Paying tribute to the Keeper

Front Square in Trinity College Dublin in the dark and the rain this evening (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)

Patrick Comerford

The Christmas lights were decked across Grafton Street this evening as I made way to Trinity College Dublin for a reception in the Long Room in the Library. We were gathered to pay tributes to Dr Muriel McCarthy, who retired last month as Keeper of Marsh’s Library.

Muriel has been on the staff of Marsh’s Library for the past 44 years, and was Keeper for the last 22 years, until she retired on 13 October. Among those present to pay tribute to Muriel were her twin sister, Mairead, and Mairead’s husband, the Wexford historian and journalist Nicky Furlong; Muriel’s son, the filmmaker Justin McCarthy; and clergy, librarians, historians and academics from throughout Ireland.

Muriel was the first woman to be appointed Keeper, and has published a history of the library. Her contribution to the cultural life of Ireland has been recognised by many awards, including honorary degrees from Trinity College Dublin and the National University of Ireland Maynooth, life membership of the Royal Dublin Society and the Old Dublin Society, the Lord Mayor’s awards in 1988 and 1994, and being appointed a lay canon of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh.

We were regaled with stories about Muriel’s achievements at Marsh’s, which include restoring the fabric of the building, creating and developing the Delmas Conservation Bindery and computerising the entire library catalogue which is now available on the internet.

Those paying tribute to her included Archbishop Michael Jackson of Dublin, the Provost of Trinity College Dublin, Professor Patrick Prendergast, and the Vice-Provost, Dr Jane Ohlmeyer, who is the Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Modern History at Trinity College Dublin. All three are ex-officio Governors and Guardians of the Library, and were introduced by Muriel’s successor, Dr Jason McElligott, who read for his Ph.D. in modern history at Saint John’s College, Cambridge. Since 2008, he has worked at the Trinity Long Room Hub, the arts and humanities research institute at TCD.

The other Governors and Guardians of Marsh’s Library include the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the Dean of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, the Archbishop of Armagh and the Chief Justice of Ireland.

Marsh’s Library is in Saint Patrick’s Close, beside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and it is said that to study and examine the books in Marsh’s Library “is to explore Europe’s great cultural heritage.”

Marsh’s Library, which stands in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Close, was founded over 300 years ago in 1701 by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh (1638-1713), a former Provost of Trinity College Dublin.

This was the first public library in Ireland, and is one of the few 18th century buildings left in Dublin that is still used for its original purpose. We were told too that many of the books in the library are still on the shelves allocated to them by Archbishop Marsh and by the first librarian, Elias Bouhéreau.

The Library was formally incorporated in 1707 by an Act of Parliament called “An Act for settling and preserving a public library for ever.” As one speaker asked, which wise legislator today would now introduce an act containing the words “for ever”?

The 1707 Act vested the house and books in a number of religious and state dignitaries and officials and their successors as Governors and Guardians of the Library.

In 1705 Narcissus Marsh paid £2,500 for the library of Bishop Edward Stillingfleet of Worcester, almost 10,000 books and then regarded as the finest private library in England. In turn, Archbishop Marsh left all his books to the library, and when he died in 1713 he was buried nearby in the grounds of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

The first librarian, Dr Elias Bouhéreau, was a Huguenot refugee who fled France in 1695. Later, Bishop John Stearne of Clogher, bequeathed his books to Marsh’s Library in 1745.

There four main collections in the library include 25,000 books from the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries, including 80 books printed before 1501, 430 books printed in Italy before 1600, 1,200 books printed in England before 1640, and 5,000 books printed in England before 1700. There is a large collection of liturgical works, missals, breviaries, books of hours of the Sarum use, Bibles, and books on theology and religious controversy, as well as books on medicine, law, science, travel, navigation, mathematics, music, surveying, classical literature and Irish history.

Other proud possessions include a Latin version of the Lives of the Irish Saints, dating from about 1400, and rare 16th century madrigals printed in Venice, Antwerp and London.

Through her lectures, her books and her work Muriel has raised the profile of Marsh’s Library in recent decades. In recognition of her achievements, we were told, the Governors have established a Research Fellowship fund in her name.

As I left the lbrary and walked across Front Square, the rain had started coming down. Perhaps winter has arrived. But it is less than a month to Christmas.

The Christmas lights decked across Grafton Street this evening (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)