Technology is an ever-changing form for the collection and communication of information. What happens, however, when the form of equipment is no longer the current practice of collecting information? What happens when the method is out dated and showing its age? At Dublin City Library and Archive, the staff work hard to preserve the documented history of Ireland even in its less prevalent forms. Numerous images were generously donated from Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority.
The 50th anniversary of the destruction of Nelson's Pillar occurred on Tuesday, 8th March 2016, and to mark the occasion Dublin City Archives held a commemorative event entailing a talk by historian Donal Fallon, poetry read by Alastair Smeaton, and ballads by Luke Cheevers and Tony Fitzpatrick.View the photo slideshow of the event below. View the photos on flickr.The full programme was as follows:Extract from Evening Correspondent (Dated 16 February 1808). Read by Alastair SmeatonLord Nelson (Tommy Makem). Ballad sung by Tony FitzpatrickThe Pillar: the Life and Afterlife of the Nelson Pillar. Talk given by Donal FallonAdmiral Nelson (Luke Cheevers). Ballad sung by Luke CheeversDublin (Louis MacNeice). Poem read by Alastair SmeatonNelson’s Farewell (Joe Dolan from Galway). Ballad sung by Tony Fitzpatrick
W & R Jacobs Archives at Dublin City Library and Archive
On Monday 22nd February 2016, a special tea party is being hosted by an tArdmhéara Críona Ní Dhálaigh at the Mansion House to mark the transfer by Valeo Foods of the archives of W & R Jacobs and the transfer of the Appleyard Collection by Douglas Appleyard to Dublin City Council.The archives of W & R Jacob and Company, consisting of over 330 boxes, were acquired by Dublin City Library and Archive in 2012. Following a major cataloguing project they will now be opened for public access in the Reading Room of Dublin City Library and Archive at 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2.View a sneak preview of some of the records relating to the Easter Rising of 1916 and the occupation of the factory.Update: View below photo slideshow of the Mansion House Event, 22nd February 2016:Members of the public who apply for a researcher's card at Dublin City Library and Archive will be able to view our extensive database listing all items in collection and request access to original items in the Reading Room. Access to Human Resource records will be in accordance with Data Protection Legislation.The richness and diversity of the collection is likely to generate significant public interest. It includes a wide range of corporate records, relating to over 150 years of biscuit making, including recipes dating from the 1880s. It contains a wealth of colourful marketing and advertisement material from mock-ups of packaging, sample tins, brochures, posters, and television and radio commercials. Links with the world of sport and celebrity have been uncovered with records relating to W & R Jacob’s long-term sponsorship of soccer and the Irish Radio and Television Awards. However, it is the rich tapestry of social history which emerges from the collection which will most resonate with researchers and the general public. Thousands of Dubliners were employed by W & R Jacob between 1851 and 2009, and the collection provides insight into the working lives and living conditions of those that were employed by the firm.Above: Jacob's workers at lunch.Future Events associated with the Jacob's ArchiveIn April 2016, as part of the Dublin City Council 2016 Program, an exhibition on "W & R Jacobs’s and the Easter Rising" will be launched in the Business Library at the Ilac Shopping Centre, drawing on newly uncovered items in the collection. It will include the eye-witness statement of Henry Fitzgerald, a watchman in the factory who was taken prisoner during Easter Week. Dr. Séamus Ó Maitiú will deliver a lecture on the same topic on April 19th 2016 as part of the popular lunch-time Dublin City Hall Lecture Series organised by Dublin City Archives.We are also keen to animate this important collection and bring it to a wide audience over the next year. A major exhibition about all aspects of W &R Jacobs will be launched in November 2016 at Dublin City Library and Archive and plans are underway to digitise and publish online the 3,000 photographs within the collection.Above: Jacobs' Biscuits being brought to the Port of Dublin for export, 1926. (Image is taken from The Port of Dublin, Official Handbook (Dublin, Wilson Hartnell, 1926)).
John MacDonagh, was a junior officer with the Volunteers during the 1916 Rising. He fought alongside his brother, Thomas MacDonagh, at the Jacob’s Biscuit Factory. The John MacDonagh collection contains a small amount of material related to MacDonagh’s republican credentials, most notably an eight page, hand-written letter dated 30 August 1916, to the London Aid Committee, describing conditions for Irish prisoners-of war in the Frongoch internment camp and signed simply “Henry”. While his role in the Rising might have been overshadowed by that of his brother, John MacDonagh’s role in shaping the artistic and cultural life of post-independence Ireland makes his story as worthy to tell as any other, and his name as important to remember.
The Mansion House Dublin, 300 Years of History and Hospitality
A year–long series of events to mark the tercentenary of Dublin’s Mansion House culminated on 14 December 2015 with the launch of a beautiful book The Mansion House, Dublin 300 years of History and Hospitality edited by City archivist Dr Mary Clark.
