Special Collections & Archives has dedicated exhibition spaces on both the ground floor and first floor of the McClay Library. Exhibitions reflect the wide range of books and manuscripts in our collections, as well as showcasing work created by Queen's students and associates. They are curated by a variety of people: SCA staff, Queen's academics and external researchers. This LibGuide will keep you up to date with exhibitions currently running and those from the past year. If you would like further information on any of our exhibitions, please contact us at specialcollections@qub.ac.uk.
Queen’s College Belfast was founded alongside its sister Colleges in Cork and Galway by the passing of the Colleges (Ireland) Act in 1845. The establishment of the Queen’s Colleges was part of the government’s plan to extend university education in Ireland because until then the only university in Ireland was the University of Dublin, Trinity College. The Queen’s Colleges in Ireland were non-denominational and Queen’s, Belfast has remained this way.
The exhibition currently running on the ground floor until 30th May is a display of treasures from the University Archive. It includes the Charter from 1845 that established Queen's College Belfast, student photographs of clubs and societies, administrative records, photographs of Queen's buildings over the years, and the Centenary Stanza from 2008, written by Seamus Heaney.
21st January 2025 - 19th March 2025 McClay Library
An exhibition of books, publications and ephemera from the private library and archive of curator Roberta Bacic. Presentation produced by Helen Maguire.
From the 21st of November to the 4th of December the McClay Library hosted the Turlough Hill Power Station 50th Anniversary Exhibition, sponsored by ESB Archives. This pop-up photographic exhibition told the story of Turlough Hill Station, situated in the Wicklow Mountains, and the feats of engineering achieved in its construction and operation.
To complement this display, an eclectic mix of materials were exhibited on the ground floor of the McClay Library, encompassing both scientific developments in electricity and its broader social and cultural influence.
From the 21st of November to the 4th of December the McClay Library hosted the Turlough Hill Power Station 50th Anniversary Exhibition, sponsored by ESB Archives. This pop-up photographic exhibition told the story of Turlough Hill Station, situated in the Wicklow Mountains, and the feats of engineering achieved in its construction and operation.
To complement this display, an eclectic mix of materials were exhibited on the ground floor of the McClay Library, encompassing both scientific developments in electricity and its broader social and cultural influence.
From the 21st of November to the 4th of December the McClay Library hosted the Turlough Hill Power Station 50th Anniversary Exhibition, sponsored by ESB Archives. This pop-up photographic exhibition told the story of Turlough Hill Station, situated in the Wicklow Mountains, and the feats of engineering achieved in its construction and operation.
To complement this display, an eclectic mix of materials were exhibited on the ground floor of the McClay Library, encompassing both scientific developments in electricity and its broader social and cultural influence.
From the 21st of November to the 4th of December the McClay Library hosted the Turlough Hill Power Station 50th Anniversary Exhibition, sponsored by ESB Archives. This pop-up photographic exhibition told the story of Turlough Hill Station, situated in the Wicklow Mountains, and the feats of engineering achieved in its construction and operation.
To complement this display, an eclectic mix of materials were exhibited on the ground floor of the McClay Library, encompassing both scientific developments in electricity and its broader social and cultural influence.
From the 21st of November to the 4th of December the McClay Library hosted the Turlough Hill Power Station 50th Anniversary Exhibition, sponsored by ESB Archives. This pop-up photographic exhibition told the story of Turlough Hill Station, situated in the Wicklow Mountains, and the feats of engineering achieved in its construction and operation.
To complement this display, an eclectic mix of materials were exhibited on the ground floor of the McClay Library, encompassing both scientific developments in electricity and its broader social and cultural influence.
From the 21st of November to the 4th of December the McClay Library hosted the Turlough Hill Power Station 50th Anniversary Exhibition, sponsored by ESB Archives. This pop-up photographic exhibition told the story of Turlough Hill Station, situated in the Wicklow Mountains, and the feats of engineering achieved in its construction and operation.
To complement this display, an eclectic mix of materials were exhibited on the ground floor of the McClay Library, encompassing both scientific developments in electricity and its broader social and cultural influence.
From the 21st of November to the 4th of December the McClay Library hosted the Turlough Hill Power Station 50th Anniversary Exhibition, sponsored by ESB Archives. This pop-up photographic exhibition told the story of Turlough Hill Station, situated in the Wicklow Mountains, and the feats of engineering achieved in its construction and operation.
To complement this display, an eclectic mix of materials were exhibited on the ground floor of the McClay Library, encompassing both scientific developments in electricity and its broader social and cultural influence.
Between April and June 2024, the McClay Library hosted an exhibition of the Samuel Simms Collection of Medical Texts. On display were 19th and early 20th century texts and monographs, including first and early editions. These covered a range of subjects including paediatrics, surgery, infectious diseases, anatomy and medical biography. The exhibition also included pamphlets and unpublished manuscript material authored by Samuel Simms on a number of topics including the history of medicine in Ancient Greece, the United Irishmen and his lifelong passion for book collecting.
