RT Generic
T1 Papers of Eugene O'Curry (1796-1862)
A1 University College, Dublin. Archives Dept.
NO Scope and Content: The collection consists of mainly two types of documents: correspondence and academic or research notes. A great deal of the latter are extremely brief and are written on the back of what can best be described as scraps of paper, among them, for example, notices of Royal Irish Academy meetings.
NO The material covers the period of O'Curry's career from his time in the Limerick Lunatic Asylum to his death and encompasses aspects of both his private and professional life. However, the private material is of limited quantity and relates to the last two years of his life; while the professional material is quite fragmentary in nature, and in scope concentrates on the period following his involvement with the Royal Irish Academy.
NO Other Descriptive Information: The collection despite its unsatisfactory nature has a number of research uses. Principal among these is the study of Eugene O'Curry, the study of the histories of institutions such as the Royal Irish Academy and the Catholic University and the personalities who worked within them, the study of the development of interest in Irish manuscripts, folklore and poetry. The collection can also shed light on the intellectual atmosphere in Ireland in the middle part of the nineteenth century.
NO It should be noted that while O'Curry signed himself 'Eugene Curry' and 'Eugene O'Curry', the latter has been used throughout the list. It was under this name that he published and is most widely known today.
NO Provenance: Eugene O'Curry (1796-1862)
NO Acquisition Information: The papers in this collection were transferred to the Archives Department of University College Dublin in September 1988 from the College Library.
NO Biographical History: Eugene O'Curry was born in Dunaha, County Clare on 2 November 1794, the third son of 'Eoghan Mor', a peddler and collector of Irish manuscripts. He received little by way of formal education but was taught to read and write in Irish by his father. He had a variety of
        occupations including farming and teaching before he moved to Limerick in 1824. He worked there as a labourer until he secured a position in the Limerick Lunatic Asylum.
NO In 1835 he successfully applied to join the staff of the Ordnance Survey (LA38/21), where he was employed as a researcher in the historical department, principally engaged in the study of Irish manuscripts for historical and topographical information. He remained with the Ordnance Survey until 1842 when the topographical staff was dispersed. That same year he was employed by the Royal Irish Academy to catalogue their collection of manuscripts. He also catalogued Irish manuscripts held in British repositories, especially those in the British Museum.
NO He was involved in the founding of both the Irish Archaeological Society (1840) and the Celtic Society (1845), and his pioneering work on early Irish law texts led to the creation of the Brehon Law Commission in 1852. He remained involved with the Commission until his death. In 1853 he became a member of the Royal Irish Academy and in 1854 was appointed the first Professor of Archaeology and Irish History in the Catholic University.
NO He published a collection of his lectures entitled 'Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History' in 1861. He died suddenly in Dublin on 30 July 1862. A second collection of lectures entitled 'Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish' appeared after his death.
NO O'Curry married Anne Broughton during his sojourn in Limerick. Anne died in 1858 (LA38/11). They had several children, four of whom - two boys and two girls - were still alive at the time of O'Curry's own death.
AN uri:info:fedora/ivrla:2620
UL http://hdl.handle.net/:10151/EAD_0000008_AR
LK //digital.ucd.ie/?getObject=ivrla:2620
SL UCD Library, University College Dublin
LL Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland