John Oโ€™Donovan Manuscripts in UCD Special Collections

UCD Special Collections holds several manuscripts written by the 19th century antiquarian John Oโ€™Donovan.  Of these manuscripts, perhaps the most intriguing is one entitled Description and historical illustrations of the round towers and other contemporaneous ecclesiastical remains in Ireland [UCD MS 49]. It also holds a collection of correspondence between Oโ€™Donovan and his friend and …

Welcome, noble summer!

In Irish folk tradition, the calendar is principally split into โ€˜Quarter Daysโ€™, so called as they divide the year into each of its four seasons of autumn (Lammas / Lรบnasa), winter (Halloween / Samhain), spring (St. Brigidโ€™s Day / Imbolc), and of course summer (May Day / Bealtaine), which falls on the 1st of May. In marking the transition …