A Child’s History of Ireland – The Museum of Childhood Ireland

by Patrick Weston Joyce

Copy 1.

Patrick Weston Joyce (1827-1914) was one of Ireland’s foremost cultural historians, and the author of a Child’s History of Ireland in the 1890s. Written especially for children, it covers Irish history up until the mid-nineteen century.

It has been carefully preserved and handed down in the McAllister family. Patrick’s daughter Elizabeth married Edward John Clifford ( son of Edward and Frances Jane Mary Anne Clifford, neé McAllister ) and in 1901 we find them in the census at:

http://census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Dublin/Kingstown/Rus_in_Urbe_Terrace/1320759/

In the second copy of the book in the museum’s collection, the inscription inside the back cover is to the original owner of this book, Austin C. Keough. The book was given to him on his return to the United States. (Keough was born in the U.S. and lived in Ireland for a time in his youth, before returning to live there) He served in the U.S. Army during WW I and held positions at Paramount Pictures Corporation as Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary and Director from 1935 until his death in 1955. As an attorney, he was involved in many important cases involving the Motion Picture industry, particularly during the ‘30s and ‘40s.

https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc177297/m1/322/

The MoCI’s first edition copies are covered in green cloth, and stamped in gilt with Celtic typeface and designs. The frontispiece is from The Book of MacDurnan, with numerous illustrations and a folding map of Ireland.