Archives Report: Galway Diocesan Archives

Archives Report: Galway Diocesan ArchivesAuthor(s): Jan PowerSource: Archivium Hibernicum, Vol. 46 (1991/1992), pp. 135-138Published by: Catholic Historical Society of IrelandStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25529610 .

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Jan Power

Archives Report: Galway Diocesan Archives

In August 1989 I became involved with the setting up of a diocesan archives in Galway. It was decided that steps should be taken to organise the diocesan archives because archival material was dispersed throughout various locations

which meant that nobody knew what material existed and it was difficult to retrieve what was known to exist. It was also, and probably more importantly from the administration's point of view, taking up valuable office space. Access to material for researchers was thus difficult and in any case there were inade

quate research facilities available. The idea of establishing a diocesan archives had been circulating for some

time. Dr Michael Browne, Bishop Eamon Casey's predecessor, was a keen historian and scholar and had expressed an interest in preserving archival

material. Work was carried out on the archives during his episcopacy but by the time Dr Browne had retired the bulk of the records in the diocesan office consisted of material created by himself and by his administration (1937-76). In recent times the volume of the archival material had become such a problem that the diocesan director decided that a professional archivist should be

employed to carry out the job. I was eventually contacted through the Archives

Department in University College Dublin. I was responsible for various tasks. These include advising an architect on the suitable renovation of a building, gradually accumulating all of the surviving archival material from various locations and listing, arranging and physically conserving the material. I was

given a room in the diocesan office, which is located in the Cathedral building, in which to work. First I gathered together as much material as I could locate. I found records in various locations including a basement safe, the diocesan

library, cupboards in offices, store rooms, a locked metal cabinet known as the 'archives cupboard' and the bishop's house in Taylor's Hill where the diocesan

office had been located before being removed to the new Cathedral in the 1960s.

Having accumulated the material (and filling up my room very quickly!) I

then set about identifying distinct collections. What emerged was that the

largest quantity of material was relatively modern and mainly dated to the

episcopacy of Bishop Michael Browne. There was also material relating to the

other eight bishops who have held office in the diocese since 1831. Before 1831

the area that is now the diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora was

not truly a diocese but was administered by Wardens. These were priests who

were elected by the famous Tribes of Galway'. Papers from this period do sur

vive but not in great quantities. In general, diocesan records tend to relate mainly to the central figure in the

administration, namely the warden or bishop, so that the records from any one

administration seem to form a naturally distinct collection/Thus the records

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of Bishop Michael Browne will also include records relating to the overall administration of the diocese. Within the Michael Browne collection, for

instance, would be found records relating to education and social affairs, religious congregations, priests, the administration of charities, diocesan

organisations, synods, financial and legal affairs and innumerable other diocesan concerns. There would also be pastoral letters, manuscript sermons and addresses, photographs and press cuttings and records which would relate

particularly to Michael Browne such as records of the building of the new

cathedral and records of the Vocational Organisation Commission (of which Browne was chairman).

Another distinct group of records which I found related to the parishes of the diocese. These were not usually records created and held in parishes, such as registers of births, marriages and deaths (which would normally still be in the parish if anywhere), .but files of correspondence between the bishop or the diocesan director and the parish priest which would concern education and

schools, churches, buildings, parish finances, the bishop's visitations and any other business relating to the parish.

In format the Michael Browne collection consisted mainly of hundreds of files which had not been systematically filed. They had to be listed individually and then arranged in logical order.

As I was working on the records in the diocesan office, work on the building which was to house the archives began. The building chosen was a disused coach-house on the grounds of the Bishop's House, Mount St. Mary's, Taylor's Hill, which is about ten minutes from the Cathedral and the city centre. This building was in a state of considerable disrepair; only the exterior

walls were retained. The space was maximised by building a completely new roof structure and by removing internal walls. This allowed for the insertion of a first floor over approximately half of the length of the building. At the rear of the building a kitchenette and toilet were added.

Because of the special needs of an archives certain considerations influenced the design of the building. Ideally, variations in light, temperature and relative

humidity must be controlled within a very narrow band in order to prevent the deterioration of the records. Since we were working with a limited budget, how ever, efforts to control the atmospheric conditions were a compromise between

what we would have liked and what we could afford! Heating is provided by storage heaters and the temperature is controlled by thermostats which trigger an alarm if the temperature fluctuates too much. The building is ventilated by an extractor fan which circulates the air twice every twenty-four hours. Natural light is excluded by special window shutters which are to be kept closed at all times and as a safeguard against fire a smoke alarm was also installed. For its overall design the building won the Eastern Region Award of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland in 1989 for the best restored building in its class.

