01.05.2015
RCB Library Archive of the Month – 1962 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the Influence of a Former Librarian
The May 2015 online exhibition at the RCB Library via the Archive of the Month slot focuses on the topic of pilgrimage to the Holy and a specific library connection. Featured is the digitized copy of a journal written in 1962 by a member of the diocese and lay reader, Patricia Ledbetter (now Smyth and pictured right). As a young student Patricia travelled to Jerusalem and environs, via Holyhead, London, Frankfurt and Beirut, in September of that year, and this unusual journal records her travels and their impact.
Through the centuries, the Holy Land has drawn millions of pilgrims of the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They visit the holy places central to their beliefs – connecting them to their respective faiths in a physical and personal way, and we previously demonstrated one such visit during the late 19th century, with the digitization of a collection of lantern slides that commenced at sea off the coast of the town of Jaffa, available at this permanent link: http://ireland.anglican.org/about/136 Each visit is distinctive and for every person fortunate enough to go on such a journey, it can be a life–changing experience.
So it was forPatricia who accompanied the then Librarian of the RCB, Miss Geraldine Fitzgerald, on her Holy Land journey. Initially they travelled by boat from Dun Laoghaire on 10 September 1962, and then onward by train to London. At the Victoria Station Air Terminal, they joined 30 other ‘British and Irish pilgrims’ including the group leader, the Rt Revd Roderic Coote (1915–2000) –suffragan bishop of Fulham 1956–65 (and formerly curate of St Bartholomew’s, Dublin 1938–41). From London the group flew to Frankfurt, and then to Beirut, before an onward flight to ‘Jerusalem Airport’, arriving on Wednesday 12 September 1962, where the young traveller ‘was nearly blinded by the white light of the sun’.
The full digitized copy of Patricia Ledbetter’s Holy Land pilgrimage charts the story of an influential journey of discovery and excitement for the young woman, with boat, rail, and flight travel, as well as her first encounter with the geo–political realities underpinning everyday life in this region. She had entrusted it to Miss Fitzgerald shortly after their return for comment and correction and on a recent visit to the Library as Mrs Patricia Smyth, the author was enchanted to discover that the journal had been kept safe and accessioned as a manuscript, in 1963.
This source is now available for consultation online as this month’s Archive of the Month via the Church of Ireland website. The online exhibit includes background about the journey and the inspiring influence of Miss Fitzgerald, Librarian of the RCB Library, 1932–1966, including a detailed list of correspondence, papers, photographs, press–cuttings and printed material assembled by Patricia Ledbetter for a biographical study of Miss Fitzgerald, and the relationship between the two. In particular, they document Miss Fitzgerald’s role as a mentor and ‘grinder of students’ including Patricia at Trinity College Dublin, as well as providing a detailed account of her life and in particular her dedicated role and contribution as the library for the Church of Ireland, for which she was awarded an honorary MA degree by Trinity College Dublin in 1962 – the same year as she accompanied Patricia to the Holy Land.
For the online exhibit, digitized journal and further background, please see this link: www.ireland.anglican.org/library/archive