The Library is glad to report that the window restoration project in the 1937 Reading Room is reaching its final stages. New windows have been fitted throughout the building and various upgrades have been made to the roof and drainage system.
One of the few remaining jobs to be completed is the installation of new blinds in the main reading room space. This requires the construction of scaffolds, which means the main reading room space will need to close for three days from the 12th - 14th June 2024. During this period, Kinsella Hall will be available on a 24/7 basis as an alternative space for evening, weekend and overnight study. And the Library's main reading rooms will remain accessible as normal on the summer opening schedule. Normal service (i.e. 24-hour opening) is expected to resume in the 1937 Reading Room on Saturday 15th June.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing patience as we complete the final stages of this challenging and complex project.
The remarkable contribution of the Yeats sisters to Irish craft culture is being celebrated in a new exhibition in the Old Library from this week.
In partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs, a touring version of the exhibition will also be shown internationally through Ireland’s global network of Embassies and Consulates, introducing new audiences to Irish design heritage and the lasting legacies of Elizabeth and Lily Yeats and other Cuala artists, while also celebrating local female-led creative and craft enterprises.
Elizabeth and Susan (Lily) Yeats were nationally and internationally recognised as leading figures in the Arts and Crafts movement in the early 20th century, but their contribution has perhaps been overshadowed by those of their brothers, painter Jack Yeats and WB Yeats, the poet and Noble Laureate.
Elizabeth and Lily founded two successful craft business in Dublin, Dun Emer Industries (1902-1908) and Cuala Industries (1908-1940), which specialised in fine publishing, including books and artist designed prints under the directorship of Elizabeth, and embroidery under Lily. Their work was in demand from Irish and international customers. Both businesses almost exclusively employed and trained young women.
On display in Trinity’s Old Library are photographs and other archival material giving a flavour of the working lives of the Cuala women as well as examples of the prints and needlecraft produced by the business. Digital screens in the Long Room showcase further material from Trinity’s Cuala collections. Entitled ‘The Yeats Sisters & Irish Design: Making, Identities & Legacies’, the exhibition forms part of the Book of Kells visitor experience and runs until 26 September. See hereherehere to book tickets.
“Over the last number of years, the Cuala Press Project has worked to raise the profile of the Yeats sisters and the artists they collaborated with,” explains Dr Angela Griffith from Trinity’s School of Histories and Humanities and co-curator of the exhibition.
"The international touring version of this exhibition will honour and celebrate the global footprint of the Yeats sisters’ design heritage,” comments Dr Angela Byrne, co-curator of the exhibition.
Trinity is home to a range of fascinating material related to Cuala Press including beautiful handprinted and hand coloured artist-designed prints, records from the Cuala’s business archive, a complete set of published works, as well as the printing press, type and some hundreds of printer's blocks. A selection of this material is available to the public as a digital collection, The Cuala Press Collection, as part of the Virtual Trinity Library.
An ongoing project to catalogue, conserve, digitise and increase public awareness of the collection is supported by the Schooner Foundation.
Laura Shanahan, Head of Research Collections, the Library of Trinity College Dublin, added:
About the Cuala Press Project
Trinity’s Cuala Press Research Project is a collaboration between the Library of Trinity College Dublin and the Department of the History of Art and Architecture. It is funded by the Schooner Foundation. The Project focuses on the work of Elizabeth C. Yeats and the artists that contributed designs to this exceptional female-run private press. The designers involved are among some of the most important 20th century Irish artists, not least among them was Jack Yeats, Elizabeth’s youngest sibling, and women such as Beatrice Elvery and Dorothy Blackham. As a result of Schooner’s philanthropic investment, for the first time Cuala materials have been made available as a digital collection, The Cuala Press Collection, as part of Virtual Trinity Library. The aim of the project is to catalogue, conserve, research and digitize the collections, providing access to researchers, scholars of all ages and the wider public.
The Cuala Press Print Collection comprises hand-printed and hand-coloured original artist-led designs. The Cuala Press Business Archives comprises approximately 81 boxes of material relating to the company business such as minute books of directors' meetings, cash books and letters. This collection also includes original preparatory drawings for prints, sample books, and designs for embroidery. Personal material such as photograph albums and scrapbooks also provide an invaluable insight to the working lives of the women of Cuala. Example are included in this exhibition.
Image: Detail from Mary Cottenham Yeats, The Rainbow, Dublin: Cuala Press, 1910s, hand coloured photoengraving - IE TCD MS 11574/20/1.