RCB Library Notes03 Sep 18

Pamphlet Series ‘S’ at the RCB Library

Among the treasured collections of the RCB Library are several bound series of 19th century pamphlets, many categorised under broad subject headings including education, finance, legal, synodical, the Irish Church Act, and revision (of liturgical matters) as well as a number of miscellaneous topics.

September’s Archive of the Month presentation focuses on one particular part of the collection, Pamphlet Series ‘S’, which has recently been repaired, conserved and bound for the first time. The series was previously unbound and kept in a box with the simple in–house classification ‘S’. On further examination, its content is revealed to be a small collection of miscellaneous pamphlets, circulars and other notices concerning Catholic Relief and related issues, including the National Education Bill, covering 1822–1861, that may be of particular interest to historians of that period as well as the general public.

Some of these are rare items, which were probably printed in relatively small quantities, and not readily available in other Irish libraries. Their provenance as a stand–alone collection would appear to have been connected with the Archbishop of Armagh, as some items are addressed simply ‘To His Grace the Lord Primate’ either at ‘The Palace, Armagh’ or in London, between 1822 and 1861. The dates match almost exactly the episcopacy of the Most Revd Lord John George de la Poer Beresford (1773–1862) who served as Archbishop of Armagh between 1822 and his death in 1862, and so we may assume that he was the principal recipient.

Indeed in one instance (item 18: ‘the petition of the archbishop and clergy of the diocese of Armagh concerning national education’, dated 1836) the copy has been annotated with amendments in red ink – perhaps in Beresford’s hand, or at his direction. Similar copies were likely circulated to his episcopal colleagues as the Emancipation debate and related issues unfolded during this period.

Other items with an Armagh connection include the printed ‘resolutions unanimously adopted at a meeting of the Catholics of the city and parish of Armagh … held in the Catholic schoolhouse of Armagh’, chaired by Henry Campbell PP, concerning the ‘depressed condition of the Catholic people’, printed by ‘James Pooler, Printer’ and dated ‘Armagh, 3 October 1824’.

Two of the items on this list – an early 19th century certificate of conformity and ‘a response to the Petition of the Archbishop and clergy of Armagh’, 1836 – were subsequently transferred to the Library’s manuscript collection (as Ms 351 and Ms 206 respectively).

Of particular interest may be the handwritten laws of the Society for the Protection and Support of Roman Catholic Priests Who are Anxious to Leave the Communion of the Church of Rome, which are annexed to the printed notice ‘containing the prospectus and laws as submitted by its committee to His Grace the Lord Primate of All Ireland’, 7th November 1836. A previous Archive of the Month presented ‘A list of Persons who renounced the errors of Romanism in St Audoen’s Church [Dublin] and who afterwards subscribed the roll of converts’, 1827–47, relative to the Reformed Romanist Priests’ Protection Society (founded in the 1840s under the auspices of the Earl of Roden) at this link (http://bit.ly/2PrcmQA) may be connected with this earlier society and of further interest. What is significant here is that the pamphlet in question includes the earliest laws of that society in 1836.

Turning to the ‘Pamphlet Series S’ collection as a whole, for the purposes of re–binding the collection in 2018, a simple chronological sequence has been initiated, with four undated items appearing at the end, followed finally by the earlier RCB Library typescript list. Full details are provided as part of the online presentation.

The Library is most grateful to those who have contributed to the Library’s Conservation Fund which enabled this project to be undertaken. Further information about the fund is available at this link (www.ireland.anglican.org/library/conservation) where donations are always welcome.