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Dublin City Library and Archive

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Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Dublin City Library and Archive, Library, 139-144 Pearse Street, Dublin.

02/11/2026

Before screens and streaming, evening entertainment looked a little different... 🌱

These illustrations from The Miscellany: or, Evening's Occupation for the Youthful Peasantry of Ireland (1819) depict activities thought suitable for Ireland's rural youth, including mowing, ploughing, and reaping.

A fascinating window into how work, learning, and leisure were intertwined in early nineteenth-century Ireland.

30/10/2026

What were children reading over 100 years ago?

These charming covers were created by Irish writer and illustrator Sophia Rosamond Praeger. Featuring dragons, seaside adventures, and "three bold babes", her stories combined whimsical tales with eye-catching illustrations that captured young readers' imaginations.

Swipe through to explore these delightful examples of early twentieth-century children's literature from our collection.

📚 The Tale of the Little Twin Dragons, How They Went to the Seaside, and The Adventures of the Three Bold

28/10/2026

📚🌍 Swift Travels and Everlasting Tales

This year, we celebrate 300 years of Gulliver's Travels. First published anonymously in London on 28 October 1726, Jonathan Swift's extraordinary tale carried readers to imagined worlds inhabited by tiny people, giants, intelligent horses and eccentric scientists. Beneath the adventure lay a brilliant satire of 18th-century society and politics, making it one of the most influential works in literary history.

Three centuries later, Gulliver's Travels has never been out of print and continues to delight, challenge and inspire readers around the world.

✨ To mark the occasion, we're highlighting some of the most vibrant and colourful editions from our Special Collections, showcasing how artists, publishers and readers have reimagined Swift's timeless classic across generations. A selection of these beautiful volumes are now on display in our Reading Room, available to view during our appointment hours.

26/10/2026

What could bring over a million people to the Phoenix Park?

In September 1979, the visit of Pope John Paul II saw crowds gather on a scale rarely seen in Ireland. More than one million people attended the Mass in the Phoenix Park, with towns and villages across the country decorated in the papal colours of yellow and white.

📸 Papal Visit, Crowds, Phoenix Park
Dublin City Council Photographic Collection, 1979

23/10/2026

These illustrations, taken from Dublin and Irish Studies Collections, are drawn from classic editions of Irish mythological and fairy tales, bring centuries of storytelling vividly to life.

These captivating illustrations by Maud Gonne, Stephen Reid, J.H.F. Bacon, and Arthur Rackham offer a fascinating glimpse into how Ireland’s legendary stories were imagined by a previous generation.

📖 Featured works: • Celtic Wonder Tales by Ella Young, illustrated by Maud Gonne
• The Boys' Cuchulain by Eleanor Hull, illustrated by Stephen Reid
• Celtic Myth & Legend, Poetry & Romance by Charles Squire, with illustrations after paintings by J.H.F. Bacon
• Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens, illustrated by Arthur Rackham

21/10/2026

- 21 October 1809 – Nelson’s Pillar was opened to the public for the first time, on the fourth anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.

📸 Dublin Penny Journal Vol. 3, 20th June 1835 p.401

19/10/2026

Did you know? News of the 1916 Rising didn't just make headlines in Ireland and Britain, it spread across the world. These striking images appeared in Le Miroir, a French illustrated weekly photographic magazine renowned for its use of photography and visual reporting.

17/10/2026

Black and white copy of a photograph of a tram travelling to Clonskeagh. On the top of the tram is a Jacob's Biscuits advertisement

📸 Jacob's Biscuit Factory Photographic Archive, c1920s [exact date unknown]

15/10/2026

Extract from Wilson's Dublin Directory for the Year 1798. Dublin, 1798.

Wilson's Dublin Directory was one of the earliest Trade Directories published in Dublin. Initially consisting of just lists of traders and merchants, by 1798 it included material on the institutions of the city.

This Orphan Houses for Girls and Boys had been founded in 1791 and 1793 respectively and had the avowed aim of bringing up the orphan girls to be "useful Servants" and boys as apprentices.

12/10/2026

Did you know? Nearly half a century after his ex*****on, Roger Casement was reburied in Glasnevin Cemetery. Following decades of negotiations between the British and Irish governments, his remains were returned to Ireland from Pentonville Prison, where he had been buried after his ex*****on for high treason in 1916.

On 1 March 1965, Casement was honoured with a full state funeral and military honours. An estimated 30,000 people attended the procession before his final burial in Glasnevin Cemetery.

These images were taken at the funeral procession and show Gardaí marching across the Liffey. These images are from the Stafford Collection.

Address

139-144 Pearse Street
Dublin
D02HE37

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	10am - 4:30pm
Thursday	10am - 4:30pm

Website

https://www.dublincity.ie/residential/libraries

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