COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN, NEWCASTLE, RATHCOOLE, SAGGART AND BRITTAS AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

MOTION NO. 15

MOTION: Councillor F. Timmons

That this Area Committee calls on SDCC (In light of the upcoming changes in the SDCC civic offices in Clondalkin village) to liaise with the voluntary curator of the Joe Williams Archive in order to arrange for a secure, lockable office in the Clondalkin civic centre for the Joe Williams Archive. Name and contact details of the voluntary curator are available on request.

REPORT:

The housing of the Joe Williams Archive has been the subject of long discussions over a number of years. It was the Council’s understanding that the archive would be housed in a local school however it is believed that this option is no longer available. 

Office space across Clondalkin Civic Offices and County Hall is at a premium and there is no suitable storage facility within these buildings for housing such archives. These buildings are used for the purposes of work and meeting spaces.

Given that the contents of the Joe Williams Archive have previously been a matter of discussion between the Library Service and the custodian of the collection it is recommended that this matter be further progressed with the Library Service.

In the meantime, the library service has digitised a lot of material from Mr. Williams' collection and it is now available on Source, the library’s online local studies resource. Moreover Joe Williams' books have been made available for sale in the retail space at the Round Tower Visitor Centre. Copies are also available in the County Library.