This section contains the papers which relate to the ffrench family of Rahasane. A series of letters record the relationship between Robert J ffrench and his attorney Brabazon Browne concerning Robert J ffrench's legal and financial affairs. On occasion this was a rather fraught relationship due to Robert's continual financial difficulties. Other papers concern a legal case between the Hennessy family and Robert J ffrench over property, inherited from his great-uncle, Joseph Nagle, in county Cork. The involvement of the Clanmorris [Bingham] family, James Smyth, members of the Blake family and others, in Robert J ffrench's financial affairs is also documented. Most of this section is composed of letters but there are also legal papers and some accounts. It has been divided into 5 subsections, comprised of legal and other papers relating to the Hennessy case and to settlements with the Clanmorris family, letters, accounts and miscellaneous.

This collection consists primarily of drafts of John McGahern published works, it also includes a small amount of correspondence and other material which relate to publication and John McGahern's writing career in general.

The collection includes drafts of all six of John McGahern's published novels as well as drafts of his unpublished novel 'The End or the Beginning of Love'. It also includes drafts of all 37 of his published short stories, and 10 different dramatic pieces, some of which are adaptations of his own work, others of which were never produced. The collection also includes drafts of most but not all of John McGahern's published non-fiction and several drafts of his autobiographical work Memoir . For the purposes of description drafts are characterized as being either handwritten, typescript or faircopy. 'Faircopy' describes any draft that is almost identical to a published piece and contains few if any handwritten amendments. The vast majority of typescript drafts contain handwritten amendments or additions. In many instances drafts are considered partial in that only part of a longer draft has survived or the original draft was of only part of the complete work. Where drafts consisted of a small number of pages, typically ten or less for novels or three or less for short stories they are described as fragments and grouped together with other fragments of the same format and work for the purposes of description e.g. 'Handwritten fragments of Amongst Women '. It is clear from the presence of fragments and from the pagination on drafts that not all drafts of every work survive. Indeed this is true for the vast majority of works. The number of drafts of each work in the collection varies considerably, for example while only two drafts and a number of fragments of the short story 'The Recruiting Officer' are included in the collection, in contrast 15 drafts and a number of fragments of the short story 'Parachutes' are included in the collection. This may of course be a reflection of the different writing processes involved in writing the two stories. The papers are in very good physical condition.

The Lieutenant Governor of the NWP and Oudh confirmed the Nawab of Rampur, Mohamad Mushtaq Ali Khan, on the throne of the State of Rampur in April 1888, after being treated by Freyer for paralysis for over a year. In the previous February Freyer had written a confidential report on the health of the Nawab for the Lieutenant Governor of the NWP and Oudh. In June 1888 the Government of the NWP and Oudh placed Freyer's medical services at the disposal of the Nawab of Rampur, on a temporary basis so that he could accompany General Azim Uddin Khan while recuperating. A contemporary account in the Morning Post of 14 Aug 1888 [see P57/301] describes the return of Freyer and General Azim Uddin Khan from Naini Tal on 30 July and the public dunbar on 6 Aug at which Freyer was presented with a lakh of rupees in appreciation of the medical attention received by the Nawab and the General. By September the Government of the NWP and Oudh, through the office of the Inspector General of Civil Hospitals, were beginning to question the acceptance of such a large gift by a civil surgeon. This escalated into a row between Freyer and the Government, who thought that Freyer should give half his fee to charity and laid down new procedures to be followed in future. In a long letter to Dr Rice, Inspector General of Civil Hospitals, dated 21 Sept 1888, Freyer gives details of his attendance on the Nawab, the former Nawab and on General Azim Uddin Khan over a period of a year and a half. He writes that his services to the Nawab allowed the Nawab to be confirmed on the throne by the Lieutenant Governor in April 1888. It is apparent from this letter however that Freyer was attending General Azim Uddin Khan in June and July 1888 not the Nawab. When the first class civil surgeoncy at Agra became vacant in the spring of 1889, Sir Auckland Colvin, Lieutenant Governor of the NWP and Oudh, refused to promote Freyer, because of his acceptance of the full lakh of rupees against the Government's wishes. Freyer wrote a number of letters arguing his case but Colvin remained adamant so Freyer decided to appeal to a higher authority and eventually sent a memorial to the Secretary of State for India, enclosing copies of the relevant documents [including those nos 1-17, see P57/71-77]. The later correspondence records the Government of India's reply to his memorial. It was ironic that the Marquess of Lansdowne, the Governor General or Viceroy of India 1888-1894, was later to be a regular patient of Freyer's [see introduction to his medical diaries].

