“A father’s and mother’s anxiety for their dear one’s safety”: a journey home in time of war

The Murphy Family Papers (UCDA P141) were deposited in UCDA in 1996. They concern several members of the Murphy family: Cornelius ('Conn', b.1869), his wife Annie Byrne, and their children, Annie Mary Constance ('Connie'), Kathleen, Feargus and Conn.  Conn married Annie Byrne in 1895, and they settled in Rathgar. He was staunchly anti-Treaty and was …

17th Century Irish Franciscan Manuscript Transferred to UCD Archives

As part of the unique relationship between UCD and the Irish Franciscans (UCD-OFM Partnership), UCD Archives curates many elements of the Franciscan manuscript patrimony. This process began with the transfer of the immensely significant collections of non-Franciscan private paper collections in 1997, including the papers of Eamon de Valera, Kathleen O’Connell, Seán MacEoin, George Gavan …

From Archive to Classroom: Creating a Workbook on the Downing Street Declaration

There is nothing quite like an old photograph, personal correspondence, or tangible artifact to get secondary students excited about learning history. It is easy for students to understand the human dimensions and historical significance of past events when they interact with sources of this nature. Unfortunately, primary source material is not always so exciting. Notable …

Waxing Lyrical: Songs, Poems & Singing in Special Collections

A selection of Songs from UCD's Special Collections Reference  was made to the poet MacDara Woods and the setting of his poetry to music at a concert in Dun Laoghaire’s Pavillion Theatre last December. This was a name I recognised having mentioned the poet’s name briefly in a previous blog post. The poet read his …

A Love Letter to Special Collections: The Curran Laird Collections and the Art of Letter Writing

(Cur L 30) Ink and crayon drawing at the head of the letter by A. E. 1867-1935 As it is nearing the end of my fifth month here in Special Collections, I have come across the ways in which the collection greatly inspires people in their academic endeavours, however, I believe the collection can also …

Oireachtas na Samhna: a Celebration of our Cultural Heritage

This blogpost was originally supposed to be about our acetate disc digitisation and publication project as we near its end but after the launch of our latest and last (for a while) batch of acetate discs at this year’s Oireachtas na Samhna festival, it was clear that the festival itself was the real story. With …

Towards a millennium: sources for researching Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin at UCD’s Special Collections

                                 The Henry Roe Room / Christ Church Cathedral Music Room (SC.Arch.W 726.6 STR) In the introduction to A History of Music at Christ Church Cathedral Dublin reference is made to cathedrals having a place in the social and cultural lives of cities. An example of this occurred last May. People assembled in the Henry Roe Room, formed a choir …

Threads…

A notable aspect of private paper collections, is how a person features as a thread that runs through the tapestry of a collection. We have explored this before in our post about the death of W.B. Yeats, although here it may be more intentional, as some of the correspondents’ thoughts about Macnamara are being sought …