BIG READ: 'Times well spent' - adventures with Roscrea's George and Carmel Cunningham

Roscrea's famed bibliophile, historian and author, George Cunningham's life long activities as regards history, the environment and heritage are well known to people from Roscrea and far beyond; however, not so well known is his 17 year involvement with the University of Limerick, and particularly the development of the stunning library and special collections there.

A former director of the library, Professor John Lancaster, has written of George Cunningham's pivotal involvement and put it within the context of his other achievements.

It is part of a chapter in a memoir he is writing and Professior Lancaster has agreed that the Tribune can publish it for our readers.

Professor John Lancaster was a senior librarian with the John Rylands Liibrary at Manchester before moving to University of Limerick.

Times Well Spent

My first meeting with Dr George Cunningham was at my interview for the position of Director of Library and Information Services at the University of Limerick (UL). My initial impression was of a man of great charm who had a profound understanding of the role of the library in academia and its part in sustaining scholarship. He was clearly a real book man. Having worked for over two decades in the bibliographically rich John Rylands University Library in Manchester, I recognised immediately a person with whom I had much in common.

My second was in the vaults of the former Irish Parliament building in College Green (which had become a branch of the Bank of Ireland) for the purpose of acquiring a collection of books and papers relating to Maurice Walsh, the eminent Irish writer.
Walsh was a man of wide-ranging talents who is now particularly known for his short story The Quiet Man which was turned into the celebrated film of the same name, starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. This was the first of many adventures with George, resulting in the acquisition of a number of fine literary collections.

I soon learned of George’s role in the development of the Glucksman Library. As a Member and Deputy Chair of the UL Governing Authority (1992-2009) he was a passionate advocate for the development of a new university library and deserves much credit for its development. It is not an overstatement to assert that without that advocacy, the original Glucksman Library would not have happened. Prior to the interventions of George, the library at UL was a facility of modest proportions.
Without George, phase one of the modern library would not have happened and without phase one, phase two would not have happened either.

One particular matter that brought great benefit to UL, was the relationship George developed with the Bolton Library in Cashel (for which he was Chair of its Board) that ultimately resulted in the deposit of its collection in the Glucksman Library. The Library was housed in a lovely old building in Cashel of the Kings. I remember when I first became acquainted with it. George and I had met at Cashel following my lunch at a lovely oak-panelled cafe in nearby Thurles. 

We met in the home of the late Philip Knowles, the Dean of Cashel, for afternoon tea.  I was struck by the warmth of the relationship between Philip and George and the complete trust between them, based on their shared objective of protecting the collection for the future. I remember the first sight of the library with its austere but entirely fitting shelves with a bust of a worthy on a window-ledge. Was it a young Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, Irish-born pillar of the British establishment? I remember seeing a manuscript of music by Clarke of Trumpet Voluntary fame.

I wondered how much here was waiting to be rediscovered that had perhaps not been looked at for generations. I learned that the library had been used as a billet for soldiers in the Rebellion of 1798 and that some its books were burned to keep them warm. As I looked round, in my imagination I could see some of the ghosts of that period. The collection was to be opened up following the cataloguing of Archbishop William King’s holding by the American scholar, Professor Bob Matteson, leading in turn to the publication of a major research publication; but the protection of the collection was the priority. 
George had facilitated the production of a report on the needs of the collection and we jointly arranged for Ken Bergin, the UL Special Collections Librarian, together with staff in his team at UL, to spend some time each week in the Bolton Library working on its maintenance and its bibliographical control, in the process cementing the relationship with UL, in consequence of the excellence of their work.

These were the foundations for its ultimate location to the Glucksman Library and a key reason for the later establishment of the senior position of Head of Special Collections as a key role in the management and development of the Glucksman Library.
In essence, the Bolton Library went to UL because of George. It was he who invested time and effort over many years, and without that, the library would  almost certainly have gone to Dublin or even Cork (which was an interested observer when its future was being discussed) and either of them as a location would have been inappropriate.

George had a vision for the University Library which I shared and this resulted in the acquisition of wonderful collections.  The procurement of the remarkable Father Leonard Collection, purchased by the celebrated writer, Frank McCourt (but made possible due to the generosity of Father Leonard in making it available for scholarship through its deposition in the Glucksman Library) was a highlight - this being an almost definitive collection relating to Limerick’s history, geography, topography and literature as well as its economic and social development.

It was George’s passion for books and scholarship that opened the door for the acquisition of other fine collections, not least a collection relating to Ireland’s complicated place in the Spanish Civil War; a collection relating to Kate O’Brien - a key figure in Irish revivalism; the archive of the Knight of Glin; the Eamonn Norton collection; the  Ciarán McAnally collection; and the Armstrong papers.

I remember too visits to remarkable collections including one that enabled me to examine rare items associated with Eamonn de Valera and an early edition of Newton’s Principia, in a building that was so full of books, its floor moved as we walked through its upper rooms. We visited monastic establishments to advise on library developments and collections and viewed collections of papers relating to some of Ireland’s literary greats.

We also had a plan for a research library extension to the Glucksman Library, resulting in a bid to PRTLI. It was not successful at the time - nevertheless there was an abiding vision and this resulted in the creation of a remarkable library development under the leadership of Gobnait O’Riordan, my successor as Library Director, in partnership with the current Library Director, Ciara McCaffrey - who did so much to bring it to fruition. George also played a key part in the initial planning for this transformational facility.

