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Minister Mansergh Accepts Donation of the Benjamin Iveagh Library by the Guinness Family to Marsh’s Library.



Friday 6th November 2009

PRESS RELEASE

Minister Mansergh Accepts Donation of the Benjamin Iveagh Library by the Guinness Family to Marsh's Library.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Dr. Martin Mansergh TD today accepted the donation by the Guinness family of the Benjamin Iveagh library to the Irish State.  A ceremony to mark the donation took place at Farmleigh House, where the Benjamin Iveagh library is currently situated, on Friday 6th November 2009.

Speaking at the ceremony Minister Mansergh said "The Family of the late 3rd Earl of Iveagh, Benjamin Guinness, have donated his extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts and fine bindings, housed at Farmleigh, to Marsh's Library. The Benjamin Iveagh Library is of immense cultural significance. The collection will be in the legal ownership of Marsh's Library but it will remain in the care of the Office of Public Works and will continue to be held at Farmleigh.  The responsibility for the day-to-day management of the collection will lie with the OPW but Marsh’s Library will have a general management, oversight and advisory role in relation to it. 

Minister Mansergh continued "As Minister of State with responsibility also at the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism for the Arts, I am pleased that the Department has been in a position to fund the operation of Marsh's Library.  The Guinness family’s donation ensures that the collection will continue to be an invaluable resource for students of Irish history, literature, bibliography and book design".

Ends

Notes to editors:-

The Guinness family have had a long association with Marsh's Library, beginning with Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness (d.1889), who funded the restoration of Marsh's Library in the late 19th century. The Governors and Guardians of Marsh's Library have welcomed this gift as linking the valuable collection in Farmleigh with that in Marsh's Library, to the preservation of which the Guinness family have made such a contribution.

The Benjamin Iveagh Library was amassed during the lifetime of the 3rd Earl of Iveagh, Benjamin Guinness (1937-1992).  He was a very keen bibliophile and an astute collector of rare books, manuscripts and bindings.  The collection amounts to over 5000 items. After the State purchased Farmleigh in 1999, the collection remained in the Library on loan. It is of national importance and includes many highly collectable Irish books and manuscripts. Amongst the historical manuscripts in the collection is a copy of Topography of Ireland by Gerald of Wales dating from 1280, the Irish Primer that Queen Elizabeth I used to learn phrases from the Irish language, as well as archive material relating to Daniel O’Connell, Sir Roger Casement and Lennox Robinson. The printed works include many early Irish imprints and rare periodicals. All of the major Irish writers are represented in the collection with first or special editions including first editions of Ulysses and Gulliver's Travels. A particular strength of the collection is in fine Irish bindings. The library holds the best example of the 18th century Featherwork technique in existence as well as examples by the finest binders of the 19th and 20th centuries.