- IE DCUA C3
- Collection
- 1782-1950
Album of correspondence, press-cuttings, autographs, warrants, postcards, invitations, and receipts, collected by Henry Morris.
Morris, Henry
Album of correspondence, press-cuttings, autographs, warrants, postcards, invitations, and receipts, collected by Henry Morris.
Morris, Henry
Part of Henry Morris Collection
Album of correspondence, press-cuttings, autographs, warrants, postcards, invitations, and receipts, collected by Henry Morris. Album correspondence creators, recipients and subjects include;
Ball, Frances Elrington
Bannin, Mary
Bellingham, Henry
Bigger, Francis Joseph
Bourke, M
Breathnach, Pól
Bremner, Walther
Butt, Isaac
Byron, George Gordon
Carrigan, William
Ceannt, Éamonn
Corcoran, Timothy
Corry, Dorothy L
Crawford, Osbert Guy Stanhope
Curtis, Edmund
Dalton, JP
Davitt, Michael
De Blacam, Aodh
De Buitléir, Eibhlín
Dillon, John
Dobbs, Margaret E
Duffy, Charles Gavan
Flood, W.H. Grattan
Gladstone, William
Grattan, Henry
Green, Alice Stopford
Griffith, Arthur
Gwynn, EJ
Gwynn, Edward John
Hayes, R
Healy, Timothy Michael
Hencken, H
Hutton, Mary
Joyce, Patrick Western
Leslie, Shane
Leslie, Shane
Lowry, D
Mac Fhionnlaoich, Peadar Toner
Mac Néill, Eóin
MacAdam, Robert
Macalistair, Robert Alexander Stewart
MacGarvey, CJ
MacManus, James
MacNéill, Eóin
Manning, Cardinal
McClintock, Ernest Reginald
McDonnell, James
McKenna, E
McManus, James
McNeill, Charles
Meyer, Kuno
Milne, JG
Moore, Thomas
Morley, John
Newman, John Henry
Ní Ógáin, Úna
Ó Casaide, Seamus
Ó Catháin [?]
O'Connell, Daniel
Ó Chundiolún, Seamus
Ó Dhonnchadha, Tadgh
Ó Dólán, Tomás
Ó Máille, Tomás
Ó Rathaile, Tomás
Ó Seagha, PJ
O'Brien, William Smith
O'Donnell, Patrick Joseph Cardinal O'Donnell
O'Donovan, John
O'Duffy, Eoin
O'Flanagan, Michael
O'Grady, Standish
O'Grianna, Seamus
O'Growney, Eugene
O'Laverty, James
Pearse, Patrick
Plunkett, Joseph Mary
Power P
Pritchard Aire
Ronan, Myles
Rushe, D Carolan
Scott, Sir Walter
Walker, Ann
Walker, RO
Walsh, N
Ward, John
Watson, WJ
Wellington, ?[Arthur] Wellesley
Morris, Henry
The fonds relates to the lives and careers of three men from the Kenny Family: Kevin J Kenny (1881-1954), his son Michael B Kenny (1919-1992), and Michael’s son Colum Kenny (b. 1951). The collection is arranged in three sub-fonds relating to the three men respectively.
The majority of the collection relates to Kevin J Kenny and his work at Kenny’s Advertising Agency. The sub-fonds relating to Kevin includes correspondence with many of his clients, some of whom included eminent nationalists of the day, such as Patrick Pearse, Arthur Griffith, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington and James Creed Meredith. Kenny solicited advertising for the publications of many of these figures, which often proved essential in keeping the publications afloat and in circulation, as evidenced in particular by the letters from Patrick Pearse regarding advertisements for An Macaomh, the official magazine of St Enda’s. This sub-fonds also includes several sub-series relating to significant episodes in Kevin’s career and life, such as the controversy over Kenny’s Advertising Agency and a contract to run British Army recruitment advertisements during the First World War, and personal memorabilia and publications relating to significant historical events, such as the 1916 Easter Rising, the War of Independence and Civil War.
This sub-fonds also includes a collection of British Army transcribed signals from the first day of the Battle of Gallipoli (25 April 1915), which give a vivid insight into the harrowing experience of some British soldiers fighting on the front line that day. These signals may have come into Kevin J Kenny’s possession from his wife Annette’s brother John Murphy, whose signature may be the ‘J Murphy’ included on some of the signals.
This sub-fonds relating to Michael B Kenny consists of a few items concerning his career in advertising. These include a brief history of the Kenny’s Advertising Agency written by Michael, and two photographs: one of meeting of the Advertising/Press Club in 1956 or 1957, and the other of the Kenny’s Advertising Agency premises at Lower Baggot Street, Dublin.
The final sub-fonds in the collection mainly relates to Colum Kenny’s work on three documentaries for RTÉ, and some of his personal correspondence with various figures relating to topics such as the media, law and Irish history. One of the sub-series relates to Colum’s research for a documentary about ‘The Tailor and Ansty'. The Tailor and Ansty (husband and wife Timothy [‘the Tailor’] and Anastasia ['Ansty'] Buckley) were the subjects of a book by Eric Cross about their storytelling and home in Gougane Barra, County Cork, which became a hub for notable figures of the Cork arts scene in the 1930s and 1940s. The sub-series includes letters from Eric Cross and friends of the Tailor and Ansty, including Seán Ó Faoláin and Nancy McCarthy-Allitt. Two of the other sub-series relating to Colum’s work on RTÉ current affairs television programmes are currently closed and access will be reviewed in 2025.
