Madam, – Minister of State Martin Mansergh is to be congratulated for enabling a long sought-after solution to the future of the Bolton Library of Cashel whereby, as announced last month, it will pass into the care of the Office of Public Works and Marsh’s Library,with academic direction provided by Limerick University (Home News, June 1st). The library has been a lost soul for many decades, and we can now look forward to it enriching the visitor experience of Cashel.
Inside the Chapter House beside the Church of Ireland Cathedral lie the thoughts, words and deeds of mankind of 2,500 years. From beautiful editions of Homer and Herodotus, Plato and other Greek authors, a despairing letter from a citizen of Athens to the Roman Emperor pleading for fair treatment of Christians, to Bede and the early Christian writers through to Erasmus and on to Newton, Halley and Boyle and not least a Geographical Survey of Ireland printed in Dublin in 1840 starkly warning of the disastrous effects of continued and repetitive planting of potato crops.
This exceptional collection of literature also tells the story of the evolution of early cuneiform and hieroglyphics to phonetics and the alphabet, the development of papyrus and vellum to paper, and early archives and libraries. And not least the invention of printing which so dramatically increased the spread of knowledge, an event represented at the Bolton by some outstanding incunabulae. Perhaps it is this story of the evolution of the recorded word, integral to our culture and civilisation, which the Board of Public Works and Marsh’s Library may work together to present to the visitor, providing a memorable impression of this jewel which has lain hidden for so long in Cashel? – Yours, etc,