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Materials in this catalogue are organised hierarchically and assigned to sub-fonds such as Personal, Academic, or Business papers. These groupings are intended as broad contextual guides rather than strict definitions, and they determine the reference number that is assigned to that particular archive collection (for example A for Academic, P for Personal).

Because many creators’ lives and work do not fit neatly into a single category, some collections include material that might also sit comfortably elsewhere. In some cases, collections that contain academic or literary material have been placed within Personal papers, reflecting how the records were originally grouped or described.

More detailed information is provided at collection and item level.

Letter Book for Galway Urban District Council, contains copies of correspondence and copies of other material relating to the Urban District Council, including reports from committees, statements of accounts and the minutes of council meetings. Many entries are not dated however they appear to be in chronological order. The volume is paginated pp1-994, only one side of each leaf is paginated. Page 5 includes a statement of loans for the Galway Harbour Commissioners. Page 68 contains a statement of rents received from houses on Bowling Green for the years 1904 and 1909. The amount borrowed for the housing scheme was £1060 for a term of 50 years. Page 424 contains a statement of outstanding loans for public health and other acts. Each entry contains the following fields 'purpose', 'amount of loan', 'date', 'no. of years', 'principal paid off.', 'principal outstanding' and 'rate of interest'. Entries include 'Claddagh Bridge' £2000, 1888... And Auxiliary Engine £900, 1893'. Page 456 includes a plan to purchase Grattan's Estate in the Claddagh, according to the plan the estate had 80 houses built on it and goes on to say 'That number of houses required would be about 150. Which might be provided as follows: 100 houses £140 each - £14000, 50 houses £100 each £5000.' Pages 924-994 contain copies of typescript minutes of meetings of the Galway Urban District Council. According to entry dated 4 May 1922 on page 924 'A vigilance committee was appointed to draw up a report with regard to the supervision of certain literature which is being circulated in the district.' According to entry on page 928 'Mr. F. Flanerty asked if the action of parties who done damage at Eyre Square and removed the statue of Lord Dunkellin was to be permitted to go unpunished. Decided to consult the Council's solicitors and instruct them to take proceedings to have the parties punished.' According to entry dated 22 September 1922 which appears on page 955 'A letter was read from Dail Eireann, stating that the Minister for Local Government was of the opinion that sanction should have been obtained before expenditure had been incurred in connection with the purchase of the large hanger which is being erected at Salthill.' According to entry dated 5 October 1922 which appears on page 964 'It was decided to draw the attention of the Inspector, Civic Guard, to the number of shooting galleries which are allowed to do business at Eyre Square, and ask him, if possible, to effect the removal of these parties. Page 990 includes a report relating to electricity supplies in the city, the report relates to the construction of a power plant, the existing plant having been 'destroyed by fire about the 17th of March this year and is not yet entirely reconstructed.'

Estimate, specification and two plans drawn up by John Harris, Civil Engineer, Galway, relating to the proposed repairing and extension of the pier at Kinvara Harbour. This collection formed part of the legal papers of the Blake Forster family, landowners in Kinvara at the time.

The minutes of the Galway Urban Sanitary Authority list the date of each meeting, the attendance, Reports of Committees, record of sanitary work performed, correspondence and special business. Meeting typically took place at monthly intervals, the vast majority of the Authority's business concerned the provision of running water, sewers and inspection of houses or buildings.

Three of the four volumes contain minutes giving the date of meetings, attendance, correspondence and business transacted. The first volume also contains the minutes of the Galway Town Commissioners for the period 6 November 1890 - 31 December 1898, although this is one physical item it can be considered as two items for the purposes of description and arrangement. One of the items in this collection LA4/4 is a letter book which contains copies of correspondence and other items such as reports and for the period 4 May 1922 - 20 December 1922 it includes the copies of the minutes of council meetings. There are no minutes for the period 12 October 1912 - 16 December 1916, however there are some copies of letters for this period.

The volumes in this collection are in good physical condition.

