and we will start processing the email requests in January 2016.]As part of its varied programme of activities for the Decade of Commemorations, Dublin City Library and Archive is currently in the process of cataloguing the records of Jacob’s Biscuit Factory which was acquired by Dublin City Archives in 2012.  Here is a sneak preview of some of the records which have thus far been identified which relate to the Easter Rising of 1916 and the occupation of the factory:SEE IMAGE: Advertisement showing Bishop Street Factory,  Undated ©Valeo Foods, DCLA/JAC/09/241DCLA/JAC/04/1275 Commemorative Jubilee BookletOn the 50th Anniversary of the Rising in 1966, Jacob’s Factory issued Commemorative Jubilee Booklet which recalled the role of the factory in the Rising:Jacob's factory gained for itself a unique and historical place in the recorded history of Ireland in being selected by the leaders of the 1916 insurrection as a strong point in the line of active rebellion throughout the city of Dublin. The massive, fortress like factory, with its soaring towers was virtually impregnable. What discussions and decisions among the rebellion leaders led to the seizing of the factory may now never be known, but the quick of fate which led to it has stamped forever the names of Jacob in the pattern of Irish history(Image ©Valeo Foods. Click to view larger version.)The booklet was part of an effort by the Company to enhance their public image and to make a contribution to the 1916 Celebration:"As one of the industries most closely linked with the rising I feel, we will be very obvious if we let the occasion go past without making some sort of effort" (1916 Jubilee- A Report DCLA/JAC/08/08)DCLA/JAC/04/1290:Witness Statement of Henry FitzgeraldHenry Fitzgerald and Thomas Orr were the watchman and caretaker respectively who were on duty on the morning of Easter Monday, 24th April 1916. A statement within the collection from Fitzgerald provides a valuable insight into what happened during the nine days in which the factory was occupied. Fitzgerald records on 24th April 1916 he "found volunteers and fitters breaking open the door. The officer in charge , whose name I afterwards found to be Lieut. Colbert, placed his hand on my shoulder and stated, as I was watchman, I was the very person he wanted, and I was to consider myself a prisoner".On Tuesday, April 25th, Fitzgerald noted that he "was asked to allow myself to be sworn in as a member of the Sinn Féin Volunteer. I stated that I was never a member of any organisation, political or otherwise, and that all I wanted was to be released and allowed to go home to my wife".On Wednesday, April 26th, a fire alarm bell started ringing at 11pm on Wednesday 26th April, and concerned with the amount of flour in the factory that may be destroyed, Fitzgerald made a request to cut the water off and effect repairs. He notes that he was escorted by Lieut. Sean Colbert to No. 5 sprinkler installation, where he turned the water off.On the final day of occupation Sunday April 30th, Fitzgerald notes "Lieut. Colbert came and shook hands with Mr. Orr and myself and told us peace was proclaimed. I then asked him where I was to go and he answered by telling me “I might go to hell".When the whole ordeal had ended Fitzgerald notes that he:"left the factory, having put over the most anxious week I ever spent of my life. I did not change my clothes once during the week. I scarcely touched any food; on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday there seemed to be plenty of everything, but I felt too sick at heart to take much of anything".DCLA/JAC/01/015 Company Minute Book (1913-1918)The company minute book recorded the impact of the Rising on business and how order was restored post Easter Week.As the general day to day running of the factory was interrupted by the occupation of the factory, the Directors:"decided to pay wages for Monday and Tuesday , May 1st & 2nd, to those employees who were unable to resume work on those days or nights. In part compensation for the loss of wages during the rebellion. This does not apply to any who did not conduct themselves satisfactorily". (11 May 1916)(Image ©Valeo Foods. Click to view larger version.)In a document later collated by Charles E. Jacob (c. 1937) on events in the history of W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd. he notes that the rebels"did no damage to machinery fittings but made holes in the walls for strategic purposes and a quantity of rifles and ammunition etc. had to be recovered by the military after the surrender. The populace did some looting on the Saturday afternoon but some of our workers took charge and helped restore order". DCLA/JAC/08/13:JAC/ Employee RecordsFactory employees both participated and were effected by the 1916 Rising and there is evidence of this within individual employee files held in the collection. Tragically Margaret Nolan, employee no. 7 was "shot in the head at door of Berkeley Street Chapel, and died in Mater hospital almost immediately on 25th April 1916 during SF Rebellion." A note on Winifred E. Jarmain’s file states that the family was "removed to England after the shock of the SF rebellion" [1916] and Robert Cooper, employee no. 705 "did not return after Easter 1916". Margaret O’Connor, employee no. 158 was "brought under Mr. Dawson's notice for wearing the SF button before the rebellion, suspended for one week pending enquiry."(15 May 1916)(Image ©Valeo Foods. Click to view larger version.) The cataloguing project is due for completion by the end of 2015. The full collection list will then be available online and researchers will be able to access the original records in our Reading Room.Further recommended reading is Séamus Ó Maitiú ‘s excellent book W&R Jacob - Celebrating 150 Years of Irish Biscuit Making (Dublin, 2001).About our Guest BloggerThis article was prepared by Lisa McCarthy, Eneclann, Project Contract Archivist. 

