Blogs

The Central Library are hosting a new series by Dublin City Council Historian in Residence Dr Mary Muldowney which takes a look at retail streets like Henry Street and how they have changed over the last 100 years or so.

The general strike as a political weapon was used very effectively in Ireland on several occasions between 1918 to 1922. It was part of the successful resistance to the imposition of conscription in April 1918. One hundred years ago, on 12 April 1920, worked ceased all over the country, but especially in Dublin, as another general strike was called.Several thousand republicans had been imprisoned in previous months, as part of the British government’s response to events in the War of Independence. Over one hundred political prisoners were in Mountjoy Gaol in April 1920, when many of them decided to go on hunger strike in protest against the absence of formal charges against them. They were also angry that the authorities were breaching an agreement to treat them as prisoners-of-war rather than criminals.At Mountjoy Gaol tens of thousands of people demonstrated outside for the release of the republican prisoners. Women were especially prominent in the demonstrations, many of them on their knees and praying for the hunger strikers. British army soldiers were posted behind the walls of the gaol, which were covered with barbed wire to prevent any attempt to break in and release the prisoners.  Soldiers were standing with bayonets fixed while Royal Air Force planes flew towards the crowd at rooftop height, to intimidate them.The Irish trade unions - led by the Irish Transport and General Workers Union - organised a general strike in support of the hunger strikers and all the political prisoners. In many areas the strike committees took over the organisation of civic duties like food distribution and policing. After two days of general strike, on 12 and 13 April, the British authorities caved in and released all the republican prisoners. It was an effective demonstration of the general strike’s use as a political weapon.Sometimes economic and political demands could be mixed. On 17 April the dockers at the North Wall refused to load food for England. This action relieved the scarcity in Dublin, which was particularly bad in these years when large quantities were being shipped to Britain under the food control orders. In May 1920, railway workers began refusing to move British troops or military supplies in Ireland, restricting the military to the use of roads, which were constantly being trenched and blocked by IRA guerrillas. The boycott lasted until the end of the year, when the men were instructed to finish it to stave off the danger of retaliation by the state.Want to spend this ‘Stay At Home’ time reading, or even studying more history? Why not try out some of Dublin City Libraries history resources, you can use them with your library card and everything is free:BorrowBox has lots of history books including historical novels, non-fiction tomes and history audio books.RBDigital app has history magazines like BBC History, Military History and the genealogy magazine Who Do You Think You Are. Browse and download over 43,000 old photographs, maps and documents and thousands of old photographs, maps and historical documents available free-of-charge on our digital repository and image galleries.Find out the history and provenance of Dublin place names and monuments with the Historians in Residence live Facebook talks (https://www.facebook.com/DubHistorians) and online video lectures. On the library blog you can read the historians’ quick reads on topical subjects like the flu pandemic of 100 years ago, Molly Malone (did she really die of a fever?), when Dublin Telephonists challenged the government, and lots more.Read the book of local history essays written by Dublin City Council’s Historians in Residence History on Your Doorstep Volume 1.  Dublin City Council’s history on your doorstep programme brings this history & heritage to life.There are 30 online history courses on Universal Class complete with assignments and a tutor, including the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, Ancient Civilisations, and economic history.Keep in touch by following us on twitter at @histfest @dubhistoriansMary Muldowney, Historian in Residence Dublin City Council, Central Area 

