RCB Library Notes08 Apr 16

Dr Hugh Weir Collection Presented to the RCB Library

Many readers of the Church of Ireland Gazette will recall the short illustrated columns on Church of Ireland churches which Hugh Weir contributed to the Gazette from the 1980s until the early years of the new millennium. The format was simple but most effective – a drawing of the church with some accompanying text which pointed up aspects of the building’s history and local significance.

Hugh’s interest in church buildings had been inspired by Robert Wyse Jackson, Dean of Cashel and later Bishop of Limerick, ‘with whom I would travel, on the back of his motor bike to share his interest in historical places and archaeological sites’ and who for many years published sketches of churches. On suggesting to the editor of the Gazette, Canon Cecil Cooper, that the Gazette ought to publish vignettes of churches, Cecil, like any good editor, suggested that Hugh should undertake the task.

The results of his labours are available in the files of the Gazette, a complete set of which is in the RCB Library, and this resource has now been handsomely complemented by the most generous presentation to the RCB Library by Dr Weir of the raw materials which made his columns possible – original drawings, photographs and presscuttings.

When catalogued this collection promises to be a valuable resource for those interested in local and parish history, church architecture, and many of the idiosyncrasies which make the Church of Ireland eternally fascinating to locals and strangers alike.