The Decade of Centenaries Award was established by Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) in order to engage with custodians and assist in the long term digital preservation of valuable digital material relating to the 1912-1922 period in Irish History.On Thursday 25 June 2015, it was announced that the Dublin City Electoral Lists for the period 1915, recently digitised by Dublin City Library and Archive, was one of three award winning collections.Right: Ellen Murphy (Dublin City Library and Archive) and  Dr. Eucharia Meehan (Irish Research Council)The original Dublin City Electoral Lists (1898-1915) are in printed format and are held at Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. The Electoral Lists were maintained by Dublin City Council (then Dublin Corporation) on an annual basis in the Town Clerk's Department at City Hall. The two officials who carried out this work during this period were Stephen J. Hand, a general office assistant who was responsible for all matters relating to the franchise list, and James J. Henry, assistant to the Town Clerk, to whom Hand reported. Each Electoral List was printed and bound by Cahill & Co., Great Charles Street, Dublin; the Electoral List was then issued on 31st December and was valid for the following calendar year.View slideshow below:There are approximately 47,000 registered voters each year, which co-relates to almost one-fifth of the population of Dublin at the time and the electoral lists have huge potential to be used for local, social and genealogical research. However as the original classification scheme of the bound volumes was devised to suit the administration of elections, it is impossible to find a particular voter unless their address is known.To address this issue, Dublin City Council has undertaken a project to digitize the electoral lists 1898-1915 as part of the City Council's activities during the Decade of Commemorations. To date, the Dublin City Electoral Lists for 1908-1915 have been digitised and a fully searchable database with over 400,000 records has been made freely available online. The project is directed by Dublin City Archivist Dr. Mary Clark. Scanning of Dublin City Electoral Lists is by Informa Ireland; OCR and production of database by John Grenham.As recipients of the Decade of Centenaries award, Dublin City Library and Archive was provided with best practice guidance and digital preservation services by digital archivists from the DRI.  The 1915 Electoral Rolls & associated database was prepared for ingestion into the DRI and is now displayed at repository.dri.ie alongside the other award winning collections from National Irish Visual Arts Library and the Irish Capuchin Provincial Archives.The Decade of Centenaries award was funded by the Irish Research Council through their New Foundations Programme and the presentation to award winners was made by theDirector of the Irish Research Council, Dr Eucharia Meehan, during the Digital Preservation for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities  Conference in Croke Park, 25 June 2015.

