Lynn Doyle Collection

Libraries NI, Belfast Central Library |

Lynn Doyle or Lynn C. Doyle were both pseudonyms for the writer Leslie Alexander Montgomery (1873-1961). The collection held at Belfast Central Library is his complete archive. The collection consists of records ranging from financial, broadcasts and lectures, manuscripts of his works right through to personal correspondence, photographs, documentation on land leases, wills and legal documents.

Leslie A. Montgomery was born in Downpatrick, County Down. He became a clerk in the Northern Bank in Belfast and was later transferred to Skerries County Dublin as a Bank Manager. He was part of the Ulster Literary Theatre movement. He wrote more than twenty books, many of them set in a fictious northern village called Ballygullion. They are of a humorous nature and are said to reflect, with reasonable accuracy, life in East Ulster at that time. The first book in the Ballygullion series was published in 1908 and the last in 1957. He also wrote "Love and Land", 1913; "The Summons", 1918; "The Lilac Ribbon", 1919; "The Turncoats", 1922 amongst others. Montgomery was one of the first writers appointed to the "Censorship of Publications Board" in 1937. However he resigned soon afterwards saying it was "so easy to read only the passages, so hard to wade through the whole book afterwards". He wrote an autobiography entitled: "An Ulster Childhood" in 1954. In later life he was in demand as a lecturer.

Physical characteristics

The Lynn Doyle Collection consists of 30 archival boxes. It covers such topics as finance, broadcasts & lectures, manuscripts, essays, short stories, poetry, personal correspondence, photographs, land leases, wills and legal documents.

Description or Catalogue

Itemised hand list in each box.

Collection Dates

Created

1732

1961

Additional Details

Name(s)

Doyle, Lynn, 1873-1961

Subjects

Literature

Geographic Coverage

Ireland

Languages

English

Custodial Information

Legal Status

Libraries NI have legal owership of this collection. All enquiries regarding access and permissions should be directed to Libraries NI.

Accrual

Accrual Policy

Closed

Accrual Method

Purchase

Accrual Periodicity

Closed

Added by Libraries NI | Last updated on: 24 May 2018

Location

Access

The material may be consulted at Belfast Central Library. Enquiries should be made to the Local History Department on the second floor. The material is for reference only. An appointment is not necessary.

Collector

Montgomery, Leslie Alexander (1873-1861)

Private collector and Novelist

Leslie Alexander Montgomery (1873-1961) was better known as the popular novelist Lynn Doyle. He was well known as the author of the series concerned with Ballygullion, a ficticious village in East Ulster. Montgomery worked as a Bank Manager for the Northern Banking Company in Skerries, County Dublin. He was most productive as a writer in his sixties. He was one of the first writers appointed to th...

Find out more

Owner

Libraries NI

Public Library Service

The Northern Ireland Library Authority (Libraries NI) was established in April 2009 as a result of the Review of Public Administration. Libraries NI has the statutory responsibility for the provision of public library services in Northern Ireland. Its functions are laid down in the Libraries Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. It is a Non Departmental Public Body which reports to the Department of Cultur...

Find out more

Similar Collections

Milltown Collection

Houses of the Oireachtas Library

The collection is particularly notable for the Journals of the pre-Union House of Commons and House of Lords in Ireland. There is a considerable number of 18th century publications relating to the governance of England and Ireland - statutes, votes and parliamentary debates - as well as more general literary and historical material such as the works of Jonathan Swift, poetry, almanacs, histories o ...

A sketch of Lough Derg with a boat and small islands in the background

Grimsby Convent Collection

Houses of the Oireachtas Library

The Grimsby Convent Collection contains 91 hard copy books, pamphlets and journals. The collection contains no unique materials, but books of an Irish interest, especially with regards to Ecclesiastical and General Historical studies. Many of the books and journals have been digitised.

FitzGerald Collection

Houses of the Oireachtas Library

The collection contains a large amount of literature, opera, poetry and plays. There is also a large body of work regarding the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714) and some general histories of Irish cities, European countries and important monarchs. There are several items relating to the ‘Surplus Revenues Dispute’ of the mid-18th century which are quite historically important. The general body ...

Bartley Collection

Queen's University Belfast, Special Collections

Click here for the full listing of the Bartley Collection.

David Beers Quinn Collection

Queen's University Belfast, Special Collections

Click here for a full listing of the David Beers Quinn Collection. **Not on Library Catalogue** A collection of material written or edited by the renowned historian Professor David Beers Quinn (1909-2002). It includes monographs, journal articles, book chapters, lectures and conference papers concerning topics such as exploration, discovery, colonisation and Irish history. The materials were gener ...

Daly Collection

Queen's University Belfast, Special Collections

Cardinal Cahal Daly (1917-2009) bequeathed his entire personal library to Queen's in 2009. It is a collection of ten thousand books, journals and pamphlets, mostly of theological, philosophical, and Irish historical and cultural interest. The Cardinal Daly Seminar Room on the First Floor of the McClay Library also contains a bust of Cardinal Daly and four Charles McAuley oil paintings also kindly ...

Belfast Medical Library

Queen's University Belfast, Special Collections

The Belfast Medical Society (1806-1818 & 1822-1862) had established a lending library for its member by 1826. The complete collection of its 16th and 17th century works on medicine were presented to Queen's University in 1915 and 1916. They were originally housed in the Medical Library but were transferred to Special Collections in 2009. The present collection also contains medical books from the ...

Belfast and Northern Ireland Directories

Belfast and Northern Ireland directory

Queen's University Belfast, Special Collections

A useful family history resource, our collection of Belfast and Northern Ireland Directories begins in 1865 and ends in 1995. As detailed on the catalogue there are some missing issues. As well as containing names of individuals and businesses they contain numerous business advertisements. Most directories have details for Belfast and for the principal towns and villages in Ulster. Details of our ...

SCARMAN TRIBUNAL COLLECTION

Queen's University Belfast, Special Collections

The material is arranged into Exhibits, Evidence and Submissions. Warning: A number of the Exhibit folders contain images which may cause distress. Exhibits are arranged into bundles, each of which have an index attached. Evidence is broken down into 43 bound volumes covering the 172 days of the Tribunal and including an index volume (MS 33/2/44). Submissions are comprised of a bound volume of sub ...