For Dublin city archivist Dr Mary Clarke, history runs in the blood. As a child, she was inspired by her American father, and she has ended up doing almost the same job he did – just on the opposite side of the Atlantic.
“He was an archivist in the Newbury Library in Chicago, and I always wanted to be like him – as I think most little girls do,” she says.
Mary decided to study archives here in Ireland, going on to do various jobs in the area before landing her current role at Dublin City Council. As she eloquently puts it, “we have a really busy time curating the memory of the city”.
That means that Mary spends her time looking after the city’s enormous collection of documents, manuscripts, books, maps and oral history collections, working on outreach projects and organising exhibitions and educational courses.
Dr Clarke is based at Dublin City Library and Archive on Pearse Street, and says that the safety and security of the archives are taken very seriously indeed.
“We built a set of strong rooms with fire suppression systems, air conditioning to keep the humidity and temperature under control and a four hour fire rating, which is all very important to ensure that they last for a very long time again,” she explains.
The archive’s oldest document is a royal charter from 1171, while oral history is where Mary’s particular interest lies. She has been involved in the collection and preservation of many of the city’s most fascinating and important stories, such as the North Strand Bombing in 1941 when German planes bombarded the north inner city. 28 lives were lost and many more shattered.
“The project was started by my deputy 10 years ago, and at that stage the children of the North Strand bombing were in their 70s and 80s,” Mary says. “Of course, they remembered it because it was such a shocking event in their young lives.
“We were delighted that we were able to capture their stories, because so many of them have since died.” You can listen to and read the testimonies at the North Strand Bombing website .
Into the present day, Mary says she loves the diversity of the city – and explains that it’s nothing new. “Dublin has been a multicultural city ever since it was founded, right back to the Viking era,” she explains.
“There were Vikings and Irish, and even Welsh, because they came in to trade with the city. Later on, we had the Normans and the French. The fact that it's a sea port as well is something that we don't give enough thought to – this has been the engine of change in Dublin, right through its long history. So I think that makes it very unique.”
For this keen historian, though, there is one this about the modern city that Mary can’t stand. “Don't litter the streets, it's terrible!” she says. “It really shocks tourists, it's not good enough.”
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