This wonderful image of a crowded O'Connell Bridge in Dublin
is part of the Ritchie-Pickow photographic archive at the James Hardiman
Library, NUI Galway. The image dates to the early 1950's and is a clear scene
of a bright morning on Dublin's busy main thoroughfare.
Jean Ritchie, singer, folklorist and dulcimer player was
born on 8 December 1922 in Viper, Kentucky. She was the youngest of a family of
14 children, known as .The Singing Ritchies. Jean graduated from the University
of Kentucky in 1946 and taught for a time. In 1952 she was awarded a Fulbright
Scholarship to enable her to research the origins of her family's songs in
Great Britain and Ireland. Her husband George Pickow, a photographer,
accompanied her and they spent approximately eighteen months recording folk
songs and traditional musicians and taking photographs. The photographs include
photographs of many well-known uileann pipe players, for example Seamus Ennis,
Michael Reagh, the McPeake trio, Leo Rowsome; vocalists, including Elizabeth
Croinin, Sarah Makem and Mary Toner and story tellers, such as Patcheen Faherty
from the Aran Islands.
As well as assisting his wife in her research George Pickow
also used the opportunity to do features on aspects of Irish life, Christmas
celebrations with straw boys and wren boys, life on the Aran Islands, Dublin
scenes, the American Ambassador and his family in Ireland, the story of St
Patrick, the development of Dublin Airport, operations of the Garda Síochána at
Dublin Castle, and Irish sporting activities, such as road bowling, hurling,
coursing, hunting and racing. Photographs were also taken of traditional Irish
crafts, for example spinning, weaving, thatching and crios and sliotar making.
In a video recording made with George and Jean Pickow in the early 1990s
regarding their visits to Ireland, George says that these photographic stories
were for the Sunday News in New York.
The photographic archive is comprised of one hundred and
sixty seven sheets of black and white contact prints with corresponding
negatives, numbering one thousand eight hundred and eighty seven photographs in
total. The majority of the photographs were taken using Kodak safety film and
these negatives are unfortunately not numbered so the sequence cannot be
followed. The last ten sheets of photographs were taken using Eastman 5 6 super
xx safety film and Ilford hypersensitive panchromatic film, these negatives are
numbered. There are also one hundred and ninety prints in two sizes, 19x19 cms
and 27x27 cms, of which ninety five are mounted.
To see more images from the Ritchie-Pickow Archive click here
Visit the home page of James Hardiman Library Archives at
NUI Galway here
This image taken by Robert Welch is part of the wonderful Balfour album which is
housed here at the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway. Part of our digital
collection, the images form an online exhibition that allows an insight into
life and people of the West of Ireland in the late 19th Century.
This
image is of a family pictured on a corner of Killeany Village, Aranmore. Also
visible is a collection of neatly thatched stone built cottages, some of which
are whitewashed. Two children sit on the wall while a man stands outside the
gate. A woman is visible in front of the door way of the cottage.
If anyone
knows the area today and how it looks compared to how it did in c.1894 or
perhaps be able to identify the people pictured we would love to hear from you.
We here at the Archives service of the James Hardiman Library are delighted to inform all our readers and followers that our blog has been nominated in the category of 'Best DH blog, article, or short publication.'
at the Digital Humanities Awards.
"Digital Humanities
Awards are a new set of annual awards given in recognition of talent and
expertise in the digital humanities community and are nominated and voted for
entirely by the public."
Voting is now open
and will close on 17th February. Your support and vote in this would be greatly
appreciated! Please support our Library and it's Archives Service and help promote ongoing scholarship and discovery through these unique archival collections.
How the Abbey actor who later played Padraig Pearse in Hollywood himself took part in the Rebels' last stand in the 1916 Rising
Arthur Shields c.1920
With the centenary of the 1916 rising only three years away
the building on Dublin’s Moore street where the leaders of the Rising decided
to end the rebellion has been in the news recently amid plans to turn the
building into a museum. Amongst those
present on Hanlon’s fish shop on Moore street on the final day of the rising
was Abbey Theatre actor Arthur Shields.Shields’ daughter Christine donated his personal papers to the NUI
Galway archives service in 2003.
Arthur Shields and his brother Barry Fitzgerald (real name Will
Shields) both appeared in the first production of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars.Shields also played Padraig Pearse in John Ford’s 1936
film adaptation of the drama.
