Dublin in the Fingal Archives
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These slides are from a presentation delivered by Karen De Lacey, county archivist at Fingal County Council, delivered on 17 Sept 2021 as part of ‘Dublin in the Archives: Digital collections exploring the city and county’, a webinar hosted by the Digital Repository of Ireland as part of the Culture Night 2021 programme of events.
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Dublin in the Fingal Archives
- 1. Karen de Lacey Archivist Fingal County Council Dublin in the Fingal Archives
- 2. What do Fingal Archives hold? Records of Local Government in County Dublin since 1775 • Turnpike Trusts • Co. Dublin Grand Jury • Poor Law Unions • Rural District Councils • Howth Urban District Council • Balbriggan Town Commissioners • Dublin County Council
- 3. What do Fingal Archives hold? But also... • Private Papers • Maps • Photographs • Postcards • Ephemera
- 5. Peadar Kelly (1886-1961) Fingal 1916 Collection Fingal 5th Battalion – Swords Company
- 6. Peadar Kelly (1886-1961) Fingal 1916 Collection Letters to his sister Mrs Maggie Heenan from Frongach, July-Dec 1916
- 7. Fingal 1916 Collection Peadar Kelly (1886-1961) Christmas card from Peadar Kelly to C. Moran, Main Street, Swords, 1916
- 8. Peadar Kelly (1886-1961) Fingal 1916 Collection Cover of The Barbed Wire, published by those at Ballykinlar Camp, 1921
- 9. Peadar Kelly (1886-1961) Fingal 1916 Collection 1916 armband
- 10. Jack Woodcock (1899-1965) Fingal 1916 Collection Letters to his ‘sweetheart’ Rosaleen Kinsella from Gormanston Camp, Co. Meath. 1923
- 11. Jack Woodcock (1899-1965) Fingal 1916 Collection Autograph book from Gormanston Camp, Co. Meath. 1923
- 12. Jack Woodcock (1899-1965) Fingal 1916 Collection Autograph book from Gormanston Camp, Co. Meath. 1923
- 13. Jack Woodcock (1899-1965) Fingal 1916 Collection Autograph book from Gormanston Camp, Co. Meath. 1923
- 14. Jack Woodcock (1899-1965) Fingal 1916 Collection Autograph book from Gormanston Camp, Co. Meath. 1923
- 16. Cottage 'Type B' design for Dublin County Council, 1947 Dublin County Council Plans & Maps
- 24. Fingal Local Studies & Archives 46 North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin archives@fingal.ie
Editor's Notes
- Thanks Brendan. Good afternoon everyone, many thanks to the DRI for inviting me to be a part of this event – as a Dubliner myself, I’ve been looking forward to seeing all the wonderful Dublin related items that are available to us online, through the DRI. So today, I’m here as a representative of County Dublin. As Brendan said, my name is Karen de Lacey and I’m the Archivist for Fingal County Council working in Swords at Fingal Local Studies and Archives. One of the things I think people often wonder is what exactly Fingal could possibly have in the archive considering we as a local authority were only founded in 1993.
- So just to give a little bit of background - Dublin County Council set up an Archives Division in 1990 and appointed their first professionally qualified Archivist. When Dublin County Council was disbanded in 1993 and replaced by the new County Councils of Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, it was decided not to split the records and instead Fingal were made responsible for all of the existing archival material. I believe this was most likely because Fingal stayed at the former Dublin County Council headquarters of 11 Parnell Square so the records were all in situ but since 2009 the Archives have been based in Swords. So, Fingal Archives actually hold the records of local government in County Dublin from 1775 to the present day. And when I say County Dublin I don’t just mean North County it includes everything in what is now South Dublin and DLR. So that includes our earliest records from the Turnpike Trusts - you can see a notice here demanding tolls for the road from Dublin to Dunleer - the records of the County of Dublin Grand Jury, Poor Law Unions, Rural District Councils, Howth Urban District Council, Balbriggan Town Commissioners, Dublin County Council itself – and of course Fingal.
- But we also have a large collection of private papers, maps, postcards, photographs, ephemera, local history publications and much more besides. Today, I’m going to speak about the Fingal 1916 Collection which should be up on the DRI website very shortly.
- During 2016, the previous Fingal Archivist, Colm McQuinn, undertook a series of Memorabilia Days at different locations around Fingal. At these events there were historians, genealogists and even valuers on hand for the public. People brought items and very kindly consented to have them digitised and available to be used through Fingal Archives by the public. The digital files were later arranged and catalogued by Eneclann. This was a wonderful initiative as although we’re very lucky to have many generous donors who have kindly donated papers, photographs and other items, this project allowed us to provide access to items while still allowing the donors to retain the original items that are treasured by them and their families. Among the items digitised at the events were photographs, letters, postcards, pamphlets, mass cards, medals, an RIC baton and even a revolver.
