University College Cork (UCC) and the Richard Harris Estate are delighted to announce that the archives of Richard Harris have been donated to UCC.

Richard Harris was one of the most iconic film actors of the late twentieth century. Nominated for two Academy Awards for This Sporting Life (1963) and The Field (1990), his other leading roles included the parts of King Arthur in Camelot (1967) and Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator (2000).

The Richard Harris Archive span over 50 years and are an extensive collection of manuscripts, letters, photographs, literary works, artefacts and professional and personal documents which belonged to the late actor. The Richard Harris Archive gives a unique insight into one of Ireland’s legendary actors who starred in some of the most celebrated pieces of cinema of the last half century, who won or was nominated for the most prestigious awards in film and theatre.

Among the archives are Richard’s personal creative writing manuscripts including poetry, publicity and location photos from his screen and stage performances including Camelot, The Field, Pirandello’s Henry IV and as Professor Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films. In addition, the archive includes private memos, items from film sets, Young Munster rugby plaques and pictures as well as letters and wire communications from family and friends, arts critics, and co-performers. Harris’s personal documents reveal a man whose skills as a gifted athlete and talented rugby player not only served him in practical ways for his performance in This Sporting Life, but for the duration of his career on stage and screen, and as a writer, director and producer of universal acclaim.

Research by Dr Barry Monahan, Lecturer in UCC's Department of Film & Screen Media in the School of Film, Music & Theatre, focuses on the relationship between Irish film and theatre, and the work of Richard Harris, particularly his contribution with his contemporaries to defining a national style of performance on stage and screen.