RCB Library Notes
October Archive of the Month – Varied YWCA Records and Materials Available at RCB Library
With the exception of personnel records and recent minutes that fall within the 40–year closure rule, most of the records are now available for consultation at the Library. For access to those items that remain closed, the permission of the Board of YWCA Ireland must be obtained by bona fide researchers, by writing to Mrs Karen Mawhinney, Administrator, YWCA Ireland, 64 Lwr. Baggot Street, Dublin 2).
Minutes, accounts, and correspondence of the central administration, which was initially a branch of the Executive Council of the YMCA in England and Wales, are complemented by records of various sub–committees, including the Jubilee, Centenary and 125th Anniversary – no shortage of celebration in the YWCA! More specific groups of records relate to the Foreign Department, the Missionary Fund and the Dublin Bible College. Records of individual houses and branches which were locally run reflect activity in Dublin, Belfast and Cork, Derry and Waterford and in some smaller locations such as Newcastle (Co. Down), Greystones, Borrisokane, Tramore and Portstewart.
Like similar organizations the collection includes acknowledgements from Buckinghham Palace of the Association’s good wishes on royal births and marriages and condolences on royal deaths, the earliest of which acknowledges the good wishes sent to Queen Victoria on her visit to Ireland in 1900. However, not all relations with Britain were sweetness and light. In 1916 there was a row over the staging of a fund raising matinee in Drury Lane theatre in London which sought to raise £25,000 ‘to erect hostels, canteens and rest–rooms for munitions and other women war workers’. The Irish Council was opposed to this initiative because they viewed a stage play as a ‘wordly’ activity and at odds with the biblical teaching and evangelical basis of the Association. This led to the formation of an independent association – the YMCA Ireland in 1917.
The wide and varied nature of the materials in this collection may prove to be a treasure trove for researchers documenting many unusual aspects of the social, charitable and cultural life of late–19th and 20th century Ireland. More obviously it is likely to be a prime source for those engaged in women’s history.
www.ireland.anglican.org/library/archive
For further information please contact:
Dr Susan Hood
RCB Library
Braemor Park
Churchtown
Dublin 14
Tel: 01–4923979
Fax: 01–4924770
E–mail: susan.hood@rcbcoi.org