Winter 2018 Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Happy Christmas and NewYear from ARA Ireland

Sowing a Seed: Archives toArt at Galway CountyCouncil Archives

Derry City Cemetery - avolunteer digitisation project

The River Lagan: an archivaljourney

Celebrating Archives andPerforming Arts: A visit fromAPAC to Ireland

Explore Your Archive 2018

Property Registry Authority:First World WarCommemoration

The Peace at HomeExhibition: Dublin after theFirst World War

ESB Archives launch FilmArchive

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Happy Christmas and New Year fromARA Ireland!

Dear Member,

Welcome to the winter 2018 edition of the ARA Irelandnewsletter. We hope you all had a great year!

We would like to thank all of our members who attended ARAIreland events and training days this year and look forward toseeing you at our events in 2019. Thank you also to all of thecontributors to the newsletter in 2018 – we couldn't do it withoutyou!

We hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year.

ARA Ireland Committee

A subtle and compelling Sowing a Seed: Archivesto Art exhibition, the result of an excitingcollaboration between Galway County CouncilArchives and six artists, opened in Tuam Library inOctober and ran for three weeks.

Genesis of the initiative began with the availabilityof funding under the Creative Ireland /GalwayCounty Council Cultural and Creativity Strategy,2018-2022, and with Galway County CouncilArchives’ wish to refresh its outreach strategy andto bring the archives into the general public view.The Archives invited the most vibrant and creativepeople within our society, those involved in ourarts community, to join in a collaborative project.Aside from promoting the Archives’ rich and variedcollections, highlighting their varied intrinsic valueto the arts community and society in general, theArchives hoped that the project would offersupport and mentorship to the artists involved,providing them with an opportunity to network withGalway County Council Archives and the widercommunity.

In early summer 2018 six artists based in countyGalway, selected through open call, where invitedto explore, visually interpret and re-imaginespecific archival material. The Archives hadselected four wonderful items from its collectionfor the project, ranging in date from 1722 to 1866.The items represent landed estate business,personal issues, and the design and layout of a

public institution. The material is of varyingtextures, such as paper and parchment, andsizes, and each has an interesting content andcontext.

The oldest item chosen for the project is a 1722map (G00/4/46), with a colour border, detailingsome lands of the Kelly Estate in north-eastGalway. It is annexed to a 1755 lease onparchment, between John Kelly, of Aghrane,county Galway and Robert Walter, of Rookwood,county Galway, pertaining to lands of Corrobegg,Aragthy, on the Roscommon border, comprised of498 acres.

The next item chosen was the beautiful leather-bound manuscript volume (GS01/5) with thirty-two hand-coloured estate maps and descriptionsof the land of Richard St George Mansergh StGeorge of Headford, together with details oftenants. It was compiled by the surveyor CharlesFrizell (1737-1812) in 1775. It also includes a rent

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Sowing a Seed: Archives to Art at Galway CountyCouncil Archives

Bridging a gap between the past and the presentPatria McWalter, Archivist, Galway County Council Archives

Image from the Mansergh St George volume (GS01/5)

Treadmill by Joan Finnegan, in response to the Galway Gaol drawings.

roll for the town of Headford. The pictorial mapsshow the layout of individual farms, the position ofadjacent farms and location of additional featuressuch as houses, bogs, rivers, trees and so on.

A set of drawings relating to the County GalwayGaol and County Town Gaol (GS11/02) wasanother intriguing inclusion in the project. Amongthe plans and drawings, dating from 1830 to 1866,is a drawing of a treadmill (1864), and othersrelating to a proposed amalgamation of the gaols(1866). Many of the drawings were signed by theCounty Surveyor, Samuel Roberts.

The last item included, is an undated poignantholograph letter from [Francis] Nugent (Pallas) toGeorgina Lawrence of Lawrencetown, (GP1/10).It primarily relates to the pre-mature birth of hisgrandson, ‘…we had scarcely a hope of saving thechild and were even very uneasy about Mary….

The child is the most ridiculously small atom I eversaw, but with great care we may bring it through,the first day none of us expected it to live…’.

The artists were introduced to the archives at a oneday workshop and were invited to view andexamine the material. They were provided withdetails on the provenance of the items and thehistory of the family or institution it represented.They were challenged with bringing the specificarchives ‘alive’, bridging the gap between the pastand the present, using processes intrinsic to theirindividual arts practice.

The artists, Joan Finnegan, Kathleen Furey, Lisa-Marie Manthey, Selma Makela, Gala Tomasso andCarmel Tynan, responded to the challenge withgreat enthusiasm, each bringing their own uniqueinterpretation, vision and skill to the project. They

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Lawarence letter, c 1858, GP1/10

Shapes from the Past, No. 20, Gala Tomaso

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The artists produced distinct and imaginativepieces which reflect how the archives intrigued,touched or spoke to each of them individually.They brought their unique talents andinsightfulness to what was a wonderful, varied andexciting interpretation of archives, history and thespecific records themselves. Artist Kathleen Fureysaid “she appreciated the opportunity to see thearchive material at first hand, and was interested inworking with the archives as they can containlayers of meaning, stories and possibilities beyondthe immediate content that they hold. They containtraces to which artists can respond”.

