Public Lecture - Myth and Memory: the Battle of Aughrim (1691)
the Battle of Aughrim (1691)
PUBLIC
LECTURE
to mark the bequest of the Morrissey
Collection to the James Hardiman Library by Colman Morrissey
Dr Pádraig Lenihan
Discipline of History, NUI Galway
8.00 pm, Tuesday 31st May
2016
Aula
Maxima, Quadrangle, NUI Galway
All Welcome
Over a period of 45 years Colman assembled the collection of over 200 Volumes containing all the known contemporary accounts of the war. For example the collection includes a copy (one of only 200) of John T Gilbert’s 1892 edition of the early eighteenth century manuscript ‘The Light to the Blind’. A highlight of the collection is a List of Claims printed in 1701 of the Court held in Chichester House (now the Bank of Ireland on College Green) Dublin where lands confiscated from the Irish Catholic losers and granted to the winners. This massive tome contains details of the former owners and the actual judgements on the claims written in by hand and so is a unique record of the land confiscations and transfers.
All Welcome
NUI Galway has
received a significant donation of books about the Williamite War (1689-91) in
Ireland and its aftermath from Colman Morrissey, son of a graduate of the University.
Over a period of 45 years Colman assembled the collection of over 200 Volumes containing all the known contemporary accounts of the war. For example the collection includes a copy (one of only 200) of John T Gilbert’s 1892 edition of the early eighteenth century manuscript ‘The Light to the Blind’. A highlight of the collection is a List of Claims printed in 1701 of the Court held in Chichester House (now the Bank of Ireland on College Green) Dublin where lands confiscated from the Irish Catholic losers and granted to the winners. This massive tome contains details of the former owners and the actual judgements on the claims written in by hand and so is a unique record of the land confiscations and transfers.
Other
highlights include: the first biography of William of Orange/William III in
1703 in original binding; the first biography of King James II by J S Clarke
published in 1816 also in original binding; the English 1759 translation of the
Memoirs of the Duke of Berwick
(natural son of James and a celebrated general in French service); a signed
copy of William King’s influential State
of the Protestants in Ireland… published in 1691; and its refutation by
Charles Leslie in 1692. A framed copy of the 1688 Proclamation by Richard
Talbot, Duke of Tyrconnell, proscribing persons in the province of Ulster and
the town of Sligo as traitors is also included.
In
addition there are copies of most of the publications by subsequent authors,
including definitive Army Lists of the Jacobite Army, together with numerous
shorter contemporary manuscripts describing parts of the conflict in various regions
of the country, both North and South. In addition, the collection contains most
of the publications from the 20th century dealing with the conflict
including some rare items. Most items are in their original bindings and where
repairs or rebindings have been necessary they have been carried out in a most
professional manner.
John
Cox, University Librarian at NUI Galway, said: “This is a wonderful collection
and it is a real honour to receive it and to add it to the Library’s special
collections. Colman has brought all his passion for this period of Irish
history to bear on the collection, making great efforts to assemble it and
often tracking down books in unusual places.”
Colman’s
fascination with the Jacobite War was inspired by a boyhood visit to the
Aughrim battle site. He was brought by his father, a friend of Martin Joyce,
the local schoolmaster and guardian of the memory of Aughrim. This passion was
subsequently reawakened by Richard Murphy’s 1965 epic poem on the Battle of
Aughrim. The decision to donate the collection to NUIGalway in memory of the
donor’s father, Joseph H. Morrissey, was taken because the Battle of Aughrim,
the bloodiest and most decisive battle in Irish history, was fought in Connacht
and because the donor’s father was a graduate of NUI Galway, or UCG as it was
known then, where he attained a B.A. degree (with Martin Joyce) in 1935.
Dr
Jim Browne, President of NUI Galway, said: “This is a most generous donation by
Colman Morrissey, representing a lifetime of collecting, and we are delighted
to honour the memory of his father in receiving it. The collection will be of
great value to researchers now and in the future”.
NUI
Galway’s Dr Pádraig Lenihan commented: “The collection will provide a wonderful
resource to those interested in a time when the west was awake and events of
continental reverberations took place on our doorstep.”
The
Morrissey Collection will be included in the Special Collections of the Library
and located in the Hardiman Research Building.
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