UCD LIBRARY CULTURAL HERITAGE COLLECTIONS
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
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 …
‘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 …
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. …
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 …
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, …
Moments in Motion from the National Folklore Collection’s Photographic Archive Traditional customs and practices, particularly those no longer forming part of our daily lived experience, can often be difficult to envisage. We can read intricate written descriptions, or listen to vivid audio recollections, but sometimes all you really need is a photograph to bring the …
Whether you’re a crossword lover, a meticulous scholar or simply an ardent logophile, you’ll have had cause at some point in your life to refer to the Oxford English Dictionary. What you might not know is that over 10,000 of the reference quotations used in that tome were seemingly contributed by one Dr. William Chester …
So boasts the publicity poster for that cinematic ‘classic’ Darby O’Gill and the Little People, released by Walt Disney Productions in 1959, and detailing the adventures of a wily Irishman as he tries to outwit a local band of leprechauns. Long recognised as a quintessential representation of stage ‘Oirishness’ it starred Albert Sharpe as the …
Continue reading "‘It’s a wonderful world of love, laughter, and leprechauns’"