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During the First World War, an estimated 200,000 Irish joined the British forces, a fact that did not sit well with the republican movement. Some dismissed the volunteers as mercenaries or misfits, while others took a more considered view. Maeve Kavanagh, born in South Frederick Street in 1878, was a noted republican poet and she often used her pen to take aim at men who volunteered for the British army. In her 1914 collection of poetry Sheaves of Revolt, she described the brutality and horror of war and its aftermath to dissuade Irishmen from volunteering:So hurry up and take the ‘bob’The Butcher cannot wait,The German guns are talking,At a most terrific rate.And if you should crawl back,Minus arm or minus leg,You’ll get leave to roam your cityTo sell matches – or to beg.Maeve’s brother, Ernest, was a talented cartoonist and his work was published in various republican and leftist newspapers: Irish Worker, Fianna and Irish Freedom. One of his most celebrated cartoons lampooned the recruiting rally held at the Mansion House on 25th September 1914, see image below (click to enlarge). The rally was addressed by both British Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith and John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. At the meeting, Redmond repeated his call, made at Woodenbridge in Wicklow a few days earlier, for Irish recruits to join the British forces, while Asquith promised an Irish brigade or army corps.  Kavanagh published his impressions of the Mansion House rally in the Irish Worker in early October 1914, characterising Redmond as ‘Judas Empire Redmond…recruiting sergeant at the packed Mansion House meeting’ and Asquith as ‘ ‘Erbert ‘Enry’, who lied about German atrocities on the continent. He also drew unflattering portraits of the Dublin Metropolitan Police and the Ancient Order of Hibernians, standing guard over the meeting. Ernest, a clerk at the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU,) was shot dead by British troops on the steps of Liberty Hall during the Rising, while Maeve went on to be exceptionally active in the Gaelic League, Citizen’s Army and Cumann na mBan. Both Sheaves of Revolt and Ernest’s cartoons are available to view in Dublin City Library and Archives. Despite opposition from nationalists, Irish recruitment into the British forces continued throughout the war, both into the traditional Irish regiments and into the other branches of service. The war memorial at Islandbridge quotes a figure of 49,500 Irish dead, which represents all those who died in Irish regiments; it is estimated that 35,000 of this total were Irish-born. Papers, artefacts and other items belonging to Irish participants in the First World War can be found in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive at Dublin City Library and Archives. Search or browse Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive online at Digital Repository Ireland.Bernard Kelly, Historian in Residence, Dublin City Library and Archive.

Dublin City Archives marked the centenary of the Russian Revolution of 1917 with a series of lunchtime talks at Dublin City Hall. The talks curated by Francis Devine examined Ireland's political and cultural reaction to the Revolution. Here you can listen back to two talks from the series.

Every day, thousands of people travel on the Red Line Luas from Tallaght or City West on their journeys to the city centre.  What many may not realise is that the Luas follows the former Main Line of the Grand Canal – now filled in as a Linear Park from Davitt Road to the Basin Lane end of St. James’s Hospital.

Micheál Mac Liammóir and Hilton Edwards founded the Dublin Gate Theatre in 1928 and this year its 90th anniversary will be marked with seminars, exhibitions and publications. It is worth remembering however that the duo had to share the Gate Theatre building with Longford Productions, on a rotating six-month basis.

