blog

On 16 November 1538, the Monastery and lands of All Hallows were surrendered by Prior Walter Handcocke to Henry VIII as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.  The house and lands of All Hallows were granted by the king to the Mayor, Bailiffs, Commons and Citizens of Dublin on 4 February 1539. The lands included properties in counties Dublin, Meath, Kildare, Louth, Tipperary, Kilkenny and elsewhere.  The grant of All Hallows more than doubled the city’s land-bank and led to a reorganization of the Dublin City Treasurer’s office to cope with the increased revenue from leases of All Hallows land.  This, the earliest known City Treasurer’s Account Book begins in 1540 largely as a way of ensuring that all moneys from letting this land bank were accounted for.Image: Grotesque, City Treasurer's Account Book. Dublin City Library & Archive MR/35 (1540-1613)In the period covered by this book, the Dublin City Treasurer was usually an Alderman on the Dublin City Assembly who was appointed for an initial period of a year, often renewed. The City Treasurer presented the accounts to the Assembly each year at the fourth Friday after Michaelmas (St. Michael’s Day, 29 September). The book was conserved in the late 19th century, most probably under the direction of Sir John T. Gilbert (who also gave directions that ‘Dublin Corporation’ should be stamped on each page as a security measure, as was done in Les Archives Nationales de France).  It was re-bound in reverse calf (now much degraded) and two large bands were applied, one to the head and one to the end of the spine. The front of the original cover has been bound into the front of the book. This is in finely-tanned leather, possibly sheepskin and the holes from the original clasps can be clearly seen. At the top is written (in English):The Tresorye bookeof the Cittie of Du-bline Anno d[omini] MDXLIboght by Thomas Stevins Thresaurer 1541Image: Front cover, City Treasurer's Account Book (click to enlarge)Inside the pages of the book are made of paper and this is the earliest document in the City Archives where paper is used.   Paper was first made in China during the Han Dynasty (202 BC to 220 AD).  The techniques for making paper reached Europe in the 11th century but spread very slowly, reaching England in 1488.  These early papers were made by hand, using cotton and linen rags, which means that they have survived well until the present day. As essentially it’s made of cloth, early paper can be washed if necessary – a procedure which has to be done by a trained paper conservator.  (Modern papers are made of wood pulp, usually eucalyptus, which is imported largely from Australia). The paper in the City Treasurer’s book appears to have been imported from France: Professor Padraig O Maicin has identified just one watermark in the book, on folio 42, which is a decorative urn, often used by paper mills in France to identify their work.  The pages have lines down them, a practice which is known as ‘chained paper’ and is like ribbing on a knitted jumper, designed to strengthen each sheet.  Image: Watermark, City Treasurer's Account Book (click to enlarge)Each page was conserved during the 19th century, with a new edging put onto it using acid-free paper.  It is likely that the Treasurer’s Book was suffering from damp as indicated by the staining on some of the pages.  The conservator appears to have cut off the worst of the soiled edges – fortunately a substantial margin had been left which means that no text was removed. The numbers throughout the Treasurer’s Book are written in Roman numerals and not in Arabic numerals. Capital letters on some of the pages near to the front of this book have been decorated with grotesques – a sure sign that the scribe entering the accounts was really bored!   But in reality researchers have found many stories in the book – they have constructed biographies of many Dublin merchants; described lavish parties held in the city; and recorded visits by the Queen’s Players, a theatre troupe based in London. Image: Grotesque, City Treasurer's Account Book (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!See also: Admiral Nelson's casts an eye over the Dublin City Treasurer's Accounts in his latest News from Nelson blog: "Last week I was browsing away and I came across the Dublin City Treasurer’s Accounts 1540-1613.  I know – I can hear you say ‘Bor-ring!’ and at first I thought so too." Read more: News from Nelson - Grotesques!

A collection of eight Ordnance Survey maps, donated to Dublin City Library and Archive, constitute a wonderful addition to local and family history for the Terenure Crumlin area in the late 19th century. The maps are folded and bound into one volume, bound in half leather with gilt lettering on the top cover.

Formally named as Byrne (the family later changed their surname to O'Byrne, a practice not uncommon at that time), James O'Byrne was from Lower Mayor Street in Dublin's North Wall area.Young James was recruited to the city libraries as a 'boy' library assistant in 1913 and from that time was assigned to the Charleville Mall, North Strand library.

