For World Book Day, in Castlebar Library on Thursday 5th March @ 7.30pm: Author & Librarian Pat Walsh will discuss his recently published book “The Curious Case of the Mayo Librarian”.

The selection of the Mayo county librarian in 1930 should have been uneventful. It was hardly a controversial post and should have been a routine appointment. In July 1930, Letitia Dunbar Harrison was chosen by an interview panel for the post of Mayo county librarian. However, Mayo County Council refused to endorse her appointment, defying a specific instruction from the Local Government Department. The choice led to a conflict that had national consequences. It set church against state, county council against government department and even members of the same political party against each other. Such was the heat generated by the dispute that it almost brought down the Cumann na nGaedheal government.

The author of a new book on the subject,Pat Walsh will attempt to answer this question as he tells the story of “The Curious Case of the Mayo Librarian” The library will also put on display, for the first time, the minutes of the hugely acrimonious council meeting that lead to the controversy.
All are welcome for what should be an intriguing and “curious” night.