Special Collections' & Archives' Subject Support: English

Special Collections & Archives have a wide range of sources to assist research in English. Such sources may be:

• collections from individuals such as Daniel Corkery (1878 - 1964). Corkery was a novelist, playwright and lecturer in the School of English at UCC (1931 - 1947). His collection is a portion of his library and is representative of his interests. 
• collections from individuals on a particular topic such as the Cantwell Collection which focuses on 1st editions of Yeats' works. 
• ​collections from organisations such as Attic Press.
• collections on microform such as GRAIL (Galway Resource for Anglo-Irish Literature). This contains works by major and minor writers of the 19th century. Other collections include Maria Edgeworth Papers or Ladies of Llangollen. 
• items from fine printing presses such as Cuala, Three Candles and Dolmen. 
• first, limited and/or signed editions of works by individuals such as Seamus Heaney or George Orwell e.g. Nineteen Eighty-Four 
• James Joyce editions: first edition of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, a signed first edition of Finnegan's Wake and a copy of Ulysses illustrated by Matisse and signed by Joyce and Matisse.
• journals and newspapers such as Irish Literary Gazette: A Weekly Journal of National Literature, Criticism, Fiction and Industry

One of the earliest PhD theses Special Collections holds is BG MacCarthy's Women's Contribution to the Development of the English Novel: 1621-1818 (1939).

The Archives Service offers a variety of individuals' and organisations' collections that may be of interest. These include;

• The Attic Press/Róisín Conroy Collection
• The Papers of Daniel Corkery
• The Elizabeth Bowen Collection
• Professor Riobáird P. Breathnach Collection
• Cuala Press Collection
• The Nancy McCarthy Collection 
• Frank O'Connor (Agents) Collection
• Correspondence with Frank O'Connor and Seán O'Faolain
• Seán O'Faolain/Major Gerald Fox Correspondence
• Harold Pinter/Brian Abbott Correspondence
• Samuel Lopes Salzedo (George Bernard Shaw) Collection
• George Bernard Shaw Collection
• Ruth Sherry: Index Cards (Frank O'Connor Bibliography)
• Shuttle-Redgrove Collection
• William Trevor Collection
• Ron Whitehead Collection

Special Collections holds a copy of Joyce's Ulysses with black and white illustrations by Henri Matisse, signed by both Joyce and Matisse. This copy is no. 682  of 1500 copies commissioned by George Macy, the founder of the Limited Editions. Matisse completed drawings based on six episodes from Homer’s epic poem Odyssey rather than from Joyce's Ulysses. Once Joyce realised this he stopped signing the limited edition. Therefore UCC Library's Special Collections' copy is unusual as both James Joyce and Henri Matisse have signed it. 

All PDF documents are available as Word documents. Please contact specialcollectionsarchives@ucc.ie should this be required.