Old Library reveals New Treasures

Posted on: 30 January 2025

Trinity Library is renowned for its medieval collections, but a new exhibition that opened tonight [Thursday, January 30^th] showcases new treasures acquired by the Library celebrating and reflecting on Ireland’s literary greats, past and present, as well as historical documents and contemporary works of art.

On display is material from the Christy Nolan Archive alongside items related to acclaimed writers such as John Banville, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Samuel Beckett, Jonathan Swift, and Bram Stoker.

Also included in the exhibition are modern works of art works inspired by Irish writers of the past reflecting on themes including homelessness, racism, disability, and direct provision.

Laura Shanahan, Head of Research Collections, with A Modest Proposal by The Salvage Press

"The exhibition highlights the important work cultural institutions such as the Library of Trinity College Dublin undertake “collecting the now” — acquiring and safeguarding contemporary cultural artifacts for future generations", explains Laura Shanahan, curator of the exhibition and Head of Research Collections, at Trinity Library.

Highlights include:

• Literary drafts, photographs and some personal effects of Christy Nolan including his pointer known as a ‘unicorn stick’.
• Manuscript drafts of John Banville’s publication The Singularities.
• A notecard written by Samuel Beckett while in hiding in Tunisia following the announcement of his being awarded Nobel Prize for literature.
• Literary drafts for Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin’s poetry collection The Sun-fish.
• Original artwork for Annie West’s book Yeats in Love.
• A Modest Proposal by The Salvage Press – limited edition fine art book containing new interpretations of Jonathan Swift’s satirical essay with poems by Jessica Traynor and lithographs by David O'Kane.
• Artist Elide Piras’s When You Are Old woodcut inspired by Yeat’s famous poem.

Laura Shanahan, commented:

 “It is so important to us, in the Library, to be able to share the collections in our care with the wider public, and to demonstrate our commitment to collecting printed works, art and archives that document the lived experiences of people today, in our society. It is also important to build upon the records of the past, and for us to integrate voices and experiences that may be historically underrepresented. This exhibition showcases that work and the community of artists, writers, academics, librarians and archivists who share the same mission.”

When You Are Old, a woodcut by artist Elide Piras’s inspired by Yeat’s famous poem

Entitled ‘Zealous mercurial dreams were about to be realised’, the exhibition draws inspiration from Christy Nolan’s autobiography Under the Eye of the Clock. His archive was donated to Trinity by his family.

Christy Nolan’s sister Yvonne Nolan explained:

“I know that Trinity would have been the place that both Christy and my mother and father would most want the Archive to go to. The most important thing that any of us had contact with in our lives was that Christy was a daylight genius. And now it was my turn to mind the lamp and pass it on.

“When Trinity accepted the Archive, I was so, so delighted. I heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that – again – “if you can see it, you can be it” for other Irish or international people who are dealing with issues of disability; that his Archive would be here to be researched, that – long after publishers had stopped publishing Christy’s work – it would still be here and alive and living in a new place.”

The physical exhibition is in the Long Room of the Old Library and forms part of the Book of Kells Experience. See here to book tickets for both exhibitions. The exhibition runs until May 20th, 2025.

Four online exhibitions will be published to complement the physical exhibition. The first,  focusing on the John Banville archive, goes live today on the Library’s online exhibition website. [https://www.tcd.ie/library/exhibitions/]. Further online exhibitions will focus on the Christy Nolan archive, the Samuel Beckett correspondence and The Salvage Press’s AModest Proposal book.

Speaking about his own Archive being housed in Trinity, John Banville has said:

“It was Patricia Quinn who said to me, years ago, “You should keep your papers, and you should keep them in Trinity.”  A wonderful notion, by the way - 'my papers'! But Patricia was right, and I am thrilled and fiercely proud to know that they are here, in Dublin, and in Trinity College. I delight in the fact.”

Laura Shanahan, Head of Research Collections, with original art work for Annie West’s book Yeats in Love

A series of linked public events will be hosted by the Library in the coming months drawing on the archives featured in the exhibition, including a panel and competition on ‘Disability and Creativity’; a feature on ‘Prize winning writing – rejection and triumph’ in collaboration with the Dublin Literary Award, ‘Art and activism’ and ‘Collecting the now: John Banville’s archive’. The events schedule will be published on the Library website.

Laura Shanahan added:

“This exhibition aims to start new conversations about collecting, about supporting that collecting practice, and enabling the cataloguing and digitisation activities necessary to make these records accessible to as many people as possible. Looking ahead, we will be seeking support for this work on the Christy Nolan archive and the growth of other literary archival collections. And looking back, we are recognising the foresight our various benefactors through the centuries had in building this great library.”

‘Zealous mercurial dreams were about to be realised’  was launched by author and columnist Fintan O’Toole in the Long Room, Old Library, Trinity College Dublin.

Collections featured in this exhibition form part of the Virtual Trinity Library programme, a digitisation initiative of the Library of Trinity College Dublin’s most valued collections.  See the Virtual Trinity Librarywebsite for more.

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