blog

Pop up library
8 August 2025
Dublin City Libraries are delighted to be holding three Outdoor POP UP Libraries in Wolfe Tone Square this August. Join us on the 16th, 23rd and 30th August from 11am to 4pm.

North Strand Bombing and the Emergency in Ireland

The bombing of Dublin's North Strand by Nazi aircraft on 31st May 1941 was an assault on Ireland's neutrality. The casualties were many: 28 dead and 90 injured, with 300 houses damaged or destroyed. The North Strand Bombing and the Emergency in Ireland seminar featured talks about various aspects of the bombing including censorship, compensation, and the role of the emergency services. This full day seminar to commemorate the tragedy was held at Dublin City Library & Archive on Saturday 29th May 2010.
Read More
27 May 2024

The Ballyfermot troop train ambush

Friday 8th July, 1921 a train carrying British troops; members of the Gordon Highlanders; and military supplies; cars, donkeys, horses, as well as civilians was ambushed as it passed under the railway bridge near the small hamlet of Ballyfermot.
Read More
5 July 2022

Charter of Henry II: 1171-2

In the wake of the Norman Invasion of Ireland, Dublin was seized in 1170 by Richard de Clare, better known as Strongbow.  Watch a recording of a seminar organised by Friends of Medieval Dublin and Dublin City Libraries to mark the 850th anniversary of Henry II’s grant of Dublin to Bristol, 1171–72.
Read More
15 February 2022

The Truce in national and international press

The Truce was widely covered by reporting and analysis Irish, English and American newspapers, in the days following the announcement of the cessation of conflict in July 1921.
Read More
23 July 2021

How the Truce came about

In this recorded online lecture, Historian in Residence Cormac Moore tells the story of how the Truce came about.
Read More
22 July 2021

Lord Mayor Laurence O’Neill

Dublin’s Mansion House and its occupant Lord Mayor Laurence O’Neill played a pivotal role in many events of the Irish revolutionary era.
Read More
21 July 2021

The Ballyfermot troop train ambush

On 8th July, 1921 a train carrying troops, military supplies, horses and civilians was ambushed by members of the 4th Battalion Dublin Brigade IRA as it passed under the railway bridge near the then rural hamlet of Ballyfermot.
Read More
8 July 2021

The Bombing on the night of May 30/31 1941

Dublin City Council Historian in Residence Dr. Mary Muldowney and historian Catherine Holmes tell the story of the bombing of North Strand on the night of 30/31 May 1941. This special event to mark the 80th anniversary of the bombing was hosted by Charleville Mall Library on 31 May 2021.
Read More
15 June 2021

The Dolphin's Barn Brickworks

Recorded online history talk hosted by Walkinstown Library by Historian in Residence, Cathy Scuffil.
Read More
25 May 2021

Death and Disease in Dublin: The Black Death

Crisis in a Colonial Capital: The Black Death in Dublin with Dr Simon Egan
Read More
7 May 2021