Dolmen Press: the publication of works of literature in Ireland

1960

The Council has previously assisted the publication of Mainie Jellett edited by Dr Eileen MacCarvill, and Songs of the Irish by Dr Donal O’Sullivan. Since the establishment of the Council only one per cent of their funds spent on the arts have gone to literature.

Council Agenda 81st Meeting: 13 December 1960.

In November 1960, Dolmen Press wrote to the Arts Council seeking a grant of £425 towards the publication of Austin Clarke’s collected plays. This first application and subsequent grant for the amount requested marked the start of a long-standing relationship between the Council and the press. It only ended when the publishing and printing firm founded in 1951 by Liam Miller ‘to publish in Ireland the works of Irish authors, as well as works of Irish interest by writers from other countries’ was put into voluntary liquidation in 1987.

Publishing literature

Throughout the 1960s, grants were awarded to Dolmen towards various publications such as illustrations for the essay Yeats and the Noh published in the series of Yeats Centenary Papers, and three volumes of George Fitzmaurice’s plays. The Council also commissioned the Dolmen Press to publish Poems of Emily Lawless and Poems of William Allingham.

Only one application for financial assistance was refused. In 1961, an application towards the designing of a new Gaelic lettering was deemed to fall under the aegis of the Department of Education and not the Arts Council.

In September 1962, at the request of Liam Miller, a press reception was held in the Council’s exhibition room to mark the joint publication of Thomas Kinsella’s Downstream by Oxford University Press and Dolmen Press. John Bell, Chief Editor, Oxford University Press travelled to Dublin for the occasion. Downstream had been selected as the Autumn choice of the Poetry Book Society, London. It was the ‘first occasion on which a second book by a poet has been made a society’s choice. Mr Kinsella’s previous book was the society’s choice for Spring 1958′. Thomas Kinsella was also the winner of the 1961 Poetry Award of the Arts Council.

Supporting Dolmen Press

The Dolmen Press, a small undertaking but one which has gained international recognition and enhanced the prestige of our country, is in imminent danger of collapse owing to financial difficulties. I believe that this would be a great tragedy for Irish culture and I believe, Sir that I should bring the situation to your attention.

Máirin O’ Byrne, City Librarian of Dublin, (in a letter to Éamonn de Valera, President of Ireland) 23 November 1969.

The Arts Council’s support was also manifest at another level. Despite the growth of Dolmen Press over the years and no shortage of projects, its history was marred with financial difficulties.

In 1963, following representations made by the Dublin City Librarian Máirin O’ Byrne to the President of Ireland Éamonn de Valera and subsequently sent on to the Arts Council; Mervyn Wall, Secretary, approached the Calouste Gulbelkian Foundation in London and made a passionate plea on behalf of the Press. This resulted in a loan of £3,000.
On the 2 January 1964, Mervyn Wall also wrote to the Department of Industry and Commerce recommending a trade guarantee to the Dolmen Press – this was refused.
In 1964, a problem arose when the Council’s grant of £425 which was received for the publication of the Plays of Austin Clarke, was placed on the profit side of their accounts and was treated as income for tax purposes. An appeal was placed before the Commissioner of Income Tax, but rejected. The Secretary of the Arts Council gave evidence on behalf of Dolmen Press

By the late 1960s, Dolmen Press had published over 200 books, many of them collectors’ items. However, a pattern of financial difficulties would remain a constant feature at the firm for the next 20 years.

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Letter from Liam Miller of the Dolmen Press to Mervyn Wall, Secretary to the Arts Council.

29 November 1960