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
As the month of January draws to a close, we are fast approaching Saint Bridget’s Day on 1st February, which in Irish tradition marks the first day of spring. It is around this time of year that the calving season begins, and Saint Bridget herself is considered the patron saint of cattle in Irish tradition. …
Continue reading "Traditions of The Glas Gaibhneach in The National Folklore Collection "
On the 10 October 1925, an advertisement in the Irish Times gave notice of an upcoming sale at Bennett & Son Auctioneers and Valuers, 6 Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin. Under the auctioneer’s hammer was ‘A highly important and valuable collection of works of art moved from Carton Co. Kildare…including – 8,000 ounces of silver plate…a …
Continue reading "Country House to Special Collections: Rediscovering Books from Carton"
Félire Oénguso, or, The Martyrology of Óengus (UCD-OFM Ms A7) is a register of saints and their feast days. It is one of the series of Irish language “A” manuscripts transferred to UCD Archives by the Irish Franciscans under the terms of the UCD-OFM Partnership Agreement. It is available to view online on the Irish …
Ní haon rud beag é céad bliain d’aois a bhaint amach agus cé gur bhailigh Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann cuid mhór ó lucht na seanaoise, is mór an rud é fós aois an chéid a fheiceáil i measc aois na bhfaisnéiseoirí. Sin a bhí i gceist le Síle Bean Uí Shíothcháin ó Ghleann Cotáin, Co. Chiarraí, …
In a recent article for the Irish Times, Rosita Boland highlighted some of the menus for dinner dances and other special functions attended by her parents in the period 1960 – 1983. Although many of us have been to formal dinners (and know the well-rehearsed ‘beef or salmon’ jokes that crop up during wedding season) …
Continue reading "Food for Thought: Fast and Fine Dining in UCD Special Collections "
Thirty-three years ago, in September 1990, starting out into what used to be called an ‘MA by major research’, I first set foot in UCD Archives searching for sources for my dissertation on Ireland’s engagement with the League of Nations. There was then no Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) collection in the National Archives; it …
The beginning of October signals that we are now in the middle of the autumn season and that the long winter nights are drawing in. This is the season to pursue indoor activities and, as Hallowe’en approaches at the end of the month, the season to appreciate the spookier material within the National Folklore Collection, …
Continue reading "Cards and Card-Playing in the National Folklore Collection"
Welcome to Part 2 of Ex Libris: Bookplates in UCD Special Collections! At the close of the last post, we had arrived at the later decades of the nineteenth century, and the visual amusements offered in Édouard-Henri Avril’s bookplate design for Henry Spencer Ashbee. In this post, we continue with bookplates that also have a …
Continue reading "Ex-Libris: Bookplates in UCD Special Collections (Part 2)"
The title of Carolle J. Carter’s book about German espionage in the Irish Free State during World War Two is the perfect title for this blog post: the story of a Nazi German spy who lived in Ireland for a year and a half before being caught (much to the embarrassment of Eamon de Valera’s …
The answer to the riddle above, often quoted as a proverb in the Schools’ Collection, is of course, money. The question of coins, money and finance is a frequent theme across many aspects of folk tradition and the relevant section under ‘Trade and Communication’ in A Handbook of Irish Folklore by Seán Ó Súillebháin lists …