DOI: 10.7925/drs1.ucdlib_38697
title: Papers of the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee

description: This collection comprises the papers and correspondence of the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee. The Committee was formed to raise funds to create a memorial to Kevin Barry (20 January 1902–1 November 1920). Barry, a medical student at University College Dublin, was executed for his part in an ambush which resulted in the deaths of three British Army officers. The Committee commissioned Harry Clarke Stained Glass Limited to create a stained glass window dedicated to Kevin Barry and the other students and graduates of University College Dublin who lost their lives in the struggle for Irish Independence. The window, designed by Richard King, was erected in Earlsfort Terrace and unveiled on 1 November 1934. In 2010, the window was conserved, restored and relocated in the Charles Institute at Belfield, the current campus of University College Dublin.
description: Biographical/historical information: Kevin Barry (20 January 1902–1 November 1920) was a medical student at University College Dublin and a member of the 'H' Company of the Irish Volunteers. He was arrested by the British Army during the war of independence for his part in an ambush on a British Army vehicle which resulted in the deaths of three British officers. He was subsequently charged with murder for his part in the ambush and was executed by hanging on 1 November 1920 at eighteen years of age. Shortly after his death, the Student’s Representative Council of University College Dublin agreed that a memorial should be erected in his honour, funded by students and graduates of the university. A committee was formed to appeal to graduates of University College Dublin for funds to create the memorial. Through the collection of subscriptions and the sale of mortuary cards, the Kevin Barry Memorial Fund gathered the sum of £100 to pay for the project. Following this initial period, there was a lull in activities and the money already collected rested with the trustees of the fund. Interest in erecting a memorial was renewed in 1929 when the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee, also referred to as the Kevin Barry Memorial Fund, was re-established, almost a decade following Barry's execution. The committee featured members such as John V. Bourke, secretary of the committee, Richard McA. O’Rahilly (who appears within the collections as The O’Rahilly or Ua Rathghaille), Desmond C. Bell, William P. Fay, Kevin Mangan, John Kent, G.P.S. (Sarsfield) Hogan, Tadhg Forbes (Mac Firbishigh/Mac Fir Bhishigh), Tadhg O'Neill, Patrick Donovan, (Pádraig O Donnobhán), R.J. McHugh and Patricia Browner. Following delays by the Governing Body of University College Dublin in granting permission for the project and debates surrounding the most appropriate form the memorial might take, it was decided to commission Harry Clarke Stained Glass Limited to create a stained glass window dedicated to Kevin Barry and the other students and graduates of University College Dublin who lost their lives in the struggle for Irish Independence. The window was designed and worked in double-glazed glass by Richard King, a contemporary of Harry Clarke. The window was to feature eight scenes from Irish history and the struggle for independence. Among the scenes and events represented in the window are the death of Cuchulain; the mortal combat between Turlough, son of Brian Borumha, and the Dane; the capture of Red Hugh O'Donnell; the blowing up of William of Orange's siege train in 1690 by Patrick Sarsfield and Michael 'Galloping' Hogan; the arrest of Lord Edward Fitzgerald; the Battle of New Ross in 1798; the 1916 Easter rebellion and a large scale figure of Kevin Barry. Although the committee experienced lengthy delays and financial setbacks, the window was erected in Earlsfort Terrace and was unveiled on 1 November 1934, on the fourteenth anniversary of the execution of Kevin Barry. In 2010, following the final complete evacuation of the Earlsfort Terrace site by UCD, it was removed from its original location, conserved, restored and placed in the Charles Institute at Belfield, the current campus of University College Dublin.
description: Scope and content: Correspondence: Correspondence relating to the activities of the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee including the subscription campaign, the design of the stained glass window and the unveiling ceremony. The correspondence primarily involves John V. Bourke, secretary of the committee, March 1930–June 1935.
description: Scope and content: Minutes: Minutes of meetings of the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee, containing details of membership, decisions, and discussions of the committee; with loose pages of notes relevant to the content of the minutes, November 1920–November 1934.
description: Scope and content: Reports and Related Material: Reports produced by the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee concerning application for approval for the memorial from the Governing Body of University College Dublin, the history of the committee and decisions regarding the stained glass window. Also contains the text of an interview with an unidentified member of the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee concerning its history and the disposal of funds, 1926–33.
description: Scope and content: Approval of the Governing Body, University College Dublin: Documents relating to application for permission to erect the memorial dedicated to Kevin Barry from the Governing Body of University College Dublin, February–March 1932.
description: Scope and content: Subscriber Lists: Typescript and manuscript lists of subscribers to the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee featuring the names of individuals, short addresses and subscription amounts, 1930–4.
description: Scope and content: Design of the Stained Glass Memorial Window: File of notes and illustrations pertaining to the development of the design of the stained glass window by Richard King of Harry Clarke Stained Glass Limited including the selection of scenes to be depicted in the piece, 1932–4.
description: Scope and content: Newspaper Cutting and Press Coverage: Newspaper cuttings concerning the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee and the erection of the stained glass window. Also present is an extract from a university magazine discussing the memorial, March 1931–December 1933.
description: Scope and content: Unveiling Ceremony of the Memorial: File relates to the unveiling ceremony of the Kevin Barry memorial window at Earlsfort Terrace, University College Dublin, 1934.
description: Scope and content: Printing and Postage Expenses: File of receipts, delivery dockets and manuscript accounts concerning printing and postage expenses incurred by the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee, October 1932–November 1934.
description: Scope and content: Letter from Thomas Murphy to John V. Bourke: File contains a singular letter which does not form part of the original correspondence of the Kevin Barry Memorial Committee but relates to the proposed transfer of the window from Earlsfort Terrace to Belfield, 19 December 1973.
description: Date details: The majority of the collection dates from the period 1920 to 1934. One letter in the collection dates from 1973.
description: Ownership/custodial history: Purchased by the UCD Student’s Centre at a sale organised by Mealy Auctioneers, July 2014.