Staff and students from the M.Phil. programme in Children's Literature honouring Mary 'Paul' Pollard
at a reception in the Old Library.
In November 2025, the School of English and Trinity College Library collaborated on several events to mark 20 years of the Pollard Collection of Children’s Books at Trinity. The Pollard Collection of Children’s Books is one of the most important collections of children’s books in the world and contains over 10,500 books ranging from the 16th century to the early 20th century, amassed by Mary ‘Paul’ Pollard, the former Keeper of Early Printed Books at Trinity College Library.
The events included a reception in the Long Room of the Old Library, honouring Pollard whose name has been added to a list of benefactors on the Gallery; a workshop on special collections led by Prof Kenneth Kidd from the University of Florida; an online exhibition curated by Shane Mawe (Assistant Librarian) and Tony Flynn (PhD candidate at the School of English); and a one-day symposium at Trinity Long Room Hub that brought together a range of experts to discuss the history, significance, and impact of the Collection. Keynote speaker at the symposium was Prof Emer O’Sullivan who spoke on ‘Pollard's Germans: exploring the Collection’s transnational dimensions’. Prof O’Sullivan (Leuphana University, Lüneburg) is a pioneer in comparative children’s literature and has received international recognition, most recently the IRSCL Honorary Fellowship and the 20th International Brothers Grimm Award in 2025.
Other speakers included: Dr Pádraic Whyte, Dr Maggie Masterson, Prof Aileen Douglas, Dr Jane Carroll, Tony Flynn, Sinéad Moriarty, Dr Lydia Ferguson, Laura Shanahan, and Prof Kenneth Kidd. We were especially delighted to see students from the M.Phil. programme in Children’s Literature sharing their research and speaking about their discoveries in the Pollard Collection.
The Pollard Collection of Children's Books – a bequest from Pollard – is the largest collection of children’s books in Ireland. Items date from the 16th century to the early 20th century with a special focus on Irish imprints, Irish writers, and books written for girls. At over 10,500 items the extensive holdings include works by Maria Edgeworth, Barbara Hofland, and Mary Sherwood. Some of the themes covered include heroic stories, popular adventures, schoolbooks, Latin classics, fables, moral tales, hymns, songs, chapbooks, picture books, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes. The collection came to the Library in 2005 and added significantly to its collection of juvenile-related holdings. The Pollard Schoolbook Collection was purchased in 1985. It contains 570 items, the earliest having been published in 1648 and the most recent in 1955. The collection includes books on history, English, Irish, geography, and arithmetic.
The events were generously supported by the FAHSS Benefaction Fund, the FAHSS Events Fund, Trinity College Library, Trinity Long Room Hub, and the School of English.