Mahoney Book Collection to bring more than 1,400 books to SXU library
Dedication was held on Mon., March 11 at 10 a.m.
Saint Xavier University hosted the dedication of the Mahoney Book Collection at 10 a.m. on Mon., March 11 in the Bishop Quarter Room of the Robert and Mary Rita Murphy Stump Library.
The Mahoney Collection is dedicated in memory of Thomas O’Mahoney (1893 to 1985) by his son, Thomas F. Mahoney, Jr. The collection consists of more than 1,400 books on Irish culture, fiction, history, literature, politics, and society.
The Collection features a particularly strong selection of books about the struggle for Irish independence, a wide variety of Irish fiction from authors including John Banville, Maeve Binchy, Christy Brown, and many more, as well as numerous works of criticism of Irish authors (particularly James Joyce). The oldest books in the collection are “Life of Daniel O’Connell, The Liberator” and “Life, Opinions, Conversations and Eloquence of Daniel O’Connell: with a Preliminary Sketch of Irish History,” both published in 1872. One of the rarest items in the collection is “A Child’s History of Ireland,” written by Patrick Weston Joyce in 1898. Only ten libraries in the world have a copy of the original edition.
Thomas O’Mahoney was born in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland in 1893. He emigrated to America in 1913 and spent over forty years as a switchman and yard conductor on the Grand Trunk Railroad. Mr. O’Mahony participated in the sport of hurling for almost twenty years for the McSweeney’s and the Harry Bolands. He married Margaret Grace Curran, and they had two children, Thomas and Patricia.
Thomas F. Mahoney, Jr., graduated from Leo High School in Chicago in 1954, received a B.A. in English from Saint Joseph’s College, and received a juris doctorate from Loyola University. He is a Navy veteran and served as a corporate attorney for many years before retiring in 1996.
For more information, please contact the Library at (773) 298-3352.
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