During the Easter Rising of 1916 many Dublin residents, caught in the middle of the fighting, recorded their experiences in diaries and journals. Herbert Victor Fleming and Nora Marion Fitzpatrick were among those to do so. Fleming, a store manager, and Fitzpatrick, a V.A.D. nurse, were both loyal to England and regarded the Sinn Féin Rebels as traitors and the enemy. Their vivid descriptions of destruction and survival remain captured in their diaries for generations to come.Image: Page 1 of Nora Marion Fitzpatrick's 1916 DiaryHerbert Fleming’s Diary excerpt:"All the roads covered with dead and dying horses and wounded people... I then tried to get home but cannot. The bridges into the city held by Rebels."Fleming’s diary expresses his shock and fear as he struggles to survive as a civilian living in a warzone. On the constant search for food and news, Fleming is forced to leave the confines of his home and risks a volley of bullets each time he goes out. He makes daring trips through Dublin with the hopes of securing a meal for his family and friends. Fleming’s diary reveals the terror of a civilian whose world is turned upside down and into chaos as he worries about the safety of his loved ones and mourns the loss of a dear friend.Herbert Fleming’s Diary excerpt:"Rebels evidently trying to escape or get into the city. A boom of cannons up the mountains. City all in darkness except for the flames. As we stood in the road the bullets whining over and in front of our heads. We don't mind them now and you can hear soldiers shooting back."Nora Fitzpatrick, a Red Cross nurse, quickly offered up her services to those in need. Nora and her sister Jeannie, who was also a nurse, were soon put to work by the military. The two sisters were constantly at work. They took wounded soldiers into their own home, and provided intelligence to the British troops. They spent days without sleeping and bathing, and had little to eat as well. Fitzpatrick’s account describes her interactions with the military, rebels, and civilians alike. Her status as a Red Cross nurse earned her access to places and people that were off limits to ordinary citizens.Taken together, both Fleming’s and Fitzpatrick’s diaries highlight a number of similar themes. Both diarists battled hunger and extreme danger during the course of the rebellion. Interestingly enough, while the horrors of battle were at first frightening, both authors soon became used to the danger and carnage. Indeed, as Nora Fitzpatrick concluded her account, ‘after the first ‘baptism by fire’, one does not mind the bullets whizzing round.’Both diaries were donated to Dublin City Library and Archive. Nora Fitzpatrick’s diary (Ms 190) was donated by John Braga, great nephew of Nora and Jeannie [b13389786]. Herbert Fleming’s diary was donated by Joe Connell [b27173239].page 1 and 53 of Victor Fleming's 1916 diary, and Page 1 and 26 of Nora Fitzpatrick's 1916 diary:About our Guest BloggerThis blog was put together by Kaitlin Marie Owczarski, undergraduate at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA; History major, class of 2017. Kaitlin interned at the Dublin City Library and Archive through the EUSA internship program.   

A native of Omagh, Co. Tyrone, ‘Mick’ McGinn was an ‘old’ Fenian who had been a Tyrone IRB leader since the 1870s and had spent a lot of his life in British jails. McGinn was a close personal friend of Thomas Clarke, who was seven years his junior.

A native of Dublin’s north inner city, ‘Tom’ Dowling was recruited in 1915, aged sixteen, to the Dublin Corporation Libraries as a junior library assistant, having achieved second place in the Libraries examination.

A native of Dublin’s north inner city, ‘Paddy’ Stephenson (known to his family as ‘Paddy Joe’) was educated by the Christian Brothers at the O'Connell School, North Richmond Street.

A native of the Clogher Valley in Co. Tyrone, Róisín Walsh was born into a staunchly nationalist, Catholic family on 24th March 1889. Walsh was a brilliant linguist and gifted scholar and received the best education then available to females.

