| Collection Description | Helen M. Roe was born in Mountrath in Co. Laois in 1895. After attending the local
national
school
and Preston School in
Abbeyleix, Roe completed a degree in modern languages in Trinity College Dublin. After
teaching
for a number of years,
her love of books brought her into contact with the Carnegie Trust, and she became Laois’
first
county librarian. She
established and developed the County Library Service between 1926 and 1939.
Roe was passionate about folklore, medieval history and archaeology. She published
widely
in
these fields and became a
leading member of the Royal Antiquaries of Ireland, before becoming the first woman
elected
President of the Society in
1965. The Society also named its lecture theatre the Helen Roe Lecture Theatre in her
honour.
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