G.A.A. - From Founding Father to International Tournament: Hurling in the West

All-Ireland Final season in both codes is in full swing at the moment and while our neighbours in the West, Mayo and Clare await to face off against Dublin and Cork in their respective finals, another celebration of G.A.A. will be taking place right here in Galway. 

Aer Lingus is inviting teams from all over the world to compete in the first ever International Hurling Festival. The best hurlers from the USA, South America, Canada, the UK, Continental Europe, the Middle East and Australia will descend on Galway for a three-day festival of ceol, craic and culture, as well as the first hurling competition of its kind. The tournament will feature sixteen International teams competing in four groups of four, with the eventual winners crowned in Galway’s legendary Pearse Stadium. In support of The Gathering, Aer Lingus want to bring hurling fans from all over the world home to celebrate our national game in what promises to be one of the most unique and exciting sporting events of 2013. Teams will be hosted in Loughrea, Gort, Ballinasloe and Galway West. Qualifying games will take place on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th September with the final taking place in Pearse Stadium on Saturday the 21st of September. 

Here at the Hardiman Library, we proudly hold a wonderful collection of material relating to Michael Cusack. The Michael Cusack collection is the unique personal collection of the founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), generally acknowledged to be the greatest amateur sporting organisation in the world. The GAA, which remains a dominant force in Ireland's cultural and sporting life, was founded in 1884 as a highly influential element of the Irish cultural renaissance of the late nineteenth century and of Ireland's struggle to re-establish its own political, linguistic and cultural identity. Among the most important historical items in the collection are the complete minutes of the Dublin Hurling Club, from 1883. Cusack was Vice-President of the club, a predecessor to the national organisation founded the following year. In addition, there is a diary kept by Cusack on a visit to his native Clare in 1902 and a range of personal, biographical and photographic material on Cusack's family. 

Also of interest is a photograph (below) of the young Michael Cusack, pictured as part of the Trinity College rugby team at the Phoenix rugby club, with Cusack seated second from left. Aside from its value for researchers into the cultural forces at work in that seminal period, and in particular the events leading up to the foundation of the GAA, the collection is unique in constituting the only known surviving material in Cusack's own hand and also in affording an unparalleled insight into the resilient personality of Cusack, the private family man, and his vibrant and gentle wit. 

You can view a digital showcase of the Michael Cusack archive in an online exhibition here

Culture Night 2013 at the Hardiman Library

We are delighted to announce our special event as part of Culture Night Galway 2013. The Archives and Special Collections Service of the Hardiman Library, NUI Galway have been showcasing some of our collections and treasures on Culture Night on past years and this year we are delighted to be hosting Staging Ireland:  Irish Culture at Home and Abroad - from An Tóstal to the Gathering. 

An Tóstal, first staged in 1953, was a showcase for Irishness, Irish culture and identity. Its events were steeped in spiritual, mythological and national symbolism. It was initiated as a means of attracting visitors and the Irish diaspora to Ireland during the Easter period, as well as giving a platform to Irish culture in a new fledgling Republic.

Author, Felicity Hayes-McCoy is the special guest speaker for this Culture Night event, and has been writing specifically on The Gathering and on Irish culture at home and abroad. Felicity is the daughter of Professor Gerard Anthony Hayes-McCoy, former Chair of History at NUI Galway and an advisor and script-writer for the Tóstals of the 1950's. As part of this Culture Night event, there will be a special showcase of digitised archival material from the Hayes-McCoy archive, which is held at the James Hardiman Library.

John Cox, University Librarian at NUI Galway comments: “We are delighted once again to take the opportunity offered by Culture Night to engage the public with our archives and in particular to host such a distinguished speaker as Felicity Hayes-McCoy. This event will be a unique opportunity to explore the tradition of Irish culture, its imagery, symbolism and connection to the world, as well as the past connection of NUI Galway to this staging of Ireland, through the Hayes-McCoy archive.”

Felicity Hayes-McCoy said: “As a writer with a lifelong interest in mythology and folklore, I am drawn to the imagery, symbolism and ritual invoked in these festivals. And because I come from a background of theatre and broadcast, I am fascinated by the differences and similarities between An Tóstal and The Gathering – not just in terms of the messages they chose to send out, but by the collaborative, and sometimes contentious, process of conceiving and conveying them.”

The event will take place in the new Arts, Humanities and Social Science Research Building, adjacent to the James Hardiman Library, with doors opening at 5.30pm. The event is free but booking is essential.

For further information, contact barry.houlihan@nuigalway.ie / 

aisling.keane@nuigalway.ie or phone 091 493476.

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!