While #stayathome is in force lots of people are getting to spend more time in their own local area. As you stroll around your 2km zone, you may not know that you’re surrounded by history and heritage, in the streets and buildings that make up our city and suburbs!Dublin City Council’s history on your doorstep programme brings this history & heritage to life.Do you know how your housing estate or street got its name? Join Cathy Scuffil in her live Facebook talks on the street names and place names of some of Dublin's best loved areas, including the Liberties and the housing estates in Crumlin, Ballyfermot and Drimnagh.Watch out for history on your doorstep panels and read about the place you are standing in, and see what your area looked like in the past through the thousands of photographs online in our digital collections.You may not be able to visit the City Centre, but James Curry’s illustrated videos about the statues on O’Connell Street, the City’s bridges, and other monuments, will give you lots to think about. You can find out that mistakes are sometimes set in stone, how Dubliners were able to drink the water, and why Rosie Hackett came to be celebrated in a bridge over the Liffey.On the library blog you can read the historians’ quick reads on topical subjects like the flu pandemic of 100 years ago, Molly Malone (did she really die of a fever?), the general strike of April 1920 and lots more.Podcasts are great company on a walk or doing the ironing, and we have a brilliant selection of talks from international and Irish historians on the Dublin Festival of History podcast. With two episodes a week you’ll have hours of listening with topics including the War of Independence, the Crusades, the rise of Hitler, and Great Irish speeches. Subscribe now!We also have lots of reading material, with a great selection of history books on BorrowBox and history magazines on RBDigital, and thousands of old photographs, maps and historical documents available free-of-charge on our digital repository and image galleries.Keep in touch by following us on twitter at @histfest @dubhistoriansSo, while you #stayathome, why need visit the city and the world through great history content, brought to you by Dublin City Council.

Whatever your area of interest, we have an online resource for you.  Today we’re going to take a look at The Great Courses Library Collection. This resource gives our library members access to an amazing world of knowledge.It is comprised of hundreds of videos on subjects ranging from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to chemistry, from the fundamentals of photography to learning French, from astronomy to art, from history to health, and much, much more.No matter what you’re interested in, you’ll find your favourite subject here. All the courses are taught by experts in their fields, including for example National Geographic’s master photographer Joel Satore and celebrated astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Features include: ·         Unlimited access via RB Digital mobile apps and browsers.·         Easy-to-use features with no commercials or interruptions so you can learn at your own pace.·         New courses added every month.·         Interactive, engaging, entertaining, and visually dazzling videos that make learning fun. And best of all, it’s free with your Dublin City Public Libraries membership card. See DCPL eResources for a full listing of our online resources. 

Bhain slua maith taitneamh as seo ó Ghuthanna Binne Síoraí (Everlasting Voices) ar Lá Filíochta na hÉireann, Déardaoin, 26 d’Aibreáin i mBliain na Gaeilge, 2018. Bhí filíocht ó WB Yeats curtha i láthair i mbéarla agus Gaeilge ag Cathal Quinn, Acadamh Lir agus seinnteoir, Enda Reilly. D’aistrigh Gabriel Rosenstock na dánta ó bhéarla go Gaeilge.We celebrated Poetry Day Ireland, 26 April and Bliain na Gaeilge with a great event, "I Hear It in the Deep Heart’s Core" with Guthanna Binne Síoraí at Dublin City Library and Archive. Artistic Director Cathal Quinn and musician, composer and singer Enda Reilly took us on a journey through the poetry of Yeats, spoken and sung in English and Irish, with translations by Gabriel Rosenstock. Here's a video of Enda Reilly performing Down by the Salley Gardens, Thíos cois garraithe na Saillí:Video: www.paddycahill.comBeidh neart imeachtaí Gaeilge i leabharlanna poiblí chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath le linn clár Féile na Bealtaine.Look out for more Irish language events in the libraries during the Bealtaine Festival this May.

Dublin City Council has a team of part-time Historians in Residence working with communities across the city. This public history project began in Spring 2017 under the auspices of the Decade of Commemorations designation within the Council, and the historians work in the five administrative areas of Dublin City  to make history and historical sources accessible and enjoyable for all.Pictured l-r: Donal Fallon, Maeve Casserly, Cathy Scuffil, Bernard Kelly, Cormac Mooore (view larger photo)Dublin City Council Historians in Residence are working on all sorts of history events throughout the city including talks, walks, tours, discussions, history book clubs,  blogs, exhibitions and more. They are:Donal Fallon -  North West AreaCormac Moore  -  North Central AreaMaeve Casserly  -  South East AreaCathy Scuffil  -  South Central AreaBernard Kelly  -  Dublin City Library and ArchiveThey can talk to groups and students about history, organise walking tours and can come to your area to meet you. Get in touch on Facebook or Twitter (@DubHistorians) or email [email protected] And it's all FREE!Part of Dublin City Council's Decade of Commemorations programme.Video: www.paddycahill.com

