Marsh's Library
| Leabharlann de Moiréis | |
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Entrance
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 Location within Central Dublin
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| Established | 1707 |
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| Location | St Patrick's Close, Dublin, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°20′20″N 6°16′14″W / 53.338939°N 6.270485°WCoordinates: 53°20′20″N 6°16′14″W / 53.338939°N 6.270485°W |
| Type | public library |
| Key holdings | 80 incunabula |
| Collection size | 26,000 items |
| Founder | Narcissus Marsh |
| Architect | Sir William Robinson |
| Owner | Governors and Guardians of the Library |
| Public transit access | Stephen's Green Luas stop (Green Line) Kevin Street bus stop |
| Nearest car park | Q-Park St Stephen's Green |
| Website | marshlibrary |
Marsh's Library, situated in St. Patrick's Close, adjacent to St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland is a well-preserved library of the late Renaissance and early Enlightenment. When it opened to the public in 1707 it was the first public library in Ireland. It was built to the order of Archbishop Narcissus Marsh and has a collection of over 25,000 books and 300 manuscripts.
The library was built for the Most Rev. Narcissus Marsh, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, and formerly Provost of Trinity College, Dublin. It was long claimed that the Library opened in 1701, but this is untrue. The Cathedral agreed in 1701 to provide a plot of land for a library, but building work only commenced in 1703. The First Gallery and the Old Reading Room seem to have been completed by 1705. The Library was formally established by Act of Parliament in 1707, and the Second Gallery was added during the course of 1708 or 1709.
The design was by the then Surveyor General of Ireland, Sir William Robinson, also the architect of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. Marsh donated his own library, which included the former library of Bishop Edward Stillingfleet, of over 10,000 volumes, regarded as one of the finest in England, which he had bought for 2,500 pounds.
Dr. Elias Bouhereau, a Huguenot refugee from La Rochelle who fled from France after the Revocation of the edict of Nantes, was the first librarian or Keeper, and also donated his personal library.
The Library was formally incorporated in 1707 by Parliament, which vested the house and books in a body known as the Governors and Guardians of the Library, comprising religious and state dignitaries and officials, and their successors still oversee it. Narcissus Marsh died in 1713, and is buried just beyond the library, in the grounds of the cathedral.
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Wikipedia