Welcome to the UCD Library Cultural Heritage Collections blog. Discover and explore the historical treasures housed within our Archives, Special Collections, National Folklore Collection and Digital Library
UCD Archive's first post of 2026 concerns one of its small collections: a letter from Alice Hillstead Mušek, Hradec Králové, Czechoslovakia, to J. Grierson, 1 Herbert Street, Dublin. Daniel Samek has written an interesting article on Czech-Irish cultural contacts in the first half of the 20th century that began with a visit by British and …
Continue reading "Czech-Irish cultural contacts in the first half of the 20th century"
As referenced in a past blogpost on the coming of spring, a folk belief found in Ireland explains that catching sight of the first lamb of the new year will bring luck if the lamb is facing you. If the lamb has his back turned to you, however, this portends ill-luck instead. Apart from its …
Following the Easter Rising in 1916, Éamon de Valera was imprisoned first, in Mountjoy jail and then, following the commutation of his death sentence, in four English prisons — Dartmoor, Lewes, Maidstone, and Pentonville. He was released under the general amnesty in 1917. Among his papers are a series of Christmas cards sent to him …
Continue reading "Nodlaig Shona Duit: Christmas Cards from 1916"
This blogpost was originally supposed to be about our acetate disc digitisation and publication project as we near its end but after the launch of our latest and last (for a while) batch of acetate discs at this year’s Oireachtas na Samhna festival, it was clear that the festival itself was the real story. With …
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The Henry Roe Room / Christ Church Cathedral Music Room (SC.Arch.W 726.6 STR) In the introduction to A History of Music at Christ Church Cathedral Dublin reference is made to cathedrals having a place in the social and cultural lives of cities. An example of this occurred last May. People assembled in the Henry Roe Room, formed a choir …
In this post, I will use two sets of papers to illustrate how a researcher can trace an issue across more than one collection. Both the papers of Eoin MacNeill and of Liam S. Gógan include correspondence with Julius Pokorny concerning Pokorny’s dismissal from the Chair of Celtic Philology at the University of Berlin, under …
The Irish Folklore Commission, in its aim to collect and preserve the folklore of Ireland, placed huge trust and responsibility on its full-time collectors, some of whom remained in the employment of the Commission for many years. The Commission was also reliant on part-time collectors and questionnaire correspondents to capture aspects of tradition from areas …
Continue reading "Collections and Connections: The Irish Folklore Commission in Co. Mayo"
A notable aspect of private paper collections, is how a person features as a thread that runs through the tapestry of a collection. We have explored this before in our post about the death of W.B. Yeats, although here it may be more intentional, as some of the correspondents’ thoughts about Macnamara are being sought …
A visit to the National Folklore Collection isn’t quite like a visit to other libraries or archives. As you enter, the door creaking gently behind you, you’re met with a certain feeling of history and possibility. It’s a feeling that you can’t quite put your finger on, but a distinct one nonetheless. Once inside you’re …
Continue reading "‘Stories through art: The Eviction by Lady Elizabeth Butler’ "
In part one of this post, we looked at a file in Josephine McNeill’s papers concerning her husband, James McNeill, governor-general of the Irish Free State. The office of governor-general was viewed with suspicion by many as a symbol of continued British involvement in Irish affairs, and it was disliked and downgraded in importance by …
Continue reading "“A considered policy”: the Governor General and Éamon de Valera (Part 2)"