Dublin By Dusk | Twilight Talks
About this Event
Join us for a series of four Twilight Talks, each just fifteen minutes! These talks are are intended to showcase the depth of scholarship, creativity and discovery emerging from registered readers' engagement with the library’s collections.
Please find a brief abstract of each presentation below.
Arrest of the Paltus: How a Soviet Fishing Trawler tested Irish Diplomacy in 1963 | Evie Kelly
In January 1963, the Irish Navy arrested a Soviet fishing trawler, the Paltus, off Dunmore East, Co. Waterford for fishing inside Ireland's territorial limits. Its skipper was convicted and fined at the local District Court. What appeared at first to be a routine fisheries arrest soon entangled itself with a complicated aspect of Irish foreign policy. Newspaper collections at the National Library of Ireland capture the colour of events at Waterford, from local and regional coverage to international commentary. This talk sets the public picture from the diplomatic headache that was unfolding behind closed doors at the Department of External Affairs in Dublin.
Servants and the Irish Country House | Andrea Katrina Byrne
Drawing on a range of archival sources, including collections held by the National Library of Ireland, this talk intends to bring servants’ experiences into focus, and seeks to highlight their contribution to the social, cultural, and economic history of Ireland.
The Light and Shade of Charlotte Grace O'Brien' | Dr. Jennifer Redmond
Charlotte Grace O’Brien (1845-1909) is familiar to many but about whom there are many erroneous or incomplete facts recorded in history. In her personal life and in her public activities, she was a remarkable woman who made a mark on her society. As a novelist and poet, she received international attention, particularly for her book Light and Shade which dealt with some of the key political themes that animated her life in Ireland and drew upon Fenian politics with which her father, William Smith O’Brien, was associated. As a botanist, she contributed to knowledge about local flora in her native Limerick and was recognised at national and international level. Her cultural nationalism saw her heavily involved in the Gaelic League and a promoter of Irish folklore, dress and products. Through her interests in the fate of female migrants leaving Ireland during the nineteenth century she successfully campaigned for better conditions aboard ships. Charlotte Grace’s papers are held as part of her family’s papers in the National Library of Ireland’s manuscripts collection, while the main library holds many of her published pieces.
Stanford’s Notes on Notes: Insights from scores and writings of a Dublin-born composer | Dr Adèle Commins
Dublin-born composer Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) was a leading figure of the British Musical Renaissance, having spent most of his life in England after moving to study at Cambridge University. The music collections of the National Library of Ireland include a variety of rich and important source material relating to Stanford and his music. This talk will explore manuscripts, concert programmes, photographs and archival collections that illuminate Stanford’s compositional process, professional networks and collaborators and the performance of his music in Ireland. His manuscripts reveal the development of his compositional style indicating revisions to scores and sketches, while annotations by performers offer valuable insights into early twentieth-century performance practice. Drawing on archival material including the Feis Ceoil Collection and the papers of F.C.J. Swanton, the talk highlights the richness of the Library’s holdings and their importance for ongoing research into Stanford’s life, work, and enduring musical influence.
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