PW Joyce Collection
Echtra Cormaic itir Tairngiri..., PW Joyce (manuscript)
Collection Dates: [c1840]-1910
Extent: 72 items
Patrick Weston Joyce was an educationalist, historian, linguist, translator, and collector of folk music. He was born in Ballyorgan, Co. Limerick and attended hedge schools where he studied science, grammar, history, and the classics.
In 1845, he was employed as a teacher and quickly promoted to principal of the Model School, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. He was subsequently appointed as principal of the Commissioner's Training College in Dublin.
Despite his distinguished professional career, Joyce is remembered for his considerable contribution to Irish culture, publishing extensively on Irish music, history, literature, folklore, topography, and language.
The collection contains 72 books and reflects Joyce’s eclectic interests and includes many unique items and autographed presentation copies of his own work and books from his personal library.
These include nine manuscripts associated with Joyce or his family members, including a manuscript in Joyce's hand of Echtra Cormaic i tír Tairngiri agus Ceart Claíd Cormaic (Adventures of Cormac in the Land of Promise), which Joyce translated from the Book of Ballymote. Within this collection is Joyce’s acclaimed topographical work The Origins and History of Irish Names of Places (1869–70) and his pioneering linguistic study of modern Hiberno-English, English As We Speak It In Ireland (1910).
A signed photographic frontispiece of P.W. Joyce’s The wonders of Ireland and other papers on Irish subjects. 1911.
The cover of A Reading Book in Irish History by P.W. Joyce. 1900.
A printed slip included loose in Joyce’s Wonders of Ireland requesting readers to send him manuscripts of Irish music that he might make copies for preservation and future publication.
Inscription from the flyleaf of A smaller social history of ancient Ireland, from P.W. Joyce to his daughter Kathleen, dated 6th Oct 1906.
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