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Lighten Up – TCD’s Trinity Week & the Library

Three roses set in a starburst pattern
Three roses set in a starburst pattern.
IE TCD MS 11182-106. Stained glass panel by Terence Clarke (1917-1968), part of the Clarke Stained Glass Studios Collection.

The Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Science is hosting this year’s programme of events for Trinity Week which commences on Saturday 11th April. The theme for the week is ‘Light’ which coincides with 2015 being declared the International Year of Light by UNESCO. This week-long programme will include exciting events which demonstrate the roles light, in all its forms, plays and how it affects and enhances life.

The Library is involving itself in this programme, under the prompting of the Keeper of Preservation and Conservation, by staging a number of events on the theme of light, interpreting the word perhaps more metaphorically than scientifically, and being all the more interesting for that.

Harry Clarke, for example, used light as part of his palette and his role in Irish cultural history will be acknowledged by the installation of a reproduction, from the Harry Clarke Studios archives, in one of the windows of the Trinity Long Room Hub. The image chosen is a glorious drawing of three roses set in a starburst.

The Library has also interpreted the theme in the sense of ‘illuminary – that which illuminates’, recognising that the work the Library does lights up the research mission of the College. Images from the Library’s historic collections in the Manuscripts & Archives Research Library and the Department of Early Printed Books and Special Collections will therefore be projected onto the wall above the Nassau Street Entrance and also above the entrance to the Berkeley.

Taking the metaphorical use of the word ‘light’ and allying it with the centenary of the First World War inspired another Library installation planned for Trinity Week; ‘The lamps have gone out all over Europe. We will not see them lit again in our lifetime’ – a resonant phrase dating from the eve of the First World War which was understood from the beginning as a threat to enlightened civilization. The centenary of the War will be acknowledged with the projection, onto the East face of the 1937 Reading Room, of the names and portraits of the Trinity engineers and medics who fell.

All of the images being projected are accessible through our Digital Collections.

Early Printed Books and M&ARL will take a bit of liberty with the word ‘light’ again in the titles of their exhibition and blog (respectively) which will be curated/posted to coincide with events: ‘…and there was light’ is the title of a small exhibition, curated by EPB in the Berkeley foyer, which explores the theme through texts on religion, science and literature. ‘Throwing a bit of light on the subject’ is the punningly clever title of the M&ARL blog post which will provide a round-up of the Library’s involvement for the M&ARL audience.

Why not check out the website for all relevant projects within Trinity Week?

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ANZAC Day – Long Room Exhibition

Captain Anthony Purdon Hagarty Corley of the 1st Australian Division
Captain Anthony Purdon Hagarty Corley of the 1st Australian Division

The Library has a number of events planned to acknowledge the centenary of the First World War. One of these events, which marks a specific battle and the participation of Trinity alumni in it, is a small exhibition which has been curated to coincide with ANZAC Day, 25 April 2015. ANZAC Day was originally dedicated to the memory of those of the Australian and New Zealander Army Corps who fell in Gallipoli in August 1915. To honour the anniversary this year the Library has identified, from among the archives of the Medical School, the portraits of the medical personnel who died in the Dardanelles Campaign, as it was also known, including one Trinity man who served in the Australian army. These nineteen portraits have been treated in the Preservation and Conservation Department and placed on exhibition in the world-famous Long Room of the Old Library where they will be seen by the hundreds of thousands of visitors who visit the Library in the summer months.

The portraits are identified by name, the date of entry to the College, the date and location of death, and the cemetery wherein the individual was interred. It is, as ever, noticeable how very young most of these men were, the youngest having only entered College less than 18 months before his untimely death. The oldest man was in his fifties.

Both the Medical School and the School of Engineering collected and displayed the portraits of their alumni who died in the War; the memory of their service in Gallipoli and other campaigns formed a part of the Schools’ distinct identity within the College. The medical portraits now form part of the College Archives, housed in the Library, while the portraits of the engineers still hang in the Museum Building.

