The documents listed here are part of a much larger collection of archives of the University of Galway. They are mainly unbound records relating to the office of the Bursar, which were transferred to the Archives Service of the James Hardiman Library for safe-keeping. In particular they cover the years 1870 to 1935. These records, which besides accounts include correspondence, minutes and printed papers, reflect much of the financial administration of the College over a period of 65 years. Some later Library administrative records are also included and documentation relating to St. Angela's College, Lough Gill, co. Sligo from the mid-1970s.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 31 July 1845 the House of Commons passed an Act 'to enable Her Majesty to endow new colleges for the advancement of learning in Ireland'. This Act 8&9 Victoria, cap. 66 (1845) provided for the founding of the Queen's University with three colleges to be situated in Belfast, Cork and Galway. Queen's College Galway was incorporated by Letters Patent, dated 30 December 1845. The College was built in 1848 from cut limestone in the Gothic style and opened for students on 30 Oct 2849. In 1850 the College was a Corporate Body made up of the Presidents and Professors and the general administration of the College was vested in the Council, whose members were the President and six professors elected by the Corporate Body. There were three officers of the College, the Registrar, Bursar and Librarian.
During the next fifty years various measures were proposed to make university education more acceptable to the majority of the Irish people. For example, Gladstone's Bill of 1873, which ironically proposed the closure of the College at Galway [See BU/B/169]. This Bill was defeated at its second reading. By the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 the Queen's University was dissolved on 3 Feb 1882 and in its place the Royal University, which was primarily an examining body, would be more acceptable to Catholics by the appointment of Catholic fellows and the awarding of degrees to candidates from any institution inside or outside Ireland. In fact the founding of the royal university did not alter the status of QCG but it had a detrimental effect, in that it was no longer necessary for students to be resident in a college to prepare for examinations or degrees, except in the case of medicine. The corporate unity of the College was lost and numbers declined. The Robertson Commission of 1901-1903 provided valuable evidence about the state of higher education in Ireland but did not lead to any changes. The Bill compiled by James Bryce, Chief Secretary, 1905-1906, was also strongly rejected but his successor as Chief Secretary, Augustine Birrell, proposed the basis for the Irish Universities Act of 1908, which provided for two teaching universities in Ireland, in addition to TCD. Queen's College, Belfast, became a separate university and the National University composed of three constituent colleges at Cork, Galway and Dublin was established. On the financial front this Act relegated University College Galway to an inferior position, where previously it had been on a par with the other colleges. The Dublin Commissioners, who were empowered to make the first Statutes for the governing of the colleges, were critical of the Government's endowment of the Galway College considering it insufficient for the operation of a constituent college of the National University of Ireland [see BU/D/9].
Under the charter of 20 Dec 1908 the first Governing Body of UCG was nominated. the Governing Body replaced the Corporate Body and held office for three years. Its members consisted of three Crown nominees, representatives of the National University Senate, the Academic Council, the graduates, the county councils of Connacht and Clare and the Urban Council of Galway. Another three members were co-opted and the President was an ex-officio member. The Governing Body appointed the Standing Committee, the Finance Committee and the Library Committee. The Academic Council was made up of the President and Professors, excepting the Emeritus professors, and lecturers could be co-opted.
The number of students attending the College began to rise after 1908 but the lack of financial resources continued to limit the expansion of the College. Much lobbying on behalf of the College by its staff over a number of years, culminated in a conference on the College in early 1926 [See BU/D/26-27]. As a result of this conference government support for further funding for UCG and the promotion of the Irish language at the College was forthcoming, despite much opposition from the Minister for Finance, Ernest Blythe [See BU/D/28]. On 17 Dec 1929 the University College Galway Act was passed. his as 'An Act to make provision for increasing the annual grant payable to UCG and for securing that persons appointed to offices and situations in that College shall be competent to discharge their duties through the medium of the Irish language'. In the succeeding years the teaching of many subjects through Irish was established. Special scholarships for students from Gaeltacht areas encouraged native Irish speakers to seek third-level education. Student numbers rose gradually and by 1949 the College had an annual income of £79,580 with an expenditure of £76,271. Twenty years later these figures had multiplied by ten [See BU/A/84].
COLLEGE FINANCE
The Original Grant to the College for the payment of the salaries of the President, Vice-President, professors, office-holders and minor officers and for the payment of scholarships to students was £7,000, which by 1862 had to be applied for in equal quarterly payments. [See BU/B/4]
