In 1821 the name Dunleary was changed to Kingstown after King George IV’s visit to this bustling and rapidly developing town. In 1920 it was officially given the name Dún Laoghaire, referring back to the original Irish name for Dunleary. It was a deliberate political act during the War of Independence.

In 2019 dlr Libraries acquired nearly 700 postcards of the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area from the sale of the Seamus Kearns Collection of Postcards. These images form the basis of a publication entitled What’s in a Name? Dun Leary – Kingstown – Dún Laoghaire: A Visual History, an accompanying online exhibition and a series of talks and videos to mark the centenary of the name change. In addition, a Primary Schools resource featuring five Lesson Plans for teachers has been prepared by Séamus Cannon and Ríonach O Callaghan in association with Blackrock Education Centre 

Exhibition and publication curated and edited by David Gunning, dlr Archivist in Residence, Nigel Curtin, Local Studies Librarian and dlr LexIcon Librarian Marian Thérèse Keyes

Funding will be used to expand the breadth of this project, which has already been funded through the Decade of Centenaries Programme.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.