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Public libraries in Ireland I. Archbishop Narcissus Marsh and the foundation of the first public library1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Muriel McCarthy*
Affiliation:
Marsh’s Library, St Patrick’s Close, Dublin 8, Ireland
*
Email:marshlib@iol.ie, www.kst.dit.ie/marsh
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Abstract

Founded 300 years ago, Marsh’s Library in Dublin – Ireland’s first public library – is described by its librarian as a ‘treasury of the European mind’. The outstanding collections, in their purpose-built 18th-century accommodation, are still accessible to the public. They include Irish books and manuscripts and books on subjects such as travel, botany, music and natural history. Recently the catalogue of printed books has been computerized and made available on the Internet.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 2000

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Footnotes

1.

Revised version of a paper delivered at the 64th IFLA General Conference in 1998. Muriel McCarthy has written a more extended history of Marsh’s in All graduates and gentlemen: Marsh’s library. Dublin: O’Brien Press, 1980.

References

1. Revised version of a paper delivered at the 64th IFLA General Conference in 1998. Muriel McCarthy has written a more extended history of Marsh’s in All graduates and gentlemen: Marsh’s library. Dublin: O’Brien Press, 1980.Google Scholar