Irish Studies at the Hesburgh Library

The Hesburgh Library Special Collections recently acquired a very handsome edition of Malton’s Views of Dublin.

James Malton. A Picturesque and Descriptive View of the City of Dublin Described. In a series of the most interesting Scenes taken in the year 1791. By James Malton. With a brief authentic history from the earliest accounts to the present time. Engraved titlepage and dedication, Arms of Dublin, a Correct Survey of Dublin as it stood in the year 1610, and twenty-five plates of views. London, 1803.

The detail above is of the view of City Hall across the Liffey from the corner of Capel Street.

The Hesburgh Library is home to a great collection of maps of Ireland, the collection of the late Mr. Thomas McGrath, which he gave to the Library over twenty years ago.  He gave a lecture on the occasion of donating his collection, and the text of his lecture, along with illustrations, is on the Rare Books website: The Joy of the Chase: Collecting old Irish Maps.

It would be nice to see the maps used more often for teaching and research, and so we plan to improve the cataloging of these maps over the coming year, and also to investigate digitization.

A New and Correct Chart of the Harbour of Corke by the Revd. J. Lindsay, 1759.

Mr. McGrath’s collection included sea charts, which he gave to the library as a separate collection, named the Butler Collection of Sea Charts in honor of his wife’s family.

In addition to the McGrath and Butler Collections, there are many maps of Ireland in books in the Hesburgh Special Collections.  Examples: