Special Collections' & Archives' Subject Support: Folklore

Special Collections & Archives have a wide range of sources to assist research on Folklore. Such sources include an authorised copy of UCD's National and Schools' Folklore Collections, the journal Bealoideas, reference books for studying folklore in Ireland,1st edition Ordnance Survey maps or maps on microform, local history journals and complementary items for specific areas such as herbals.

There are number of archival collections that contain material of interest. These include;

• The Professor Riobáird P. Breathnach Collection (1913-1975) and his work on place names and an English translation of Seancas Cléire.
• The Postcards & Ephemera Collection of unrelated subjects but show scenes of Cork city and Irish personalities. 
• The Sullivan Barry Collection of letters depicting the experience of emigration to the USA for members of a Cork family in the late 19th century.

Contained within personal papers and landed estates collections can be sketchbooks, scrapbooks, diaries, or photographs belonging to individuals that illustrate their travels around Ireland, England and Europe, giving a snapshot of landscape/wildlife visited and observed, and sometimes even mementos preserved e.g. dried flowers/fauna. These archival collections include;

• The Bantry Estate Collection (Co. Cork)
• The Bantry Estate Collection: Ancillary (Co. Cork)
• The Grehan Estate Collection (Co. Cork)
• The Nancy McCarthy Collection
• Countess Alice Murphy Collection
• The Ryan of Inch Collection (Co. Tipperary)
• The Villers-Stuart Collection (Co. Waterford)

Béaloideas is the Journal of the Folklore of Ireland Society in Ireland. The object of the society as noted in the editorial of the first issue of Béaloideas, (June 1927) was to collect, preserve and publish the folklore of Ireland. Béaloideas is part of Special Collections Serials and is also available on JSTOR.

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