To assist interested readers in doing their own research (or indeed checking the veracity of the sometimes hard-to-believe stories featured on this blog), here is a list of relevant sources:-
- Newspapers
- Books
- journals
- Digital Images
- Newspapers
The newspaper stories on this blog have been sourced through the British Newspaper Archive. This is a subscription-only website allowing speedy searching of 18th, 19th and some 20th century Irish and British newspapers.
Remember that newspaper stories from this period (any period?) may not always be entirely accurate. One should always bear in mind the widely repeated story of how Judge Keogh tried to murder his valet in Bingen-on-the-Rhine in 1878 – something still disputed by members of the Keogh family.
If you do not have access to the British Newspaper Archive, the Bar of Ireland and most third level institutions offer free access to the Irish Times Digital Archives. Irish Times online subscribers also have access to these archives as part of their subscription.
There is also another subscription website, Irish Newspaper Archives, which covers Irish newspapers up to and including the entire of the 20th century and is therefore of particular assistance in respect of more recent research.
2. Books
The Internet Archive is an unparalleled free resource for old books. On this non-profit website which allows you to not only search for a book, but search for specific words and phrases within books, you can find copies of many out-of-copyright books including reminiscences of Irish barristers and judges, accounts of famous Irish trials, and old tourist guides.
The occasional recent publication on Irish legal history, such as Osborough’s ‘Explorations in Law and History’ is available to borrow free of charge if you sign up as a member, again at no cost.
3. Journals
The excellent Dublin Historical Record, along with a number of other journals, is available at JSTOR – an online resource offered by most third level institutions. JSTOR can also be accessed by Law Library members from within the Law Library premises.
4. Digital Images
The following websites have many beautiful images of the Four Courts:
Dublin City Council Digital Archive
South Dublin County Council Digital Archive
University College Dublin Digital Library
National Museum (recommended search word: courts)
The National Library also has many images of Irish lawyers and judges.
If I cannot find images from the above links to illustrate my posts, I often use one of the many 19th century illustrations available on Getty Images or Alamy.
It goes without saying that no payment, sponsorship, benefit-in-kind or otherwise has been offered by any website in return for this post, nor would any be accepted if offered!
