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This collection contains correspondence, accounts and other documents concerning the leasing of Mungret Agricultural School by its trustees to the Commissioners of National Education in 1853; the subsequent closure of the school and surrender of the lease back to the trustees in 1878; the parliamentary bill required to allow the trust fund to be redirected for broader educational purposes; and the subsequent lease of the school to the Reverend Joseph Bourke 1880 and to Father Ronan in 1882. The material provides an interesting record of the legal and administrative complications affecting the operation of the school and its gradual shift from an agricultural school to a Jesuit apostolic school and lay secondary school.

The collection comprises primarily correspondence between Frank Aiken, IRA Chief of Staff; Mr McAuliffe Acting Officer Commanding Limerick Brigade IRA; and Maurice Twomey Inspecting Officer. They are almost solely concerned with the reorganisation of the IRA command structure in Limerick, Clare and Kerry owing to the shortage of men and equipment during and following the Civil War.

The material consists of deeds, wills, marriage settlements, legal searches, statements, opinions, accounts and correspondence relating to the legal and administrative affairs of the Moore family of Moynehall, County Cavan. The documents are primarily concerned with Samuel Moore the elder and his younger son and namesake, who succeeded to the estate as a consequence of the untimely death of his elder brother. Of particular note is the material relating to the case of Moore v Jackson, which provides a good example of the complex set of procedures required to break an entail to facilitate the mortgaging of lands. Also of note are the copies of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century documents, the originals of which may no longer survive; and statements of title such as P15/1/2/1/1 which contain valuable genealogical information of the Moore family across three centuries.

The collection comprises primarily letters and copies of letters by members of the Monsell family or individuals associated with them. Of particular note is a letter book kept by the shipping merchant William Monsell (P2/1/1), which contains copies of some 1,200 items of mainly business correspondence, giving a unique insight into Limerick as a maritime mercantile city in the early eighteenth century. Of equal interest is the fragment of a diary (P2/1/12) kept by his grandson, the Reverend Samuel Monsell (1743-1818), Precentor of Ardfert from 1791 to 1811, which provides an extraordinary account of the private life and innermost thoughts of a Church of Ireland clergyman struggling to stay on the path of virtue.

This collection contains documents collected and accumulated by Michael O’Toole while compiling a bibliography of works by Kate O’Brien and works written about her. The material includes interview notes, correspondence, writings, draft bibliographies, photographs and ephemera.

The collection comprises papers relating to C Company 2nd Limerick City Battalion Mid Limerick Brigade 1917-1924 and includes narrative accounts of the Brigade activities during the War of Independence and information on the reorganisation of the Limerick Brigades during and following the Civil War. The collection is unusual as the anti-Treaty IRA was considered to be an illegal organisation and their records as a consequence were usually kept secret.

This collection contains manuscripts of five of Michael Curtin’s six novels and correspondence relating to his career as a writer.

The archive contains a selection of letters and notes written by Republican Prisoners imprisoned in Limerick Jail and the Curragh Internment camp between 1922 and 1923 during and following the Civil War. They comprise in the main thank you-notes for parcels delivered to or sent to them by Annie McGowan, her daughter Sarah and her son Timothy.

This small collection contains routine correspondence and accounts created and generated by Maxwell, Weldon & Co. on behalf of their clients, mainly pertaining to probate, death duties and other testamentary matters.

This collection is a comprehensive record of the life and work of Maurice Walsh, a figure who has a distinctive place in Irish literary history. At its core are multiple working drafts of his fourteen novels, five short story collections and other works which provide a window into Walsh’s creative process and the evolution of his narratives. They also highlight the breadth and versatility of Walsh’s literary output which extended from novels and short stories to plays, poetry and journalism. Of particular interest are drafts of his perhaps best-known novel, Blackcock’s Feather (P7/2/1/3/1-7), his short story ‘The Quiet Man’ (P7/2/2/1/3/1-5), later made into an Oscar-winning film directed by John Wayne, and the collection of short stories featuring the immortal character of Thomasheen James (P7/2/2/2/1-11).

The Maurice Walsh Papers also feature the author’s extensive correspondence with literary agents, publishers, broadcasting companies and film producers which provides interesting insights into the life of a professional writer. It reveals among other things the controversy concerning the sale of the film rights which proceeded the production of Trouble into Glen, Walsh’s only novel successfully adapted for film (see P7/1/3/1/2 and P7/1/3/2/1). The dispute, which involved Walsh’s American literary agents, Brandt and Brandt of New York, and his principal publishers on this side of the Atlantic, Chambers, resulted in his refusal to assist in the making of the film and soured his view of the movie business for life. Another interesting set of correspondence dates from 1940, when Walsh made a significant foray into politics by collaborating with Seán O’Faoláin in the writing of an article entitled ‘Ireland in a Warring Europe’. Published in The Saturday Evening Post, the article was a defence of Irish neutrality and generated much reaction. The surviving letters from Joseph Connolly, the censor, indicate the extent to which he tried to avoid undue alterations to the text and the keenness of the authorities that the piece should appear in print (P7/1/2/4/1-4).

The volume of correspondence includes much evidence of Walsh’s popularity. The royalty statements from his publishers and agents tangibly prove his success as a writer, and the letters from admirers (P7/1/2/3/3/1-7) give his audience a human face. One of the more unusual expressions of his fame was the establishment of ‘The Ancient and Honorable Society of Walshians’ in Montana in 1933 (P7/1/2/3/2/1-5).

With the exception of some official documents and a small number of photographs, the collection contains little in relation to Maurice Walsh’s personal life. The best insight into this aspect can be found in a short autobiographical note published in an unidentified work (see P7/2/7/5/5), which also shows Walsh’s gentle but brimming humour. Described by his friends as ‘quiet, easy-going, lazy-seeming’, Walsh’s reticence made him, perhaps, the true embodiment of ‘The Quiet Man’.