A native of Dublin’s inner city, 'Tommy' Gay was educated at Synge Street CBS. His early life coincided with the political and cultural revival of the late nineteenth century and he became very active in a range of sporting and cultural organisations, including the GAA and the Gaelic League.  A keen sportsman, he was a member of the Croke Gaelic Club where he became an accomplished hurler and was also a founder member of the Dublin Camogie Club.Right: Thomas E. Gay (1884-1953)As Gay himself later explained it, these organisations ‘gave impetus and new life to the revolutionary movement’.  He started in the Corporation libraries as a library assistant at the then newly-opened Charleville Mall Library in line with the practice of recruiting 16 year old boys.  By April 1916 he was already a mature 32-year-old man, established in his career as Capel Street Head Librarian and engaged to be married.In September 1914, he enlisted at ‘A’ Company of the 1st Battalion of the Dublin Brigade at the Columcille Hall in Blackhall Street, Stoneybatter. From that time he drilled regularly with his company and attended field manoeuvres near Swords under commanders such as Thomas MacDonagh and Piaras Béaslaí. By early 1916 Gay had learned from his company First Lieutenant, Denis O’Callaghan that ‘a Rising was to take place early in the year.’ Under orders to parade in full kit on Easter Sunday, Gay, by his own account, turned out as instructed, but on learning of MacNeill’s countermanding order he then returned home. Gay spent Easter bank holiday Monday 24 April at the Fairyhouse races (where rumours of the fighting in Dublin reached him).  Returning late on Monday night he had no way of knowing where his company was garrisoned.A pragmatic man, by Tuesday morning he decided to report to the post nearest to his home. This was at Jameson's Distillery in Marrowbone Lane under Captain Con Colbert, who, because he had enough men inside the Garrison, decided that Gay, because of his keen knowledge of the area, should be deployed instead in an intelligence and communications role between the Jameson's Distillery Garrison and Jacob’s Biscuit Factory.To all appearances Gay was ‘a mild mannered and innocuous bookworm’, and had a particular ability to make himself unobtrusive and so avoid suspicion. This was therefore a role to which he was well suited and, as he later recalled, ‘to which he was to become more and more attached’ (his subsequent service up to 1924 was almost exclusively in an intelligence capacity).He went on to provide vital assistance from the Tuesday right up until the surrender on the following Sunday. Reporting in daily, he brought in crucial supplies of arms, ammunition, medical and other supplies, updating Colbert regularly on enemy movements. By the Thursday he observed the advance of a troop of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire regiment (the Sherwood Foresters) coming along the South Circular Road from the Harcourt Street direction, heading towards Rialto. This was most likely the advance of the 2nd Battalion, 18th Regiment of the 2/8th Sherwood Foresters who were ‘detailed to escort a consignment of ammunition to the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham’. Gay immediately forewarned Colbert who was able to alert neighbouring garrisons and frustrate the British offensive.Colbert had instructed him to organise the urgent movement of food supplies from Jacob's factory; Gay went there on the morning of Sunday 30 April, when Thomas MacDonagh was already discussing terms of surrender. Major John MacBride, who was second in command to MacDonagh, instructed him to communicate the verbal surrender  back to the Distillery where Captain Séamus Murphy was standing in for Colbert.  Murphy ordered Gay back to Jacob’s to request the order in writing. MacBride refused vehemently, stating that he had never and would never put in writing an order for an Irishman to surrender and that they would know when they saw the flag coming down from their building that the surrender had taken place.Gay avoided capture in the aftermath of the surrender.  He subsequently became an Intelligence Officer on the General Headquarters staff of the Irish Volunteers, reporting directly to Michael Collins. Interrupting his library career for a time, in 1922 Gay joined the National Army, rising by 1923 to the rank of Colonel, again in an intelligence role. His place of work, Capel Street library became a centre for IRA intelligence, and his home at Haddon Road, Clontarf was frequently used by Collins for meetings.About our Guest BloggerEvelyn Conway is Librarian at Dublin City Public Libraries and Archive.The above is based on an essay in the book 'Dublin City Council and the 1916 Rising', published by Dublin City Council, March 2016. Evelyn is one of a number of contributors of essays exploring events of the Rising and biographies of persons involved and either employed by the Council at the time, or subsequently. Read this recent blog post for more.Part of a series looking at Dublin City Public Libraries staff and the 1916 Rising. See also:Róisin Walsh: Dublin City’s first Chief Librarian and the RisingPaddy Stephenson: Dublin City Council's second Chief Librarian and the RisingJames Thomas Dowling – Dublin’s County Librarian and the RisingMichael McGinn: The Clontarf Town Hall Caretaker and the RisingJames O'Byrne: The Kevin Street Librarian and the Rising 

This new publication looks at 1916 in central Dublin, an area which formed the backbone of the 1916 Rising. We know that many of the men and women who fought in the 1916 Rising were from the north inner-city area with 287 of those who fought in the GPO alone hailing from this part of the city.