Another series relates to connections between Colum Kenny’s house, 1 Herbert Terrace, Bray, County Wicklow, and two of its former residents: Cyril Cusack and Grace Watt (née Muggeridge). The series mainly consists of correspondence between Kenny, Cusack and Watt during the early 1990s in which they reminisce about living in the house, and discuss Cusack and Watt’s personal lives.
Kenny, Kevin
Statement made by Thomas MacDonagh during his court martial following the Easter Rising, 1916, p0001
Part of Kenny Family Collection
Statement made by Thomas MacDonagh during his court martial following the Easter Rising, 1916, p0002
Part of Kenny Family Collection
Note discussing the proposed cessation of Civil War hostilities, 1922
Part of Kenny Family Collection
The Freeman's Journal, 30 March 1922
Part of Kenny Family Collection
The Evening Telegraph, 1 April 1922, p0003
Part of Kenny Family Collection
The Freeman's Journal, 31 March 1922
Part of Kenny Family Collection
The Evening Telegraph, 1 April 1922, p0004
Part of Kenny Family Collection
Kenny's Advertising Agency dance, 17 February 1922
Part of Kenny Family Collection
The Evening Telegraph, 1 April 1922, p0001
Part of Kenny Family Collection
The Evening Telegraph, 1 April 1922, p0002
Part of Kenny Family Collection
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0001
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0009
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0028
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0036
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0045
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0047
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0048
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0049
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0050
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0051
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0058
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0060
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0070
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0082
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0006
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0007
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0008
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0010
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0012
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0014
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0016
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0017
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0021
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0026
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0031
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0037
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0039
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0052
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0055
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0056
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0057
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0061
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0066
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0067
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0069
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0072
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0078
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0079
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0083
Part of Seán Lester Collection
The collection mainly consists of eleven diaries written by Seán Lester from 1935- 1942 when he was High Commissioner of the League of Nations in Danzig [Gdansk, Poland], then Deputy and subsequently General Secretary of the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Lester's diary entries and the numerous letters, telegrams and other documents included in the diaries give an invaluable insight into his work in the League of Nations, the momentous historical events that were taking place, and his personal thoughts and struggles during this period. The first diary opens with the following entry by Lester written in October 1935: 'So I've opened a diary at last, the odds are against a dozen entries.' In fact, Lester would go on to write hundreds of entries over the next few years, recording the background workings of the League 5 of Nations with accounts of meetings, public events, conversations with political leaders and diplomats, transcripts of telephone calls, copies of letters he sent, and many of the letters he received and pasted into the pages of the diaries. They provide an invaluable insight into some of the most significant historical events during this period, including the rise of the Nazis in Danzig, the increasing persecution of Jews, the failed attempts to appease Hitler in the run-up to war, and the eventual outbreak of the Second World War.
They also chart Lester's career in the League of Nations as it developed in tandem with these events: the increasing pressure and intimidation he faced as High Commissioner in Danzig from the Nazis as they undermined the authority of the League, his promotion in late 1936 to Deputy Secretary General in Geneva (essentially as a form of appeasement to the Nazis), and his assuming the role of Acting Secretary General of the League after Joseph Avenol left Geneva for Vichy France in 1940. The diaries also show his courage and determination to keep the League (albeit, only its basic functions) running throughout the course of the Second World War.
Details of Lester's personal life and struggles during this period are also recorded, particularly the torment and loneliness he felt being separated from his wife Elsie and three daughters Dorothy Mary, Ann and Patricia following their evacuation from Geneva to Ireland in 1940. Ireland is never far from his thoughts during the period, and the diaries feature numerous correspondence with Irish friends, accounts of brief trips home for Christmas and family holidays to Connemara in the years up to 1940, and reflections on Irish current affairs and political figures. One of the most notable entries in the diaries is Lester's extensive account of his meeting with James Joyce and his family in Geneva in December 1940. The Joyce family had fled their home in Paris the previous May and sought Lester's help in obtaining a visa for their daughter Lucia; the Nazis had refused to issue her with a visa and she remained in a mental health clinic in German-occupied France. A related letter from Joyce to Lester prior to this meeting is also included in the diaries, as is correspondence between Lester and members of the Joyce family and friends following the death of James Joyce in Zurich less than a month later.
The collection also includes a metal case in which Lester – fearing that the Nazis could invade Switzerland at any moment – placed his diaries before burying them next to a bench in the Palais des Nations, the headquarters of the League of Nations in Geneva. This may account for why the diary entries stop in 1942. Also included in the collection is an address book kept by Lester during the period of the diaries, and a television documentary about Lester written and presented by John Bowman which includes a segment on the diaries.
Lester, Seán
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0004
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0005
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0013
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0025
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0029
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0032
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0033
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0038
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0040
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0041
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0059
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0063
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0064
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0065
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0068
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0071
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0077
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0081
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0084
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0085
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0002
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0003
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0011
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0015
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0018
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0019
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0020
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0022
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0023
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0024
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0027
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0030
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0034
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0035
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0042
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0043
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0044
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0046
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0053
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0054
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0062
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0076
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: October 1935 - January 1936, p0080
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: January - June 1936, p0010
Part of Seán Lester Collection
Diary: January - June 1936, p0018
Part of Seán Lester Collection