President Michael D. Higgins Presidential Archive and Book Collection

Receiving the prestigious Michael D. Higgins Archive and Book Collection is both an honour and a moment of great significance for the University of Galway Library.  This collection offers a remarkable insight into the life and work of Ireland’s ninth President, spanning two full presidential terms.  The archive includes a rich array of material, from meticulously edited speech drafts bearing his handwritten annotations to his personal correspondence, consisting of letters, emails and copy replies, all arranged alphabetically by correspondent and reflects the written dialogue he had with a wide and diverse network of individuals over his two terms as President. The collection also includes press cuttings, documenting media coverage of his two terms of office. With over 75 archival boxes spanning his first term and more than 150 boxes expected in total, the collection promises to be a vital resource for scholars, historians, and the public alike once it has been catalogued by Archivist, Kieran Hoare.

 

As well as his archive collection, the President is in the process of transferring his book collection to the University.  Special Collections Librarian, Marie Boran, notes that this book collection includes titles acquired by the President for his own personal research, including heavily annotated volumes which informed his thinking during his time as a lecturer at the University through to his Presidency. It also includes many presented to him from a wide range of sources while undertaking local, national and international engagements. Many of the volumes are personally inscribed by the author or donor, with some of them marking historic events attended by the President. 

We are very fortunate to have two other notable Presidential archives in the University Library, papers of former President, Mary Robinson, as well as several collections relating to  Dubhghlas de Híde, the first President of Ireland, including the remarkable Irish manuscript collection, Lámhscríbhinní de hÍde, which he bequeathed to the Library on his death in 1949. 

The appearance of President Michael D. Higgins across so many of our collections and the contents of his own archive and book collection, document and illuminates one man’s political journey, his cultural contribution to Irish life and society both as an artist and as a champion of arts, culture and language, as well as his impact as a civic leader in Ireland.  Together they form a compelling narrative of leadership, intellectual rigour, scholarship, cultural stewardship, and visionary public service and will enable interdisciplinary study across sociology, politics, history, literature and human rights.

 

Once catalogued, both the archive and book collection will be accessible for research by members of the public in the Library’s Archives and Special Collections Reading Room. The archive being transferred to the University of Galway represent the personal papers of the President during his time in office, as is the case with the Presidential Series in the University’s Mary Robinson Collection. The official records of President Higgins’ terms of office will remain with the State and be transferred to the National Archives.

Today marks a truly special occasion for our Library and University and we are very grateful to President Michael D. Higgins for entrusting his Archive and Book collection to us.

 

Improving Belfast - Mary O'Malley in the 1950s

As well as her contribution to Belfast's cultural life, Mary O'Malley also made efforts to improve the social and political landscape of the city. She was elected as an Irish Labour Party councillor to Belfast Corporation in 1952, and as a consequence she began to receive a huge amount of correspondence from her constituents. Many of these impoverished individuals wrote requesting her help in the area of social housing, which at the time was in a woeful state.

These letters are hard reading, being as they are often desperate pleas for assistance. The example here is from a handwritten letter from a Mr James Gorman of Durham Street, Belfast:

Dear Mrs O'Malley,

Hope you are keeping well.... the last time I was speaking to you... you told me you would try and help me get fixed up and I was hoping you could do something for me as it is getting me down... we are all in one room and I have a girl at 14yrs and the others are 12 & 8 & 2 and it is not very nice.

Mrs O'Malley I am fed up and thinking of going across the water maybe I get a house there but I don't know what to do. Maybe you could do something for me, we never had a home of our own...'

There was little O'Malley could do for these people, but her political correspondence is full of responses to requests she made on behalf of constituents like this to the housing authorities. A points system determined who received houses, and Catholics often felt they were discriminated against. However, there was a happy ending for Mr Gorman. The letter above from the Estates Department to Mary O'Malley confirms that he has been noted for a three bedroomed house in the new estate of Ballymurphy.

Sarah Poutch

Mary O'Malley and Belfast Politics

Mary O'Malley is best known as the founder of the Lyric Theatre and as a director, but she also maintained a deep interest in politics throughout her life. A lifelong supporter of the Labour Party, she stood for election to Belfast Corporation in 1952 as a councillor.

Belfast in the 1950s was of course rife with sectarian tensions. In her autobiography Never Shake Hands with the Devil, O'Malley writes of the perils of canvassing these areas, where one could ascertain a house's loyalty by looking for either a china John Bull in the window, or a picture of Robert Emmet! O'Malley was successul in her campaign, being elected with the highest vote out of the six contesting candidates despite being the only woman.

She was to find political life difficult and frustrating, being ostracised in certain quarters for her southern Irish origins and her republican views. However she was able to help in some areas, as we shall see in a forthcoming blog post.

Sarah Poutch