Although the RCB Library service has, like so many others, been hugely disrupted over the past 18 months due to the pandemic, work continued behind the closed doors on many projects. These projects included digitisation*, cataloguing, archiving, and the receiving of registers and general parish material. Another task that continued behind the scenes was the selection and acquisition of printed books.
The parish history section of the Library is a valued and eclectic part of the Library’s collection, and the Library continued to accession parish histories that will be of use to researchers, historians, and the general public. Among these was Desmond Gillmor’s Drumlease: Two Centuries of a Church of Ireland Parish in County Leitrim, which was published this year.
Several other local histories are also now on the shelves from areas such as Ballymahon, Shrule, and Kilchreest.
In addition, the Library accessioned many new current affairs, history and biography titles. You can find out more about these latest acquisitions in the Library's November Archive of the Month.
*There's no word yet about when the Church of Ireland's parish registers will be online and ready for public access.