New Additions to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association (RDFA) was established in 1996 to commemorate all Irish men and women who volunteered, served and died in the First World War. In 2005, the RDFA decided to place its archive with Dublin City Library & Archive, where it is available for public consultation in the Reading Room. The RDFA Archive is managed by Dublin City Archives.Right: Lieutenant Herbert Justin LemassJust added to the Collection areItems relating to two brothers, Edwin and Herbert Lemass, who both served in the British Army during the First World War. Second Lieutenant Herbert Justin Lemass and Lieutenant Edwin Stephen Lemass were second cousins of Sean Lemass, one of the most prominent Irish politicians of the 20th century. At the time that Herbert, age 19, and Edwin Lemass, age 21, were in the trenches on the Western Front, their second cousin, Sean Lemass, age 17, was fighting the British in the General Post Office during the 1916 Easter Rising. Herbert dies at the Battle of the Somme on 23rd October, 1916, while Edwin, a barrister-at-law, went on to become one of Egypt's leading judges after the war.Volume 9 of the Monica Roberts Letters. The items contained were donated by Mrs Mary Shackleton, daughter of Monica Roberts, to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association at Dublin City Library and Archive on 28 July 2014. The letters give vivid pen-pictures of conditions at the Western Front and reveal the courage of troops in the face of appalling circumstances.The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive Collection currently housed in the Dublin City Library & Archive now includes:The Monica Roberts Collection.The Corporal Henry Kavanagh Collection of letters and photographs.The: Moriarty Collection, which relates to 19th century India and consists mainly of correspondence from Jeremiah Moriarty of Cork, a travelling magistrate who worked in India during the 1850s and 1860s.The Keogh Collection Postcards, covering the period 1897-1922.The Gunning Brothers Collection, containing the records of two Enniskillen brothers, George Cecil and Frank Douglas Gunning, who fought at the battle of Gallipoli during the First World War.The Irish National War Memorial Committee Archive. Founded in the summer of 1919, the committee contracted Sir Edward Lutyens to design the War MemorialGardens at Longmeadows, Islandbridge.The Lemass Collection.Visit the Reading Room, Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Strett, Dublin 1.
O’Connor and O’Neill Family Archives re-telling life in the Liberties
Dublin City Library and Archives were given a boost, when An tArdmhéara Críona Ní Dhálaigh was formally presented with the family papers and genealogy materials of the O’Connor/O’Neill families going back to the 1750’s. The presentation was made by Sean O’Connor, head of the O’Connor family at a ceremony today in Dublin’s Mansion House attended by members of the O’Connor and O’Neill families.Right: Sean O’Connor at his school, Francis street CBS, 1951The O’Connor/ O’Neill family papers were assembled by Sean O’Connor with the help of archivist Ellen Murphy and City Archivist Mary Clark. After much painstaking research, the family papers have now been presented to the city which was home to the two families. The donation helps to strengthen the Dublin City archives as a valuable record of social history including accounts of happy times and challenging experiences in the Dublin Liberties. An tArdmhéara Críona Ní Dhálaigh commented "Dublin City Archives hold a host of interesting material and I’m certain this addition to the archives will be much sought after and referenced in years to come. To trace a family back to the 1700s living here in Dublin City must qualify you as a true blue Dub. I want to thank Sean O’Connor for donating this material to the Archives and to wish him well with his book ‘Growing up so high – a Liberties boyhood’. Given the amount of research done it is a riveting read. Is mór an t-éacht atá déanta aige agus molaim é."Speaking at the event, Sean’s son Joseph O’Connor, McCourt Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Limerick commented: "There is much in the O’Connor O’Neill archive that is concerned with the everyday, and it builds into a composite mosaic of a life that no longer exists in the Liberties or anywhere else. But if we want to know where we came from, or how we got here, or who we once were, and how we became what we are, the story is now there to be experienced again. They feature instances of great courage, humour and there are examples of what I would call the Liberties spirit - a sense of independent-mindedness and a quiet resolve not always to do what you’re told."Examples include family journal entries of 1850, recording neighbourhood events at the tenement home where they lived over a shop in 52 James’s Street:May 1879 - Today I had the chimney swept and my top coat dyed. I had to pull the tail feathers out of my sick canary. Miss King left 52 James’s Street for America. She sails from Londonderry in the ship Devonia in a few days.September 1879 - Kate went to see Mrs Ward in Mercers Hospital and saw a medical student sitting in a nurse’s lap. Very improper.October 1879 - Some person unknown left a foundling baby in the open hallway of 52 James’s Street and went away.Mary Clark, City Archivist added, "Family papers are always welcome in public archives as they tell a personal story from a fresh perspective. We are delighted to have the O'Connor/O’Neill family archives for Dublin City Archives as these go all the way back to the 17th century which is very rare."The catalogue can be viewed at online and the O’Connor/O’Neill Family Papers 1750-2013 are available to view at Dublin City Library and Archive’s Reading Room, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. It is open to all readers holding a current Research Card, issued by Dublin City Public Libraries and available on application to all parties who wish to consult the Dublin City Library & Archive collections.
