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This collection comprises a scrapbook compiled by Agnes Mary Gaffney and a number of loose items found inserted inside it. It provides insights into the life and lifestyle of the members of a prominent and politically influential Roman Catholic family and their role not only in the formation of the Irish republic but on the wider arena of Irish-American republicanism and the campaign for women’s rights.

Black and white head and shoulders studio portrait (109 x 159 mm) of a middle-aged woman with a fox stole wrapped around her shoulders, her head bent down with a downward gaze.

Bound hardback scrapbook signed ‘Agnes M. Gaffney New York January 1895’ on the inside of the front cover. The book contains mainly press cuttings accounting the movements and activities of Agnes Gaffney and her brothers in America and Ireland. Several pages have been dedicated to the sudden death and funeral of Joseph P. Gaffney in 1897 and to the activities of Frances Gaffney née Humphreys, wife of Agnes’s brother Thomas St John Gaffney and an early women’s rights activist, who was elected president of the National Council of Women in 1899. There are reviews and accounts of musical and theatrical entertainments, many of which included performances by members of the Gaffney family, who were gifted singers. Also included are calling cards of various family members; invitations to weddings, dinner parties and other gatherings; and theatre and concert programmes, such as the golden jubilee celebrations at Laurel Hill Convent on 11 June 1895, a concert organised by Adare Bicycle Club under the patronage of the Earl and Countess of Dunraven on 31 January 1896 and a celebratory dinner in honour of Joseph Gaffney as High Sheriff of Limerick city on 9 January 1897. There are articles about the state of the stock market and about political events unfolding in Limerick. One of the pages contains a broadsheet entitled ‘Supplement to the Summit Herald’ dedicated to Thomas St John Gaffney’s views on America’s foreign policy, outlining his reasons ‘Why Every Irish-American Should Support and Uphold the Republican Party.’ Also to be found in the scrapbook is a White Star Line booklet incorporating a list of saloon passengers on board Royal & US Mail SS Germanic from Liverpool to New York on 24 October 1894.

Programme of Kendal Irwin’s concert at the Theatre Royal on 3 January 1896. The reverse of the programme contains a note from Kendal Irwin to Agnes Gaffney, asking her to meet Irwin ‘to arrange about your song’.

Programme of entertainment in aid of the Seamen’s Orphanage, American Seamen’s Friend Society and Society for the Relief of the Destitute Children of Seamen. For a copy of this item, see P37/1/1.

Printed poem entitled ‘In Memoriam – Joseph P. Gaffney’ by ‘Marah’.

Printed flyer containing a review extracted from the Limerick Chronicle of a performance of the comic opera Mikado, in which members of the Gaffney family played several roles. The review was originally published on 22 April 1897. For related material, see P37/1/1 and P37/1/2.

Press cuttings, as follows: article on T. St John Gaffney’s role as solicitor to Dr Thomas Gallagher (1893); transcript of a Limerick Corporation meeting containing comments made by Joseph Gaffney as High Sheriff of the county (1896); review of a performance of Mikado in Limerick, in which members of the Gaffney family played several roles (1897); advertisement promoting Kendal Irwin’s concert at Theatre Royal, in which members of the Gaffney family were assisting (1897); transcript of a Limerick Corporation meeting praising Joseph Gaffney following his term as High Sheriff (1897); account of the wedding of Cornelius Patrick Redmond and Frances Mary Ryan (1898); articles on Fannie Humphreys Gaffney upon her election as president of the National Council of Women (1899); and a notice of the forthcoming marriage of George Robert Ryan and Agnes Mary Gaffney (1900).

This series contains photographs originally loosely inserted between the pages of P37/1/1.

Black and white photograph (88 x 61 mm) of two women standing on an elevation against the backdrop of a city in the valley below. A caption on the reverse reads ‘View from Kahlenberg outside Vienna & left Sobieski Chapel on Leopoldeberg. The Sobieski Chapel is on the Hill & the City of Vienna in the valley occupied by Russian April 10th 1945’.