Cuala Press Project, Schooner Foundation

In 2018, the Library of Trinity College Dublin received a private donation from Vin Ryan of original artist-designed, hand-printed, and hand-coloured Cuala Press prints, augmenting the College's existing Cuala Press collection.

Dating from the 1910s, the visual (and textual) content of these prints informs viewers of the workings of the Cuala Press, its directorship under Elizabeth Corbet Yeats, and its artists, many of whom were women. A significant contributor to the Irish Arts and Crafts movement, the aims and objectives of the Press were aligned with the nationalistic tenets of the Irish Revivalist movement, which (re)defined and celebrated Irish identity, culture and heritage.

With the support and funding of the Schooner Foundation, and in partnership with the Library of Trinity College Dublin, the Department of the History of Art and Architecture, and the Trinity Centre of the Book, the Cuala Press Project was established to enable conservation, research and public access to its Cuala holdings. New research is allowing the narrative of the Press, and the Cuala Industries more broadly, to be revisited, revaluated, and restored. The prints produced by the Cuala Press are among the most important graphic works ever produced in Ireland and provide a cornerstone for new scholarship in this area and period.