Banned books from Ireland’s room of ‘evil literature’ finally see the light of day
Ireland is transferring 12,000 books once deemed indecent or obscene from a government vault to the National Archives, making censors' records public for the first time.
For almost a century, an Irish government building in Dublin has housed a secret collection of 12,000 books deemed indecent or obscene by authorities. Now, this 'graveyard for condemned literature' is being exhumed as part of the repeal of Ireland's censorship laws.
The entire collection, maintained by the Department of Justice on St Stephen's Green, will be moved to the National Archives. Alongside the books, the censors' notes, minutes and ledgers detailing why each title was banned will be made publicly available for the first time.
Moral guardians
The books were banned by the Censorship of Publications Board, established in 1926 as the Committee of Evil Literature to protect public morals. The five-man panel, sometimes led by a Catholic priest, adopted a broad definition of indecent content, prohibiting works that contravened or subverted public morality.
The censors prohibited works that they saw as contravening or subverting public morality – anything that was seen as unwholesome or suggestive of sexual immorality.
Literary casualties
The banned books room contained works by renowned authors including Harold Robbins, Ian Fleming, Edna O'Brien, Brendan Behan, Oscar Wilde, DH Lawrence, JD Salinger, John Updike, Iris Murdoch and F Scott Fitzgerald. The collection spanned 1926 to 1996 and encompassed pulp fiction, high-brow literature and academic texts.
Titles were banned for various reasons, with references to family planning, contraception and common triggers. The cover of Edna O'Brien's 'The Country Girls' was deemed suggestive due to its depiction of female form, while works like Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' faced restrictions.
Changing attitudes
Many banned books might surprise modern readers, reflecting how societal attitudes have evolved. The censors reviewed material submitted by the public and customs officers, sometimes sourcing books through a subscription to the Times Book Club.
Brian Hughes, a history lecturer at the University of Limerick, noted the contrast between past and present perspectives on literature and morality.
I think people would be very surprised seeing these books or reading some of these books to think that they were banned at all in the first place, because attitudes are quite different now.
Archive access
The periodicals and books will be moved after Christmas to the National Archives, where they will be conserved, catalogued and stored. Many are first editions in vulnerable condition due to age, though McBride noted people could still source them 'online and in all good bookshops'.
The censors' registers and letters from the public have already been transferred and are undergoing conservation. McBride emphasized their value: 'They are the most interesting because they record the decisions and reveal the thinking behind the bans.'
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