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Instrumental in this development was Dr John Young, bishop of Limerick (1796-1813) who actively sought to preserve the patrimony and whose papers survive in some quantity, together with those of his predecessor, Dr Denis Conway (1779-96). Another significant eighteenth-century survival is the White Manuscript, comprising a folio of some 200 pages, annals of the diocese collated by Rev. James White (d.1768). In contrast, the collections of each of Young’s successors, Dr Charles Touhy (1814-28), Dr John Ryan (1828-64) and Dr George Butler (1864-86) are, unfortunately, very limited in scope.
The greater part of the archive was created after the 1950s, a period characterised by the expansion of diocesan services and the professionalisation of the administration, beginning with the episcopate of Henry Murphy (1958-73). However, the papers of several of Murphy’s predecessors, beginning with E. T. O’Dwyer (1886-1917), are very complete, as are those of Denis Hallinan (1918-23), David Keane (1924-45) and Patrick O’Neill (1946-58).
The O’Dwyer papers in particular betray an acute awareness of the written record and its significance. The collection refers to diverse areas of Irish life during the period, of interest to students of the Irish cultural revival, social and women’s history and the history of Limerick city and diocese in particular.
In the 1950s and after, the private papers of a number of Limerick clergy were acquired by the archive. Especially interesting is the collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Irish manuscripts formerly in the library of An Canónach Tomás de Bháll.
The Limerick Diocesan Archive seeks to preserve these records, making them available to the diocese, its people and to researchers as appropriate. Access to the archive is by appointment only.
Diocesan Archivist: David Bracken, BA, BD, MesL, MA
Address: Limerick Diocesan Centre, St Munchin’s, Corbally, Limerick, V94 925C
Tel: 061-350000 Email: david.bracken@limerickdiocese.org
A guide to LDA archival holdings
- An introduction to diocesan archives from a theological and pastoral perspective. See David Bracken, 'The pastoral function of church archives: a reflection on the theological, juridical and pastoral context of Roman Catholic diocesan archives', in Irish Theological Quarterly, 82 (I) (2017), pp 60-71.
- David Bracken, 'A history of Irish Catholic diocesan collections through a Limerick lens', in Archivium Hibernicum, lxx (2017).
- Catalogue of the papers of Dr Denis Conway, bishop of Limerick (1722-96). See David Bracken, 'Catalogue of the papers of Dr Denis Conway (1722-96) in Limerick Diocesan Archives', in Archivium Hibernicum, lxix (2016), pp 215-308.
- Catalogue of the papers of Dr John Young, bishop of Limerick (1746-1813). See David Bracken, 'Catalogue of the papers of Dr John Young, bishop of Limerick (1746-1813) held in the Limerick Diocesan Archives', in Archivium Hibernicum, lxviii (2015), pp 168-293.
- Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer and 1916. See Edward P. O'Callaghan, 'Correspondence between Bishop O'Dwyer and Bishop Foley on the Dublin Rising, 1916-17', in Collectanea Hibernica, no. 18/19 (1976/1977), pp 184-212. In addition LDA has contributed material from the O'Dwyer collection to the Letters 1916-1923 Project, a crowd-sourced digital collection of letters written between 1916 and 1923.