Collection History

The National Library was set up in 1877, on the basis of the collections of the Royal Dublin Society Library which dated back to 1731, and of the Joly Library, which consisted of 25,000 volumes, many of Irish interest. On its foundation the National Library had only about a hundred manuscripts, but the collection grew rapidly and the Department of Manuscripts was set up in 1949. The collection is now very extensive, and is particularly strong in Irish literary papers, including theatre related material, of the early twentieth century. The library has also accumulated substantial collections of ephemera over the years, including theatrical ephemera, and a project has recently been set up to process and make available this material.

Development

In relation to theatre collections, the National Library aims to produce a guide to its theatre collections which will be available in-house and on its website, and to complete the processing of its theatrical ephemera over the course of the next five years.

Nature and scope of holdings.

The National Library's theatre collections include materials acquired by gift from authors or their families, such as the Yeats papers, gifts by actors and directors such as Maire Nic Shiubhlaigh and Thomas M. Ryan, gifts by collectors such as Joseph Holloway, and material on deposit from the Abbey Theatre. It has acquired material by purchase and under a tax incentive scheme from authors such as Hugh Leonard and Brian Friel, from actors and producers such as Micheal MacLiammoir and Cyril Cusack, and it has acquired much material from dealers and at auctions. Theatre holdings are held in most departments of the Library, including the Manuscripts Department, the Printed Books Department, the Ephemera collection, the Prints and Drawings Collection and the National Photographic Archive.

Manuscripts collections.

Authors: W.B.Yeats, Sean O'Casey, Hugh Leonard, Brian Friel, Una Troy, Brendan Behan, Padraic Colum, T.C. Murray, George Shiels. Theatres: National Theatre Society, Abbey Theatre Collection. Actors: Fay papers, Maire NicShiubhlaigh, MacLiammoir/Edwards papers Collectors/enthusiasts: collections of press cuttings, programmes, posters etc, mostly relating to the early twentieth century, Joseph Holloway diaries, W.A. Henderson, W.J. Lawrence, Paul O'Farrell, and others. Printed Books collections: Theatre programmes and playbills: Abbey Theatre, 1902-68; Gate Theatre 1928-41; Gaiety Theatre 1880-1997; Kilkenny Theatrical Playbills, 1805-19; Theatre Royal playbills 1830-39; Queens Theatre playbills 1840-74; News clippings 1890s-1904.

Ephemera collection:

Theatre posters donated by Cyril Cusack, 1950s-60s; Thomas M. Ryan newsclippings, 1913-84; Thomas M. Ryan Dublin Theatre programmes, 1925-83; Revellers Dramatic Society, 1947-60; Irish Theatre Company, 1913-20; Posters from Dublin Theatres c. 1900-2000.

Prints and Drawings collections:

Holloway collection of drawings of well-known theatrical characters.

Using the archive

A readers ticket is required to use the collections of the National Library of Ireland. A readers ticket application form is available in the entrance hall of the Library, and applications are usually processed on the spot in 15-20 minutes, depending on the length of queues etc. An additional ticket is required for use of materials in the manuscripts department. Full details are available on the Library's website at www.nli.ie. A photocopying service is available, within the restrictions of copyright legislation.

Catalogues

The Library's catalogues are available online at www.nli.ie. Many manuscript collections listed prior to 1990 are not included in the online catalogue but are listed in the published Hayes Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilisation (Boston, Hall, 1965) and its Supplement covering the years 1966-75 (Boston, Hall 1969). Items catalogued between 1976-90 are listed in a card catalogue in the Manuscripts Reading Room. Abbey Theatre playscripts held by the Library are all included in the online catalogue. Much of the Library's Yeats collection is listed in Conrad A. Balliet's W.B.Yeats, a census of the manuscripts, New York, Garland, 1990. Selections from Joseph Holloway's diaries have been published in Joseph Holloway's Abbey Theatre: a selection from his unpublished journal: impressions of a Dublin theatergoer. Edited by Robert Hogan and Michael J. O'Neill, Carbondale, [1967]. Joseph Holloway's diaries were issued on microfilm in 1988 as The Diaries of Joseph Holloway: from the National Library of Ireland, Dublin, 1895-1944. Manuscripts of the Irish Literary Renaissance, series 1. Reading, Berkshire: Research Publications, 1988, 105 reels.