The Library

History of the Library | Location and opening hours
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History

Marsh's Library, built in 1701 by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh (1638-1713), was the first public library in Ireland. It was designed by Sir William Robinson (d.1712) the Surveyor General of Ireland, and is one of the very few 18th century buildings left in Dublin that is still being used for its original purpose. Many of the collections in the Library are still kept on the shelves allocated to them by Marsh and by Elias Bouhéreau, the first librarian, when the Library was opened.

The Library was formally incorporated in 1707 by an Act of Parliament called An Act for settling and preserving a public library for ever. The Act vested the house and books in a number of religious and state dignitaries and officials and their successors as Governors and Guardians of the Library.

The interior of the library with its beautiful dark oak bookcases each with carved and lettered gables, topped by a mitre, and the three elegant wired alcoves or 'cages' where the readers were locked with rare books, remains unchanged since it was built three hundred years ago. It is a magnificent example of a 17th century scholars' library.

Marsh's Library is a charity. In recent years, however, thanks to an annual government grant and to the generosity of corporate and individual donors, we have created improved facilities for readers and visitors, built a Conservation Bindery and, most important of all, we have computerised the catalogue and made it available on the internet.

Donations to the Library are always welcome.

The Library's Collections

There are four main collections, consisting of 25,000 books relating to the 16th, 17th and the early part of the 18th centuries. These are:

• 80 incunabula (books printed before 1501)
• 430 books printed in Italy before 1600
• 1,200 books printed in England before 1640
• 5,000 books printed in England before 1700

As one might expect, there is a large collection of liturgical works, missals, breviaries, books of hours of the Sarum use, bibles printed in almost every language, a great deal of theology and religious controversy. These collectors were men of scholarly tastes, and the scope of the subjects is surprisingly wide and varied. There are books on medicine, law, science, travel, navigation, mathematics, music, surveying and classical literature in all the collections. A separate room is reserved for books and periodicals relating to Irish history printed in the last hundred years.

The most important collection is the library of Edward Stillingfleet (1635-1699) who was Bishop of Worcester. In 1705 Narcissus Marsh paid £2,500 for his library of nearly 10,000 books. Stillingfleet's library was regarded as the finest private library in England in the later part of the 17th century. Stillingfleet was one of the most influential divines in the Church of England. He acted as spokesman for the Anglican Church during a period of great religious conflict in the 17th century. His noble library is a great tribute to his scholarship and knowledge of books.

Archbishop Marsh left all his books to the library. He was particularly interested in science, mathematics and music, and many of his mathematical books are extensively annotated by him. Marsh was also interested in oriental languages and rabbinical and medieval writers. He collected books in Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish and Russian and his collection of Latin Judaica is particularly important.

Dr. Elias Bouhéreau, a Huguenot refugee who fled from France in 1695, became the first librarian. His books, which he left to the Library, relate to France and to the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes and its aftermath and the religious controversies of the 17th century. Dr Bouhéreau's collection constitutes a unique source for the study of Calvinism in 17th century France. His medical books are also of great interest.

John Stearne (1660-1745), Bishop of Clogher, bequeathed his books to Marsh's in 1745. These are similar to the other collections, but among them is the oldest and one of the most beautiful books in the Library, Cicero's 'Letters to his Friends' printed in Milan in 1472.

In addition to these four collections there are about three hundred manuscripts in the Library. The most important is a volume of the Lives of the Irish Saints, dating from about 1400, and written in Latin. There are also medical, theological, legal and music manuscripts. The music in manuscript consists of fantasias for instruments and virginal, lute and lyra viol music by composers of the first half of the 17th century. There are also rare 16th century madrigals printed in Venice, Antwerp and London.

To study and examine the books in Marsh's is to explore Europe's great cultural heritage. Marsh's Library is a treasury of what might be called the European mind; it is a rich source for studying the history of ideas, the birth of new ideas, the rise of science, and attacks on Christianity.

Donations

Marsh's Library is a registered charity and is grateful for donations to help fund particular projects. If you are interested in making a gift to the Library please contact:

Dr. Muriel McCarthy, Keeper
Marsh's Library, St Patrick's Close, Dublin 8.
Telephone/fax: (01)454-3511 or from outside Ireland +353-1-454-3511
Email: keeper@marshlibrary.ie

Publications related to the Library

There are a number of publications related to the Library. Details can be found on our publications page. Some of the newspaper articles about the library include:

• Irish Times 7th April 2001, interview with Muriel McCarthy, Keeper of Marsh's Library, by Vincent Browne.
• Irish Times, 14th April 2001, feature article on Marsh's Library by Arminta Wallace.

(The Irish Times online archives are only accessible to online subscribers to the Irish Times)