For me the association with George and Carmel resulted in experiences that will last for my lifetime. I shall ever remember the first time I saw the silhouette of the Rock of Cashel soaring above the plain, of the glorious views from the summit of the hill on which its ecclesiastical and historical buildings are situated, and the carved doorways evoking Ireland’s religious history with its strong European influences. Or of the afternoon teas with the Dean of Cashel and the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, times of delight where a love of learning rested easily on the shoulders of real scholars.  Who can but remember being in the depths of the vaults of the Bank of Ireland where secretive people came in to look at and add to and take away from their treasures in the vault boxes. Or the generosity shown to me by the monks of Roscrea Abbey where refreshments were always provided, fulfilling their ancient traditions of goodness and hospitality.

There was much more too, but I particularly remember the friendship I had with George and with Carmel. Their kindness and their warm welcomes remain happy memories. Everyone in Roscrea knew them both and their work in their community; from the regular Roscrea People Book Project initiated in 1987 (following his early retirement on health grounds as Principal of Coolderry Central School) and the Citizen of the Year Awards, to their part in saving the ancient heritage of Roscrea (not least Damer House – now a national monument – and the Roscrea round tower, as well as a local high cross and other ancient artefacts), to the Roscrea Conferences in Mount St Joseph Abbey (1987-2017) in which an extraordinary range of scholarship was on display, to facilitating the establishment of the Old Roscrea Society and the Roscrea Heritage Society, to the creation of the Parkmore Press and several bookshops (most notably Dimma's Books, a boutique bookshop for St. Vincent de Paul, with a stock there now in excess of 6,000 volumes).

The Roscrea Summer School of Local Studies in collaboration with John Feehan, the distinguished geologist and botanist, was also a significant event for the area. In recognition of all their work in the community, George was awarded Life Presidency and Honorary Life Membership of the Roscrea Heritage Society, Roscrea Person of the Year for 1997 and 2018 and Honorary Life Membership of the Roscrea Musical Society.

Carmel’s work as a gifted and sensitive poet adds to the literary lustre of the Cunningham household. I have greatly enjoyed her poems They articulate so well the thoughts of so many of us and are expressed with complexity and sensitivity, a demonstration of the art of a skilled wordsmith with a poetic vision.

Add to all this is George's knowledge of the extraordinary landscapes of the Burren, his involvement in the Burren spring conferences (for which he received an award in 2008), in the founding of the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, in his pioneering Burren guide books: Burren Journeys, all with the very active participation of Carmel; of his knowledge too of trees and woodlands and of whiskey and whisky and we see a polymath. I was delighted when George was awarded an honorary doctorate by UL. A fitting tribute to a life of scholarship and public service.

We saw eye to eye on everything. He was chair of the Library Development Committee and I was Director of the UL Library. George did not involve himself in the executive function of the Library and all that I experienced was the closest possible working relationship - a relationship which I cherished.

We had a shared view of books and libraries and the importance of scholarship.  He also understood that the printed and written word are still the foundations of civilisation. The electronic media. through which many ideas are shared in the modern world, are deeply important and George is the first to acknowledge such, but we stand on the shoulders of more recent giants today because of Gutenberg and Caxton and Aldus Manutius. Just as important were the creators of ancient manuscripts.  So, whilst computers are one of the keys to scholarly communication, they cannot replace the physical book, not only because so many are not digitised but also because the physical form of the book or manuscript so often provides far more information than an electronic image. Electronic communication is extraordinarily significant, but it can be limited, particularly in the humanities and social sciences.

What is more, the ineffable thrill that viewing the Cathach of St Columba or a Shakespeare First Folio or seeing pages of the Book of Kells or a Gutenberg Bible or handling a first edition of a classic, or reading Yeats in a boat, yards from the Lake Isle of Innisfree, can lead to a lifelong love of a subject that in turn leads to extraordinary feats of scholarship. We can all view the Book of Kells in electronic facsimile but seeing the real thing is an entirely different experience. Standing in St. Mark's Square in Venice and looking at pictures of it are as far apart as it is possible to be. A new university needs to develop intellectual credibility where scholarship is celebrated. George has always understood that, and the University of Limerick is the stronger for it.

Whilst George’s role in UL was extremely noteworthy, as I got to know him, I became aware of a rich life beyond the University. He has published over 100 books and journal articles, demonstrating a profound level of scholarship. I was also aware of his extraordinary generosity to the library services of Tipperary, and Offaly and to the Coláiste Phobal Ros Cré - Roscrea Community College - as well as to the collections of the Glucksman Library.

To date he and Carmel have donated, or facilitated the donation of, over 85,000 volumes across Ireland, continuing to add to this number every year. And more recently of the relocation of his extensive arboricultural and horticultural collection to the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland, housed at Bellefield, Shinrone, where he has contributed so much and where he is Honorary Librarian to the Society.

Activities that fittingly complement the above are his lifelong membership and one-time directorship of Crann and support for its magazine to which he regularly contributes scholarly articles as well as visits to schools and other institutions for the purpose planting trees and sharing information about Crann’s mission and purpose.

In the words of the orator at the conferring ceremony at UL, which I was privileged to attend, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate, he was described as a scholar, community advocate, antiquarian, historian, conservationist, naturalist, author, editor, publisher, bibliophile and philanthropist - to which I would add Homo Universalis, one of Ireland’s most significant renaissance men.

He has received many honours, not least an Honorary Doctorate at UL, Honorary MA at NUIG, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Honorary Life Presidency of the Roscrea Heritage Society, Life Membership of Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society, Honorary Life Vice Presidency of the Laois Heritage Society and Honorary Membership of Thomond Archaeological Society – this last granted for his pivotal role in bringing the remarkable Norton Collection to the University of Limerick.
In short, my friendship with George and Carmel has been life enhancing. Shared endeavours are a source of delight and the time I spent with them was delightful.