In April and May of 2017 Dolphin's Barn Library hosted a series of workshops where young historians learned how to combine research, storytelling, drawing and digital animation to tell a tale from Irish history.Expert facilitators included historian Conor Kostick and author and illustrator Alan Nolan.The result is this exciting video set in Dublin 1920. In it Tadhg undertakes a dangerous mission to deliver a message to Countess Markievicz. On the way he evades policemen, befriends Victoria Jacobs and is shot at by the 'Black and Tans'!The project was supported by the UNESCO City of Literature office. Credits:Animation Producers: Ciara, Kayra, Adam, Tadhg, Evie, Laoise, Yaha, Mahmoud, Dylan, Seppe, Naiara, Alice, Luke, GraceWriter and historian: Conor Kostick (See his books available to borrow here on our public catalogue).Writer and illustrator: Alan Nolan (See his books available to borrow here on our public catalogue).Location: Dolphin's Barn April and May 2017Digital & Film Producer: Mauricio FigueroaVideo by Rodann

Dublin: A Year in Words is a Dublin UNESCO City of Literature project which showcased the breadth and diversity of our city’s living poets through a year-long series of poetry videos filmed across 12 Dublin bookshops.Like the city itself, the poets featured in the series are more than the sum of their parts. Collectively they tell of a Dublin full of light and shade, a city of contradictions, in constant flux. They show us that the story of Dublin is everybody’s to tell. It has no fixed points. Beyond wild, it exists far more in the unspoken and the unseen than any attempt to distil it down to a neat package can do justice to. And yet it is our poets perhaps more than anyone who have grappled with the task of laying our lifelines bare and bringing voice to the city. Dublin A Year in Words presents a cross-section of 12 poets who do just that, filmed in establishments that keep the city’s essence alive.Here's a playlist featuring all 12 poems from the series:'Dublin' by Kerrie O'Brien filmed at Books Upstairs. (August 2016)'Native' by John Cummins filmed at The Winding Stair. (September 2016)'You Think I wear this for you?' by Raneem Saleh filmed at An Siopa Leabhar. (October 2016)'vinyl Sublime' by Richard Brennan The Secret Book & Record Store. (November 2016)'The Ghost Song' by Paula Meehan filmed at Ulysses Rare Books. (December 2016)'Grangegorman' by Hazel Hogan filmed at Oxfam Books. (January 2017)'Story Buddleia' by Ophelia Mc Cabe filmed at Hodges Figgis bookstore. (February 2017)'Six Harcourt Street (An Conradh)' by Ciara Ní É filmed at Forbidden Planet. (March 2017)'City of Foot Soldiers' by Matty Tamen filmed at Eason Bookshop. (April 2017)'Some Advice' by Darragh O'Reilly filmed at Alan Hanna's bookshop. (May 2017)'Lullaby' by Stephen Clare filmed at Rathgar Bookshop. (June 2017)'Críochfort' by MC Muipéad filmed at the Gutter Bookshop. (July 2017)Dublin: A Year in Words is a celebration of what is happening in ‘the now’, supporting our living poets instead of drawing from the past.Dublin: A Year in Words was curated by Linda Devlin and Stephen James Smith and filmed by Design for Life.This Dublin UNESCO City of Literature project is kindly supported by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. 

