Scope and Content
Material relating to his undergraduate career at University College Dublin (1926–30) and postgraduate research at the University of London (1930–33); to his appointment to a lectureship (1938) and to the chair (1943) of Modern Irish History in UCD; to the teaching of history in the college and the administration of his department including correspondence with colleagues and students (1936–73); to his involvement with staff representative bodies (1960–71), the Academic Council Committee of Enquiry appointed to report on the background to student disturbances in the college (1968–9), and student societies and organisations including the Students’ Representative Council, the Literary & Historical Society, the History Society and the Irish University History Students’ Association (1930–74).
Material relating to his involvement with historical and scholarly organisations and bodies including
Bureau of Military History (1945–60): the operation and closure of the Bureau.
Irish Manuscripts Commission (1938–69): minutes, reports, correspondence, publication projects, surveys and the work of sub-committees.
Irish Historical Society (1934–72): programmes of meetings and the publication of Irish Historical Studies including records from Edwards’ periods as an officer of the society and joint editor of the journal.
Irish Committee of Historical Sciences (1934–71): minutes and reports, proposals for research and publication projects, the proposed establishment of an institute for historical research, the publication of the Bulletin of the ICHS, and the organisation of the Irish Conference of Historians.
Irish Catholic Historical Committee (1951–74): establishment and organisation; Edwards’ role as secretary; minutes, arrangements for meetings, research and publication projects including publication of Proceedings, surveys of archives, conferences.
Dublin Historical Association (1956–80): minute book of meetings.
Material relating to his role as an expert witness on the historical background to several fisheries cases before the High Court (1928–63); to his various research and lecturing trips abroad, including reports on archives, particularly in Rome (1952) and the United States (1961–2).
200 files of correspondence (1931–73) with individuals, mainly academic contemporaries; orders, congregations and individual religious, both at home and abroad; and with Irish and foreign organisations, associations and bodies including government departments, learned societies, universities, archives services, libraries and publishers.