The Cuala Press was a private press established by Elizabeth Yeats in 1908, with support from her
brother William Butler
Yeats. The Press played an important role in the Celtic Revival of the early 20th century. Founded as Dun
Emer Press, it
operated as Cuala Press from 1908 until the late 1940s, promoting Irish writers like Yeats, Lady Gregory,
John
Millington Synge, and Oliver St John Gogarty.
A collection of cards representing some of the rarest of Cuala Press productions from the 1910s to the 1950s. Printed
in outline from zinc blocks, many cards are individually hand-coloured by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats, or by other Cuala
staff under her supervision; many of the cards have the quality of original watercolours. Commissioned from leading
contemporary Irish artists, many of them women, the designs show typical west of Ireland landscapes or scenes from
the Christmas story. All are printed on Irish paper specially made for the Cuala Press at the Saggart mill near Dublin.
Although large numbers of these cards were issued, they are by their very nature ephemeral and very few examples
remain, especially in this condition. A collection of the finest work of this distinguished hand-press, run by the Yeats
sisters with the help of their brothers Jack and W.B. [QUB Listing]
Some of the information listed from this repository has been extracted by the Women's History Project
from lists available in the library. It must be remembered that due to time constraints, not
all items in this repository were examined individually. We are grateful for the assistance
provided by Mary Kelly, librarian.