Each volume contains minutes giving the date of meetings, attendance, correspondence and business transacted. Initially the Board of The Galway Town Commissioners met on a weekly basis, during in later periods it met less frequently. Earlier volumes contain lined pages, later volumes contain indexes and pre-formatted pages. The collection also contains two volumes of drafts of minutes. The volume or volumes covering the period May 1853-September 1862 is missing, according to a list which accompanied the initial deposit it was never deposited at the library. The vast majority of the information contained in the minute books relates to the day to day provision of the services which the Board was responsible for including the collection of tolls, the watch and the maintenance of roads and footpaths. The minute books also contain references to wider social and political events such as The Great Famine and The Land War. The pages of the volumes in this collection are in good physical condition, the covers of some of the volumes are very worn.

Plans for the extension of Galway Harbour drawn up in 1936.

The records of Galway Corporation from its foundation in 1485 to 1818. It consists of a statute book (Liber A) giving the names of members of the Corporation and statutes passed (1485 to 1710). Also the minute books of meetings of the Corporation from 1679, giving the dates of meetings, attendance, and business transacted. Also some loose legal material relating to a court case before the House of Lords dealing with the election of Valentine Blake as MP for Galway in 1814.

Bound volume minutes for meetings of the Galway Urban District Council. Each page has a margin, for some meetings the subject for each minute is written in red in the margin, details of attendance and some correspondence are also included. According to entry dated 30 March 1917 a letter was read from the Portrush Urban Council...asking the views of this council on the subject of a deputation to the Chief Secretary to urge the desirability of granting excursions and cheap booking this year to health resorts.' According to entry dated 12 August 1917 a resolution was passed stating 'that we the Galway Urban District Council respectfully, but firmly demand that of the English Home Secretary cannot see his way to grant the Countess de Markievicz the same concessions as the other Irish Prisoners, who received the same sentence he will, at least allow her a daily visit with an outside friend.' According to entry dated 3 May 1917 a resolution was passed calling 'the attention of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and the Chief Secretary that the order with the object of prohibiting racing, if it applies to the Galway Races, will mean a loss of about £10,000 to the people of Galway, who are already very hard hit by the war, that it will be disastrous to hotels and other public places in Galway....' According to entry dated 7 June 1917 it was unanimously decided to ask the officers commanding at Renmore Barracks to allow the bands of their regiments to play at Eyre Square.' The entry dated 11 April 1918 includes the following resolution 'That we, the members of the Galway Urban District council enter our strongest protest against the passing of the Conscription Bill at present going through the House of Commons as unjustifiable and unwarranted and calculated to cause chaos and confusion in the country where Labour is not sufficient to attend to the needs of the increased tillage going on now.' According to minute dated 1 August 1918, Colonel Arthur Lynch M.P. addressed the meeting on behalf of the Irish Recruiting Council and explained the necessity of having voluntary recruiting carried out in order to obviate the necessity of conscription. According to a resolution passed at the meeting held on 31 October 1918 'Owing to the severe character of the present epidemic of influenza and owing to the wide distribution of the disease all over town amongst women children and adults we would strongly recommend that the Urban Council would use whatever authority it has to have all schools and places of amusement closed for the present.' According to entry dated 21 November 1919 the Government proposed voting a considerable sum of money under the heading of Reconstruction for the building of houses in urban areas and it was decided to bring this matter before the Council.' According to entry dated 30 January 1919 a letter was read from W.R.W. Machie stating that 'he had purchased the Galway Salthill Tramway Co. and proposed running motor busses to Salthill and he would be glad if arrangements could be come to for removal of rails and make good the road.' According to entry dated 6 February 1919 it was proposed 'that we the members of the Galway Urban District Council desire to draw attention of his Majesty's Government to the expediency of adopting proportional representation as the method of conducting municipal elections under the Local Government Act 1898 as we are of opinion it is the fairest method of carrying on these elections. According to entry dated 20 March 1919 Father Davis 'came before the council and pointed out the urgency of providing houses for the working classes in Claddagh...' According to entry dated 10 May 1919 'It was decided to present an address of Welcome to the Irish American Delegates to the peace conference at Paris who were to visit Galway Tomorrow and the address having been drawn up and read was approved of.' According to entry dated 5 June 1919 a 'report of Committee appointed to consider letter from the Local Government Board with reference to Housing Schemes stating they consider the design of houses suggested by the Local Government Board too elaborate for local requirements, and the proposal to have W.C.s inside they consider objectionable. According to entry dated 31 July 1919 'A letter was read from the Irish Unionist Anti-Partition League in reference to Housing Bill and the Council decided that they were in favour of the Scheme already adopted for housing in England and Scotland.' Entry for 17 January 1920 includes a cutting from the Galway Observer detailing the results of the local elections held on 17 January 1920. Entry dated 15 April 1920 states that 'this council desires to place on record our appreciation of the thoroughly efficient orderly and courageous manner in which the allied trades and labour bodies in Galway handled the very difficult and critical situation created by the national strike...that the special thanks of the citizens of Galway are due to the Irish Railway and Postal workers whose patriotic action, contributed so largely to the victory of right over might. That we congratulate the noble men who were prepared to suffer death rather than yield up their principles.' According to entry dated 6 May 1920 the following resolution was passed by the council, 'this council have just learned that the deaths of one hundred noble Irish Patriots are imminent in Wormwood Scrubs Prison and that some prisoners in Galway Jail are also in danger of death, beg to place on record our horror and detestation of the tyrannical English Government which has brought this new system of slow murder into existence after it has deprived the Irish people of all private as well as public liberty.' According to entry dated 3 June 1920 'Walter O'Flaherty submitted designs for houses to be built at Salthill and asked for a certificate under the Housing (Additional Powers) Act 1919. W. Sarsfield also submitted designs for a house at Wood Quay and asked for a certificate.' Entry for 17 June 1920 includes the following resolution "That this Council of the elected representatives of the Galway Urban District Council at a duly convened meeting hereby acknowledges the authority of Dail Eireann as the duly elected Government of the Irish people, and undertakes to give effect to all decrees duly promulgated by the said Dail Eireann in so far as same effects this Council. That copies of this Resolution be forwarded to the Republican Minister for Foreign Affairs for transmission to the Governments of Europe, and to the President and Chairman of the Senate and House of Representatives of the U.S.A. That 30 copies of this resolution be sealed with the Seal of the Council and handed to me for transmission to the proper quarters.'