Internally, the building was fitted with fixed metal shelving throughout. It was originally intended to install mobile shelving in order to provide surplus storage space for the future needs of the diocese but again our budget limited us. Fortunately when all of the material was boxed and shelved we found that we did have some surplus storage space anyway. Inside the boxes the records were stored in manila folders within low-acid content archival boxes.

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ARCHIVES REPORT: GALWAY DIOCESAN ARCHIVES

In early 1990 when work on the building was completed and it was ready to receive the records we began the job of moving the records from the

Cathedral to the new archives building. Over the next few months order was restored and everything was boxed and shelved. By Easter 1990, when I finished working in Galway, the Michael Browne collection has been listed

completely and the remaining material had been boxed and box-listed.

Unfortunately since I left there has been nobody available to take over

responsibility for the archives. It was intended that there should be limited access to records for bona fide researchers who made a prior appointment but

ideally there should be some supervision and guidance for readers. However the diocese of Galway remains an excellent example in doing so much with its archives. It is hoped that other dioceses will follow its lead in the coming years.

MICHAEL BROWNE COLLECTION

LIST OF CONTENTS

B/l Organisations B/2 Education

B/3 Religious Congregations B/4 Property and Finances

B/5 Priests and Student Priests

B/6 The New Cathedral B/7 Hierarchy and Diocesan Administration

B/8 Commission on Vocational Education

B/9 Second Vatican Council

B/10 Printed Material B/l 1 Michael Browne

B/l2 Michael Browne: General Administration

P Parishes (detailed list at start of section)

BOX LIST OF UNLISTED MATERIAL, GALWAY DIOCESAN ARCHIVES

Box No. 1. Parchments (with transcriptions): fifteenth to eighteenth century.

2. Register of Baptisms for the parish of St. Nicholas 1690-1725.

3. Warden George Bermingham Papers 1730-1737.

4. Manyscript Sermons 1754-1799.

5. Warden John Joyce Papers 1770-1773.

6. Manuscript Pastorals 1780-1820. 7. Warden Augustine Kirwan Papers 1783-1791.

8. Warden Valentine Bodkin Papers 1805-1812.

9. Warden Valentine Bodkin: Manuscript Sermons.

10. Warden Edmund Ffrench, Bishop of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Papers 1812-1852.

11. Register of Births and Marriages for Moycullen 1827.

12. Patrick Fallon, Bishop of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Papers 1853-1866.

13. Wardenship Papers: General. 14. Old Galway Family Papers: Blake, French, Martyn. 15. Miscellaneous Documents: Wills and Deeds, Blake Family papers, Parish returns and other

material. 16. Nicholas Archdeacon, Bishop of Kilmacduagh Papers 1805-1822. 17. Nicholas Archdeacon Papers. 18. Papers of Bishop George Joseph Plunkett Browne and Bishop Laurence O'Donnell. 19. Papers of Bishop John McEvilly 1856-1881.

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20. Papers of John McEvilly. 21. Papers of Bishop Thomas Joseph Carr 1883-1886.

22. Papers of Bishop Carr and Bishop Francis Joseph McCormack 1883-1908.

23. Papers of Bishop Carr and Bishop McCormack.

24 Papers of Bishop Francis Joseph McCormack 1887-1908.

25. Papers of Bishop McCormack.

26. Papers of Bishop McCormack.

27. Papers of Monsignor Jerome A. Fahey 1877-1919.

28. Papers of Monsignor Fahey. 29. Papers of Monsignor Fahey. 30. Papers of Monsignor Joseph Cassidy 1901-1950,

31. Papers of Bishop O'Dea.










41. Material relating to Fr. Michael Keran Libel Case.

42. Material relating to Fr. Michael Keran Libel Case.

43. Material relating to the Fanore School Dismissal Case.

44. Papers of Bishop O'Dea and Bishop Thomas Doherty. 45. Papers of Bishop O'Dea and Bishop Doherty. 46. Papers of Bishop Thomas O'Doherty. 47. Papers of Bishop O'Doherty. 48. Histories of Galway: manuscripts, memoirs, photographs.

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