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"THE ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF DUBLIN consists of two parts.
 
The First Part gives the information required by all visitors, and indicates which of Dublin's many interesting features are of most importance, should a selection have to be made.
 
The Second Part, the "Dictionary" proper, appeals to residents, to visitors making a long stay, and to those with but little time who want to glran information on special points. It gives, in alphabetical order, a concise, but full, description of everything worthy of mention in the City, and of features of interest within easy reach."
 
- from The Dictionary of Dublin, Preface

Ephraim McDowel Cosgrave (1853 - 1925), was born in Dublin on July 17th, 1853. He was a member of the Royal College of Physcians of Ireland and served as president from 1914-15.

Outside of his profession as a physician, Cosgrave was deeply interested in the history of Dublin. He was one of the principal founders of the Georgian Society and served as the Society's Honorary Secretary. 

Cosgrave became a member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland in 1894, Fellow in 1908, and was a Member of the Council. His collection of lantern slides of Dublin was presented to the Society upon his passing. 

 

The following exhibit provides a selection of images found in Cosgrave's Dictionary of Dublin (published 1908). The exhibit is organized alphabetically and can be navigated using the right-hand sidebar. 

Each image is captioned with the original title in text and page number. Some images include accompanying text from the book. 

A link to an online copy of the Dictionary of Dublin can be found here

 

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This exhibit is developed by the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (RSAI) with contributions from Anna Rowland, Aaron Binchy, Éanna O'Keefe, and Stephanie Chen. 

Established in 1849 the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland is instituted to ‘preserve, examine and illustrate all ancient monuments and memorials of the arts, manners and customs of the past, as connected with the antiquities language, literature and history of Ireland’.

For more information about the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, please visit our website at rsai.ie