Rare Books

McAnally Travel Collection

The McAnally Travel Collection at the University of Limerick comprises more than 5,000 uncatalogued printed books and manuscripts documenting Irish travel, topography, and heritage literature from 1587 to the twentieth century. 

This unique library was collected by the solicitor and book collector, Mr Ciarán McAnally (1924-2004). The collection contains a great number of fascinating published and manuscript accounts of travel and exploration in Ireland from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, together with travel guidebooks, atlases and topographical works. The acquisition of this library was made possible by a generous donation by Dr Dermot Smurfit.

The collection ranges from 17th century material to the twentieth century and contains many original editions of accounts of travel in Ireland often in multiple editions. It includes many rare volumes and a comprehensive collection of ephemera devoted to promoting tourism in all the 32 counties of Ireland. The ephemeral material includes brochures, leaflets, tourist maps, transport timetables, and publicity for hotels and attractions—produced by Irish tourism agencies. Material such as this is now recognised as an important source for social, economic, and tourism history, as well as historical geography and planning.

Spanning over 400 years of writing – and 50 years of collecting by the Donegal-born solicitor – the collection represents one of the most comprehensive resources on travel and tourism within Ireland. Ciarán Mc Anally devoted his collecting life to sourcing travel material from bookshops all over the world and this wonderful collection serves as a testament to his passion and knowledge of the history of travel in Ireland.

Mick Moloney Collection

The Mick Moloney Collection contains approximately 1,000 printed works relating to Irish and world music and culture. Mick Moloney was a renowned musician, folklorist, and scholar who documented Irish traditional music and its global diaspora connections. His personal library was donated to the University of Limerick following his passing in 2022, for the benefit of UL students and the wider community. 

Michael (Mick) Moloney (1944–2022) was an internationally acclaimed musician, academic, teacher folklorist and social activist and, for much of his life, one of the most influential Irish musicians in the United States.

Born in Limerick, Mick Moloney studied economics in University College Dublin before becoming a major figure in the ballad-group movement of the 1960s, when he joined The Johnstons with fellow musician Paul Brady. Moloney recorded several albums before moving to the United States in 1973, where he pursued graduate studies in the Folklore and Folklife Department of the University of Pennsylvania A regular lecturer in ethnomusicology, folklore and Irish studies, Mick Moloney taught at the University of Pennsylvania and was appointed Global Distinguished Professor of Music and Irish Studies at New York University, bringing music into the heart of Irish studies in America in the process.

Dr Moloney's library is primarily made up of published books on Irish and world music and culture. His library traces the cultural journey of Irish music across continents and includes many works on migration, and cultural identity. The library also features a multimedia collection of music and culture reflecting his wide interests. Spanning Ireland and the Irish diaspora, and jointly held with New York University, the collection offers outstanding opportunities for transatlantic and interdisciplinary research.

The books have been catalogued and are now available to researchers.

Search the Moloney Collection on the Library Catalogue.

Dónal Ó Súilleabháin Collection

The Dónal Ó Súilleabháin Collection, comprises an exceptional range of approximately 1,600 Irish language printed works and cultural materials accumulated over his lifetime. Spanning the early eighteenth to the late twentieth century, the fully catalogued collection offers rich opportunities for research into Irish-language publishing, cultural transmission, folklore and revival-era intellectual life.

The private library of late Dr Dónal Ó Súilleabháin,  M.A.O., F.R.C.O.G, F.R.C.S.E., a retired obstetrician gynaecologist based in Limerick city, was donated to the Glucksman Library UL, in 2016, by his family at his request. Dr Ó Súilleabháin, (a native Irish speaker who was born in Emila, Ballyferriter, Co. Kerry), over his lifetime accumulated a significant collection of Irish language published texts and other materials relating to the subjects of Irish literature and culture. The material ranges in date from the early eighteenth century to the late twentieth century.

In addition to its relevance to linguists, the collection contains material of interest to students of cultural transmission; folklore; the Irish language revival movement; education and the history of print and communication. The library offers rich opportunities for research into Irish-language publishing, cultural transmission, folklore and revival-era intellectual life.

Search the Ó Súilleabháin Collection on the Library Catalogue.

Gilsenan Yeats Collection

The Gilsenan Yeats Collection contains many rare first editions of printed works by William Butler Yeats. It features all of Yeats’ works such as The Tower, The Winding Stair, Wind among the Reeds, and Plays for an Irish Theatre.  It is one of the finest Yeats collections in Ireland, providing focus and inspiration for literary scholarship. The collection was donated to the Glucksman Library by Professor Michael Gilsenan with the aid of the American Ireland Fund.

Search the Gilsenan Yeats Collection on the Library Catalogue.

Leonard Collection

The Leonard Collection is comprised of books and other materials relating to Limerick City and County. It has been built up over a period of some thirty-five years by Father John Leonard and is so considerable in range and diversity that it would not be possible for such a collection ever to be replicated. The initial objective of Father Leonard was to collect an example of the work of every Limerick author, although this was soon broadened to include any publication on or about Limerick and its people.

The collection is exceptional in its quality and diversity and represents the definitive collection on Limerick City and County. It encompasses literature, history, topography, politics, the social sciences and culture, and, whilst it is principally a book collection, it also contains periodicals, paintings, prints, engravings and more.

The collection is of such high quality and contains so many rare and scarce materials that it is almost invidious to highlight a few individual items. Nevertheless, the following give some indication of the scope of the collection:

• Collections by Limerick authors including Michael Collins, Dorothea Conyers, Michael Curtin, Aubrey de Vere, Gerald Griffin, Michael Hartnett, Jim Kemmy, Brian Merriman, Lola Montez, Kate O’Brien, Desmond O’Grady, Gabriel Rosenstock, Eithne Strong and Frank McCourt.
• Full sets of the Limerick historical journals, including the North Munster Antiquarian Journal and The Old Limerick Journal.
• Limerick city maps dating from 1722.
• Original 18th-century prints of Askeaton, Kilmallock, Adare, Thomond Bridge and many other notable Limerick antiquities.
• Historical works by leading Limerick antiquarians, including the Knight of Glin, the Earls of Dunraven, PW Joyce, TJ Westropp, Mainchin Seoighe and Michael J O’Kelly.

Search the Leonard Collection on the Library Catalogue.

Eoin O'Brien Collection

In 2018, Professor Eoin O’Brien donated 250 books on the history of art to the Glucksman Library at the University of Limerick. Professor O’Brien is Adjunct Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, at the Conway Institute, University College Dublin. He has published extensively in the field of medicine and history. He is also the author of several books in the arts with particular emphasis on Samuel Beckett and Nevill Johnson. This collection of books cover Irish and International art, artists, art history and art collections.  Both the volume of the collection and breadth of the subject matter will lend itself to research and further support the teaching of the history of art at the University of Limerick. The collection will be catalogued and made available in the Reading Room of the Dept. of Special Collections & Archives at the Glucksman Library.