A second visit to the Irish & Local Studies Library in Armagh City

It's a strange happening, but i find when i research in a resource library, rich with reference books and documentation, newspapers, it is a case that time dissappears extremly quickly. We visited the library yesterday again, and started to research from about 09:40 am, and were met at the reception desk by Catherine Gartland, who had as pre-requested layed our research material on the tables, awaiting our arrival.
It is worthy of note to say that Catherine in her own right is an extremely qualified lady, who has a sizeable knowledge and insight of Irish historical affairs, and has a veritable working knowledge of the resource materials within the library, which i found most valuable when time is limited within a study day. In all i can only recommend this library most highly to any and all who wish to research Iirish affairs, whether the topic area should encompass Iirish Literature to politics, social events to art. This truly is a treasure trove of relevant information. The staff within the library equal the librarys content in expertise and efficiency, and make a students visit a much more agreeable event.

Just discovered a new resource library in Armagh

By way of a knowledgeable friend i have discovered the Cardinal O' Fiaich Library in Armagh holds quite a wealth of resources relating to the Famine. Will post later if i get a chance to visit.

Lurgan Workhouse / fever hospital

A breif insight to the present location that once presided as the Lurgan Union workhouse that would have catered for several of the surronding parishes with County Armagh district, a venue that would become the Lurgan and Portadown District Hospital from 1929.

Pretending this weekend to be David Bailey around the Armagh countryside.

Hoping to visit a few locations of past workhouses and some areas recently discovered as unmarked famine grave plots or pits. Will update later with my efforts.

National Museums Northern Ireland : Armagh Evaluation

The Mall East                                                      
Armagh
Northern Ireland
BT61 9BE

Telephone
+44 (0)28 3752 3070
Email acm.info@nmni.com









http://www.nmni.com/acm/About-Us

 

Accessibility
Opening Hours	Monday to Friday 10:00 - 17:00  Saturday 10:00 - 13:00 14:00 - 17:00
Parking	Can be accessed by foot from Armagh Mall centre.
Disabled Access	Yes
Sign-posting	Yes

Staff
Number	Two
Attitude	Very pleasant and welcoming
Information	Several brochures relating to the Museum exhibits
Location	Quite central within Armagh City, with beautiful public park in front of Museum.

Resources
Books	No
Electronic	No
Materials	No
Photocopying	Yes if required at no cost
Internet	No
Pre-ordering	No
Inter-library resources	No

Ambience
Support policies	Provide a Child Protection Policy within the Museum
Study rooms	No
No cell phones enforced	No
Elderly/young	Open to all ages

Building
Design Layout	Spacious, well lit and warm and inviting surrounds
Windows	Several
Lighting	Florescent
State of repair	Immaculate building both exterior and interior with all available amenities

David's trip to the Museum with me dragging along... but worth the visit

A few days ago while i was visiting the Irish Studies Library, myself and David in the afternoon gave a visit to the Armagh Museum, which although i had little hope of finding research material, did by sheer luck to a point and the kindness of the museum curator Greer Ramsey, managed to read through an entire thesis / dissertation by a local degree student from the 1990's who wrote a superb piece entitled ' The Poor Law and the workhouse in Armagh'. Quite an insight, and what made it more special is that it was an entirely unexpected find.

(An evaluation of the Museum to follow)

A further insight to the Library

Although i cannot condone using a mobile phone in any public library, i took the opportunity to take a photo of the library interior, primarily because it would give the would-be user of the facility an impression of the layout and indeed the warm atmosphere which is condusive to research and study. At the time the image was taken only David and myself were present users in the library, which did not encroach on any other library use.

Interior of the Irish Studies Library
"No fellow users were injured during the making of this picture".

An Evaluation of the Irish & Local Studies Library

Irish & Local Studies Library.
39 c Abbey Street
Armagh
Tel : 02837527851

Accessibility
Opening Hours	Monday           09:30 - 13:00 14:00 - 17:00 Tuesday           09:30 - 13:00 14:00 - 17:00 Wednesday     14:00 - 17:00 Thursday          09:30 - 13:00 14:00 - 17:00  Friday               09:30 -14:00 14:00 - 17:00 Saturday           09:30 -13:00 14:00 - 17:00
Parking	Situated close to library, with no parking fees.
Disabled Access	Yes
Sign-posting	Yes

Staff
Number	Three
Attitude	Professional , qualified and helpful
Informative	Extremely
Location	Very easily accessed

Resources
Books	Yes
Electronic	Yes
Materials	Yes
Photocopying	Yes
Internet	Yes
Pre-ordering	Book lending limited
Inter-library resources	Yes if required pre ordered

Ambience
Support policies	No
Study rooms	Four study carrels
No cell phones enforced	Yes
Elderly/young	N/A

Building
Design Layout	Book shelves situated around outside walls, with specific research subjects located to specific book shelves
Windows	Windows within the building date to the buildings antique construction, but are fully functional and provide a good source of natural light upon the numerous study tables.
Lighting	Neon strip lighting used to boost natural light source, but not to a point where the ambience becomes strained.
State of repair	Extremely well restored heritage building, with a very complimentary pale green paint interior decor.

The adventure to the Irish and Local Studies Library and more....

After what can only be descibed as having scraped every item of information from the sourced reference books, myself and David made our trip to the library in Abbey Street, with an improptu stop in the afternoon to the Armagh Museum. I will within a short time complete an evaluation for both venues. All in all a successful day of hunting for history.

http://www.librariesni.org.uk/libraries/irish-local-studies-library/

Irish & Local Studies Library

A new resource for online research

As of the 21st March 2011 a new website http://www.dippam.ac.uk/  has been launched that to some degree does make access to online documentation relating to the history of Ireland. The areas covered deal Irish parlimentary affairs, at EPPI, Irish imagration at IED, voices of immagration at VMR and the DIPPMA cross data base search facilitiy.

 

The Effect of the Great Famine upon the Parishes of County Armagh

The distinct objective of this research project will be to consider how the rural areas within County Armagh, considered one of the most commercially successful linen–producing areas and heartlands of industry within Ulster, suffered from destitution due in part to the effects of the Great Famine in 1845. It will be a requisite of this work to consider if an accurate synopsis of the events of post 1845 can be explained by means of the Unionist interpretation that the calculable degree of suffering and consequent destitution that was endured by the population of County Armagh was the direct result of what could be correctly described as an industrial based economic slump, or ‘Money Famine’, is an accurate synopsis of the period. Thus the primary intent of this essay and consequential research that will be undertaken is not to specifically contest the legitimacy of the aforementioned economic theory, but rather to render an informative account of the actual events and effects upon the local town lands of County Armagh. To consider the reasons for relief afforded to the selected parishes, and to focus upon the calculable degree of depravation and the consequent changes to the manufacturing and agricultural practices of rural post famine County Armagh.  For research purposes I have selected to focus upon newspaper reports of the period in question, which I intend to source from the Local Studies library and Cardinal O’ Fiaich archive in Armagh. In conjunction with the relevant public records relating to the period, I will be visiting the PRONI offices in Belfast, for information relating to government and workhouse documentation. It is also the intention to consult several specific famine related publications, from such offerings as O’Grada, Daly and Hughes. It will also be a feature of my research process to communicate with local historical societies within the Armagh region to perhaps uncover details as yet unpublished within the academic arena.