New Facilities opening Tuesday, August 6th.

Tuesday 6^th August will be an exciting day on campus when the Archives and Special Collections service of the Hardiman Library will open the doors to the public for the first time to the new research facilities. The Arts Humanities and Social Science Research Building (AHSSRB) will provide a spacious 36-seater reading room that will house a comfortable and engaging research environment as well as state of the art and BS5454 standard compliant environment and storage for our unique collections and library treasures.

All at the Hardiman Library would like to extend a sincere thank you to all our readers and researchers for their patience over the move period which was necessary to allow our collections and service to relocate to its new home on campus. We are delighted and look forward to welcoming all readers to our new home at the heart of campus at NUI Galway.

New Archives and Special Collections Reading Room

Seomra Léitheoireachta na mBailiúchán Speisialta: fógra tábhachtach/Special Collections Reading Room: Important Notice

Update from Archives and Special Collections at James Hardiman Library

To facilitate the final stage of our service and collections move to our new facilities at the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Building (AHSSRB) adjacent to the Hardiman Library, we must close service and access to collections material this week beginning Monday until Tuesday 6 August. 

We are delighted to be offer renewal of service and continued access to collections in the new Reading Room at the Arts Humanities and Social Science Research Building, adjacent to the Hardiman Library. We thank all of you for your co-operation during this summer move period and we at the Hardiman Library are hugely looking forward to welcoming you all to the new state-of-the-art facilities at the AHSSRB, our new home for Archives and Special Collection on campus.

AHSSRB - NUI Galway

Seomra Léitheoireachta na mBailiúchán Speisialta: fógra tábhachtach/Special Collections Reading Room: Important Notice

A chara,

Go luath aistreofar Bailiúcháin Speisialta agus Cartlanna Leabharlann Shéamais Uí Argadáin chuig Foirgneamh nua Taighde na nDán, na nDaonnachtaí agus na nEolaíochtaí Sóisialta (AHSSRB).

D’fhonn réiteach dó seo, beidh sé riachtanach Seomra na mBailiúchán Speisialta a dhúnadh ón 17:00 an 28 Meitheamh 2013 go dtí an 8 Iúil 2013. Aistreofar ábhar uile na mBailiúchán Speisialta chomh maith leis na bailiúcháin Chartlainne chuig áit ar leith san fhoirgneamh nua. Ar chuid de na háiseanna a bheidh ar fáil san fhoirgneamh nua beidh Seomra Léitheoireachta do suas le 36 duine, limistéar taispeántais, limistéir rochtana acmhainní digiteacha, ionad digitithe, agus áiseanna micreascannáin/comhairliúcháin chlosamhairc. Beidh limistéir stórais den scoth, a bheidh rialaithe de réir timpeallachta, ann do na bailiúcháin, chun teacht le caighdeán BS 5454.

Tuigimid go gcuirfidh sé isteach ar roinnt úsáideoirí an seomra seo a bheith dúnta, ach is gá é a dhéanamh d’fhonn an t-aistriú chuig an bhfoirgneamh nua a éascú. Gabhaimid leithscéal as aon mhíchaoithiúlacht a eascraíonn ón obair seo agus gabhaimid buíochas leat as do thuiscint.

Le haghaidh breis eolais, déan teagmháil le:

Niall McSweeney

An Ceannasaí um Fhócas ar Chustaiméirí agus Seirbhísí Taighde,

Leabharlann Shéamais Uí Argadáin, OÉ Gaillimh

Teil: + 353 91 493915

niall.mcsweeney@nuigalway.ie
 

 

Dear friends,

The new Arts, Humanities Social Sciences Research Building (AHSSRB) will soon become the home for the James Hardiman Library Special Collections and Archives.

To prepare for this major move, it will be necessary to close the existing Special Collections Room at 17:00 on June 28^th 2013 until 8^th July 2013. All Special Collections material and Archive collections will be moved over to a purpose-built area in the AHSSRB. Some of the facilities available in the new building will include a Reading Room that can seat up to 36 people, an exciting exhibition area, digital resource access areas, a digitisation centre, and microfilm/audio-visual consultation facilities. There will be state-of-the-art, environmentally controlled, storage areas for the collections, meeting the BS 5454 standard.

