UCD LIBRARY CULTURAL HERITAGE COLLECTIONS
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
Theobald Wolfe Tone Dillon was born in 1898 and was known as Theo. He was the second son of John Dillon (1851–1927), land agitator and nationalist politician, and grandson of James Blake Dillon (1816–66), founder of The Nation in 1842. His mother, Elizabeth Mathew, was a grand-niece of Fr Theobald Mathew of the temperance movement. …
'The cabin generally of the most miserable description, the furniture corresponding. The bed, a small quantity of straw and an indifferent blanket; sheets none.’ Thus James Kirwan Esq. J.P. describes the housing, furnishings and bedding in the parish of Tuam, Co Galway in 1836 in answer to a questionnaire sent out by the Royal Commission …
It is often that we come across noteworthy cases and anecdotes of unknown origin here in the National Folklore Collection. They demonstrate the unique character of the collection as well as the extensive and often surprising work undertaken by it’s predecessors. If you wander into the Tierney building on the UCD campus, from the corner …
What do these three areas of expertise have in common? Well, a gentleman called Sir Christopher John Nixon for starters. Christopher Nixon was born in Dublin on 29 June 1849. He was educated at Terenure College, where he was amongst the first fifty pupils enrolled after the school opened in 1860. He subsequently studied at …
Irish Bogs contain an abundance of a particular type of moss known as sphagnum which has antiseptic and absorbent qualities. During WWI, this moss was gathered by female volunteers across the country and then sewn into cloth dressings which were sent to hospitals on the continent for the war wounded. UCD Special Collections holds the …
There is a certain note of heartbreak that attends the discovery of a stray red sock in a white wash. Things are just never the same again, are they? We’ve all borne that painful scar, as we’ve bid farewell to our favourite white shirt. But how many of us take the time to ponder these …
Today being the last day of May, UCD Archives decided to have a look at the collection of a man who was born on the first day of May nearly one hundred years ago, in 1919. This collection is not one that people would usually associate with UCD Archives, but it gives you a flavour …
On 4th May 2018, Irish poet Thomas Kinsella turned 90 years old. An event hosted by the Lord Mayor of Dublin to mark this occasion was held in the Mansion House. UCD Library Special Collections holds the Thomas Kinsella Collection, containing over 700 items including books, pamphlets and ephemera which Kinsella generously donated to UCD …
“Your name must, and will always be, associated with the rescue at the last moment of Irish tradition.” Praise indeed when one considers that the author of such words was Séamus Ó Duilearga, honorary director of the Irish Folklore Commission (1935-1971), who was himself credited by many as being the driving force in the race …
In this age of the digital, online cultural heritage exhibitions help to open up unique and distinct collections to a global and international audience. UCD Archives, not only uses platforms such as Google Arts & Culture Institute, to showcase it's historically rich collections to the world, but also Twitter by creating timelines. These timelines act as …