There is also an online version of the exhibition.
To coincide with Black History Month, QUB Special Collections and Archives curated an exhibition highlighting some primary and secondary sources in the library’s holdings pertaining to slavery in the antebellum south, and to the post-Civil War and reconstruction era.
The exhibition drew upon The Smith Collection (MS 54), The Freedmen's Bureau Records (BRFAL) and a selection of books from the McClay Standard Loan Collection.
Please be aware that some of the documents in this exhibition contained language and phrases of the time which may cause offence.
The World Administered By Irishmen: The Life and Times of Robert Hart and Contemporary Irish in East Asia by Robin Masefield was published in 2023 and launched at the McClay Library on 29th September 2023. To accompany the book launch, an exhibition of materials from the Hart Collection (MS 15) was available to view in the McClay Library’s ground floor exhibition area.
A travelling exhibition curated by Dr Ciarán McCabe focusing on one of the most disruptive periods in nineteenth-century Ireland. ‘The Second Reformation and Catholic–Protestant Relations in Pre-Famine Ireland: Bicentennial Perspectives’ brought together unique holdings in the McClay Library to explore a period from the 1820s to 1840s when sectarian hatred, suspicion and rivalries dominated the public sphere, on both national and local levels.
This exhibition celebrated student creativity and the ability to interpret Latin American short stories through textile making. For more information, please read Dr Fiona Clark's accompanying blog.
Lise McGreevy was Queen's University's first ever Visual Artist in Residence, working with SECA (The Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action) until January 2024. In Summer 2024 she presented her exhibition "I am Woman", promoting female equality and diversity, in the ground floor exhibition space of the McClay Library.
Currently running on the first floor of the McClay Library is a display showcasing three periodicals that emerged from Belfast’s cultural scene between the 1970s and the 2000s. The exhibition features Belfast People’s Comic (1977), a short-lived anthology of humorous satirical comics about Northern Ireland in the 1970s, Belfast Review (1982-1986), a literary and cultural journal, and The Vacuum (2003-2014), a satirical take on city life. All three are examples of how Belfast’s creative community have used periodicals over the years to showcase the city’s artistic and literary talent as well as to provide social critiques and alternative perspectives.
Currently running on the first floor of the McClay Library is a display showcasing three periodicals that emerged from Belfast’s cultural scene between the 1970s and the 2000s. The exhibition features Belfast People’s Comic (1977), a short-lived anthology of humorous satirical comics about Northern Ireland in the 1970s, Belfast Review (1982-1986), a literary and cultural journal, and The Vacuum (2003-2014), a satirical take on city life. All three are examples of how Belfast’s creative community have used periodicals over the years to showcase the city’s artistic and literary talent as well as to provide social critiques and alternative perspectives.
Painted by Catherine and Barbara Gage, 1840 - 1850.
Painted by Catherine and Barbara Gage, 1840 - 1850.
A selection of literary magazines and journals held by Special Collections & Archives, displayed on Floor One of the McClay Library. This exhibition highlights the significance of “little magazines” in Ireland, and their ongoing impact on this island’s literary landscape. Along with showcasing literary developments in Ireland, these magazines are a valuable resource in understanding cultural, political and societal trends and concerns throughout the 20th century and into the 21st.
This exhibition showcased a small collection of books compiled by the prodigious Scottish book collector Andrew Gibson (1841-1931). The books generally concern Scottish songs and poetry from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many are written by or concern Robert Burns.
A full listing of the collection can be found here.
A selection of photographs from MS 69 The Desht Collection. In 2006 documentary photographer Martin Desht accepted a teaching residency at Queen’s University Belfast. During this time, he toured Belfast extensively, photographing as he went. The results of this residency became the exhibit A Certain Peace: Acceptance and Defiance in Northern Ireland.
The listing for this collection can be found here.
Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated every year on 27th January. The theme for 2024 was The Fragility of Freedom.
Students taking part in the 'Wrapping Words' course, as part of the final year Spanish language module, had the opportunity to create their own handmade book using the Vigía process studied from the Cuban handmade books in Special Collections.
For more information on the handmade Cuban books held in Special Collections, please see our blog post.
A selection of hand-crafted books, all made between 1994-1996 by Cuban artisans from Ediciones Vigía in Matanzas.
Special Collections & Archives
The McClay Library | Queen's University Belfast | 10 College Park | Belfast | BT7 1LP
028 9097 6333 | specialcollections@qub.ac.uk
Head of Special Collections & Archives: Deirdre Wildy | 028 9097 6218 | d.wildy@qub.ac.uk
