Wednesday 2 October 2013

New edition of Irish Archives focusses on childhood

The latest issue of the Journal of Irish Archives concentrates on sources for the study of childhood in Ireland.

Irish Archives is the annually-published journal of the Irish Society for Archives, an organisation which seeks to promote the place of archives in Irish society. It is co-edited by Dr Susan Hood of the Representative Church Body Library, Dublin, and Elizabeth McEvoy of the National Archives of Ireland.

In this edition, nine contrasting articles (along with five reviews) about Irish childhood experience from the perspective of the sources are drawn together in one volume.

Among them are a feature that focusses on the National Archives of Ireland's collection of records of pupils in national schools, an illustrated essay on the National Library of Ireland's photographic collections and their images of children from 1880 to 1960, and an examination of the evidence of Irish childhoods from 19th-century court records.

The Journal was launched last night by Frances Fitzgerald T.D., Minister for Children and Youth Affairs at The Ark, a Cultural Centre for Children in Temple Bar, Dublin, and is now available in Easons nationwide for €8.99 or directly from the ISA by posting cheques payable to the Irish Society for Archives to Elizabeth McEvoy, The National Archives, Bishop’s Street, Dublin 8. Cost including postage for ROI is €11.50; while UK and rest of the world is €13.50.

You might like to listen to a 7-minute interview with Dr Susan Hood on RTE Radio' History Show last week.