Caoimhín Ó Danachair — or Kevin Danaher, as he was more widely known — was collecting folklore in his home town of Athea, Limerick, on behalf of the Institute of Irish Folklore from as early as 1934. In 1935, while Ó Danachair was still a student of archaeology, the Director of the National Museum of … Continue reading Caoimhín Ó Danachair: The Ethnographer’s Eye
The Papers of Desmond and Mabel FitzGerald (UCDA P80) include letters from Ernie O’Malley to Mabel FitzGerald, which evince a warm personal friendship between them, in addition to a shared political philosophy. Mabel Washington McConnell, a Belfast Presbyterian and nationalist, met Desmond FitzGerald, born in London of Irish parents, at Gaelic League classes where he … Continue reading Ever yours, Ernie
In 1853, Matthew Digby Wyatt published The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century: A Series of Illustrations of the Choicest Specimens Produced by Every Nation at the Great Exhibition of Works of Industry (London: Day and Son) in two volumes. Large in format, these handsome books are filled with intricate colour reproductions of a small selection of some … Continue reading The Art of the Book: Illustrating the Industrial Arts
The future, in its cloak of fog and mystery, has long been the object of curiosity and worry, urging us to grasp at the unknown and search for evidence of what is yet to come. Some turn to tarot cards, others read their horoscope, or watch for magpies and lucky numbers to judge how their … Continue reading Divining the Future at Hallowe’en
This addition to our Decade of Centenaries series focuses on a small collection belonging to Caitlín Brugha, member of the Gaelic League, active member of the 1916 Rising, Sinn Féin TD and wife of Cathal Brugha. Caitlín Brugha, was born Catherine Mary Kingston, on 9 December 1879 at Birr, Co. Offaly. She was educated at … Continue reading DOC Series: Caitlín Brugha
As time passes and we move further away from specific moments and events, nuance is lost. An historical narrative is written and in it incidents may be omitted and periods of time compressed so that a story can be neatly told. This is the nature of history-telling for the most part - condensing the story … Continue reading Ephemeral Arteries: Connecting with our past through ‘disposable’ artefacts
While legal and religious factors have long guided our moral compass, our traditional code of right and wrong has also been informing individual conduct for a considerable amount of time. In oral tradition, particular behaviours deemed to be unacceptable are often followed by examples of what happens when this code is ignored. Among the prohibitions … Continue reading Holy Wells and Sacred Trees: Interference with the natural world
That might seem an odd question, since the Proclamation of the Irish Republic is probably Ireland’s best-known historical document: and anyway, isn’t there only one? The answer is both yes, and no. Let’s start with the story behind the Proclamation, which is quite well known, but here’s a quick summary: In the years since it … Continue reading Do you have a favourite Proclamation?
UCD Digital Library has made available online a new collection entitled Irregular News: Civil War and Republican ephemera. This collection contains a rich store of primary source material relating to the revolutionary period. This material was collected by the Irish Franciscans and was originally held in their friary on Merchants Quay, which is located across … Continue reading Irregular News: Civil War and Republican ephemera
‘... the children, at the first hint of Spring, cast down the toys bought for them at Christmas, and came out to play in the open air — out to play all the games I knew so well. I noticed how little the games and rhymes had changed since I played here, the tunes remained … Continue reading Games I Play