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
In general, I may say that these part-time collectors have been excellent, because we do our best to pick them carefully. -Seán Ó Súilleabháin, 1950 On walking into the archive of the National Folklore Collection (NFC), you are greeted by walls of numbered manuscripts. To your right are the rolling shelves holding the bright green … Continue reading Part-time Collecting for the Irish Folklore Commission
One of the modules in the MA in UCD’s Irish Folklore and Ethnology program is a brief internship in archival methods. This module typically takes place in the National Folklore Collection (NFC), but the 2020 module was moved online due to COVID-19. For the 2020 module, students were given a number of topics to choose … Continue reading Infectious Diseases in the National Folklore Collection
‘One of the greatest sources of information we have in Ireland is the Ordnance Survey Books, which were made about a century ago by three men, John O’Donovan, Eugene O’Curry, and George Petrie. They went around and took down all the place names of the country and recorded material of very great importance. But the … Continue reading Dear Diary…
The question ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ might be more aptly posed in Ireland as ‘Who Do You Belong To?’ A curious query for those unaccustomed to native norms but this is a common refrain in many local communities, where you are known as much by your lineage as by your own fame (or … Continue reading Who Do You Belong To?
‘I think I’ll remember all these experiences for the rest of my earthly days. I feel I’ve been immersed in a great wave that has impregnated my whole mind and being...’ So reads one of the final diary entries written by the artist Simon Coleman RHA as his field work with the Irish Folklore Commission … Continue reading Portrait of an Artist as a Folklore Collector
‘Last Monday at the fair held at the city of Limerick a very ludicrous and uncommon circumstance happened. A man offered his wife up for public sale. Many offers were made and the highest struck a bargain for 10 gns (guineas). Two shillings earnest money was given and the bargain was closed with a brimmer … Continue reading Steal My Heart Away
As this will be our final blog post of 2017, we at UCD Library Cultural Heritage Collections (CHC) decided to end the year with some beautiful Christmas cards from within the UCD Archives collections. The Christmas cards above and below were sent to Jack and Máire Sweeney by Jacob Bronowski and his wife Rita through the 1960s. … Continue reading Have a Very Merry Christmas
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?
Dr F.S. Bourke, (1895-1959) medical doctor, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Physicians and bibliographer assembled a private library of some 9,000 items reflecting his interests in Irish history, literature, culture and society over his lifetime until his death in 1959. Francis Stephen Bourke was born on the 14/15th July 1895 in High Street, … Continue reading Bourke the Bibliographer