From personal letters to manuscripts and signatures of prominent
literary and political figures, handwritten material offers a direct connection
to the people behind the records. This blog highlights four examples of handwriting
from the archives, each reflecting a different historical moment and personal
story.
- Mary Robinson signs the Presidential Oath
On the 3rd of December 1990,
Mary Robinson prepared to sign the presidential oath at her inauguration
ceremony in Dublin Castle. Taoiseach Charles Haughey presented Robinson with a
quill that once belonged to Éamon De Valera, which she used to sign the oath to begin her term as the seventh President of Ireland.
Before signing the document, Robinson practiced
using the quill on a separate page. Her handwritten signature captures a
significant moment: the inauguration of Ireland’s first female president, marked using the quill of another pivotal figure in Irish history.
2. Lámhscríbhinní De hÍde
On the 3rd of December 1990,
Mary Robinson prepared to sign the presidential oath at her inauguration
ceremony in Dublin Castle. Taoiseach Charles Haughey presented Robinson with a
quill that once belonged to Éamon De Valera, which she used to sign the oath to begin her term as the seventh President of Ireland.
Before signing the document, Robinson practiced
using the quill on a separate page. Her handwritten signature captures a
significant moment: the inauguration of Ireland’s first female president, marked using the quill of another pivotal figure in Irish history.
2. Lámhscríbhinní De hÍde
Douglas Hyde, Ireland’s first president, was
an avid collector of Irish folklore and a major advocate for the Irish
language. Following his death in 1949, his manuscript collection was entrusted
to the university, comprising 117 volumes.
The Lámhscríbhinní De hÍde contain poetry, folklore and prose mainly in Irish, written by various scribes from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries and collected by Hyde. Nine manuscripts from the collection have been digitised and are available on Irish Script on Screen. The two examples below are only available in the archive.
Manuscript No.37 includes notes on Irish
grammar, parody poetry and an Irish translation of a
devotional treatise attributed to Paolo Segneri.
Gallegan reflected on his own mortality in contrast to the longevity of books. Inside the cover, he wrote:
‘How sad it is, fair little book;
The day shall sure arrive,
When o’er thy page it shall be said,
Thy writer’s not alive!!’
3. Cross-writing in the Imirce Collection
The Imirce collection is a growing archive
of letters and life stories of Irish emigrants. Reading these letters is not always straightforward,
especially when unusual writing formats appear.
One such format is cross-writing. When paper
was scarce or postage was expensive, space was maximised by writing in one direction then
turning the page to different angles and writing over the original text. This
technique produces layered and visually dense text which is read in multiple
directions and can be difficult to follow.
In one example, Anne Cleburne writes to her
mother in Cork describing her journey to New Orleans in December 1849. Professor Kerby Miller's transcription is available on the digital archive and
is a helpful guide in this case. Can you decipher the original letter?
Link to the digital archive with Kerby Miller's transcription.
4. John McGahern drafts
Handwritten drafts and corrections reveal aspects of the writing process behind some of John McGahern’s works.
Handwritten draft of his play, The Power of Darkness, Act 2:
3. Cross-writing in the Imirce Collection
The Imirce collection is a growing archive
of letters and life stories of Irish emigrants. Reading these letters is not always straightforward,
especially when unusual writing formats appear.
One such format is cross-writing. When paper
was scarce or postage was expensive, space was maximised by writing in one direction then
turning the page to different angles and writing over the original text. This
technique produces layered and visually dense text which is read in multiple
directions and can be difficult to follow.
In one example, Anne Cleburne writes to her mother in Cork describing her journey to New Orleans in December 1849. Professor Kerby Miller's transcription is available on the digital archive and is a helpful guide in this case. Can you decipher the original letter?
4. John McGahern drafts
Handwritten drafts and corrections reveal aspects of the writing process behind some of John McGahern’s works.
This month’s 'Explore Your Archive' theme is handwriting. Follow the Heritage Collections Bluesky
account (@uniofgalwayasc.bsky.social) to keep up with our posts highlighting items from the archives.
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