Brian Trench Collection
Collection Dates: [c1960-c1990]
Extent: 350 items, chiefly pamphlets
Brian Trench is a writer and emeritus academic in the School of Communications of DCU. Before joining the university, he worked for many decades as a journalist covering politics, foreign affairs, industrial relations and technology.
Deposited at DCU in 2016, the Brian Trench collection provides a unique insight into the political and social issues of Ireland in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Containing historically significant pamphlets, periodicals and private correspondence, the collection provides a left-wing perspective on several important issues of that time.
These principally comprise the start of the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland, the re-emergence (and split) of the IRA and Sinn Féin during 1969-70 and the organisation of campaigns targeting homelessness, job security and opposition to nuclear power in the Republic of Ireland. The Trench collection will be of primary interest to researchers examining Irish politics and history.
A physical exhibition of items from the Trench Collection was mounted by Archives and Special Collections in the library in 2024.
In Dublin City in 1913: songs and stories of the workers of Dublin (Dublin Council of Trade Unions, author 1988)
Flat broke: the plight of the 100,000 in privately rented accommodation (Dublin Flatdwellers' Association 1973)
The struggle in Ireland (Harman, Chris 1974)
Battling for copyright: freelance journalists versus the media conglomerates (Sutcliffe, Phil ; Vaughan, Jenny ; Macaskill, Hilary ; Bell, Steve. National Union of Journalists (Great Britain). 2000)
The Northern crisis: which way forward? (Coughlan, Anthony 1969)
Neutrality, international law and the nuclear arms race: what Ireland can do (Falk, Richard 1985)
A list of the titles that were displayed are below grouped by topic here:
Housing, unemployment, transport, equality |
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Flat broke: the plight of the 100,000 in privately rented accommodation. Published by the Dublin Flat dwellers’ Association - 1973. Highlights factors that influenced the accommodation crisis, and the injustices suffered by the flat dwelling population of Dublin in the 1970s. |
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Ballymun: The experiment that failed Published by Ballymun Amenities Group, [1974] The Ballymun amenities Group conducted a survey of about 10% of the households of Ballymun. The findings highlight the problems that people encounter and what can be done to change the situation. |
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Time for Change - people before profit Sinn Fein (Waterford city) local government election manifesto 1974. |
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Dublin a Living City? Dublin: Living City Group, 1975. Poetry and essays on the living conditions of Dubliners during the 1970s. |
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Black and front: Journalists and race reporting By Denis MacShane London: Race-relations sub-committee, National Union of Journalists, 1978. |
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Unemployment by Betty Sinclair Printed and published by the Communist Party of Ireland, [1972]. |
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Rapid rail ... for a greater Dublin Published by Dublin Comhairle Ceanntair Sinn Féin The Workers’ Party [c.1979]. |
Anti-Nuclear power |
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Nuclear power. The case against Proceedings of a 3-day conference held in Trinity College, Dublin, February 17-19th 1978, convened by Friends of the Earth (Ireland). |
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Uranium mining in Donegal: the dangers & deceits Belfast: Just Books, 1979. Includes drawings of what the village of Fintown (Co. Donegal) would look like if uranium mining takes place. |
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Workers’ power, not nuclear power by Mike Simons London: Socialists Unlimited for the Socialist Workers Party, 1980. This pamphlet sets out the facts about nuclear power. What it is, how it was developed, what is the industry’s safety record and what the alternatives are. |
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The nuclear Syndrome: Victory for the Irish antinuclear power movement by Simon Dalby Dublin: published by Dawn pamphlets, 1984. This pamphlet is an edited extract from a thesis written by Simon Dalby entitled “Political Ecology: a study of the Irish anti-nuclear movement” written for the University of Victoria (Canada) in 1982. |
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Protest and survive by E.P. Thompson Nottingham: Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, [1980] Pamphlet in support of nuclear disarmament campaigning for a “nuclear free Europe from Poland to Portugal”.
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What working people should know about the dangers of nuclear power by Fred Halstead New York: Pathfinder Press, 1979. This pamphlet contains two parts, the second entitled: What we can do to end nuclear power by Andrew Pulley. |
Labour movement - Ireland and Northern Ireland |
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Workers' research unit bulletin. No. 3 Belfast: Workers Research Unit, [1977] Among the topics of interest is the one entitled: Ferenka: who’s kidnapping who? - workers struggle that took place at the end of 1977 at the Ferenka steel cord manufacturing plant in Annacolty, Co. Limerick. |
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New Rights for Part-Time Workers Dublin: ICTU, 1991. Information booklet of the ICTU campaign to win new rights for part-time workers. |
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Redundancies: why they happen, how to fight them A Bottom Dog pamphlet (the working class paper of North Munster) Limerick: Bottom Dog, 1976. |
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Strike - Monêque International - with cartoons by Ray Sherlock This is an account of what was learned from an eight-week strike from 19th January to 15th March 1976 at a clothing factory (Monêque) in Dublin. It details how a group of organised and determined workers move from first meeting to strike, to picket the labour court and then to victory. With illustrative cartoons. Dublin, 1976. |
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Discrimination in N. Ireland: the case for united trade union action Dublin: Trade Unionists for Irish Unity and Independence, 1988. Opposing religious discrimination in Northern Ireland. |
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A United Ireland: a working class demand Dublin: Trade Unionists for Irish Unity and Independence, 1986. |
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Out! National Labour Movement delegation to Ireland - Report London: National Labour Movement Delegation to Ireland, [1976] On Saturday 18 September 1976, the 60 strong national Labour Movement Delegation to Ireland assembled at the Mansion House in Dublin at the start of an historic three-day visit to Ireland. The purpose of the delegation was to formulate a policy for the British Labour movement which would best aid the Irish people to achieve their right to national self-determination. |
Politics: Ireland and Northern Ireland |
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Free the People Bridge-End Co. Donegal - Publicity Committee Written and published by the internees at Long Kesh concentration camp. |
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Ireland's history of repression By James Walker. London: International Socialists, [1971] Reprinted from articles in Socialist Worker. |
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What happened in Derry by Eamonn McCann London: Socialist Worker, 1972. Introduction by Bernardette Devlin. With photographs and maps. |
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British soldiers speak out on Ireland London: Information on Ireland, 1978. Information on Ireland, pamphlet No. 1 This pamphlet was written and produced by British ex-soldiers. Edited by Alistair Renwick. |
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Why the border must be: the Northern Ireland case in brief Issued by the Northern Ireland Government, 1956 Statements by Viscount Brookeborough, W. Brian Maginess, George B. Hanna. |
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The two states theory Socialist Party of Ireland. Dublin: Advance Publications, 1978. |
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In the care of ... Her Majesty’s prisons Irish P.O.W.’s in England Text by Hugh Feeney with sketches by Flossie. Belfast: Republican Press Centre, 1976. |
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