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RDS ‘Great Libraries of the World’ Lecture – Peter Fox on Trinity College Library Dublin 15/04/15

Trinity College Library Dublin: a History
Peter Fox’s ‘Trinity College Library Dublin: a History’, launched in 2014

This free (but booking essential!) lecture will examine some familiar aspects of the history of Trinity College Library Dublin from a less familiar perspective. Much of what we now take for granted: the foundation of the Library in the 16th century, the building of what we now call the Old Library in the 18th, the New Library (now the Berkeley) in the 20th, and Trinity’s continuing right to claim new books published in both Britain and Ireland – all of these involved complex negotiations, the outcome of which was far from certain. The story of the Library was directly affected by the intervention of major historical figures – monarchs: Elizabeth I, Queen Anne and Charles II; archbishops: James Ussher, William King and John Charles McQuaid; politicians: Oliver Cromwell, Eamon de Valera and Seán Lemass. These all feature in the lecture, which will cover the political background to the development of Ireland’s greatest library and its relations with church and state over four centuries.

Full details and how to book can be found on the RDS website.

Peter Fox worked at Trinity College for 15 years, first as Deputy Librarian and then as Librarian and College Archivist. He edited Treasures of the Library: Trinity College Dublin, published by the Royal Irish Academy in 1986, and the commentary volume to the Book of Kells facsimile. His history of Trinity College Library Dublin was published in 2014 by Cambridge University Press. From 1994 to 2009 he was the Librarian of the University of Cambridge, and he is a Fellow of Selwyn College Cambridge.

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Friends of the Library Lecture on John Redmond 30/04/15

1914-1918The Friends of the Library – Trinity College Dublin are delighted to announce their next lecture. Admission is €5 (Members & Concessions €2.50). All welcome!

The Monica Henchy Memorial Lecture by Conor Mulvagh (UCD)
19:30, Thursday 30 April 2015
Thomas Davis Theatre, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin
on Defending enemies: John Redmond and the aftermath of the Rising

Conor Mulvagh is a lecturer in Irish History at UCD working on commemoration and the Irish revolutionary decade (1912-23) and is currently researching a history of UCD during the Irish Revolution. He has previously worked on the Royal Irish Academy’s Documents on Irish Foreign Policy project (2013), and undertook a bursary with the Oireachtas Library. His new book Sit, act, and vote: the Irish Parliamentary Party at Westminster, 1900-1918 will be published by Manchester UP later this year.

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“Hello Stranger” – Handmade Books by Primary School Students Make Acquaintance with the Long Room

Example page by Adam Caulfield from Our Lady of Good Counsel Boys' NS
Example page by Adam Caulfield from Our Lady of Good Counsel Boys’ NS

On Wednesday, March 25th, the Old Library will be given the pleasure of hosting the Bookmark Awards Ceremony and exhibition launch, brought to us by the Trinity Access Programme (TAP). Hosted by Helen Shenton, the Trinity College Librarian, this evening will feature an exhibition of hand-written and -illustrated books created by pupils from:

  • St Mary’s Boys’ National School, Haddington Road
  • Our Lady of Lourdes National School, Inchicore
  • Our Lady of Good Counsel Boys’ National School, Drimnagh

In preparation for the evening, the students were brought on an extended tour of the Old Library and the Book of Kells. Dr Lydia Ferguson introduced the pupils to some of the Pollard collection, which includes over 11,000 children’s books collected by Mary Pollard over a period of 50 years. The students were also introduced to the theme “Hello Stranger” and given examples to assist them with their projects. Further information on this day and the theme itself can be found in detail on the associated blog by Catherine Ann Cullen.

This has become an annual event and is a fantastic experience for all involved. We are looking forward to welcoming the students, and their families, on Wednesday evening. The handmade books will be displayed in the Long Room until April 10th. It is free of charge for friends and families of those in the three schools involved, as well as any students, staff and alumni of the College who wish to view these creative additions to our Old Library.