In Irish folk tradition, certain cultural significance is attached to surnames and forenames alike. Aside from being a general signifier of family and genealogy, certain surnames might also be culturally important for other reasons. Many will know that the banshee is said to ‘follow’ [i.e. lament for and be heard by] certain families, particularly those … Continue reading What’s in a Name?
Some time ago, seated at ease upon a summer evening and taking a serene review of an indefensibly fortunate and happy life, I calculated that I must have committed at least fifty-three murders, and been concerned with hiding about half a hundred corpses for the purpose of the concealment of crimes; hanging one corpse on … Continue reading The Real Father Brown: Rediscovering John O’Connor
Chuir Leo le cartlann fuaime Roinn Bhéaloideas Éireann ar go leor slite – mar bhailitheoir agus mar chartlannaí, áit a ndearna sé clárú ar an ábhar agus a raibh sé ábalta a mhéar a leagan láithreach ar pé ábhar a bheadh ag teastáil. Chuir sé go han-mhór leis an gcartlann grianghraf chomh maith, mar a … Continue reading Leo Corduff: Collector and Photographer
Constantine Curran and James Joyce first meet in 1899, when they were both students in University College, then located at 87 St. Stephen’s Green. This was the beginning of a life-long friendship between the two men, as Curran remained a close confidant of the writer after he moved away from Ireland. Photograph of James Joyce … Continue reading ‘Yours heroically’: James Joyce and the Curran/Laird Letter Collection
The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association (PTAA) was founded in Dublin in the Presbytery of St Francis Xavier Church, Gardiner Street in December 1898 by Father James Cullen SJ. Present at that first meeting were four well known Dublin women: Anne Egan, Lizzie Power, Mary Bury and A.M. Sullivan. Although little is known of these four … Continue reading The Temperance Movement in Ireland: The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association
From the time it was founded in in 1935, the Irish Folklore Commission (IFC) expressed an interest in gathering information about the clothing and dress. The section on clothing included in A Handbook of Irish Folklore (1942) is detailed and asks for information on many different aspects of the clothing worn by previous generations. It … Continue reading Clothing Worn and Clothing Remembered
Published by Julius Bien, New York, in 1870, F.V Hayden’s Sun Pictures of Rocky Mountain Scenery, with a description of the Geographical and Geological Features, and Some Account of the Resources of the Great West is a large and weighty book. The copy now housed in UCD Special Collections was once part of the Royal … Continue reading Sun Pictures: Geology, Photography and the Rocky Mountains
Among the papers of Eamon de Valera about the Civil War period, one section covers the reorganisation of Sinn Féin, peace moves and the ceasefire (November 1922–August 1923). The documents in this section are wide-ranging, demonstrating that archives do not exist in isolation and are not neatly concerned with one topic. As the Civil War … Continue reading Aspects of the Civil War
The surrounding world has always acted as a source of inspiration for the folk imagination. This can apply to natural features, such as lakes, mountains and the sea, but can also apply to man-made structures, ancient and contemporary alike. While the origin and use of many ancient monuments may be unclear to us, these structures … Continue reading Shaping the Landscape
The papers of the Burke family of Castlegar, County Galway, were deposited in UCD Archives by Colonel Dan Bryan in September 1975, and catalogued by Marie Altzinger in December 1981. The collection was assembled by Catherine Burke O’Donovan and covers the War of Independence and Civil War period. All the correspondence (except items UCDA P30/10–11, … Continue reading DOC SERIES: Papers of Margaret and Fr Tom Burke