Bound volume containing the minutes of the proceedings of the Galway Urban Sanitary Authority. Each entry includes the date, attendance, business transacted and some correspondence, many of the entries consist of quotes or summaries of letters received; the vast majority of entries are concerned with the construction and maintenance of sewers. Meetings were generally held at two week intervals on Thursdays. According to entry dated 29 October 1874 the Authority received at letter from 'Local Government Board, dated 24 October, No.22698/1874, acknowledging receipt of the application for the loan of £13500 requested by the Galway Town Commissioners to pay off the debts incurred by them in the existing waterworks and for the extension of the supply to the suburbs.' According to entry dated 20 April 1875 'The sub-sanitary officer handed in a list of the Common Lodging Houses in the Galway Urban Sanitary District numbering in all 61'. Entry dated 29 June 1876 includes a report from the sub-sanitary officer stated that 'he had made an exact measurement of the apartments of the different common lodging houses of the town as directed by the Board. He found the rooms and the approaches to them extremely clean, but in most places the ventilation imperfect.' According to entry dated 10 May 1877 'Dr. Grady reported that he had inspected the premises...situated at the Claddagh and found cesspools convenient to their dwellings which were dangerous to public health.' Report dated 14 June 1877 reports that an investigation found '51 dwelling houses in which no less than 157 animals were kept, and the numbers of cases reported would appear by Dr. Clayton's statement to have been much larger.'