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Special Collections & Archives' Outreach & Engagement: Digitised Henebry / O'Neill Wax Cylinders

How Special Collections & Archives interacts with the world.

Henebry O'Neill Wax Cylinder Collection

UCC's Wax Cylinder Collection consists of two series of cylinders:

  • One series are American in origin, recorded by Captain Francis O’Neill in Chicago prior to 1905. They consist of recordings of some of the best known Chicago-Irish musicians of the day, including the pipers Patsy Touhey and James Early. and the fiddle player James McFadden. These were sent to Professor Henebry as a birthday present in 1907.
  • The second series Henebry recorded as part of a scheme funded in 1911. Almost all of this collection was made in the Déise region of Waterford, and as such comprises the earliest field recordings of Irish traditional music and singing.

Samples of Tunes

"The Steam Packet & Jenny Picking Cockles" was collected by Rev. Dr. Richard Henebry. It is an example of a reel and was performed by Tomás Ó Huigín. A PDF Transcription of the music may be downloaded here. 

"Green's Hornpipe" was collected by Francis O'Neill. It is an example of a hornpipe and was performed by John McFadden. A PDF Transcription of the music may be downloaded here. 

Media

Further Information

Opening Hours

January 2022: Special Collections & Archives will be open Monday-Friday (excluding public holidays) to UCC staff and students, and members of the public. Individual Reading Room opening hours are as follows:

  • Reference Reading Room & Microform Room: Monday-Friday: 11:00-16:30 
  • Rare Books Reading Room: Monday-Friday: 11:00-13:00 & 14:00-16:30.

31 January – 13 May 2022: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 11:00-16:30 and Wednesday: 11:00-19:15. Check website for individual room openings.  

For more information about what items must be requested and to request them via the online request form see Request Special Collections & Archives.

In addition we continue offering:

  • Scan & Deliver for Special Collections' material including items in the Reference Reading Room, Microform and items that show Special Collections by Request / Special Collections by Appointment on the library catalogue.
  • Reprographic requests for manuscripts & archival material via specialcollectionsarchives@ucc.ie

Every effort will be made to fulfil scan & deliver / reprographic types of requests, but this may not always be possible due to availability, copyright restrictions, size and condition of materials.

If you have any queries relating to our collections please email specialcollectionsarchives@ucc.ie. This email address is monitored regularly.