On Wednesday, 21 June author Jose Eduardo Agualusa and translator Daniel Hahn were announced as winners of the 2017 International DUBLIN Literary Award for Agualusa's novel A General Theory of Oblivion.  The Award is organised and sponsored by Dublin City Council and at €100,000 is the world's largest prize for a single novel published in English. Uniquely, the Award receives its nominations from public libraries in cities around the globe and recognises both writers and translators.In case you missed it we have photos and videos from the Award ceremony.Video highlights from the winner announcementWinner's speechJosé Eduardo Agualusa was born in Huambo, Angola, in 1960, and is one of the leading literary voices in Angola and the Portuguese-speaking world. His novel Creole was awarded the Portuguese Grand Prize for Literature, and The Book of Chameleons won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2007. Agualusa lives between Portugal, Angola and Brazil.Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor and translator with some forty books to his name. His work has won him the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award.Photos from the 2017 winner ceremony 

Dublin City Library and Archive and The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association presented a seminar titled 'Messines Peace Park: Its contribution to Irish-British reconciliation' on Friday 19 May at The Council Chamber, City Hall, Dame Street. Many thanks to all speakers, Bertie Ahern, Barabara Walshe, Dr Chris McGimpsey, Dr Alasdair McDonnell and Tom Burke and to the Lord Mayor of Dublin Brendan Carr, who formally opened the seminar. Thank-you to Paddy Harte Junior who read Peace Pledge to formally close the seminar.About The Messines Peace ParkThe Island of Ireland Peace Park, more usually known as the Messines Peace Park, is a memorial to the soldiers on the island of Ireland who died, were wounded or went missing during World War I. It is located close to site of the June 1917 battle for The Wijtschate -Messines Ridge. The project was initiated by A Journey of Reconciliation Trust, a broadbased cross-border Irish organization which hopes to bring together people of diverse beliefs. The Trust comprised representatives of the main churches in Ireland, with professional and political representatives together with community leaders from both parts of Ireland under the leadership of Paddy Harte and Glenn Barr.The design, in the form of a Round Tower, has a unique aspect that allows the sun to light the interior only on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the anniversary of the armistice that ended the war and the time for the minute's silence on Remembrance Day. The tower was unveiled after an 11am service on 11 November 1998 by President Mary McAleese of Ireland in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and King Albert II of Belgium.Watch the first session chaired by Tom Burke MBE, Chairman, RDFA.Watch discussion and questions session chaired by Dr Mary Clark, Dublin City Archivist. Plus reading of Peace Pledge by Paddy Harte Junior.About the SpeakersTom Burke MBE, Chairman, RDFA.Tom is a member of the First World War exhibition advisory committees to Dublin City Archive and Library, the National Museum and National Library of Ireland. He was a consultant on several television and radio documentaries on Ireland’s participation in the First World War presented by RTE, BBC (NI) and UTV. In August 2004, Tom was awarded an MBE for his contribution to the Irish Peace Process. He holds an M.Litt in Military History from UCD.Mr. Bertie Ahern, Iar-Thaoiseach (1997-2008)As Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern was closely associated with the Peace Process and was actively involved in the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement, signed on 10 April 1998. On 24 September 2003, Ahern and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, were jointly awarded the Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights, for their work on the Peace Process.Dr Chris McGimpsey, Ulster Unionist PartyChris McGimpsey has a lifetime's experience in politics, both as an elected member and as a campaigner capable of mobilising public opinion and challenging governments at the highest level. He holds a BA from Syracuse University, New York and a doctorate in Irish History from Edinburgh University.Dr Alasdair McDonnell, Social Democratic and Labour PartyAlasdair McDonnell has been MP for Belfast South since 2005 and was Leader of the SDLP for 2011-15. He was a member of Belfast City Council from 1997 and 2001 and he has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly since 1998.Barbara Walshe, Glencree Centre for Peace and ReconciliationBarbara Walshe has been chair of the Board of the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation since October 2014. Over the past 20 years, he has worked in peace building and restorative justice roles – both in Ireland (north and south) and internationally. She also presented an RTÉ Radio series on grassroots peace building in Northern Ireland and the Border region.Dr Mary ClarkMary Clark is the Dublin City Archivist and is Curator of the Dublin Civic Portrait Collection. The Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive, relating to the First World War is held in Dublin City Library & Archive.