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
P202/8 Dan O’Herlihy, [1947] In the summer of 2023 Olwen O’Herlihy, daughter of the actor Dan O’Herlihy and Elsie Bennett, deposited a collection of correspondence that her parents exchanged during periods of separation spanning the years 1945 to 1993. The primary focus of the collection is the early years of Dan’s and Elsie’s marriage and …
Continue reading "Letters of Dan O’Herlihy, UCD Graduate and Actor (1919–2005)"
P234/291 Photogravure by Emery Walker: portrait of Yeats by Charles Shannon, 1908 +++ In this final blog post for 2024, we will look at letters in Josephine McNeill’s papers concerning the death of W.B. Yeats. These letters include what is claimed by his wife, George, to be the last letter he wrote. Some of the …
Continue reading "“The poet’s funeral”: the death of W.B. Yeats in letters to Josephine McNeill"
Josephine McNeill (1895–1969) was appointed in 1950 by Seán MacBride as minister to the Netherlands, Ireland’s first female diplomat. She was appointed minister to Sweden in 1955, and went on to hold the joint appointment to Austria and Switzerland from 1956 to 1960, after which she retired. She was a graduate of UCD, holding a …
Continue reading "A Viceregal Party and the Dublin Horse Show"
UCD is home to a collection of some 5000 printed and handwritten items belonging to the Irish Franciscans, including a copy of the Annals of the Four Masters signed by Mícheál Ó Cléirigh OFM (d. 1643), and notes compiled by John Colgan OFM (d. 1658) as part of his research into Ireland’s history, place-lore, and …
Continue reading "A DOMINICAN LETTER IN UCD’S FRANCISCAN COLLECTION"
Provenance in relation to books refers to what is rather grandly called ‘custodial history’; this could be mistaken for the rap sheet of a frequent tenant of Mountjoy rather than a blameless book. At its simplest, provenance refers to the previous owners of the book, from the first purchaser who inscribed his or her name …
Background Hugh Kennedy (1879–1936) is a distinguished figure in Irish political and legal history, having been both the first Attorney General of the Irish Free State, and later its first Chief Justice. His papers, which are in the custody of his alma mater UCD, offer fascinating insights into the beginnings of the Irish Free State …
Continue reading "Hugh Kennedy and the Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle"
UCDA P351/59 (1) Photograph of Dick Humphreys with Miss Pearse and other St Enda’s alumni (November 1954) Later this year UCD Archives will be delighted to make available for research the papers of Richard (Dick) Humphreys. These papers are analogous and contemporaneous to many other collections of private papers held by UCD Archives and will complement …
In June 2022 Miriam Farrell-Shtaierman, daughter of UCD Professor and RTÉ broadcaster Brian Farrell (1929–2014) and Marie-Thérèse Dillon (b.1929), deposited a collection of correspondence that her parents exchanged between July 1954 and March 1955. This blogpost gives a small glimpse into the lives of this young couple during a period of separation before their marriage. …
UCD Archives holds many memoirs and accounts of individuals involved in the events of the Irish revolution. Blaze away with your little gun: memories of three jails is an account by Maighréad and Siobhán de Paor of their experiences in three prisons, Tralee, Kilmainham and the North Dublin Union in 1923. It was written from …
The Papers of Dermot Nally consist of 36 boxes of material deposited by the Nally family in UCDArchives between 2012 and 2022. The Downing Street Declaration Papers are a series of papers within the larger Dermot NallyCollection. The series amounts to one box of papers relating to talks between the UK and IrishGovernments that culminated …