Dublin City Library and Archive

Dublin City Library and Archive 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.

Archives are not only concerned with the distant past. Preserving history also means collecting and caring for records t...
19/06/2026

Archives are not only concerned with the distant past. Preserving history also means collecting and caring for records that document more recent decades and the world many of us still remember.

This photograph, showing the Ha'penny Bridge illuminated at night around 2005, is part of the Donal McEnroe Photographic Collection. Comprising approximately 17,000 images, the collection captures life in Dublin from the late 1970s to the early 2000s, documenting everything from people, places and transport to social issues, local businesses and the city's nightlife.

What may seem like a relatively recent view of Dublin is already an important historical record. Collections such as this remind us that archives are constantly growing, preserving not only the distant past but also the everyday moments that will help future generations understand the Dublin of our time.

In October 1914, cartoonist Ernest Kavanagh published a scathing account of a recruitment rally held at Dublin’s Mansion...
17/06/2026

In October 1914, cartoonist Ernest Kavanagh published a scathing account of a recruitment rally held at Dublin’s Mansion House, where British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond encouraged Irishmen to enlist in the British Army during the First World War.

Published in the Irish Worker, Kavanagh’s cartoon spared no one. He depicted Redmond as “Judas Empire Redmond,” mocked Asquith’s wartime rhetoric, and took aim at the Dublin Metropolitan Police and Ancient Order of Hibernians who guarded the meeting.

A clerk with the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union, Kavanagh was more than an observer of history, he became part of it. Less than two years later, he was shot dead by British troops on the steps of Liberty Hall during the Easter Rising.

Unveiled in 1908 outside Leinster House, John Hughes' monument to Queen Victoria was commissioned following her 1900 vis...
15/06/2026

Unveiled in 1908 outside Leinster House, John Hughes' monument to Queen Victoria was commissioned following her 1900 visit to Ireland and commemorated both the Queen and Irish involvement in the Boer War. Its bronze figures of Fame, Hibernia at Peace, and Hibernia at War reflected Ireland's complex relationship with the British Empire at the time.

Following Irish independence, the statue became increasingly controversial. In 1948, the statue was removed from Leinster House to the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham. Almost 40 years later, the statue found a new home in Sydney, Australia, where it still stands today.

This image comes from our Postcard Collection.

Street Performer, Dame Street, 1980s📸 Dublin City Council Photographic Collection
12/06/2026

Street Performer, Dame Street, 1980s

📸 Dublin City Council Photographic Collection

Pretty bookbindings and endpapers make us happy. 📸 Books from the Gilbert Library.
10/06/2026

Pretty bookbindings and endpapers make us happy.

📸 Books from the Gilbert Library.

The Mansion House has been at the heart of city government since 1715. Construction started in 1705 and it was intended ...
08/06/2026

The Mansion House has been at the heart of city government since 1715. Construction started in 1705 and it was intended as a townhouse for Joshua Dawson, the developer of Dawson Street and Nassau Street. Joshua Dawson seldom lived in the house. Ten years later and still partly unfinished, it was sold to Dublin Corporation for £3,500 (€4,444), in addition to an annual rent of 40 shillings and an agreement to provide a loaf of double refined sugar, weighing six pounds at Christmas.

The Mansion House is remarkable for many reasons:

It is the only mayoral residence in Ireland which is still used for its original purpose
It is the oldest Mayoral residence in Ireland and in Britain (Dublin preceded London by 15 years in providing an official house for its mayor)
It is the oldest free-standing house in Dublin
The Round Room hosted the inaugural meeting of Dáil Eireann on 21st January 1919

📸 Mansion House, 1951. Fáilte Ireland Tourism Photographic Collection,

Engraving of College Street in 1832Drawn by George Petrie and engraved by B. Winkles
03/06/2026

Engraving of College Street in 1832

Drawn by George Petrie and engraved by B. Winkles

In 1914, the Civics Institute of Ireland launched an international competition to reimagine Dublin’s future. The submit...
01/06/2026

In 1914, the Civics Institute of Ireland launched an international competition to reimagine Dublin’s future. The submitting architects and city planners were asked to play particular focus on housing and ending slum conditions.

The winning proposal, created by architect Patrick Abercrombie and published in 1922 as Dublin of the Future: The New Town Plan, envisioned a more modern, hygienic and carefully planned city.

Among its many proposals was a dramatic reworking of Custom House Quay, reflecting a wider ambition to transform Dublin through scientific town planning rather than “planless and haphazard growth.”

We are pleased to announce that the Reading Room will be open to researchers by appointment on Saturdays, from 6th June...
29/05/2026

We are pleased to announce that the Reading Room will be open to researchers by appointment on Saturdays, from 6th June 10:00-16:30

Beidh an Seomra Léitheoireachta ar oscailt gach Satharn ó 6/6/26; 10.00 go dtí 16.30

Beidh Leabharlann agus Cartlann Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath dúnta Dé Sathairn 30 Bealtaine go dtí Dé Luain 1 Meitheamh 2...
28/05/2026

Beidh Leabharlann agus Cartlann Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath dúnta Dé Sathairn 30 Bealtaine go dtí Dé Luain 1 Meitheamh 2026 (an dá lá sin san áireamh).

Osclóimid arís Dé Máirt 2 Meitheamh 2026.

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Dublin City Library and archive will be closed from Saturday 30 May to Monday 1 June (both dates inclusive)

We will reopen on Tuesday 2 June.

Address

139-144 Pearse Street
Dublin
D02HE37

Opening Hours

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

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