Meanwhile the project has whetted JoanFinnegan’s appetite for more history, particularlyGalway history. “It has opened my eyes and hasgot my curiosity going for all the stories behind allthe old places around. With the Gaol, one storyleads to another and I have found the wholeexperience just wonderful”.

The artists vibrant and varied work representingthis unique collaboration between artist, archiveand community culminated in the Sowing a Seed:Archives to Art exhibition which was launched byCouncillor Peter Keaveney, Leas Chathaoirleach

of the County of Galway on 19th October. Guestspeaker, Dr Éimear O’ Connor HRHA, curator, arthistorian, RHA archivist and Research Associatewith the Humanities Institute, UCD, gave thekeynote address. The exhibition was curated byarts facilitator Joanna McGlynn.

An attractive catalogue documents the project, asdoes a short film which is available on YouTube athttps://youtu.be/jQdlK_L63VM and through theArchives web-site at www.galway.ie/archives/exhibitions. Both the catalogue and video includevaluable insights into how the artists approachedthe project and how the archives influenced theirresponse to produce visual elements to the storiesin the archives.

The exhibition ran for three weeks, and during thattime received wide media coverage, both in printand radio. The Archives to Art project definitelyappears to have achieved what the Archives hadhoped for; touching the imagination of visitors asmuch as the archives touched the participants, allof whom archivist Patria McWalter is confident arenow ‘ambassadors for the archives’!

Left to right: Lisa-Marie Manthey, Patria McWalter (Galway CountyCouncil, Archivist & project co-ordinator), Gala Tomasso, Carmel Tynan,

Cllr Peter Keaveney, Leas Chathaoirleach of the county of Galway,Selma Makela, Joan Finnegan, Kathleen Furey, and Joanna McGlynn

(curator).

Some of the project catalogues

Creating access to archives is one, if not the mostimportant, of our objectives in the Museum Serviceof Derry City and Strabane District Council. Therehas long been a desire across the city to createimproved access to the city’s cemetery records, inpaper format they were cumbersome, fragile andsometimes inaccessible. In particular a focus wason Derry City Cemetery, which opened in 1853 andfor the following hundred years, until the early1960s, it was the main burial place for bothProtestants and Catholics in the city. Thiscommunity burial plot tells the story of Derry. It wasthe community, in particular the North of IrelandFamily History Society (Foyle Branch), the U3Aand Guildhall Press, which galvanised supportalongside the Council’s museum and archive staffto develop a volunteer project that would createdigital access to these records.

Within the grounds of the cemetery lies the storiesof unmarked pauper graves, the 19th centurycholera outbreaks, the maritime heritage of the citythough its merchant class, the First World War, theSecond World War, the Troubles as well as thegeneral community of the city. A search for a burialplot, whether marked by a headstone or not, iscentral to the quest of many people tracing theirroots.

In 2016, the Tower Museum called on members ofthe public to help preserve and record the valuableburial registers of the City Cemetery bycontributing to an exciting new database holding

the historic burial records. Since the project beganin May 2016, over 40 volunteers have helped totranscribe and verify over 36,000 entries from theCemetery’s Burial Registers. Following dedicatedtraining, the volunteers were able to complete thework from their own homes. All the records havebeen now been transcribed and are nowsearchable online for free. This was a project by thepeople, for the people.

The cemetery records, which date from 1853, chartthe information of all those buried in the cemeteryup until 1924. The records detail not only thenames of those buried in the cemetery, but alsotheir age, their place of birth and who their parentswere, amongst other valuable genealogicalinformation. Most importantly for those trying totrace their ancestry, they also reveal the location ofthe grave within the large cemetery site.

In November 2018 the project was shortlisted for

Derry City Cemetery – a volunteer digitisation projectRonan McConnell, Education Officer & Bernadette Walsh, Archivist, Museum Service of

Derry City & Strabane District Council

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Derry City Cemetery

the Heritage Angel Awards, for Best Research,Interpretation and Recording category, and wassubsequently Highly Commended in its category.The museum and archive staff intend to developthis project and discussions are currently takingplace as to what other cemetery records areavailable. Projects like this are essential to thearchive sector, without volunteers, dedicated staffand available records so many of our local historyrecords would not be accessible.

ht tp : / /www.derryst rabane.com/Subsi tes/Museums-and-Heritage/City-Cemetery-Records-Project

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The River Lagan: an archival journeyBrett Irwin, Archivist, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

Her father sails a running-barge twixt Lambegand the Drum;

And on the lonely river-marge, she clears hishearth for him.

When she was only fairy-high, her gentle motherdied;

But dew-love keeps her memory green on theLagan side.