24 June 1879 – A marble statue, by Thomas Farrell, of the late Sir John Gray, M.P. (1815-1875), was unveiled in Sackville Street, Dublin, with the inscription 'Erected by public subscription to Sir John Gray Knt. MD JP, Proprietor of The Freeman’s Journal; MP for Kilkenny City, Chairman of the Dublin Corporation Water Works Committee 1863 to 1875 During which period pre-eminently through his exertions the Vartry water supply was introduced to city and suburbs Born July 13 1815 Died April 9 1875’.Sir John GraySir John Gray died in 1875 and little time was spared in establishing a committee to erect a statue to the man who, as chairman of the Dublin Corporation waterworks committee from 1863 until his death, played a key role in the introduction of a water supply to Dublin from the Vartry Works in County Wicklow in 1868.A site for the monument was granted by the Corporation in 1877 on Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street) close to the Abbey Street offices of the Freeman's Journal of which he was owner.Thomas Farrell was approached by the monument committee to create a memorial. He represented Gray 'in the guise of a Victorian gentleman, complete with open coat, confident stance and a serious yet kindly expression'. The monument did not turn out as originally planned. Initially, it had been designed with a representation of Ireland, complete with harp, on the right hand side of the pedestal and incorporated broken fetters to represent the legislative and social wrongs from which the country had been rescued. There was also to have been a figure of patriotism. The necessity of erecting the monument without delay, however, resulted in the statue featuring the figure of Gray alone.The granite pedestal was laid on 1 May 1879 and the statue was unveiled by Archbishop McHale on 24 June 1879.-----------------------------Taken from 'History of Monuments O’Connell Street Area' (pdf), a report commissioned by the Archaeology and Heritage Office of Dublin City Council, in November 2003, as part of the overall conservation plan for the O’Connell Street Area. The report acknowledges the contribution of staff at Dublin City Archives.This report and others can be accessed at Heritage (Dublin City Heritage Office). 

Dublin City Library and Archive has recently acquired the Orchestra of St Cecilia Collection, donated by manager/artistic director Lindsay Armstrong after his retirement in 2014. The collection comprises Armstrong’s comprehensive administrative records arranged chronologically with individual folders for each orchestral performance.

Given the day that is in it, it is fitting that staff in Rathmines Library have dressed in costume to mark Bloomsday 2015. This is not by mere chance: James Joyce was born in Rathmines and spent his early years there. Read more below, but first you must admire the costumes on display today....(Click images above to view larger version)Joyce, the Rathmines ConnectionArguably Ireland’s greatest literary genius and a leading proponent of modernism in fiction,  James Joyce was born at 41 Brighton Square and spent his earliest years there and in 23 Castlewood Avenue. But as the fortunes of the family declined, the Joyces moved to cheaper accommodation and Joyce was never again to live in Rathmines, leaving Ireland with Nora Barnacle in 1904. He was to spend the rest of his life in Italy and France, paying his last visit to Ireland in 1912. Despite this, he obsessively recorded the minute details of Dublin life in his great work Ulysses and the hero of the novel is considered to embody both the “Everyman” of the twentieth century and the archetypal Dubliner.Rathmines and Beyond: A Literary HeritageRathmines and its surrounding areas could make a convincing argument for being the most literary quarter of our literary city. Birthplace of James Joyce, born at a time when Rathmines’ image was solid, bourgeois and red-brick, the township changed over time, so that by the early 20th century it had become a positive hotbed of political activists and creative types. As the century progressed, its large houses were divided into separate units - "flatland" came into being, and Rathmines became the first stop for many young people moving from the countryside into Dublin. This trend was discontinued in the early 21st century, but throughout all these changes, the area remained home to a wide range of journalists and novelists, poets and playwrights, writers’ groups and reading clubs, with its fine library very much at the heart of this literary activity.Read more about the many literary figures that lived in and around the Rathmines area.

Below are photos of part of the collection of works by and on James Joyce housed in the Dublin City Library and Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin 2.  #bloomsday2015Included is a first edition (Paris, Shakespeare and Company, 12, Rue de l'Odéon, 12, 1922) and a facsimile of the manuscript (1975).Contact the Reading Room regarding access.Click images below to view larger versions.Above: Ulysses, a facsimile of the manuscript, with a critical introduction by Harry Levin. . Above: Ulysses, first edition (1922).Above: A panoramic view of some of the books we have on/by James Joyce.View above photos and more on our flickr page.

