Russell Library (St. Patrick's College)
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The Russell Library () is situated in
Maynooth Maynooth (; ) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's College, Maynoo ...
,
County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...
, Ireland on the campus of
St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...
. It houses the historical collections of St Patrick's College, which was established in 1795. The Russell Library is home to significant collections, manuscripts, and archival holdings, notably the Salamanca archive documents which date back to 1751. There is also a collection of
incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...
(pre-1501 printing) such as a 1482 volume set on moveable type and an illuminated collection of medieval and
Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
manuscripts. There are over 2,500 bibles, which include 493 long bibles. The Russell Library was the main library in Maynooth until the opening of the John Paul II Library in 1981 which is now the main library for both students of
Maynooth University Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...
and St Patrick's College. Access to the Russell Library is by appointment only. However, during the summer the library holds exhibitions which are open to the public. The exhibitions typically last from the end of June to the end of July.


History

The Russell library, named after former president and professor at Maynooth College, Charles William Russell, was completed in 1861, taking sixteen years to construct in total. The library was designed by renowned British architect
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival style of ar ...
(1812–1852), who did not live to see its completion. Work on the library began in 1845 when the grant received by the college increased dramatically. The President at the time, Lawrence Renehan decided to renovate and expand the colleges library facilities, and opted for the reputed talents of Pugin to realize his vision. The final design included popular contemporary features such as high Gothic windows and an open timbered roof. The library initially served St Patrick's College Maynooth, a seminary for the education of priests, founded in 1795. The entrance hall of the library contains a large stone statue of King
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
, a tribute to the man who approved the establishment of St Patrick's college and the library within, in 1795. The Russell library houses the historical collections of St Patrick's College, and also the archives of the Irish college in Salamanca. These archives, numbering some 50,000 documents dating from the foundation of the college in 1592, were relocated to Maynooth college in 1951, following the closure of the Irish college. Maynooth University hosted an exhibition at the Russell library on 18 April 2018, to commemorate the centenary of a protest against compulsory conscription during the second world war. The library, today, serves as a research library for Maynooth University.


Mathematics collection

The mathematics collection of the library includes many rare collections and older printed books. There is information available about items in the collection from the early 19th century and their substantial connection with the teaching of mathematics.Ciaran Mac an Bhaird, A Guide to the Mathematics Collection in the Russell Library (College Collection) In the mathematics collection there is an example of André Darré's ''Elements of Geometry with both Plane and Spherical Trigonometry'' (Dublin, 1813). Darré produced the book to help reform the study of mathematics in the college at that time.


The Salamanca archive

From the mid-16th century, due to the anti catholic legislation that restricted the education of Catholics in Ireland, young Irishmen with academic aspirations traveled to continental Europe to begin their education. The Catholics relief acts of 1782 and 1793 finally allowed Catholics to be educated in Ireland, ending the immediate need for Irish colleges abroad. The first Irish college on the continent was established in Paris in 1578, followed by the first Irish college in Salamanca, Spain, in 1592. The Irish college at
Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...
was founded by Rev. Thomas White from Tipperary, Ireland, by royal decree of King Phillip the second, who also provided initial financial support for the students who attended the college. The students resided at the college whilst attending lectures at the
University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...
. In 1608 the Irish college was incorporated into the University of Salamanca, and was subsequently administered by the
Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
until their expulsion from Spain in 1767 by
King Charles King Charles may refer to: Kings A number of kings of Albania, Alençon, Anjou, Austria, Bohemia, Croatia, England, France, Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Ireland, Jerusalem, Naples, Navarre, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Sardinia, Scotland, Sicily, S ...
III. The Irish college at Salamanca was closed between 1807 and 1838, due to the
peninsula war The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
, and again in 1936 due to the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. Many records were lost due to damage caused by conflict, and by looting. Those records that escaped undamaged were sent to St Patrick's College, Maynooth, when, after over 360 years, the Irish College at Salamanca closed permanently in 1952. The documents rescued include over 50,000 administrative records, dating as far back as the mid 16th century. They also include some documents from Irish colleges at
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
,
Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...
,
Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
,
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, Alcala de Henares, and
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...
. At their height, Irish colleges on the continent numbered 480 students, across twelve locations, most of whom were based in France or the
Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...
. The Catholic Relief Acts ended the need for foreign education, and led to the establishment of Maynooth college, and the archives were sent here in recognition of the historical links between the need for home based education and the establishment of the college.


Pamphlets

The collection of pamphlets stored in the Russell Library is approximately 12,000 in number showcasing all topics dating from approximately the 18th and 19th centuries made of
Irish Language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
and
Catholic Truth Society Catholic Truth Society (CTS) is a body that prints and publishes Catholic literature, including apologetics, prayerbooks, spiritual reading, and lives of saints. It is based in London, United Kingdom. The CTS had been founded in 1868 by Cardi ...
pamphlets. They display a large range of controversial yet topical issues:
political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...
, writers reacting to government policy, parliamentary speeches, charity sermons, comic operas, associations for developing as a society, developments in
agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
, inventions, military expedition accounts, medical theories, art exhibitions and finally court cases.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Russell Library
Libraries in the Republic of Ireland Archives in Ireland Maynooth University St Patrick's College, Maynooth Libraries established in 1861