- My Lagan Love, Joseph Campbell

From its source at Sleive Croob in the Dromarahills, to the deep waters of Belfast Lough, theriver Lagan flows ever onwards. A river of songand myth, it also powered the mills and foundriesthat helped create the wealth of Belfast andmuch of Ulster. The Lagan flows through someof the most important towns that helped to createLinenpolis –the largest centre of linen in theworld- by goods reaching the port of Belfast viathe river, and then out to global markets.

Dromara, Dromore, Waringstown, Moira andLisburn are all towns that still retain evidence ofhow the river Lagan has shaped the industrialpast.

According to the Irish Linen Museum, Barbourmill at Hilden near Lisburn required 200 tons ofcoal per week and 100 tons of flax for the 30,000spindles that were operating in the 1890s. Themassive mill accommodated the largestmanufacturers in the world of tailors, threads andshoemakers. The mill finally closed in 2006.Now, the colossus sits quietly and slowly decaysto the ever-present gentle sound of the riverflowing by.

The river and surrounding hinterlands aresteeped in history and a few fascinatingcharacters have had connections to the Lagan.Did you know that Shaw’s Bridge, just outsideBelfast, was built by a Captain John Shaw to getOliver Cromwell’s guns over the Lagan during

The River Lagan at Edenderry, 1890.

Plan of the Lagan with the lock at Stranmillis, 1840.

the New Model Army’s campaign in Ulster in1649? Another interesting connection to theLagan is the time when Huguenot Protestant’s,fleeing religious persecution in France, broughtto Ulster expertise in weaving and are creditedwith improving the quality of Irish linen. In 1696Louis Crommelin was appointed by William III asOverseer of the Royal Linen Manufacture inIreland. In Lisburn, the site of the 18th CenturyFrench Huguenot Church is now the renownedIrish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum. Alesser-known association is of Lisburn-born StClair Mulholland. Colonel Mulholland fought withthe Union Army and was awarded theCongressional Medal of Honour during theAmerican Civil War battle of Chancellorsville in1864. His father was a Lagan river merchant.

The Lagan Canal

In 1756 work began on the Lagan Canal. Thiswas to make navigation possible between LoughNeagh and Belfast and was part of granddesigns to promote river barge transport aboveall others. Coal, linen and other goods could betransported to Belfast and freight coming backcould be dispersed all over Ireland from thenetwork of waterways that converged on LoughNeagh. The main finance for building the canalcame from the family of Arthur Chichester, the

third Earl of Donegall. Additional money camefrom local taxes and grants from the Dublinparliament. The first stretch of the canal fromBelfast to Lisburn was engineered by aDutchman named Thomas Omer.

In 1820 a fully-loaded lighter (river barge)leaving Lough Neagh took 14 hours to travel toLisburn and a further 14 to reach the ships atBelfast. Lisburn was without doubt the mostimportant port on the navigation route as it haddry docks and a very busy harbour. In 1763 theLord Hertford was the first barge to make thejourney between Belfast and Lisburn andeffectively opened the canal.

After the Second World War, competition fromthe railways and road traffic began to bite andthe canal was no longer financially viable. Thecanal was officially closed in 1958. Today, thesection of the river Lagan between Lisburn andBelfast is now known as the Lagan ValleyRegional Park. The area was granted regionalpark status in 1967 and was the first regionalpark in Northern Ireland. Although the ‘lighters’have ceased their journeys long ago, walkers

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Plan of the Lagan from Lisburn to Drumbeg, 1840.

Working on the river boats could be a family business, 1900.

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and cyclists continue to enjoy the river path, thebeautiful countryside and the ever-flowing riverLagan.

All archival material in this article is open to thepublic and used with the permission of theDeputy Keeper of Records, Public Record Officeof Northern Ireland.

A Lagan boat leaving Stranmillis, 1900.

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Celebrating Archives and Performing Arts – A visit fromAPAC to Ireland

Mary Clark, Dublin City Library & Archive and Eilís McCarthy, Dublin Theatre Archive

The Association of Performing Arts Collections(APAC) is the membership organisation forprofessionals, specialists, and other individualsworking with or interested in performing artsheritage in the United Kingdom and Ireland. APACoffers meetings, visits, symposia, study days, anemail forum, working groups, and collaborativeprojects. APAC advocates the widest possibleengagement in performing arts heritagecollections by the general public. It is the UK’sSubject Specialist Network for performing arts andhas close links with SIBMAS, the internationalassociation for this sector.

APAC’s first visit to Ireland took place in November2018. The group, led by Ramona Riedzewski,visited Dublin City Library & Archive (Thursday 8November) and NUI Galway (Friday 9 November)both of which are members of APAC. Delegates

represented the Victoria and Albert Museum;Queen Mary’s College, University of London; andRambert at 90.

At Pearse Street, City Archivist Mary Clark outlinedthe exciting plans for the Dublin Theatre Archivewhich is presently held in DCLA. The TheatreArchive contains c.300 collections ranging fromthe mid-19th century to the 21st century and it ismediated to the public through cataloguing,digitisation, publications, exhibitions – both virtual

Mary Clark and Eilís McCarthy (centre) with APACdelegates and speaker Conor Doyle

Theatre Archivist Eilís McCarthy with items from AnnaManahan Collection

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and actual – and of course performances. Whenthe new City Library opens in Parnell Square in thecoming years, the Theatre Archive will move there,and two purpose-built strongrooms are beingdesigned to accommodate it. There will also be afull-time permanent Theatre Archivist, who will playa dynamic role alongside the Music Library andliterary events in creating a nexus of performanceand participation for the public to enjoy.

