2006 another remarkable year for the National Library 29 December 2006: 2006 was another remarkable year for the National Library of Ireland. Signal events included the opening of a major exhibition on the life and work of WB Yeats; the acquisition of several major literary archives and photographic collections; an official visit by Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway; a major award for the Library’s Yeats exhibition at a ceremony held in Bristol; a first prize win at the Irish Design Effectiveness Awards (IDEA) for the 1916 online exhibition. In May, John O’Donoghue, TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism opened Yeats: the life and works of William Butler Yeats which explores WB Yeats’ literary and cultural legacy and features manuscripts from the Library’s Yeats collection, the world’s most important archive of Yeats material. The exhibition continues until the end of 2008. Throughout 2006 the Library continued to host its popular ‘Library Late’ series of monthly public interviews with critically acclaimed writers. The featured writers this year included Patrick McCabe, Frank McGuinness, Andrew O’Hagan, Colum McCann, Anne Enright, Eavan Boland, Joseph O’Connor, John Connolly, John Boyne, Claire Kilroy and Bernard Mac Laverty. Centenary celebrations of major literary figures 2006 marked the international centenaries of two major literary figures – Norwegian poet and playwright Henrik Ibsen and Samuel Beckett. In March, the National Library was one of a number of cultural institutions, nationally and internationally, which marked the 100th anniversary of Samuel Beckett’s birth. The Centenary Shadows exhibition, which was held at the National Photographic Archive, featured some 40 photographs, including many portraits of Beckett taken by the Irish photographer John Minihan. In September, the Library marked the centenary of the death of the Norwegian poet and playwright Henrik Ibsen with a number of Ibsen-related events including Portraits of Ibsen, an exhibition of a series of 46 oil paintings by Haakon Gullvaag, one of Norway’s leading contemporary artists, and ‘Writers in Conversation’ an event at which RTÉ broadcaster Myles Dungan interviewed the acclaimed Norwegian writer Lars Saabye Christensen. During both September and October, the Library hosted a series of lunchtime readings by the Dublin Lyric Players exploring themes in Ibsen’s writings which drew upon his poetry as well as his plays. Also in September, Mr John O’Donoghue, TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism welcomed Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway to the National Library. The occasion was part of a four-day State Visit to Ireland by Their Majesties King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway. During her visit to the Library, the Portraits of Ibsen exhibition was officially opened and the Queen also took time to visit the Library’s Yeats exhibition. Signal acquisitions The National Library’s collections were particularly enriched by six signal acquisitions this year. These included: a six-sheet collection of previously unknown James Joyce manuscripts, described by experts as “crucial elements in Joyce’s first efforts at writing a new work after Ulysses”. The manuscripts date from 1923, the year after Ulysses was published. This was the Library’s third major acquisition of Joyce manuscripts since 2000. the papers of Colm Tóibín, novelist, journalist, winner of the 2006 Impac prize for literature and one of Ireland’s most internationally acclaimed contemporary writers. the literary papers of the distinguished contemporary writer Bernard Mac Laverty who is active in many different media – novels, short stories, children’s stories, screenplays and film scripts. the archives of the Project Arts Centre, Temple Bar in Dublin – an institution that has earned a reputation for innovative and challenging work, providing a platform for generations of artists across a range of disciplines including theatre, music and the visual arts. a collection of 25,000 photographs by Colman Doyle, widely acknowledged as one of the most important Irish photographers of the 20th century and probably Ireland’s first documentary-style photographer. an archive of major significance to students of the 1916 Rising comprising 300 letters between Tom Clarke (first signatory of the Proclamation and a key figure in the Irish revolutionary organisation) and his wife; it also contains other correspondence including letters written by Clarke when in prison. Award wins for the National Library On 30 November 2006, the National Library won a major award for the outstanding way in which it informs and involves the public. In their citation, the judges singled out the National Library’s current major exhibition on WB Yeats as a magnificent example of the way in which the Library interacts with the public. The Interpret Britain and Ireland Award was presented to the Director of the National Library of Ireland, Aongus Ó hAonghusa by TV personality and heritage campaigner Loyd Grossman on behalf of the Association for Heritage Interpretation (AHI) at