Book of the Month

In honour of the grand opening of the Hardiman Research Building, our book of the month for May is the Kiltartan history book by Lady Gregory (1852-1932) (Dublin, Maunsel & Co., 1909).

Writer, folklorist, adventurer, actress, and friend and supporter of many of the great writers of the period, Lady Gregory was involved in the founding and functioning of the Abbey Theatre, writing, acting, directing, and supporting playwrights such as J.M. Synge, Sean O’Casey and Lennox Robinson.

She also wrote for children. The Kiltartan History Book was illustrated by her son, Robert Gregory, who died during the Great War and whose death is immortalised in W.B. Yeats’ poem An Irish airman foresees his death.

In the notes at the end of our copy, Lady Gregory writes: “I have given this book its name because it is at my own door, in the Barony of Kiltartan, I have heard a great number of the stories from beggars, pipers, travelling men, and in such pleasant company. But others I have heard in the Workhouse, or to the north of Galway Bay, in Connemara, or on its southern coast, in Burren … A sociable people given to conversation and belief; no books in the house; no history taught in the schools ...”

Our copy was part of the library of the actor, Arthur Shields, which was presented to the James Hardiman Library in 2006.

If you would like to view this item or consult any item in the Gregory Collection, please submit an online request or contact the staff of the Special Collections Reading Room in the Hardiman Research Building at specialcollections@nuigalway.ie