Three presentations then followed. OurCataloguing Theatre Archivist, Eilís McCarthy,presented a display of original material from theAnna Manahan Collection which she recentlyfinished cataloguing. The range of materialhighlighted the research opportunities to be foundwithin the collection, including the scandal of TheRose Tattoo – a story well known in Ireland but newto our guests. This prompted a lively discussionabout censorship then and now and the verydifferent causes of scandal in the 21st century. Wethen had two presentations, both given byindividuals who had donated collections to theTheatre Archive. Cecil Allen spoke about theQueen’s Theatre Dublin, which was managed byhis grandfather Ira Allen. Born in 1879, Ira Allenwas a producer, director, actor and playwright. He

wrote many plays including; Ye Merry Robbers orThe Bottle Imp, Robert Emmet, Father Murphy andTara’s Halls. Allen toured Ireland with his theatrecompany and also performed in Dublin where heusually appeared at the Queen’s Theatre. Allenwas married to the actress May Murnane, whoperformed alongside him in many of hisproductions. His early death at the age of only 48meant that the Queen’s was without its leader, andapart from a period when it was occupied by theAbbey after their theatre was destroyed by fire, theQueen’s had lost its way, and it closed in 1969. Thenext speaker was Conor Doyle, nephew of UrsulaDoyle and godson to her husband, the famouscomic actor Jimmy O’Dea. Conor began work onDublin’s Theatre Royal as a talk for Dublin CityCouncil’s City Hall Lunchtime Lectures in 2012. Hecontinued to develop it over the next couple ofyears while he was working for NEAR FM andproduced a series on the theatre, with interviewswith performers and public. His currentpresentation includes slides, film and audioelements, mainly covering the hey-day of theTheatre Royal (1930-50), with lively commentaryby Conor. With the addition of two costumedsingers and a pianist, Conor presents his showthree times each year at the National Concert Hall.

Delegates inspect elements of Anna Manahan Collection

Cecil Allen silhouetted against images of his grandparents,Ira Allen and May Murnane

A delicious lunch then followed, courtesy of DublinCity Council, after which Assistant ArchivistStephanie Rousseau led the way to Trinity CollegeDublin, where Ramona had arranged for a short –and free! tour of the Long Room. Archivist DáireRooney, from TCD’s Manuscript Room, very kindlyspoke about the Rough Magic Theatre Collectionheld there and showed the group a selection ofmaterial from the collection. Dáire spoke aboutdeveloping a relationship with the company andthe practicalities of working with the archives of a‘living’ company. The final visit of the day was toDublin’s City Hall where the Theatre Archive’sexhibition ‘Mac Liammoir and the Dublin GateTheatre’ was on display to mark that theatre’s 90thanniversary. Curator Mary Clark gave a tour of theexhibition to the visitors and explained that itsentire contents and illustrations came fromholdings in the Theatre Archive at DCLA. Whileoriginal materials were only displayed in PearseStreet, the exhibition has been printed on fourteenlarge-scale boards to allow it to tour around Dublinin the New Year, along with its accompanyingaudio-visual displays.

This brought us to 5.00 p.m. and as the delegateshad an early start the next day to get to Galway,they headed off – enthusing most of all about thedelicious lunch! We enjoyed their company and

learned a lot from our conversations during theday.

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Conor Doyle with Dublin’s fourth Theatre Royal

Explore Your Archive launch week took place thisyear from 17th – 25th November, with greatparticipation from archives and archivists acrossIreland. The launch took place in the NationalLibrary of Ireland with speeches from Gerard Byrne(ARA Iireland Chair) who gave an overview of thecampaign; Joanne Rothwell from the Irish ArchivesResource who promoted the great new blog fromIAR; Karl Magee, Chair of the ARA Board whoprovided information on the work of the Archivesand Records Association, the ARA Conference inGlasgow and the resulting Glasgow Manifesto;and finally, campaign ambassador Anne Cassinwho spoke about her work on RTÉ’s Nationwide,

and how archives have impacted on and informedher work.

We had great coverage of the campaign online, onradio and in print; with mentions in The Times(Ireland), the Irish Daily Star, The Irish Times andeven a mention by Anne Cassin on the TodayShow with Maura and Dáithí. In addition, ARA,Ireland Communications Officer, Niamh Ní Charra,appeared on Near FM, Phoenix FM and TheHistory Show on RTÉ Radio One to promote thecampaign and the various events happeningacross the country. Niamh also handled promotion

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Explore Your Archive 2018Joanne Carroll and Niamh Ní Charra, ARA Ireland

EYA Campaign ambassador Anne Cassin, with Gerard Byrne (Chair) andJoanne Carroll (Campaigns Officer) from ARA, Ireland Committee in Dun’s

Library of the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland.