Mary Louise O’Donnell gave a talk and recital titled "Ireland's Harp: shaping a nation's identity" in the Central Library, Ilac Centre on 12 March.

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), poet and dramatist, senator of the Irish Free State, Nobel Prize laureate, founder of the Abbey Theatre and guiding light of the Irish literary revival, died at Rocquebrune, in the hills above Monaco, in the South of France on 28 January 1939. Yeats was a delicate child, and as an adult he suffered from a series of complaints; on medical advice his spent many of his winters in Italy and the South of France from 1927 onwards. In the winter of 1938 he left Ireland for the Riviera as his health was failing, and his death occurred the following January. His funeral and burial took place at Rocquebrune.Click images below to see larger versions. . After the Second World War it was decided to repatriate Yeats's remains and in September 1948 a government corvette, Macha, was sent to return his body to Ireland. On 17 September the casket containing the body of W.B. Yeats was landed at Galway and driven in procession to Sligo. People lined the roadways to bid a last farewell to the poet. Yeats was given a state funeral and he is buried in Sligo, in the churchyard of Drumcliffe, where his great-grandfather was rector, and where he spent his childhood summers with his grandparents, 'under bare Ben Bulben's head'. His gravestone is inscribed with his own words:Cast a cold eyeOn life, on death.Horseman, pass by!The newspaper coverage paints a vivid pen picture of the funeral procession through the countryside from Galway to Sligo. The photograph shows the lying-in-state in the hearse outside Sligo County Hallwith a military guard of honour and the Mayor of Sligo officiating at the ceremony. William's brother, Jack B. Yeats, can be seen on the steps carrying a wreath of flowers. .  Read the newspaper accounts in the Reading Room at Dublin City Library & Archive.

In this the 150th anniversary of the birth of William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) people from around the world will be reassessing the contribution to world cultural heritage made by William Yeats and by other members of his family.

William Butler Yeats, known to friends and family as Willie, was born in Sandymount Avenue, Dublin, on 13 June 1865. He was the eldest son of John Butler Yeats, portrait painter, and his wife Susan Pollexfen, whose family came from County Sligo. The family moved to London when Willie was a baby and remained there until 1880, but he spent his summers with his mother’s family in Sligo. When the family returned to Dublin he attended the High School in Harcourt Street. He originally studied art at the Metropolitan School of Art and the Royal Hibernian Academy School, but later decided to devote himself to literature, especially poetry and drama.Left below: William Butler Yeats (click all images to enlarge) . .  The Yeats family moved back to London in 1887, but by this time Willie had already decided that his writing should celebrate Ireland’s heroic past. In 1891 he founded the Irish Literary Society of London, and the following year in Dublin he was one of the founders of the National Literary Society. The Society’s aim was to encourage the study and appreciation of Ireland’s literature, folklore and legends. In 1899 he founded the Irish Literary Theatre, with Lady Augusta Gregory and Edward Martyn, this evolved into the Abbey Theatre in 1904.His first publication, Mosada: a dramatic poem, published in 1886, is held in the Colin Smythe Yeats Collection at Dublin City Library & Archive. This does not have an Irish theme, but a series of poems and plays over the next few years demonstrate his interest in the celebration of Ireland’s past. In 1889 he published The wanderings of Oisin, a long poem based on Irish mythology, in 1892 the poetic play The Countess Cathleen, and in 1893 his first volume of folk stories, The Celtic twilight. The range of his writings is wide, from poetry and plays to folk tales, prose works and three volumes of autobiography, but it is as a poet that his name is chiefly associated. . . Yeats was considered the greatest poet of his day and his worldwide reputation has endured. He was awarded honorary degrees from Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast in 1922, and he was appointed a senator in the new Irish Free State senate from 1922 to 1928. In 1923 he won the Nobel Prize for literature. Read and enjoy his work at Dublin City Library & Archive.