This article is from page 12 of the 2012-01-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
THE contribution of the Glynn family in Kilrush to Clare life will be celebrated this week thanks to the Clare Roots Society, which will host its first meeting of 2012 at the Civic Rooms in Drumbiggle this Thursday night.
The role played by one of the west Clare’s best known families to business in the county will form the basis of a talk to be delivered by Paul O’Brien that has been entitled ‘The Family Papers of the Glynns of West Clare 1790-1980.’
“The Glynn archive is an example of the many family archives probably still in private hands around the county, which contain vital clues for researching not only the family history of the compilers of the archive, but also that of their employees and other associated families, and local history generally,” a spokesperson for the Clare Roots Society said this week.
Paul O’Brien did his BA (History & Philosophy) in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. He graduated in 2010 and commenced a research Masters in History. However, due to the large amount of primary source documents, he successfully transferred to the PhD programme in March 2011.
O’Brien is employed as a history tutor at Mary Immaculate College. He is the chairperson of the Mary Immaculate College History Society, an active member of the Kilrush Local History Group and also works as a docent at the Hunt Museum, Limerick.
The Glynn family archive consists of approx. 20,000 documents. The main body of the records relate to the operational and administrative processes of M. Glynn & Sons.
The documents take the form of leases, contracts, accounts, insurance certificates, commercial and private correspondence, legal and court documents and photographs. The date range is c. 1790 – 1980. O’Brien was given access to the archive by Mr. Charlie Glynn, in 2009.
The physical condition of the material was in good although some of the documents were in a fragile state and this has resulted in some being illegible owing to exposure to moist and damp conditions, which has resulted in moulding and foxing.
Following professional consultation the entire archive has been removed from its original boxes and is now locked in a dry and safe environment. Most of the records survive in their original form, others are in transcript form. The transcripts are handwritten, printed and typed.
The is a cover charge of € 5 for nonmembers.