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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.

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. 

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.

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.

Listen back to a talk by Peter Clarke looking at the 225 year history of the Royal Canal, from its origins in 1789 through all its phases to the present day. The talk traces the planning and construction of the canal and will reference many places, people and events of historical interest along the course of Dublin’s beloved Royal Canal.Image: Foster Aqueduct and Royal Canal House Phibsboro (see larger image)Reserve a copy of Walking the Royal Canal by Peter Clarke from the library catalogue.Recorded at Phibsboro Library on Monday 21 August 2017 as part of Heritage Week 2017.See more at Royal Canal Amenity Group (RCAG).

This map is what we would now call the development plan for what became Grafton Street. The plan is by the Dublin City Surveyor, John Greene, to the scale of 10 feet to an inch and it is dated 17 January 1680. At that date, Grafton Street was a humble country lane, linking the two open spaces of St Stephen’s Green and Hoggen Green. There was even a municipal dung-heap, known as ‘The Pound’ at the end of the lane.

What happened in Ireland after the 1916 Rising? How did the political, economic and social landscape change and what brought about independence in 1922? Listen back to a three-part lecture series delivered by Maeve Casserly Dublin City Council’s Historians-in-Residence for the South East Area.  The lecture topics are:Lecture 1 - Ireland in 1917Lecture 2 - What was the War of Independence?Lecture 3 - What was the Civil War?Recorded at Rathmines Library on 12 and 26 June and Terenure Library on 20 Septemeber 2017.Lecture 1Lecture 2Lecture 3See images from this turbulent time in Irish history in the Birth of the Republic Collection available to search online at Dublin City Libraries and Archive Digital Repository.The Historians-in-residence have compiled a comprehensive booklist to accompany the Irish Revolution series of lectures:The Irish Revolution, 1917-1923: Further Reading (PDF, 363KB)This lecture series is part of Dublin City Council's Decade of Commemorations programme of events. 

Dublin City Hall was the venue for our third Heritage Week event, our seminar ‘Living in Victorian Dublin’. Our five speakers each spoke on a different topic, in order to cover all aspects of the Victorian city. Michael Barry was our first speaker. Author of Victorian Dublin Revealed he gave an overview of the entire city, demonstrating how many buildings, both public and domestic, have remained from that era and introducing them through his own splendid photography. Our next two speakers, Dr. Susan Galavan and Dr Jacinta Prunty, formed exact opposites. Susan’s talk was based on her new book Dublin’s Bourgeois Homes: building the Victorian suburbs 1850-1901.

What happened in Ireland after the 1916 Rising? How did the political, economic and social landscape change and what brought about independence in 1922? Listen back to a three-part lecture series delivered by Brian Hanley Dublin City Council’s Historians-in-Residence for Dublin City Library & Archive.