The ruins of the Metropole Hotel and G.P.O. - from a booklet containing photographs of 'Twelve Interesting Views Showing the
Ruins of Sackville Street and Adjoining Streets After The Rising'. (Shields Family Papers, NUI Galway).
During the rising Arthur Shields was stationed in the
Metropole Hotel on O’Connell Street (now the location of Penny’s). The volunteer
garrison abandoned their position in the hotel on Friday 28th April,
first making there way into the GPO which was already on fire, then retreating
to Moore Street with the GPO garrison including Padraig Pearse and the other
leaders of the rising.While Shields himself
didn’t leave a detailed account of his role in the rising his brother in law Charles
Saurin who fought along side him made a detailed witness statement for the bureau of military history in
1949.The Shields Family papers includes
a copy of this statement, while the original was recently digitised and made
available on line ( see:http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0288.pdf).
According to Saurin he and Shields along with the rest of
the volunteers made their way from house to house along Moore street trough holes
knocked in the dividing walls between the houses' basements.Saurin recalled that “there was
the question, as the last bricks and plaster of the hole went crashing out
under the blows of sledge-hammers and crowbars, as to whether we might not find
the enemy on the other side to hurtle grenades into our midst."
Arthur Shields, Lennox Robinson and Sean O'Casey c. 1935 (Shields Family Papers,NUI Galway)
Eventually Shields and Saurin found themselves in the loft
at the back of Hanlon’s fish shop (16 Moore Street) with five other men. Word reached them that they were to be given what
“used to be know as the place of honor in the coming battle” i.e. they were to
be first in the firing line.Saurin
describes the plan:
It seems that an attempt was to
be made to fight our way out of the Moore Street area and to get to the
Williams & Woods' Jam Factory in Great Britain Street from where we were to
try and link up with our own forces in the Four Courts.Apparently the seven of us in the loft at the
back of Hanlon's were on a given word to jump out through the open doorway down
on to the lane below, fire a volley and charge the barricade.This was supposed to be a diversion while the
main body in full force broke out into Moore Street and stormed a big barricade
at the top of the street, and no doubt carried all before it on the direction
of Williams & Woods while seven corpses lay in Moore Lane.
In the event the
break-out plan was abandoned and the decision was taken instead to surrender in order to avoid further bloodshed.When the time came to surrender the men were
advised to dispose of anything that might be regarded as loot:
Loot: Lorna Doone
I could not say that anyone carried, loot. Arthur Shields' commandeered
binoculars were of course, for military use. I had used binoculars in the Hotel
Metropole which were left behind by some guest there and I in turn had left
them on the evacuation.There had been
very fine gold and silver watches left on dressing tables in various rooms in
that hotel, as, to my mind, a watch was No. 1 in the list of traditional loot,
I had not touched them trough it would have been handy to have known the time
during the week.I was completely at a
loss in that respect, for while I had made use of a small clock (to my mind
quite distinct from a watch and therefore definitely not to be classed as loot)
it had stopped the first time an enemy shell had hit the hotel roof.... towards
4 or 5 o'clock when we were all called together and told to form up inside the
buildings, that we were going out. This is all the information we at the back
of Hanlons' received. However, as I went through the shop I suddenly recalled
that I had indeed some loot and I carefully hid within the pay desk a copy of Blackmore's
"Lorna Doone" which I had discovered in a room in the Metropole. I was
reluctant to part with it, though where and when I imagined I was going to read
it in the near future I did not know, but Arthur Shields said: "Leave it
there, I’ll buy you a copy afterwards". During the years that followed I
have occasionally reminded him that he has never since bought me "Lorna
Doone".
Clips from John Ford's 1936 adaption of The Plough and the Stars
After surrendering to the British forces Shields and Saurin
a long with other volunteers were marched to Richmond Barracks in Inchicore, on
the way they at the corner of Francis Street they passed “shrieking women from the back streets who called
us filthy names and hurled curses at us. ” Later on Thomas Street they saw “sympathy on the faces of people
looking out of the dwellings over the shops. British officers marching on our
flanks kept shouting to them: "Close those windows". While at Guinness’s
“shirt-sleeved officials were leaning
out of the windows looking at us with superior, contemptuous smiles.”
