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
That might seem an odd question, since the Proclamation of the Irish Republic is probably Ireland’s best-known historical document: and anyway, isn’t there only one? The answer is both yes, and no. Let’s start with the story behind the Proclamation, which is quite well known, but here’s a quick summary: In the years since it … Continue reading Do you have a favourite Proclamation?
This next instalment of our Decade of Centenaries series comes from the unpublished draft of Máire Comerford’s memoirs.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
If you are lucky enough to have created and tended a vegetable patch during lockdown, you may be getting ready to harvest your potato crop of earlies round about now. The Irish, in particular, have an affinity for the potato which, in the 1840s, lead to a very dark time in Irish history; The Great … Continue reading Ireland will never never recover
Through the centuries the Irish have been referred to as storytellers, poets and singers. But where do these poems and songs come from? In UCD Archives there is a small fragmentary collection that belonged to a collector and translator of Irish manuscripts. Eugene O’ Curry was born in Dunaha, Co. Clare on 2 November 1794. … Continue reading Fireside songs they are gone
To celebrate International Women's Day, which takes place on Monday 8 March, we are looking at how one woman fought alongside Irish parents to establish the first multi-denominational and co-educational school in Ireland. Gemma Hussey (nee Moran) was born on 11 November 1938. She grew up in Bray, Co. Wicklow and was educated at the … Continue reading IWD 2021: Gemma Hussey
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
With December starting tomorrow, Christmas can be just about seen peaking it's head above the horizon. After such a crazy year and to really get into that Christmas spirit, UCD Cultural Heritage Collections have put together an Uplifting Advent Calendar which can be seen and followed on our Twitter accounts; UCD Archives, Special Collections and … Continue reading Our Uplifting Advent Calendar
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