Queer archive handed over to national library

SMUGGLED, secretive and frequently soaked in tears, the hidden history of one of the country’s longest human rights struggles finally has a home.

The Irish Queer Archive, an extensive collection of materials chronicling the social, personal and legal history of homosexuality in Ireland, has been handed over to the National Library of Ireland.

The collection, compiled by the National Lesbian and Gay Federation, features more than 250,000 press cuttings, copies of international gay magazines smuggled past the censor in the 1950s, editions of all Irish gay publications, films, photos, diaries, journals, minutes of meetings, flyers, posters and other printed and written material.