‘Archi’ve Revealed’ customised poster from OMARC: OPW-MaynoothUniversity Archive & Research Centre at Castletown

on social media throughout the campaign (seebelow).

Events

There were many events held this year rangingfrom lectures, exhibitions and performances;here’s a taste of some of the events that took placeover launch week:

Cork City and County Archives held an exhibitionincluding original and facsimile manuscripts fromthe personal archive of one of Cork’s mostinteresting historical figures, Denny Lane (1818 -1895). PRONI held a variety of events during thelaunch week including a lecture on refugee recordsheld by the record office, and a conference on the1918 election. Some videos of PRONI’s events canbe found on their You Tube channel. The IrishTraditional Music Archive also held a series ofinteresting events called ‘Within a Mile of Dublin’; a

three part live radio broadcast on Near FM,featuring performances by and interviews of well-known local artists which brought a selection oftheir archival collections to life. You can also catchup with these broadcasts here.

Featured archives

This year the Explore Your Archive website hostedsome ‘Featured Archives’ with participation from avariety of archives and organisations showcasingindividuals, collections and exhibitions. You canfind more on ‘Featured Archives’ here.

Social media

As mentioned previously, our Communicationsofficer, Niamh Ní Charra made extensive use ofsocial media to promote the Explore Your Archivescampaign, both prior to and throughout the week.This consisted of highlighting events daily both on

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Daguerreotype of Denny Lane, used in 'Denny Lane, Renaissance Man'Exhibition in Cork City and County Archives

Twitter and Facebook, sharing Irish archives’ ownsocial media announcements relating to thecampaign, announcing the campaign’s dailyhashtags and sharing posts relating to them.Engagement on social media was fantastic and thedaily hashtags trended in Ireland every day,reaching number 2 in Ireland for the always popular#hairyarchives. In total approximately 600 tweetswere posted or shared during the week, whichwere themselves liked or retweeted by others andwe had almost 2,500 profile visits.

Thank you

On behalf of the ARA Ireland committee we wouldlike to extend a huge thanks to everyone who tookpart in the Explore Your Archive 2018 campaign.This is a campaign owned by the sector itself so itwouldn’t happen without your help andparticipation. Whether you created an exhibition, a

‘Featured Archive’, held a lecture or conference, ortweeted and facebooked through the week, thesuccess of the campaign is because of all yourefforts, so well done!

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Tweet sent by Irish Railway Record Society (@irishrailways) for#HairyArchives

On 09 November 2018 two wreath layingceremonies were held by the Property RegistrationAuthority of Ireland to mark the 100th Anniversaryof Armistice Day and to remember the fifteen menfrom the Land Registry and the Registry of Deedswho were killed in action during the First WorldWar. The event was attended by staff,representatives of the Royal Dublin FusiliersAssociation (RDFA) & Leinster RegimentAssociation Ireland (LRA, I), and relatives of someof the men who died.

Events began at the Registry of Deed when WalterHemmens was shown employee records of hisgrand uncle William F. Bassett. Bassett was born inWaterford in 1883 and was appointed to theRegistry of Deeds in 1905. A part-time reservistsince 1908, he volunteered for active service atoutbreak of First World War. He served initially inSalonika, Greece before promotion to lieutenant &transfer to 2/10th Royal Scots. He was awarded aMilitary Cross for Bravery. He died in Russia, 27

October 1918, two weeks before Armistice.Poignantly news of Walter’s death reached theRegistry of Deeds Office on 11 November 1918,the same date the armistice was announced.

The official ceremony opened with a welcomeaddress by Chief Executive Liz Pope who spokeabout the personal experiences of the staff fromRegistry of Deeds and Land Registry who servedin First World War and the devastating impact theirdeath had on their families, friends and colleaguesin Dublin. Brian Moroney representing the RoyalDublin Fusiliers Association spoke movingly on theimportance of remembrance of the First World Warfor the island of Ireland. Over 210,000 Irish menjoined the British Forces, and over 49000 men fromIrish Regiments were killed during the four yearconflict.

Philip Lecane (RDFA) and Kieran Carey (staff)than laid a wreath at the Registry of DeedsMemorial plaque whilst Emily Moore (staff) readnames and date of death of the six men from Deeds

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Property Registry Authority: First World WarCommemoration

Ellen Murphy, Archives Manager, Property Registration Authority of Ireland

Walter Hemmens is shown employee records relating to his relative WilliamF. Bassett by archives manager Ellen Murphy & chief executive Liz Pope.

Group picture of attendees at Armistice Commemoration Event

who were killed. Walter Hemmens, who hadtravelled especially from the UK to participate in theceremony read the beautiful poem by LaurenceBinyon “For the Fallen”. Following this the groupmoved to Chancery Street and a wreath was laid atthe Land Registry Memorial plaque by AdrianBradley (staff) and John Hollinsworth, (LRA, I). Thenames and date of death of nine men killed wereread by Eilish Moroney (staff) followed by oneminute of silence.

