The RCB Library holds some 70,000 print items, and there is a substantial portion of these that are classed as rare books. However, there are few as rare and unique as the volume which forms the basis of this month’s story.
The Representative Church Body Library’s Archive of the Month for January 2023 provides a commemoration of Church of Ireland church buildings that are either no longer in existence or no longer function as churches.
The year 2022 has seen the RCB Library through its 90th birthday, and a dedicated Archive of the Month for December explores its evolutionary story through nine decades and beyond.
A Policy for the Appropriate Custody of Primary School Records is now in place to guide Church of Ireland primary schools and their Patrons in how to best keep and share archived information about their work and service to their communities, with the assistance of archivists in local authorities.
For November’s Archive of the Month, the RCB Library returns to exploring its early years, focusing on the evolution of its small but diverse literary range of titles. These incorporate novels, poetry, drama, and literary essays that reflect the eclectic nature of those who visit the Library, whether to borrow items or to spend time reading these items.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin TD visited the RCB Library in Churchtown on Friday October 7 to view the ongoing digitisation work supported by her department.
October’s Archive of the Month from the RCB Library returns to the Diocesan Records of Tuam, Killala and Achonry (D5 & D5A), focusing on the extensive collection of maps and plans (1753–1873) which forms an integral part of this important archive.
Our Archive of the Month for September is an exploration of Parish No.1218, a collection of material from the east county Galway parish, Ahascragh.
Last October, the RCB Library received a very welcome communication from Rosemary Kempshall in the UK, who wrote to say that she had in her possession a large volume of sermons written by the Revd George Sealy, a parochial cleric based in the diocese of Cork, from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
For July, the RCB Library Archive of the Month turns to a musical note as music historian Dr David O’Shea explores the recent accession of an original manuscript copy of Sir John Stevenson’s ‘Te Deum and Jubilate in the key of C, sung at the installation [sic] of the Knights of St Patrick 1819’ in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.