John O'Grady was a member of A Company, 3rd Battalion, Dublin Brigade of the Irish Volunteers. He was the only volunteer from the Jacob's Factory Garrison killed in action during the 1916 Rising.Last year we were honoured to welcome Dermot Hogan, a relative of John O'Grady to our Reading Room, and he kindly showed us some of the 1916 memorabilia carefully preserved by the family for over 100 years. Pictured below is the 1916 medal awarded to John by the President of Ireland. The 1916 Medal is awarded to persons with recognised military service during the 1916 Rising. The medal is bronze and it depicts the death scene of Cú Chulainn, surrounded by a circle of flames. The reverse is inscribed "Seachtain na Cásca 1916 John O'Grady".  John's brother Charles was also a Volunteer and was involved in fighting in the South Dublin Union. Returning to the family residence on Nicholas Place following the Rising Charles met with a neighbour who sympathised with him on the death of his brother. Until that moment Charles had not been aware of his brother's fate.Here Dermot tells the story of the night of 29 April 1916 when John O’Grady died.There is a memorial to John O'Grady in St James Graveyard where he is buried. The old St James' Church is now the Pearse Lyons Distillery.Image: John O'Grady's wife Josephine O'Grady (née Gray) and mother Ellen O'Grady at his grave at St James' Church, Thomas Street. Photo: Dermot Hogan. Further readingMurphy, Sean J. 1916 Rebel John J O'Grady Buried in St James's Graveyard, Dublin. https://ucd.academia.edu/SeanMurphy.Jacob's Biscuit Factory and the 1916 Rising. Lisa McCarthy, Eneclann, Project Contract Archivist. 

In this podcast ‘William Spence: A Victorian engineer in the right place at the right time’, Cathy Scuffil, Dublin City Council Historian in Residence, looks at the history of William Spence Engineering Works Cork Street. The Cork Street Foundry and Engineering Works of William Spence and Son was established in Dublin in 1856.  It continued trading over two generations of the Spence family, with no small measure of success until 1930.  The company was situated on a large, circa 3 acre industrial site located at 105 -109 Cork Street, Dublin, on a site that, until the early 1850s, had housed the tanning and currier business of a James O’Neill, who also had a residence at 26 Cork Street.It is generally accepted that the Spence operations that evolved over the years, should be ranked among the first and finest concerns of the kind in Ireland, devoted primarily to general engineering and steel foundry. The main achievements of the company were the construction of the Birr telescope and the little trains that served the Guinness brewery, and system that was in existence in living memory.  A number of church bells located in the Liberties are also of Spence origin.Of interest were the houses constructed by William Spence for his employees at Spence’s Terrace, Cork Street and at Marion Villas – which was named for his much loved wife.  Upon his sudden death in 1907, the business passed to his son Arthur.  The company ceased trading in 1930.  ‘Plant Life’ occupies the premises today.  Image of Plant Life above from Google Maps.The Rathmines Township commemorated William Spence in a unique way which Cathy reveals during her talk. Recorded on 24 November 2017 as part of Explore Your Archive (18 - 26 November 2017). ‘Explore Your Archive’ campaign is an initiative of the Archives and Records Association of Ireland and UK which aims to raise awareness of archives, their value to society and the impact they have on individual lives.Thank-you for listening to the Dublin City Public Libraries and Archive Podcast. To hear more, please subscribe on iTunes or SoundCloud.

Marjorie Hasler (c. 1887 -1913) joined the Irish Women’s Franchise League (IWFL), a militant suffrage group, in 1910. She was at the frontline of the women’s suffrage campaign during its explosive pre-war years. She travelled to London in November 1910 to protest against the Liberal Prime Minister H.H. Asquith’s dismissal of a Conciliation Bill that would extend voting rights to women. The suffragists were attacked by the police in an event that became known as ‘Black Friday’. Marjorie was among those injured when her head struck a wall during the agitation. Undaunted she travelled to London once more in November 1911 where she was imprisoned for breaking government windows (the suffragists’ preferred protest strategy). She spent fourteen days in Holloway prison.Marjorie was among the eight IWFL members imprisoned in Mountjoy for breaking windows in Dublin in June 1912. She was fined £10 and sentenced to six months in jail, of which she served four. This was the longest single sentence served by any of the eight women.She died of measles in 1913 but her IWFL colleagues insisted that her injuries and imprisonment contributed to her early death. The Irish Citizen declared that Marjorie was ‘the first Irish martyr for the cause’.Marjorie Hasler believed that Irish suffragists were forced to adopt violent means in the face of public apathy and institutional hostility. She wrote in the Irish Citizen (22 June 1912): ‘We don’t like smashing glass any more than men like smashing skulls. Yet in both cases there is, I believe, a strong feeling that something must be broken before a wrong is changed into a right’.Marjorie Hasler is just one of the Irish suffragists commemorated in the exhibition ‘Suffragist City: Women and the Vote in Dublin’ at Dublin City Library & Archive. The exhibition runs throughout January and February 2018. Admission Free.Further Reading:Hourican, Bridget, ‘Marjorie Hasler (c.1887-1913)’, Dictionary of Irish Biography, vol. 4 G-J, James McGuire and James Quinn (eds.), pp. 516-7.Ward, Margaret, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington: a life (1997).The Irish Citizen (available on microfilm in the Dublin City Library & Archive).  

