Thousands of books once banned by State to go on view

A collection of 12,000 books that were once banned by the State is to be transferred to the National Archives and made available for public viewing.

The books, which are currently housed in the Department of Justice, are being moved as part of the repeal of censorship laws.

Among the collection are some well-known works by authors Edna O'Brien and Brendan Behan, along with thousands of other works that were once deemed indecent or obscene.

The ledgers, which outline the individual reasons why each book was banned, will also be available for public viewing for the first time.

The room housing the material is deep within the department, and outside visitors are rarely, if ever, allowed in.

"This room houses a collection of materials that were banned under censorship legislation," says Dr Brian Hughes, a lecturer in the Department of History at Mary Immaculate College.

"The origins of the legislation date back to the 1920s and the Committee on Evil Literature."

It is known as the 'Banned Books Room'.

The books, dating from the 1930s until 1996, were all banned at one stage and deemed to be either obscene or indecent.

"The general public would recommend publications for review, which required sending copies to the Board. They would also receive copies of books that had been seized at customs for review," Mr Hughes says.

"Very early in the board's history, in the 1930s, it took out a subscription to the Times Book Club as a means of getting access to material that it could then review and make a decision on, or make a recommendation to the minister on."

Among the collection are some well-known works: 'Borstal Boy' by Brendan Behan, 'The Country Girls' by Edna O'Brien, and 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' by D.H. Lawrence.

However, it is the more obscure books that dominate the shelves - 'The Hygiene of Marriage', 'Make Me a Star' and 'The Complete Husband'.

"You see these books that we all know and are very familiar with, but then there are the very obscure books. That's the piece I think will be interesting for people," says Orlaith McBride, Director of the National Archives.

"There's one that I picked out here, which is 'Love and Life: An Outspoken Guide to a Happy Marriage'. This was confiscated in Waterford in 1932. Obviously, somebody brought it in on a boat."

Also being transferred to the archives are the ledgers that explain why each individual book was banned. They will soon be available for public viewing for the first time.

"It was mostly to do with indecency, mostly to do with sex really, because it was about public morality. The Catholic Church was very influential," says Ms McBride.

"Divorce, abortion, sex, immorality, all of it. But there would also have been violence."

"What's really interesting about the records is, for example, John McGahern's 'The Dark' or Edna O'Brien's 'The Country Girls'.

"We know they were banned. But why were they banned? Now, for the first time, you'll get a sense of the thinking behind the decisions that were taken by the board," she says.

Mr Hughes says the books and their banning reflect a different time.

"I think attitudes in society have changed very significantly. So there's no reason anymore for any of these books to be considered banned.

"I think people would be very surprised, seeing or reading some of these books, that they were banned at all in the first place because attitudes are quite different now.

"I think it shows that Ireland is a much more secular society because we can very clearly see, in the early years of the Censorship of Publications Act, the influence of the Church on decisions being taken by the State, particularly in terms of legislation that was being introduced," says Ms McBride.

"Now, 100 years later, what you can see is an absolute separation in that regard."