Pictured at a gathering of Dunedin's Scottish community are, from left, Professor Liam McIlvaney (Stuart Chair in Scottish Studies) with Bruce Spittle (representing the Dunedin Burns Club), and Dr Royden Somerville KC (representing the Otago Scottish Heritage Council).
A gathering of Dunedin’s Scottish community was held in the Reading Room of Mātai Airana, Mātai Kotirana - Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies (CISS) last week.
Representatives from the Caledonian Society of Otago, the Dunedin Burns Club, the Dunedin-Edinburgh Sister City Society, Clan Mackenzie and the Otago Heritage Council were welcomed by CISS Co-Directors Professors Liam McIlvanney and Maebh Long.
The visitors enjoyed afternoon tea as they perused the taonga of the Reading Room. This space on the University campus is now the repository of the Scottish and Irish holdings of the National Library of New Zealand, as part of the Library’s divestment of its non-NZ holdings in 2020.
The Reading Room also contains important Scottish and Irish books gifted by the Dunedin Burns Club, as well as donations from the libraries of Professor Dame Linda Holloway and Professor Ian Jamieson, among others.
Liam says he and Maebh were pleased to host the event in this special space, which they hope will encourage more visitors to enjoy these literary treasures and the wider Centre.
“This Centre provides an opportunity to study the literature, history, politics and culture of Ireland and Scotland – and of the Irish and Scottish diasporas – over the past 300 years,” Liam says.
“We are really committed to sharing these resources with as many people in the community as possible and encourage anyone with an interest to get in touch.”
The collection has been professionally shelved by CISS PhD student Sara Brown and her husband Rhys Thorn, an Information Resources Librarian at Otago. Liam says their work is vital to ensuring this valuable collection is able to be used to its full potential.
The Reading Room also contains the trophy cabinet and honour board of the Caledonian Society of Otago, along with Irish and Scottish artworks.
Professor Maebh Long (Eamon Cleary Chair of Irish Studies) speaks with Chris Watts (representing the Dunedin-Edinburgh Sister City Society).
Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies
The Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies provides an opportunity to study the literature, history, politics and culture of Ireland and Scotland – and of the Irish and Scottish diasporas – over the past three hundred years.
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