As well as the 15 men killed, approximately 75other men from the Registry of Deeds and LandRegistry enlisted in the British Army during the FirstWorld War. Many of them were encouraged toenlist by the efforts of Francis H Browning who wasan Examiner of Titles at the Land Registry andfounded the volunteer corps D Company of the 7thBatallion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers at LansdowneRoad (also known as “The Pals of Suvla Bay”). Themen who survived returned to an Ireland that wasvery different from when they departed. In 2019,the Property Registration Authority will bepublishing additional information about theirexperiences on www.prai.ie as part of the Decadeof Centenary commemorations.

The Armistice Commemoration event was co-ordinated by Ellen Murphy who was recentlyappointed by The Property Registration Authorityof Ireland as the first dedicated archives managerto the Registry of Deeds. The Registry of Deedscontains records dating back to its foundation by anAct of Parliament in 1707 which are of immensehistorical, cultural and genealogical significance.

Further info: ellen.murphy@prai.ie

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The Memorial Plaque at Registry of Deeds, Henerietta Street, D2

Dublin City Library & Archive holds the records ofthe Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association, relating tothe First World War, and comprising 130collections. With arrangement and listing carriedout, we have used these collections intensivelyover the past four years, in seminars, digitisationprojects, Dublin City Hall lectures and in fiveexhibitions, all of which have been supported byDublin City Council’s Decade of CommemorationsCommittee. The fifth and final exhibition opened on5 November 2018 and was intended to mark theCentenary of Armistice. However, in developingthe exhibition we were anxious that it wouldcontinue to be relevant for years to come, and sowe covered the lead-up to Armistice in 1918, andcontinued with a look at the new Ireland to whichthe demobilised soldiers returned.

The introduction to the exhibition provided asurprising context. The Lord Mayor of Dublin in

1919 was the independent nationalist LaurenceO’Neill, who believed that the Mansion House wasfor everyone. Accordingly, the Royal DublinFusiliers were allowed to hold a lunch there forthree hundred of their fellow-soldiers, formerprisoners-of-war returned from Germany, and thistook place in the Round Room at 12 noon on 21January 1919. A photograph from DCLAcollections showed the RDF soldiers marchingaway from the Mansion House following theirlunch, watched on both sides by delegates waitingto enter the Round Room for the First Dáil! The oldand new Ireland in startling juxtaposition.

Other themes which are explored in the exhibitioninclude an examination of Dublin and Irelandduring the Great War; Ireland in 1918;demobilisation; the so-called Spanish Flu; the fateof the RMS Leinster; housing for heroes; Guinnessand the Great War; the War of Independence andthe participation on both sides of veterans returnedfrom the Great War; the Irish Civil War; andcommemorations since 1918. Perhapssurprisingly, the anniversary of Armistice wascelebrated enthusiastically every year in Dublinuntil the mid-1920s - as is vividly shown incontemporary newsreel footage, part of theexhibition’s audio-visual display. The A/V alsoincludes a photographic essay on survivingexamples of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Land Trust,by Alastair Smeaton. Apart from the storyboardsfacing the viewer, we were asked to include over-sized imagery on the reverse, which add another

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The Peace at Home Exhibition:Dublin after the First World War

Mary Clark, Dublin City Archivist, Dublin City Library & Archive

Royal Dublin Fusiliers and delegates to the First Dáil cross paths at theMansion House, 21 January 1919

layer of interest. A huge map of Dublin, from the1920s, is overprinted with addresses oforganisations established to help demobilisedsoldiers. Our banner display featured giantreproductions of postcards relating to the RoyalDublin Fusiliers, while covering for the ‘feet’ of thedisplay frames is taken from the crest of the RDFA.Original objects from the RDFA archive are ondisplay in the exhibition cases, including a dressuniform (so small that we have to show it on achild’s mannequin – people were tiny then);regimental silverware; a wide selection ofembroidered postcards, sent from the Front;medals; and – remarkably – a regimentalglockenspiel, which can still be played!

While most of the images are from our collectionsat DCLA, we are most grateful for permission toinclude photographs in the exhibition from: BritishPathé Archives; Diageo Guinness Archives; FingalCounty Archives; National Archives, London;National Library of Ireland; North Inner CityFolklore Museum, Dublin; Raidio Telefís EireannArchives; and Trinity College Dublin.

The text and photo research were carried out by DrBernard Kelly, Historian-in-Residence at DublinCity Library & Archive, and an expert on the period

1914-1924. He was assisted by the City ArchivistDr Mary Clark, particularly in relation to finalizingthe exhibition for placement in DCLA. Funding wasprovided by DCC’s Commemorations Committee,mediated by Senior Librarian Tara Doyle, withproduction of the exhibition by Source Design andTap Printing. Overall concept was by the ActingCity Librarian Brendan Teeling, while tours of theexhibition are provided on Saturday afternoons bymembers of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association.As always, the exhibition was prepared as large-scale printed panels hung on our in-house displayframes. These are designed to travel aroundDublin and beyond afterwards, bringing theexhibition out-and-about. It will remain in DCLAuntil the end of January 2019 and will then move toBallyfermot Library (February) and Dublin City Hall(March-April). If anyone would like to book theexhibition, please e-mailcityarchives@dublincity.ie – the only cost involvedfor borrowers is in arranging for a van to collect andreturn it.

