Thursday, 27 October 2011

Dublin 100 years ago

Just published by the Royal Irish Academy is Dublin 1911, a lavishly illustrated book edited by Catriona Crowe, who spearheaded the National Archives of Ireland's project to digitise the 1901 and 1911 census.

The book begins in January 1911 and works through the year's headline events, month by month. This was a Dublin still unaware of the dramatic decade that lay ahead: the First World War, the Easter Rising, Independence, Civil War.

But some of its major news stories were not dissimilar to those we have witnessed in 2011: emigration, traffic problems, a rubbish summer, overpaid officials, a royal visit...

Each chapter starts with contemporary newspaper cuttings before exploring themes such as law and order, education, religion, transport, literary life and migration, among others, in a series of essays (Paul Rouse, Mark Duncan and William Murphy were contributors).

Dublin 1911 is available in all good bookshops or online from www.ria.ie.