This 18th century manuscript is the meticulous record by an early Dublin meteorologist, who documented the weather in the city on a daily basis during the period 1716 to 1734. The manuscript is part of the Gilbert Collection and is held in the Special Collections of Dublin City Libraries.
The Rathmines Township was created on the 22nd July, 1847, by Act of Parliament. In 1862 the townlands of Rathgar and Sallymount (the latter comprising present-day Ranelagh) were added to the renamed Rathmines and Rathgar Township. The Township was further extended in 1866 to include townlands in Uppercross, while Milltown was added in 1880.Originally the Township was governed by Commissioners, who felt they needed a place where they could meet and conduct their business. Their first house was at 71 Rathmines Road, so it really became the first town hall.Archives of the Rathmines and Rathgar Township, 1847-1930 (PDF, 529kb) (A detailed descriptive list by Dr Mary Clark, Dublin City Archivist). Visit The Reading Room, Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse Street.The original Township was created as a sanitary area, but new functions were added with subsequent Acts, including responsibility for public lighting and water supply as well as drainage, which was provided jointly with the Pembroke Township.Under the Local Government (Ireland) Act of 1898 the Rathmines and Rathgar Urban District Council (UDC) was established as the elected governing body. After 1898 the UDC built a number of small housing schemes under legislation for housing of the working classes.Right: Rathmines, Postcard. Click to view larger version..The UDC met in the magnificent Town Hall on Rathmines Road, the first meeting being held in January 1899. Work on the Town Hall began in 1895 on the site of the previous town hall. The commissioners asked one of the best-known and respected architects of Ireland, Sir Thomas Drew, to design this building. He put up a fine building of red sandstone and brick with a bay window on the first floor. But the most famous feature was the high clock tower, which could be seen from afar. The clock on the tower was made by a local firm called Chancellor and Son. They claimed they could beat any English and Scottish company so they got the job. The clock has four faces, one for each side of the tower. Before the clock could be run with electricity, the four sides would often show different times so the clock was called 'four-faced liar'.Left: Rathmines Town Hall, 1908. Click to view larger version.The town hall had a boardroom where the town commissioners would hold their meetings. There was also a gymnasium, a kitchen and a supper room (other people could hire this room out). There was an assembly hall for meetings which could fit 2,000 people. It had a stage and a room for an orchestra. Apart from being used for council meetings, the Town Hall also became a centre for social life in the area with concerts, dances and other events. Percy French, who wrote many well-known songs about counties in Ireland and who had his own theatrical company, gave many performances in the town hall and one of the first moving films made by a man called Edison was shown here in 1902. The Rathmines and Rathgar Musical Society also performed there (see below).The first public library in Rathmines was opened in June 1887 at 53 Rathmines Road. In 1899 it moved to 67 Rathmines Road, where it stayed for 14 years. Rathmines Fire Brigade later used this building. The library was then moved to its present location at 157 Lower Rathmines Road, where it opened on 24th October 1913. The present library was built with the aid of a £8,500 Carnegie grant. Andrew Carnegie was an American industrialist who gave money to build libraries and museums across the world. The architects of this fine building were Batchelor & Hicks.Left: Rathmines Library.The Baroque style façade of Rathmines Library is composed of Arklow brick walls with terracotta dressings, and was designed to fit in with the style of the Town Hall located across the road. It was also intended to be an ‘ornament to the township’. The library and technical school next door were part of the same building but each had a separate entrance. The library entrance is flanked by two-storey high Ionic columns. A large, stained glass window depicting an allegory of literature is located above the entrance. The window was designed by William Morris, a famous English artist and designer of the time. A ventilating cupola is located on the centre of the roof. Large Venetian windows provide light to the ground floor. The interior retains a fine staircase to the first floor which divides into two parallel flights.In the beginning there was no children’s library. Mary Kettle, a councillor in Rathmines, and other women councillors were very interested in making poor children’s lives better. They voted to provide school meals to make sure that children were not hungry. They also supported the opening of a children’s library in Rathmines, and this happened in 1923.Right: Rathmines and Rathgar Musical Society Programme, 1913. Click to view larger version.The Rathmines and Rathgar Musical Society was founded in 1913. Still in existence today, its first performance was the Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta, The Mikado. Based in the prosperous and expanding townships of Rathmines and Rathgar, the members of the society tended to come from the members of the middle classes who were not attracted to the music or song of the Celtic revival. Under the Local Government (Dublin) Act of 1930, the district of Rathmines and Rathgar became part of the City of Dublin, under the administration of Dublin Corporation. The UDC held its last meeting in the Town Hall in 1930 and today the building is the Rathmines College of Further Education.See also in our catalogue:Rathmines township 1847-1930, by Seamus O Maitiu. The Rathmines township : a chronology and guide to sources of information, by Angeal O'Connell.