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Lord Mayor Nial Ring (centre) with Dr Bernard Kelly, Historian-in-Residence; DrMary Clark; Brendan Teeling, Acting City Librarian; Gael Scanlan, National War

Memorial Gardens, Islandbridge; and Tom Burke, MBE, Chairman, RDFA

Tom Burke, MBE, Chairman, RDFA

After working so intensely on the First World Warfor so many years – while still working on otherevents in the Decade of Commemorations – itseems strange that the Great War’s Centenary isfinally over. That said, we are digitising andtranscribing individual soldiers’ diaries from theRDFA Archives for online publication in 2019.Perhaps this most cruel and pointless of warsshould never be forgotten – to ensure that it shouldnever recur.

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To celebrate the 90th anniversary of theestablishment of ESB’s Public RelationsDepartment in 1928, ESB Archives have launchedover fifty previously unseen films and televisioncommercials commissioned by the company.

The film archive – hosted on www.esbarchives.ie -offers a remarkable insight into the social, culturaland economic development of Ireland from 1928 –1992. The collection is a rich resource foracademics, historians, second and third levelstudents and genealogists to name a few. Thefilms detail a range of topics from the ShannonScheme, Rural Electrification, GenerationStations, Innovation, Fisheries, ConsultancyOverseas, Advertising and Marketing.

The occasion of the 65th annual Public RelationsInstitute of Ireland’s (PRII) conference in Dublin onthe 29th November was chosen as the launch dateof the film archive. It was a timely opportunity forESB and PRII to celebrate their shared heritageand pay tribute to Ned Lawler (ESB Public

Relations Officer 1928 – 1947) and foundingmember of PRII in 1953.

Outlining the importance of this archive torecording Ireland’s history, Pat O’Doherty, ChiefExecutive of ESB, noted: “The films, preserved inESB Archives, illustrate ESB’s contribution in theevolution of a new and changing Ireland with manyhaving cultural, educational, historical and socialsignificance. The early documentaries werebroadcast in cinemas or local screenings at a timebefore television arrived, opening Irish society to abrighter future through the electrification of theentire country. We are delighted to release thefilms online for everyone to enjoy from all cornersof the world.”

ESB first dipped its toes into the film world whenthey entered an agreement in April 1928 with theFirst National Pathé Film Company to record theconstruction of Ireland’s first hydroelectric stationon the River Shannon at Ardnacrusha in Co Clare.

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ESB Archives launch Film ArchiveDeirdre McParland, Senior Archivist, ESB Archives

Launch of the ESB Film Archive: Left to Right, Pat O’Doherty, Chief ExecutiveESB, Deirdre McParland, Senior Archivist ESB, Dr. Martina Byrne, CEO

Public Relations Institute of Ireland.

Launch of film archive on www.esbarchives.ie

The film was subsequently shown in cinemas,schools and colleges nationwide. Its purpose wasto educate the country on the importance of thelargest engineering projects of its kind in Europeand the transformative benefits of electricity toindustry and society.

From the 1950s to 1980s, ESB employed theservices of acclaimed Austrian filmmaker GeorgeFleischmann who incidentally crash landed inIreland while on a surveillance mission duringWorld War II. Interned at the Curragh Camp, heproduced fifteen films for ESB throughout thisperiod.

The first of the documentaries produced in 1955 byFleischmann, ‘Power for Progress’, narrated by thebroadcaster Eamonn Andrews details theextraordinary contribution of ESB to Irish societyfrom its foundation in 1927 to 1955. In addition tofootage of ESB’s various hydro, peat and coalstations the documentary provides footage ofdomestic scenes from the 1950s and the benefitsof the all-electric house. Social insights areexplored through footage of industrial andcommercial activity throughout Ireland. Views ofthe original Georgian landscape on FitzwilliamStreet provide architectural views before the re-development of ESB’s Head Office in the 1960s.

The documentary ‘More Power to the Farmer’produced in 1957, eleven years into the RuralElectrification Scheme featured the Irish actorJohn Cowley who later starred in the televisionseries, The Riordans. The documentary details theimpactful story of rural electrification throughoutthis transformative time in Irish history, describedas the greatest social revolution in Ireland since theland reforms of the 1880s.

A fictional dramatisation of the story of a youngfarmer who lived beside Portarlington Peat Stationin the early 1950s offers an understanding of thefascination and scepticism surrounding the newpeat station and electricity generation. It alsoprovides rare footage of Bord na Móna’s peatrailways servicing the power station. As manygeneration stations have a limited life cycle, thisfilm illustrates the operations of a peat station, nowdemolished, with internal and external footage ofthe station ensuring that our industrial heritage ispreserved.

