“The Workhouse was the most feared and hated institution ever established in Ireland” - John O’Connor, The Workhouses of Ireland. The local workhouse building remains a familiar sight in many towns across the island of Ireland. Built to provide relief for the poor, the controversial and tragic history of these buildings reverberates to this very day. … Continue reading The Workhouse Drawings Collection
Books are inconspicuous – readily available objects that we see daily, and that line the shelves of our homes and offices. Items that some of us treasure, or collect in great numbers. This, of course, makes a book the perfect place to hide secrets. We see this time and again, with a concealed gun featuring … Continue reading Now you see it, now you don’t!
How well will this university look, as a university in, say, fifty years? So wrote Lance Wright in the Architects' Journal in April 1973. So....how do you think the university looks? Or how has the campus changed since your time at UCD? Why don't you come and tell us your stories, share your memories and … Continue reading Have your say at Belfield 50
Thoughts and dreams of foreign lands are beginning to bubble beneath the surface as another academic year passes from the urgent hues of the present to the harmless sepia tones of the past. Some of us might be thinking of short breaks from the office, whilst others prepare for longer adventures after the lengthy toil … Continue reading There was little romantic intrigue and gigolos were as rare as snakes…
Students across Ireland, and further afield, are in the depths of studying and/or exams. We feel their pain. We too have been through the torturous hours of study followed by those terrifying few seconds at the beginning of an exam when your brain goes blank! It will do all students good to remember that the … Continue reading The dreaded examiner’s red pen!
On 24th April 2019 and exhibition of the archive of the renowned Irish playwright Frank McGuinness was launched in UCD Special Collections. The exhibition displays handwritten and typescript drafts of McGuinness's most well-known and critically acclaimed plays including The Factory Girls, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me and Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the … Continue reading Frank McGuinness: From Creativity to Legacy
To celebrate the launch of the collaborative Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP) and UCD Archives online exhibition Republic to republic: Ireland's international sovereignty, 1919-1949, this guest post will tell you about the diplomatic steps taken for Ireland to become a Republic. In January 1949 John Dulanty, Ireland's High Commissioner in London (the senior Irish diplomatic representative), … Continue reading Ireland leaves the Commonwealth