In the barracks “notables” amongst the volunteers were separated
out from the rest ; Shields apparently attracted attention because he wore
glasses:
Arthur Shields who wore glasses
and who, consequently, in the eyes of the 'G' men, may have looked an
intellectual and, therefore, important, was asked his name by the individual
who had picked out Willie Pearse, and also where he worked. The Abbey Theatre
should have been suspect as one of the birthplaces of twentieth century Irish
nationalism, but this did not seem to dawn on the 'G' man and Shields was left beside
me, after a final question as to whether be knew Philip Guiry, another Abbey
Player.
Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way
While Willie Pearse was among those sentenced to death and
executed for their part in the rising Shields and Saurin were transported to Britain
and interned in Frongoch camp, Wales. Saurin later server as an officer in the Free State Army. While Shields went on to play lead roles in many Abbey productions during, also acting as the Abbey tour manager for a number of tours of North America. Eventually he and his brother Barry Fitzgerald settled in California where both acted in Hollywod films. Barry Fitzgerald one an Oscar in 1945 for his role alongside Bing Crosby in Going My Way.
An online exhibition of Material from the Shields family papers is available here: http://archives.library.nuigalway.ie/shields
Plans for 1916 Rebellion Museum - Moore Street Dublin - Narrated by John Connolly
It is with a heavy heart that we
learned of the passing of the great Éamon de Buitléar. To
generations of Irish people Éamon has been lifelong presence and figure of
inspiration through his love of the Irish landscape and wildlife, Irish music, language
and culture and by being one of the pioneering broadcasters of his generation.
Éamon has been a long-time friend of NUI
Galway and its James Hardiman Library. At a ceremony on campus last November, Éamon
deposited his unique and vast archive to NUI Galway which will be catalogued,
digitised and made available for researchers by the James Hardiman Library and Acadamh
na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge. This collection is a treasure for the nation and
one which documents the incredible life, work and legacy of Éamon de Buitléar.
President of NUI Galway, Dr. Jim
Browne made the following statement:
"On behalf of NUI Galway
and the university community, I extend sincere condolences to the family and
friends of Éamon de Buitléar.
Éamon de Buitléar was an outstanding figure of modern Ireland.An exceptional film-maker, a committed
environmentalist, a public intellectual, author, musician and member of Seanad
Éireann - he was a man of many parts and a man whose contribution to Irish
society has enriched the lives of many generations.
We in NUI Galway are deeply honored by our association with Éamon de
Buitléar.His decision to donate his
rich multi-media, bi-lingual archive to the University will mean that his
lifetime’s work of creativity and advocacy will be held in trust here for the
nation and for generations of scholars.We are proud to have been entrusted with that task."
At the launch ceremony for the de
Buitlèar Archive last November those present had the privilege of not just
hearing Éamon speak but also witness him playing wonderful music on the mouth organ. Also on
that evening the following video was screened and is a touching tribute to the
great work and legacy of Éamon de Buitléar as well as to his endearing spirit.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. Ní
bheidh a leithéidí ann arís
The Arts Tonight program on RTÈ Radio 1 featured a special interview with the wonderful Éamon de Buitléar last night. Hosted by Vincent Woods, the program uncovers the life, many achievements and archive of Èamon which he has deposited here at the James Hardiman Library at NUI Galway. The archive will comprise one of the largest digital archives of the Library's extensive holdings and will be a vital resource for all researchers of Irish nature, wildlife, music, culture and language.
Here is information on the program and click on the link below to listen back to Vincent Woods in conversation with Èamon de Buitlèar.
Èamon de Buitlèar and Vincent Woods
"Nature has become invisible. People don't see it any more, or hear it. You need to see it, you need to feel it. As human beings, we need it, specially nowadays." The words of filmmaker, broadcaster, writer and conservationist Éamon de Buitléar. On tonight's programme, we visit him at his home in Delgany, Co. Wicklow and step into his remarkable archive of over 2000 audio and film tapes. He has recently donated this archive to NUI Galway and it will soon be delivered there and digitised: not only his hundreds of wildlife films for television such as the series Amuigh Faoin Spéir for which he is probably best known, but also painstakingly catalogued wildlife sounds dating back to the 1950s, early radio recordings from the traditional music revival featuring Séamus Ennis, Sean Ó Riada and others, and his radio and television series for children, Lúidín Mac Lú about a leprechaun and his mouse."
