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
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
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
This next instalment of our Decade of Centenaries series comes from the unpublished draft of Máire Comerford’s memoirs. Máire Comerford was born on 29 June 1893 in Rathdrum, County Wicklow. She was educated privately at home but with a downturn in the family’s fortune, she was sent to London to receive an education as a … Continue reading My narrative has gone on paper hot from memory
The first 2021 addition to our Decade of Centenaries series comes from the collection of Thomas Cardiff, Transport Officer of 6 Battalion, Dublin Brigade and of 2 Brigade, 2 Eastern Division, IRA, between the years 1921 and 1922. Cardiff joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in March 1917 and first served with H Company, 3 … Continue reading DOC Series: IRA Transport Officer
Archival collections do not have to be large to be of historical value and the small collection of Eugene Downing is a great example of this. Downing's papers consist of only 15 items but they give us an insight into the life of an Irish man who fought in the Spanish Civil War. Downing (wearing … Continue reading ‘A Homeland Free of Foreign Invaders’
This addition to our Decade of Centenaries series is quite unusual and not very well known. From November 1922 until January 1923 there was a flurry of correspondence between Desmond FitzGerald, Irish Pro-Treaty Minister of External Affairs, and Mark Sturgis, Irish Colonial Office, concerning the establishment of an internment camp for Republican prisoners on the … Continue reading DOC Series: Interned on St Helena
We continue our Decade of Centenaries series by focusing on a scrapbook kept by Frank Carney, a prisoner in Ballykinlar Internment Camp. Frank Carney was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh on April 25, 1896. He joined the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers at the outbreak of war in 1914, but due to continuous bouts of ill health, … Continue reading DOC Series: Ballykinlar Internment Camp
This post is the first in our Decade of Centenaries Series that will run over the coming years. This series will highlight archival material within the UCD Cultural Heritage Collections that relates to this momentous time in Irish history. Some material will be well known to researchers, academics and the public. But other material will … Continue reading DoC Series: Deaths of Republican Soldiers
With December only a day away UCD Library Cultural Heritage Collections (CHC) have created an online Happy Heritage Advent Calendar to count you down to that magical of all days, Christmas. This advent calendar picks images from the various Cultural Heritage Collections Units (UCD Archives, UCD Special Collections, National Folklore Collection and the Digital Library) to not … Continue reading Cease fire for Christmas?