New round up

Archives and Records Association, Ireland (18 June 2010)
The ARA came into existence on the 1st June 2010 and is the result of the recent merger of the National Council on Archives and the Association of Chief Archivists in Local Government with the Society of Archivists.  The ARA is an exciting new development which seeks to provide more coherent representation of the archives sector, a wider range of services to members and enable wider involvement in shaping the debate in the sector.

'Take time to explore this online blast from the past', (12 June 2010) - Article by Karen Lillington from the Irish Times 'NET RESULTS: The National Archive has brought us a marvellous, virtual slice of 1901 in its online census – and there's plenty we can learn about ourselves from it. I LIVE in a two-up two-down house built around the turn of the last century in the north inner city. One of the features of such houses – when it has not been torn out – is a half rectangle of metal mounted into a slight indentation about six inches off the pavement next to the door.
Being a girl from Californian suburbs that came ready-made with paved streets and neat walkways, I had to be told by a neighbour that these odd bits of metal were foot scrapers to remove the dirt from the bottom of your shoes before you entered the house.
Okay, that made sense, except I could never picture why they were needed, given that many roads around here would have been cobbled and, I supposed, reasonably clean.
Thanks to a fabulous online resource – the National Archive of Ireland's 1901 and 1911 census – I can now understand exactly why such houses have these little remnants of the past. In the fantastic photo collection included to give context for the two censuses are some striking images of Dublin's mucky, dirt-filled streets.'

Office of Public Works to Take in Charge the Cashel Bolton Library (25 May 2010)
The Minister of State at the Dept. of Finance with Special Responsibility for the Office of Public Works and the Arts, Dr. Martin Mansergh, TD, wishes to announce that the Office of Public Works will be taking in charge the Bolton Library, Cashel, Co. Tipperary.  The Office of Public Works will present the Library as part of the Rock of Cashel complex, mindful of the historic relationship between the Bolton Library and the Rock of Cashel, i.e. it was originally the Library of the Cathedral on the Rock.
The Minister of State, Dr. Mansergh, is delighted at the positive outcome to long drawn out efforts to secure the future of the Bolton Library in Cashel.  The Library contains a unique collection of antiquarian books and pamphlets from all over Europe, including early material of Irish interest, and covering subjects from theology to history, including 18th century political pamphlets, to mathematics.  They were first collected by Theophilus Bolton, Archbishop of Cashel from 1730 to 1744, and are now housed in the Chapter House of the Cathedral Church, John St., Cashel.  The book collection will remain in the Bolton Library, and, as with the Library recently acquired in Farmleigh, the ownership will in due course be lodged with Marsh's Library, while the building will be on long-term lease from the Church Representative Body of the Church of Ireland to the Office of Public Works.  The books and other documents, while remaining in situ, will be managed in association between the University of Limerick and its Library and the Office of Public Works.  A Board of Visitors/Advisory Body will be established with representatives from the OPW, the Church of Ireland, the University of Limerick and other interested bodies to draw on their expertise in the management of the library.