Constantine Curran/Helen Laird Collection

Text  Thumbnails

1. Curran Collection - Photographs
2. 1916 Rising Postcards
3. Constantine Curran / Helen Laird Correspondence Part 1 : Letters by and relating to James Joyce

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Origin information

Dublin
Date created: 1902 – 1960

Type of Resource

text

still image

Physical description

3 sub-collections

Scope and content

There are 412 letters in the letter Constantine Curran/Helen Laird collection. This correspondence reflects the literary networks of both Constantine Curran and Helen Laird. Of these 133 items concern James Joyce and his family. In his letters to Curran, Joyce speaks about the progress of his work and many of the later letters mention family matters. It also contains letters relating to Joyce and his family written to Curran from Stanislaus Joyce, Lucia Joyce, Paul Leon, Harriet Shaw Weaver and others close associates. In addition to these letters relating to James Joyce, the collection also contains correspondence from Padraic and Mary Colum, the Butler Yeats family (William, Jack, John and Susan), James Stephens, Lord Dunsany, Lennox Robinson, Tom Kettle, Daniel Corkery, Sean O'Faolain and Seamus O'Sullivan. A letter from AE includes a wonderful ink and crayon drawing at the head of the letter. These letters reveal the literary network of early 20th century Dublin within which the Currans moved. The Joyce related letters are available online in the Constantine Curran/Helen Laird Letters Part 1 : Letters from and related to James Joyce. The remaining letters are available by appointment in UCD Library Special Collections.

Scope and content

The photograph collection contains photographs compiled by Constantine Curran and Helen Laird from 1880-1972. These 60 photographs include photographs of James Joyce and his family, notably the 1904 'glasshouse' photograph taken by Curran of James Joyce and the photograph of the 1902 UCD BA graduation class which includes Joyce and Curran. The collection also features photographs of John Francis Byrne, Paul Léon, Albert Power, Douglas Hyde, George Russell (A.E.), the Sheehy sisters, Padraic Colum, Thomas Kettle, Eoin Mac Neill, Osborn Bergin, and George Clancy, amongst others. Furthermore, includes photographs of sculptures, paintings and different views of Dublin. The photographs are available online in the Curran Collection - Photographs.

Scope and content

The postcards are part of the printed book and ephemeral collection. They were published in 1916 in the immediate aftermath of the Insurrection. They provide an excellent contemporary pictorial record of the damage to the city. Some are reproductions of “under fire” photos taken by the Daily Sketch photographer and published by Easons. Other series were produced by Hely's and Coleman's publishers. The collection contains 37 distinct postcards (as well as duplicates) collected by Constantine Curran. These postcards are available online in the 1916 Rising Postcards collection.

Scope and content

The manuscript collection is a diverse range of items including holograph poems by Joyce, Padraic Colum, Padraic Pearse, a draft of a speech by Tom Kettle, the minutes of the Catholic Graduates Association and a large notebook in Curran's hand with preparatory notes for his book James Joyce Remembered. The manuscript collection can be accessed by appointment in UCD Library Special Collections.

Biographical/historical information

Constantine Curran (1883-1972) was a lawyer and historian of 18th Century Dublin architecture, sculpture and plasterwork. He also held a life-long interest in art and literature. Curran was educated at CBS O'Connell School on North Richmond Street, where he became friends with Tom Kettle. Later he attended UCD where he graduated BA (1902) and MA (1906). It was at UCD that Curran first met James Joyce, with whom he would maintain an important lifelong friendship and association. He also knew other early 20th century Irish writers including W.B. Yeats, A.E. Russell, James Stephens and Padraic Colum. His research on Dublin architecture, and specifically on the history of plasterwork in the city, resulted in the publication of a number of books on the subject including Dublin Plasterwork (1940), Newman House and University Church (1953) and Dublin Decorative Plasterwork of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (1967). His legal career saw him rise to the post of Registrar of the Supreme Court before his retirement in 1953.

Biographical/historical information

Actress, costumier, teacher, and suffragist, Helen Laird (1874-1957) was born in Limerick. She was involved in the Irish National Theatre Society (later the Abbey company) from its inception, as a costume and set designer as well as a player. She had significant roles in their productions of works by W.B. Yeats, Padraic Colum and J.M. Synge, frequently appearing under the stage name Honor Lavelle. Later she worked with the Theatre of Ireland appearing in productions of works by James Cousins and Douglas Hyde. Besides her acting career, Laird worked as a chemist for W & R Jacobs and taught Science in Alexandra College. She was also active in radical political circles, counting Maud Gonne and Hanna Sheehy Skeffington as close friends. With Gonne, she helped form the Ladies' School Dinners Committee and she was also heavily involved in the Irish Women's Franchise League which aimed to gain women the vote.

Biographical/historical information

Curran and Laird married in December 1913. As their social circles blended a vibrant and diverse group of artists, historians, playwrights, actors and writers were brought together with the couple at its centre. This group found an outlet in their famed weekly salons, held every Wednesday afternoon at the couple's home on Garville Avenue. The Constantine Curran / Helen Laird collections gather a rich cache of manuscripts, books, letters, photographs and ephemera that goes some distance in documenting the development of both literary and theatrical life in Ireland in the first half of the 20th century.

Languages

English  

Genre

Letter   linked data (marcgt)   Postcards   Photographs   linked data (gmgpc)

Subject

Dublin (Ireland)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works

War damage--Ireland--Dublin--1910-1920

Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939

Joyce, James, 1882-1941 --Correspondence

Curran, Constantine Peter

Laird, Helen

Ireland--Intellectual life--20th century   linked data (lcsh)

Joyce, James, 1882-1941 --Portraits

Joyce, James, 1882-1941 --Family

Joyce family

Authors, Irish--20th century--Correspondence   linked data (lcsh)

Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939 --Correspondence

Yeats family

Kettle, Tom, 1880-1916

Colum, Padraic, 1881-1972

Colum, Mary

Russell, George William, 1867-1935

Location

UCD Library. UCD Library Special Collections . IE/ UCD/SC/CUR

Suggested credit

"Constantine Curran/Helen Laird Collection," held by UCD Library Special Collections. Digital content by University College Dublin, published by UCD Library, University College Dublin <https://doi.org/10.7925/drs1.ucdlib_287000>

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Record source

Descriptions created by staff of UCD Library, University College Dublin based on information from UCD Library Special Collections. EAD derived from MODS record. — Metadata creation date: 2022-01-13