We are aware that the closure may impact heavily on some users, but the closure is necessary in order to facilitate the move to the new building. We apologise for any disruption caused and thank you for your understanding.

For any further information, please contact:

Niall McSweeney

Head of Customer Focus and Research Services,

James Hardiman Library, Nui Galway

Tel: + 353 91 493915

niall.mcsweeney@nuigalway.ie

Announcement of the temporary closure of the Archives Collections at the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway

The Archives collections of the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway will temporarily be unavailable from Monday the 10^th of June until the latter half of July.  This is to facilitate the move of our collections and service to a brand new, purpose built building.  We would like to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, and will communicate further updates as and when they arise. 

Looking forward to and back at the Galway Arts Festival

The annual celebration of all things creative and cultural, the Galway Arts Festival, has unveiled its program for 2013, which along with the sun shining high (as of time of writing!) is really marking the beginning of Summer here in the West.

The archive of the Galway Arts Festival, covering 33 boxes of archive material and over 200 posters, is deposited with the Archives and Special Collections Service of the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway. It is a record of the beginings, growth and evolution of the festival, it's events, memories, people and stories.

Galwa Arts Festival Poster 1991

The Galway Arts Festival was first staged in 1978. It was the culmination of the efforts and ideas that grew out of the University College Galway Arts Society. Ollie Jennings became auditor of this society, taking over from Garry Hynes, who became one of the founders of Druid Theatre Company. Under the direction of Ollie Jennings, this group, which included Paraic Breathnach, Marie Mullen and others, went on to become the Galway Arts Society. This new group set out to become a voice for the Arts in Galway and strove to find a permanent home for a dedicated Arts Centre in Galway City. Further to this was the aim of setting up an annual Arts Festival for Galway City. The first Galway Arts Festival was staged from the 6th to the 12th April 1978. It was described by Dickie Byrne in the Galway Advertiser as 'Galway Arts Society's Week of Craic'.

The central venue was one of John Murray's converted antique rooms between Raftery's Store and the old Genoa (Nora Barnacle's) The line-up at this original Galway Arts Festival included readings by John McGahern, Paul Muldoon and John Hewitt, the opening of film by Bob Quinn entitled Poitin, instillations from visual artist James Coleman and puppet theatre from Jay Murphy and Brian Bourke. Following the success of this first Galway Arts Festival, it was expanded in 1979 and received an increased grant from the Arts Council. An additional Festival space was also opened up for use at the old Pro-Cathedral.

The Galway Arts Festival is today one of the most diverse and successful arts festivals anywhere in the world and is a highlight on the Irish Arts calendar. Over the coming months and in the lead up to the Festival we will bring you some highlights, memories and great images from great festivals past and recent.

The above image, being the GAF official poster image for 1991 is just one great image and we hope to bring you many more!

The Papers of the Language Freedom Movement

 

We are happy to announce the recent cataloguing of the papers of the Language Freedom Movement, which are now available to researchers here at the archives and special collections service of the James Hardiman Library!  The collection provides a thoroughly alternative view of the modern history of the Irish language, and offers another unique snapshot into an exciting decade of social change in Ireland.

This collection of papers spans the activities of the Language Freedom Movement from soon after its inception in 1966, until 1974 when its activities drew to a close.  A civil liberties advocacy group who campaigned for a change in state policy on the Irish language, the movement weighed in on a language debate that had been gaining momentum since 1961, from Fine Gael’s general election campaign in which they called for an end to the policy of compulsory Irish in state examinations, to the 1965 government White Paper on 'The Restoration of the Irish Language'. 

The LFM objected to the compulsory element of Irish language education, and they believed the large amount of time devoted to teaching it affected the future prospects of children by drawing attention away from other subjects.  

Poster advertising public meeting of the LFM, September 1966

The debate raged on amid the backdrop of the 50^th anniversary of the 1916 Rising, quickly becoming one of the most emotive issues of the decade.  Impassioned exchanges took place at public meetings, at debates, and in the press, while more heated correspondence was exchanged behind closed doors.  Public meetings held by the LFM often descended into total chaos, with one notorious incident at the Mansion House in 1966 when a group of opponents turned up at the meeting, a stink bomb was let off, and a fight broke out.  Union Jacks were waved derisively at the stage.  The event took up many column inches in the days and weeks that followed.  