Muckross Hockey Club was founded in 1917 by the past pupils of Muckross Park College. Over the past 100 years it has won over 30 Leinster league titles, an unparalleled 29 Leinster Senior Jacqui Potter Cup wins, a strong representation at international and provincial level and a record seven past players inducted into the Irish Hockey Association Hall of Fame.View Muckross Hockey Club Image Gallery.The Muckross Hockey Club collection comprises 70 photographs including material donated via international player Joan Priestman. It was transferred to the Dublin City Sports Archive via Peter Agnew and the Irish Hockey Archive.The photographs have been digitised and catalogued by Library Assistant, Finola Frawley.To hear more about the history of Muckross Hockey Club listen to Off the Bench podcast's "When we were Queens" episode. The Dublin City Sports Archive was established by Dublin City Library and Archive in September 2010 to provide a lasting legacy to Dublin’s term as European Capital of Sport.   It aims to  collect, preserve and make accessible to the public, records relating to sports events, clubs, sporting organisations, and records of sporting individuals, fans and players. The Dublin City Sports Archive ensures that records which reflect the rich sporting heritage of our city and county are given a permanent and secure home.

The very existence of this document is somewhat surprising, as it was issued during the Cromwellian inter-regnum in Ireland, a regime that despised ostentatious show. Nevertheless, ‘Richard Carney, Principall Herald of Armes for the whole Dominion of Ireland’ prepared this grant of arms to the Dublin Guild of Tailors in 1655.  This guild was founded in 1418 by royal charter and was second in order of precedence in the Dublin City Assembly.  The grant of arms states that the Dublin guild used the arms of the Merchant Taylors of London but that it had now applied for arms in its own right.  Carney concurs with this request, ‘in perpetuall memorie of (not onlie the ever constant Loyaltie of the said Cittie of Dublin and the many greate and famous services by them done the Commonwealth).’  The grant is issued on parchment and the top portion consists of three coats of arms, those of Ireland (left) and Dublin (right) with the arms of the Commonwealth in the centre; their inclusion indicates support for this grant. The Tailors’ arms is in the left panel, with its motto ‘Nudus et Opervistis Me’ (I was naked and you clothed me) a quotation from the New Testament (Matt. 25, 36). Elements of the coat of arms include the head of John the Baptist (whose feast was the guild’s swearing-in day, 24 June).  The guild colours were white and watchett (light blue) and these are referenced in the arms.The grant of arms was donated to Tailors’ Hall by a member of the public who had found it in her house.   It was placed on permanent loan by An Taisce with Dublin City Library and Archive and was conserved by Elizabeth D’Arcy, 2015.Manuscript of the Month: Grant of arms to the Dublin Guild of Tailors, 1655 (click to enlarge) Manuscript of the MonthEach month, Dublin City Archives will be showcasing a manuscript from their collections on our blog. Check back next month for the next instalment! 

Listen back to local Historian and well-known author Bernard Neary from Cabra West as he brings us on an interesting tour of Dublin 7, including the people, places and buildings of interest. Find out where the writer Iris Murdoch was born, where the poet Austin Clarke grew up and where Matt Kiernan made his Uilleann Pipes.