a ceremony held in Bristol. On 10 November 2006, the National Library was awarded first prize in the Best Website category at the Irish Design Effectiveness Awards (IDEA) for its online exhibition The 1916 Rising: personalities and perspectives. The exhibition, which went live on Easter Monday 17 April 2006 and is accessible via the Library’s website www.nli.ie/1916, is designed to mark the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. It features material selected from the Library’s extensive collections relating to the period and comprises about 400 images and almost 38,000 words of narrative and biographical notes. YEATS ALOUD In April and May, over 700 pupils from 105 secondary schools in 23 counties throughout Ireland took part in various heats of the YEATS ALOUD poetry speaking event developed in conjunction with Poetry Ireland to coincide with the opening of the Library’s major exhibition Yeats: the life and works of William Butler Yeats. The 2007 competition will be called POETRY ALOUD and entrants will choose poems from a given list of Irish poets. Library collaborations with universities During the year, the National Library collaborated with two universities – NUI Maynooth (NUIM) and UCD – to host a series of free public lectures at the Library’s Seminar Room in Kildare Street, Dublin. The NUIM series focused on various aspects of Dublin city linked to the Certificate in Dublin Studies offered by NUIM and Boston College’s Centre for Irish Studies. The eight-week UCD course (which runs again in Spring and Summer 2007) focuses on the life and works of WB Yeats and is part of UCD’s adult education programme for the academic year 2006/2007. Entitled ‘WB Yeats at the National Library’, it is designed to run in conjunction with the Library’s award-winning exhibition Yeats: the life and works of William Butler Yeats. National Library of Ireland acquires extensive collection of Beckett material 22 December 2006 A collection of some 800 printed and ephemeral items by and about Samuel Beckett, including more than 200 items personally inscribed by the famously reclusive writer, has been acquired by the National Library of Ireland. Such is the nature of the collection and the extensive number of items contained in it – some of which have been described by experts as very rare – that it now makes the National Library an important centre for Beckett studies. The material was assembled over a 40-year period by the late Alan Clodd, the Dublin-born book collector, dealer, publisher and founder of the Enitharmon Press, one of the most distinctive private presses in England, with a stable of writers that included Samuel Beckett, Jorge Luis Borges, Federico Garcia Lorca and Harold Pinter. Alan Clodd enjoyed a cordial, personal acquaintance with Samuel Beckett and many of the items in the National Library’s recently acquired collection are signed by Beckett for Clodd. As well as printed books and periodicals, the collection includes proof copies, galley proofs and production scripts for Beckett plays. These production scripts show another facet of his many achievements: Beckett as theatre director. Four of these very rare items are signed by Beckett for Alan Clodd. The material acquired by the Library also includes photographs, correspondence, posters and ephemeral items such as theatrical programmes, which are rarely found in library collections. Speaking earlier today, the Director of the National Library of Ireland, Aongus Ó hAonghusa said: “The acquisition of the Beckett/Clodd collection is a major boost for Irish scholars and for the Library. It is particularly appropriate that the National Library should have made this acquisition in 2006 – the centenary of the dramatist’s birth. “Inscribed copies of Beckett’s works are very uncommon. All the more interesting then that Beckett was more than happy to inscribe the books that Clodd always took with him on his numerous visits to see Beckett in Paris. “This is an integral collection, representing a significant amount of the output of a major Irish writer, put together by a major, though as yet little-known, Irish collector. The comprehensive nature of the collection will enable researchers to further appreciate the contribution of this illustrious Dublin writer and Nobel Prize winner to world literature”, Mr Ó hAonghusa concluded. The collection was acquired from the London-based booksellers, Maggs Bros, acting on behalf of the Clodd family. National Library of Ireland acquires Bernard Mac Laverty literary papers 6 December 2006: The National Library of Ireland has acquired a valuable corpus of literary papers relating to the distinguished contemporary writer Bernard Mac Laverty, who is active in many different media – novels, short stories, children’s stories, screenplays and film scripts. Mac Laverty, who was born in Belfast, currently lives in Glasgow, where the papers were previously held. The acquisition is yet another major boost for the Library, which already holds manuscripts of other major Irish writers including WB Yeats, James Joyce, Austin Clarke, Sean O’Casey, Brian Friel, Colm Tóibín and Marina Carr.