The 1961 colour film ‘Modern Living Country Style’filmed at the RDS on the occasion of the HorseShow features the journalist and the first femaleLord Mayor of Limerick City, Francis Condell,

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demonstrating the most modern country homeequipped with new electric appliancestransforming the lives of Irish housewives throughinnovative design.

On a futuristic theme, the documentary ‘Power forTomorrow’ produced in 1968, explores thecountless benefits that electricity has brought toeveryday life in Ireland opening with scenes fromDublin Airport’s Air Traffic Control.

ESB employees were a regular feature in many ofthe documentaries, in particular, the 1972documentary on Turlough Hill, Co. Wicklow, ‘PeakPower’ is dedicated entirely to the workers. Itfeatures interviews with the employees whocontributed to the largest pumped storage civilengineering project of its time.

The award winning 1992 film, ‘24 Hours’ profiledESB’s commitment to customer service anddepicted a typical working day for ESB staffthroughout the company. The narrated footagedescribed the role of ESB in supplying power to runthe nation, bringing light, heat and power to 1million Irish homes as well as commercial andpublic premises. The film won a gold medal at the35th New York Annual Festival. The USInternational Film and Video Festival was one ofthe longest established and most prestigious worldevents, honouring excellence in industrial andeducational audio visual communication.

For researchers interested in the more detailedtechnical aspects of engineering projects, the 1975documentary 'Turlough Hill, Peak Power' and the1985 documentary 'Moneypoint Power from Coal’

detail the mammoth construction of bothgeneration stations and the logistics required.Filmed over the construction years, thedocumentaries capture significant milestonesthroughout the projects.

Footage extends beyond Irish shores, with the1982 film, ‘Partners in Power’ showcasing ESB’sconsultancy overseas, known today as ESBInternational, documenting electrification projectsin Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

In 1987 the United Kingdom was hit by anunprecedented storm with over 5 million customersleft without an electricity supply. The documentary‘Task Force, ‘87’ documents the work of 300 ESBpersonnel, who travelled to the UK to assist in therestoration of power following severe stormdamage. It features a number of interviews withESB and English utilities personnel, regarding therole of ESB crews in the restoration, reaction oflocals and differences in infrastructure andproblems encountered.

Innovation is at the heart and soul of ESB and thisis evidenced in the 1984 film ‘Tomorrow’s HousesToday’. A research project based on theconstruction of six houses in Kilcock, Co. Kildare,

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the film depicts the planning and construction of thehouses, each fitted with various different electricaland insulation systems including solar systems.The results were monitored and analysed by ESBto ensure that the most efficient building andinsulation techniques could be planned for futureuse.

The 1992 documentary ‘The Female Electrician’highlights career opportunities for femaleengineers and electricians in ESB and featuresfootage and interviews with women regarding theirroles within ESB.

Television commercials now included in the filmarchive feature some familiar faces and voicesincluding the golden tones of DJ Larry Gogan. The1986 television commercial, ‘Baby’ shows a fatherpreparing for the middle of the night feed andreceived a number of awards including: first prizefor the most Outstanding Television AdvertisingCampaign at the 34th International AdvertisingFilm Festival in Cannes, 1987; Best TelevisionCommercial and Best Overall Advertisement at theWPA Awards, (Women’s Political Association)1988 and Film and TV Festival Awards, New York,1987. The brief behind the commercial was toshow how electricity and electrical appliancesenhance the quality of life, while having a strong

emotional appeal.

Meanwhile, the classic 1988 commercial ‘GoingBack’ featured broadcaster Alan Hughes travellingback home, while his mother was busy preparingthe house highlighting electricity at work. While notproduced for the Christmas market, thecommercial has become synonymous with thefestive season.

Lip syncing was well in vogue with the 1990commercial ‘Nightsaver’ advertising lower night-time rates of electricity and featuring the Irishactress Orla Brady.

As a first step, we invited the IFI Irish Film Archiveto make an item-level assessment of the originalfilm reels held in ESB Archives and to provide areport on their preservation needs. Thiscollaboration is part of a long term strategy todevelop a sustainable plan for the preservation,digitisation and cataloguing of our complete filmarchive.

The launch of the film archive has been anothersuccessful team effort. Digital access copies of thefilms were converted in-house to mpegs from cds

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and mini discs, researched and catalogued by thearchives team. By researching the content of thefilms through this medium and making themavailable online, we are best placed to prioritise thefuture digital preservation requirements of thisunique collection and continue to showcase thecollection to our stakeholders.

By unlocking the evidential value in our film archiveand making it accessible to the communities whohave helped build ESB over our 90 year history, wecontinue to embrace the valuable and critical rolethat ESB and our archives continue to play

throughout Irish society. The film archive also actsas a positive employee engagement tool and hasbeen warmly received by all of our stakeholders,instilling a renewed and innovative sense of prideand purpose throughout ESB.

To view the complete film archive please visitwww.esbarchives.ie/film

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View of the film archive on www.esbarchives.ie