Private correspondence (1971-1978, 1987-1994 and 2002-2007) from John and Madeline McGahern, for Niall and Phil Walsh. Literary work at draft, proof, and publication stages by John McGahern. Press cuttings reviews of John McGahern's work, usually enclosed in correspondence from McGahern [but see P102/ 49].

This collection consists of written, printed and photographic archives pertaining to the academic career, and wider historical interests, of Gerard Anthony Hayes-McCoy (1911-1975), historian, and professor of History at University College Galway from 1958

Given the 1923 fire, it is surprising that anything has survived to this time. The collection consists of 23 items, and there is little continuity. The legal material consists of a scattering of deeds from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, mainly deeds of conveyance to the Kirwans, and marriage settlements, and could in no way be seen as a comprehensive record of the family.

The estate management material dates from the 1850s to the 1890s, and consists of the account of the land agent with Denis Kirwan, later his wife and then their daughter. There are also rentals which would have been used by the land agent to record rents received. This material gives a comprehensive picture of the monies they received out of their estate in the later nineteenth century.

The final section of this collection consists of a number of disparate maps and surveys of lands from county Galway over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Some refer to Athenry and the estate of the Birmingham family there, as well as a 1781 map of the property of Francis French on the shore and islands of Lough Corrib. Again there is no sense of original order, and the material does not form a coherent series of records, so they have been listed chronologically.

Typescript of part of later draft of play with a few handwritten amendments entitled "The Power of Darkness" by John McGahern. Also, typescript copy of "The Power of Darkness" by John McGahern, Abbey Theatre Dublin copyright, with a few handwritten amendments.

Literary drafts, of his finished novel and eighteen plays, including adaptations of plays beginning with Chekhov's Seagull. Theatre production files, mostly programmes, promotional material, press reviews, few photographs. Radio and television work, with both adaptations of his plays and original play. Unfinished literary and media work, including novels 'Angela', 'Quirke', television plays; other projects. Administrative records, concerning production and publication of his works, his involvement with The Abbey, and The Field Day Companies. Private correspondence, with fellow playwrights including Tom MacIntyre, Frank McGuinness, and with fellow writers including John McGahern, Seamus Heaney, Seamus Deane. Drama, poetry and prose by other writers. Critical writing about Thomas Kilroy - essays and reviews. Lecture and conference notes. Collected printed material. Photographs, not production-specific.

Three letters between W R Rice and Peter Freyer

Tim and Máiréad Robinson's archive primarily documents the research, mapping and writing work they carried out in the Galway Bay region over a 40 year span. Their focus was self-described as "the ABC of earth-wonders", referring to the Aran Islands, the Burren, and Connemara.

Tim Robinson produced his first map of the Aran Islands in 1975, soon after followed by a map of the Burren uplands in 1977. His survey work is methodically documented in field note-books, tracings with annotations of historical maps of the area, annotated secondary readings, and correspondence with a network of local and subject experts with whom he discussed an expansive range of topics. Having amassed a wealth of information, Robinson went on to speak and write prolifically about these regions. His first major literary work, 'Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage' was published in 1985, with a follow up, 'Stones of Aran: Labyrinth' published in 1996. The archive includes the drafts and research work that went in to crafting these two books.

While working on the 'Stones of Aran' books, Tim and Máiréad moved to Roundstone, and began work on surveying Connemara. In Connemara, literary output pre-dated the production of a map, beginning with the short pamphlet, 'Setting Foot on the Shores of Connemara', which was published in 1981. This was followed by a series of articles in the Connacht Tribune with information on the placenames, folklore, local history and archaeology of South Connemara. These articles appeared from 1983 to 1987, and were later published in the bilingual anthology, 'Camchuairt Chonamara Theas' / 'A Twisty Journey: Mapping South Connemara'. In 1990, the Connemara one-inch map, with accompanying gazetteer was published, the product of an exhaustive survey of the region, which is thoroughly documented in the archive. Tim Robinson was meticulous in the organisation of this information, distilling much of his field research into an index of its townlands.

He later published the Connemara trilogy of books, 'Listening to the Wind' (2006), 'The Last Pool of Darkness' (2008), and 'A Little Gaelic Kingdom' (2011).

Beyond their cartographic and literary output, Tim and Máiréad Robinson also became immersed in the development of their local community, with much of the archive detailing events and exhibitions taking place in Aran and Connemara, and various infrastructure developments taking place in the area from the 1970s - 2000's. They were frequently a lively part of the debate and advocacy work surrounding these events, from proposals for a wind farm on Inis Meáin, to the campaign to save Mullach Mór, and the save Roundstone Bog campaign.