The momentum was sustained by vigorous opponents in the field.  Christopher Morris, the President of the LFM took on critics with zeal, which sometimes yielded to frustration over the frequent misinterpretation of the movement’s intentions, commonly held to have been out to destroy the Irish language.  Counted among its ranks were the playwright John B Keane, and the writer Séamus Ó’Grianna.  On the opposing side of the debate, Dónall Ó’Móráin of Gael-Linn and Proinsias Mac Aonghusa, both of whom feature prominently in this collection, resolutely defended the validity of language revival and its methods.  Other noteworthy participants in the debate include Proinsias Mac an Bheatha and Pádraig Ó’Mathúna, whose collections are also among those held by the James Hardiman Library Archives.  

The collection consists of files of press releases, speeches, correspondence, ephemera, and drafts for publications, and covers topics including the education system, political agendas, language disputes elsewhere in Wales and Belgium, RTÉ, as well as more philosophical issues such as civil liberties and nationalism. 

It is available for viewing, and for further information, including accessing the finding aid, please phone 091-493353, or email aisling.keane@nuigalway.ie. 

LFM campaign seeking language policy reform at the 1967-1968 by-elections.



 

Theatre Archive Doc of the Month - 'A Whistle in the Dark'

The theatre archive document of the month for May is to coincide with the return and nationwide tour of Druid Theatre's DruidMurphy series. This 2013 season run showcases some of Tom Murphy's greatest literary and dramatic works, Conversations on a Home Coming and A Whistle in the Dark. Druid's relationship with Tom Murphy, dating back to when he was Writer-in-Association with Druid in the 1980s has allowed for the creation of an examining of Irishness, the Irish family and Irish history and society so visceral that enthrals audiences at home and abroad still to this day.

 

This document is a cast photograph from the 1987 production of A Whistle in the Dark, which was produced at the Jesuit Hall in Salthill and directed by Garry Hynes. This play's history is well worth noting as it received its premiere at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London in 1961 having previously been rejected by the Abbey Theatre. In the photograph are: (l to r standing) Peter Gowan, Maeliosa Stafford, Johnny Murphy, Mick Lally, Corinne Ransom. (Front row, L to R) Sean McGinley, Godfrey Quigley, David Herlihy.

The Druid Theatre archive at the James Hardiman Library contains further records on the history of this classic murphy play. Interestingly, cast member Maeliosa Stafford (2^nd from left, standing) is currently playing the role of 'Dada' in the current Druid Theatre production of A Whistle in the Dark. Further records relating to this play in the Druid archive include:

T2/152 Scope and Content: A Whistle in the Dark - Written by Tom Murphy and directed by Garry Hynes. Performed at Jesuit Hall, Salthill, Galway. File contains printed playbill featuring biographical essay on Tom Murphy, details of cast and production crew members, article entitled "Drama and Metaphor" by Christopher Murray. 3 copies. Printed black and white flyer and invitation to the opening night performance of the play. 12 items. Assorted photocopy of press cuttings of reviews and coverage of the play taken from various Irish newspapers and press. 60pp Date: 13-25 Jul 1987 Extent: 142 pp

 T2/153 Scope and Content: A Whistle in the Dark - Black and white photographs featuring cast members in costume and on set during rehearsal of A Whistle in the Dark. Contact sheets feature 11-12 images each. 2 items Also includes black and white images of Druid theatre members posing as a group outside Druid Theatre. Those pictured include Sean McGinley, Maeliosa Stafford, Mick Lally, Godfrey Quigley and others. Quigley is seated in these three pictures. Items measure 203mm X 254mm. Date: Jul 1987 Extent: 5 items

 

T2/154 Scope and Content: A Whistle in the Dark - Photocopy of typed script of A Whistle in the Dark, written by Tom Murphy.  Date: Jul 1987 Extent: 1 item

The Druid Archive catalogue can be viewed in full here.