Poetry in the Archive: Reflections of a Former Archivist on the Manuscripts of Twentieth-century Irish Poets in the National Library of Ireland

Abstract

In this essay, the role of the National Library of Ireland in collecting and preserving the manucripts of twentieth-century Irish poets is considered, together with the Library's acquisition policy and methods of selection, collection, and cataloguing. Does the Library fulfil its stated aim and statutory function, ‘to provide an accurate record of Ireland's output in manuscript, print and other media for present and future users’? Is the Library as active as it should be in acquiring literary manuscripts? Which poets’ papers are acquired and made available to readers? Who gets ‘in’ and who is left ‘out’, and why? Does the Library's manuscript collection accurately represent twentieth-century Irish poetry? What in fact is ‘an accurate record of Ireland's output in manuscript?’ These and other complex issues are discussed in the article, some facts and figures adduced, and some suggestions made. The essay includes a personal memory of the process of acquiring one poetry archive, that of Eithne Strong, and comments by a scholar on the significance of the Dorothy Molloy papers, also held in the Library, for her understanding of the poet's work.