- I thought it would be nice to just briefly highlight some of the stories and people who emerged from items brought to these events, many of whom are not particularly well known. Peadar Kelly also known as Peadar O’Ceallaigh or Peter Kelly… was born in 1886 and was a native of Swords. He had been a pupil-teacher at Swords National School and at 16 went to Liverpool where he worked as boy clerk in the British Civil Service. He later returned to Dublin where he became involved with the Gaelic League and played gaelic football for Fingallians. Peadar joined the Swords Company of the Irish Volunteers on its foundation in 1914 and was a member of the 5th Battalion, Fingal Brigade. He fought during Easter Week 1916 under Thomas Ashe in various areas of North County Dublin including attacks on RIC barracks in Swords, Donabate, Garristown and Ashbourne. Following his participation in the Rising he was dismissed from his civil service position with the Irish Land Commission and interned until December of that year, initially at Wandsworth and later at Frongoch.
- Here we see some of the letters Peadar sent from Frongoch to his sister Maggie. Also interned there at the same time was his brother Jack. In his first letter Peadar worries about the health of his mother with both of her sons imprisoned “What will poor mother do now? Do you think she will be able to carry on until Jack and I get out? The thought that she might not is worrying me more than anything else.” Later in the letter he goes back to the topic “My chief anxiety is for mother. I think of her all day long and wonder how she will manage and her health so precarious too.” The letters provide small details of life in the camp – they can attend mass on Sundays, have been supplied with a prayer and hymn book and can attend confession. By July, he notes that although he has been in the camp for a month, “one day in jail is as bad as a week here”. Although not as bad as jail, boredom was certainly an issue and he asks Maggie to write soon with as much news as possible – “You know every little thing is of interest now… It’s a god send to receive a letter here.” Although in another he bemoans that “our letters should be open to the gaze of any curious postman.”
- In many of his letters he looks for supplies – requesting shirts, vests, mufflers and polish from his sister, saying that he has noticed that “his letters are developing into mere requests for various articles” for which he apologises. I think one of the nicest requests is when he asks Maggie to send some of her homemade brown bread and notes that he often thinks of the rhubarb cake that she made on Easter Sunday and hopes they will share another together soon. There is also local gossip about weddings in Swords and concerns that they won’t be released before Christmas. They weren’t as you can see from this Christmas card which was sent by Peadar to his friend Christopher Moran from Swords.
- Peadar remained an active member of the Swords Company after his release from Frongach and was also a Dublin County Councillor from 1920 to 1925. He was arrested again in Dec 1920 and interned at Ballykinlar Camp for a full year until Dec 1921. We see here the cover from The Barbed Wire, published in August 1921 by those in Cage Two at Ballykinlar Camp. It deals with Camp activities and references the Truce and political affairs. In it, the editor advises: "Let us leave the negotiations to those whom the nation has entrusted them" - concluding "release with honour is welcome at any moment. It is hoped however that no one is so fooling as to expect that our leaders should pause in their important work to bargain over our release". He resumes writing to his sister from Ballykinlar, now worrying about the health of his father – Peadar is afraid he won’t last long. He notes that his time in Frongach has stood him well saying “I have settled down again to the old life and am in good form”.
- In 1922 he was re-instated in the Civil Service, specifically the Department of Justice, where he worked until his retirement. He continued to live in Swords until his death in 1961. The Drogheda Independent wrote a glowing appreciation of him saying that “his death has left the people of Swords as if in a trance” due to the loss of this “great son of Ireland”.
- I’m now going to look at Jack Woodcock, whose given name was John Patrick Woodcock, and who was born in Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow in July 1899. I can find relatively little information about Jack during the Civil War but we have a series of letters written by him from Kilmainham and Gormanston Camp. Although he was being imprisoned by his own countrymen, rather than by the British, the content of his initial letters echo those of Peadar Kelly – he thanks his family for sending parcels, asks for supplies, gives news from the camp and wonders about the whereabouts of letters from his sweetheart (as her calls her) Rosaleen. As we learn in another letter to Rosaleen, her delay in replying was that she had also been imprisoned and on her release had been hospitalised. His letters to her cover the usual news from home - telling her that her homemade cakes are a blessing and promising that he will do lots of cooking for her when he gets out. In a number of letters, he notes that over 200 prisoners have released but that he’s had no such luck.
- On the 26th October 1923, Jack writes to Rosaleen to say that he and other prisoners have gone on hunger-strike to force their release. He tells her they are on Day 6 and that he is writing the letter from bed having just received holy communion. He notes that “I’m not so very bad, only very weak.” He reminisces about their nights together in the Harp and wonders will they have anymore like it. “Please god we’ll have some more good times if we get out of this”. He concludes the letter by saying “I hope this won’t be my last (letter) to you…keep your heart…say a prayer that we’ll pull through.” This hunger strike had begun in Mountjoy Prison on the 14th October among anti-treaty civil-war prisoners who were demanding to be released. It lasted for 41 days and spread to over 10 prisons and internment camps and at one point involved about 8,000 strikers of which around 700 were in Gormanston. At Gormanston the prisoners divided into those who were striking and those who would care for them by nursing, making beds and cleaning.
