Digitised Archives
The James Hardiman Library is committed to making material from its archival and printed collections available online. Digitisation opens up access to these valuable resources and allows them to be used and enjoyed by all.
A number of our archival collections have been digitised and are available online, please see below. For further queries on access to digital copies of material from our collections please contact the Archivist, Kieran Hoare.
Brendan Duddy Archive - On-line Exhibition
The selected documents are taken from the three main periods during which Brendan Duddy secretly acted as an intermediary between the British government and the IRA. The first was in the early and mid 1970s when Duddy acted as intermediary during a series of contacts over the release of hostages and the ending of hunger strikes. In 1980 and 1981 Duddy acted again as intermediary during the Republican hunger strikes. Between 1990 and 1993 Duddy was again active at this intersection after a new Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Sir Peter Brooke, made the decision to try to incorporate the Provisionals in a political settlement, an effort continued by his successor Sir Patrick Mayhew. The selected documents highlight the secrecy and tension involved in this communication and negotiation and add significantly to our understanding of this crucial interface between the British state and the IRA.
The Library took part in a project to digitise a number of our Irish language manuscripts from Lamhscribhinní de hÍde and Lamhscribhinní Breise. The manuscripts date from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, and consist of medical, historical and literary manuscripts.
The James Hardiman Library, with the support of the Heritage Council of Ireland, has provided digital access to over 2000 images taken by George Pickow during a visit to Ireland in 1952-53. Themes include traditional Irish music, crafts, traditional sports, the Aran Islands, Dublin and Dublin Airport.
The Balfour Album of photographs was compiled by the Belfast photographer Robert Welsh between 1893 and 1895. It was presented to the former Chief Secretary, Arthur J. Balfour, in the summer of 1896 in recognition for his support for the Galway to Clifden Railway.
Shields Family Archive On-line Exhibition
Selected material from the Shields Family Archive. Arthur Shields and his brother Barry Fitzgerald (real name Will Shields) were both actors in several Abby Theatre productions in the 1920s and 1930s. Arthur Shields also managed four Abby theatre tours of the United states during the 1930s. Both moved to Hollywood during World War Two where Barry Fitzgerald in particular achieve great acclaim winning an Oscar in 1945 for his role along side in Bing Cosby in Going My Way.
17th Century Pictorial Map of Galway City
This map which dates from the mid-17th century is a bird's eye view of a town surrounded on three sides by water, the River Corrib in the foreground, its tributaries, and the sea. Two known copies of the original map exist, one in the Library of Trinity College Dublin, and the second in the archives of the Hardiman Library at NUI Galway. This new digitised version of the map is based on the Hardiman Library copy. Dr. Pádraig Lenihan, lecturer in History at NUI Galway, notes that 'it is the most accurate and, indeed, most beautiful map of an Irish urban space before John Roque's 1756 map of Georgian Dublin.
