Corr Collection MS 65
The Corr Collection MS 65 is a small collection of documents and artefacts from the Corr family archive. It was generously donated by James G. May to Special Collections and Archives, Queen’s University Belfast in 2018.
The listing for this manuscript collection is available on the Special Collections & Archives webpages and we welcome consultation enquiries.
Special Collections Reading Room
Who were the Corrs?
In the period around 1916 the Corr family, from Belfast’s Ormeau Road, played significant roles in seminal events of the time, including the Easter Rising, the Irish revolutionary period post 1916, and the First World War. Elizabeth and Nell were members of Cumann na mBan and Henry a member of the Irish Volunteers. Their brothers George and Charles fought in the First World War for the Australian and Canadian armies. The collection pertains mainly to Elizabeth Corr.
Some information on Elizabeth is available on the website A Century of Women and in The Women of Belfast Cumann na mBan Easter Week and After, by Margaret Ward.
The Corr Family – Witnessing History Exhibition
The items in this collection featured in The Corr Family – Witnessing History exhibition which ran at the Linen Hall Library in April 2016, and at the Ulster Museum in July-August 2016.
Images and video footage from the exhibition at the Ulster Museum is available to view in this July 2016 Irish News article: Different roads taken by family during 1916 to be focus of new Ulster Museum exhibition. The exhibition was also highlighted in this BBC article of March 2016: A Belfast family took part in the Rising and the Somme.
The images below are taken from the 4 page leaflet which accompanied the exhibition.
Consulting the Collection
Special Collections is open to anyone who wishes to make use of our resources. Information on access for QUB card holders and visitors is available on our webpages.