- We have Jack’s autograph book from not only his time in Gormanston but during the hunger strike itself. Like most autograph books it is a mixture of poems, notes, quotations, drawings and messages. It was, as you might imagine, sent to him by Rosaleen. Here we can see one of the entries on the 7th day of the strike by Sean Molyneaux of Inchicore, “The dreary aspect of the hunger strike remains unchanged. It has been carried on with renewed vigour and will be til either freedom or death is accomplished.”
- Also featured in the autograph book is Oscar Traynor, later a TD and Minister for Justice and Defence. Here he is writing about Dev – “one who never turned his back”. Most of the strikers stopped individually or in small groups within a month, but over 200 continued and two died at the Curragh and Mountjoy around the fortieth day. The strike had ended completely by 23rd November. The leaders at Gormanston had called off the hunger strike on the 16th day. Jack’s next letter to Rosaleen is on the 7th November, the day after the strike ended there, asking her to send him some Bovril to build up his strength. He also apologises for his messy handwriting saying that he is writing from bed and suffering from shaky hands.
- I’m unsure when Jack was released from Gormanstown but the letters stop in mid-November 1923 and all had been released by 1924. I’m glad to say that he and Rosaleen were married in November 1925 in Rathmines at which time he was working as a postman. A member of the Harp Cycling Club in Rathmines and later the Irish Road Club, he represented Ireland in cycling at the 1928 Olympic Games and in the world championships at Copenhagen in 1931. After his death in 1965, cyclists competed for the Jack Woodcock Memorial Trophy and there are photographs of his widow Rosaline presenting the trophy to the winners. These are just two examples of the types of material that were brought in to our memorabilia days and the stories that came from those documents. And there is lots more to be discovered when it goes up online.
- I’m going to do a whistle-stop tour of some of our other collections which we hope to get up on the DRI before long. As I mentioned earlier, we hold the records of the County of Dublin Grand Jury. The collection totals 171 volumes from 1816-1899. The Grand Jury system of Local Government operated in Ireland from medieval times until 1899. Their functions were broadly - the building of roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, public buildings, courthouses and county jails. Due to their nature, they are very much local records with much information of interest to those in Dublin County. They are particularly useful for anyone with an interest in infrastructural projects – I had a researcher ask about Milltown Bridge (over the Dodder) and was able to find loads of information about the old bridge and the ‘new’ 1816 bridge. They’re a really great resource and quite underutilised. The volumes of minutes from 1818-1861 are already digitised with one remaining volume to take us up to 1899. There are also multiple volumes of presentments so lots to come in that collection hopefully.
- Here we see a design for a cottage for Dublin County Council. These plans date to 1947 and were part of a scheme where sites around County Dublin were compulsorily purchased in order to build laborers cottages. At this time, there were plans to build 1,316 cottages in the County. Many of these cottages are still there and it’s yet another topic I hope to explore in greater detail.
- One of the main collections we hope to focus on is the Local Studies Photograph and Postcard collection which spans hundreds if not thousands of items. As you can see here – they are not only Fingal based but we have many items of general Dublin interest – this is a view of Busaras from Custom House Park. And also an image of Baymount Castle in Dollymount – now generally known as the Jesuit’s Manresa House.
- Here you can see an older postcard of fisherfolk standing in a very different looking Howth to the busy seaside town we all know now. And also a more modern seaside resort – Red Island Holiday Camp in Skerries.
- Here are two more – the first I like due to the inscription – presumably the writer did have a nice day at the zoo but we see them write “Dear Bim, we got home alright last night. It is wet today – I feel very lonely…’ Poor fella. The second image is of Kenure House in Rush. Built in 1827, its contents were auctioned off in 1964 and the estate sold to the Irish Land Commission. I want you to keep that image in your mind because in my next slide you will see Kenure House again…
- In these images from our photograph collection, we see Kenure House in ruins. Like so many similar houses, it fell into disrepair and was demolished by Dublin County Council on safety grounds in 1978. If any of you know this area of Rush, you’ll know that the only remaining element of the House is the Portico which now stands alone in some parkland.
- Finally, we have some items from our artwork collection which includes paintings, engravings, drawings and watercolours… Here we see an engraving of Howth
- And here we have one of our most recent acquisitions, a watercolour of St Mary’s Abbey in Howth which was bought at auction from the Howth Castle sale.
- Finally, I just wanted an excuse to show some of these fun novelty postcards from Fingal’s seaside resorts – we see Malahide, Howth, Skerries and Rush represented here.
- So I’ll finish up by saying we always welcome researchers, you don’t need to be studying or writing a book or anything like that – maybe there’s just something you’ve seen in your locality that piqued your curiosity, maybe you’re doing some family history – just give us an e-mail at archives@fingal.ie and we’d be delighted to hear from you. Thank you very much.