Diaries as historical sources

A brief history of diary-writing

The sixteenth century is seen as the starting point of diary-writing as we know it today, but the practice really became popular in the seventeenth century. Richard Boyle, the first earl of Cork, wrote his diaries from 1611–1642 which were subsequently transcribed and published in book format. While diaries were popular among elite members of societies, as literacy levels improved, diarists emerged from a greater range of backgrounds.

Some diaries focused on political and military events. In an Irish context, the journal of John Stevens, a Jacobite, provides an account of his experience of the Williamite War (1689–1691). Williamite Gedéon Bonnivert’s diary also provides useful information from 1690, despite being only twelve pages long. Col. Richard’s diary of the Siege of Limerick is another source for the period.  Élie Bouhéreau, a French Protestant (or Huguenot) doctor from La Rochelle wrote his diary between 1689 and 1719, having fled religious persecution in his native France, travelling first to England and later settling in Dublin. His diary provides us with the refugee’s perspective.

Other diaries provide insights into social aspects such as work and leisure activities. The diary of Nicholas Peacock 1740–51 is an account written by a Limerick farmer and agent in the eighteenth century. Though it provides little information about the author himself, the diary is useful in its descriptions of farming at this time.  Betsy Sheridan’s journal (which was written as a series of letters to her sister Alicia in Dublin) provides an insight into the life of a twenty-six-year-old in London during the 1780s.

From the eighteenth century onwards, there is an increasing number of diaries relating to migrants such as Captain Alexander Chesney’s Journal (1795 to 1815) and the diary of James Black, proprietor of the Randalstown cotton mills, Co Antrim and merchant of Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A. who wrote his diary between November 1837 and October 1844.

The nineteenth century saw a proliferation of diaries being written.  A key theme of the early nineteenth century is Catholic emancipation, and the diary of Denys Scully documents the experience of a delegation sent to London in 1805 to meet with Pitt.⁴ Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin’s diary which he wrote in Irish from 1827 to 1835 is a wonderful source for Irish history.  Born in Kerry, Ó Súilleabháin was a schoolteacher in Callan, Co Kilkenny at the time he wrote the diary, which provides insights into his life, and the events going on around him. The manuscript is held in the Royal Irish Academy. This has been translated into English as ‘Diary of an Irish Countryman’ by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.⁵ In contrast, Ireland was a new country for Scottish-born Elizabeth Smith. Her family moved to India, where she met her husband, who inherited an estate in in Baltiboys, Co Wicklow. Her journal is an account of her life in Ireland from 1840–1850.⁶

The early twentieth century was a period of upheaval in Ireland. The events of the Revolutionary Period from lockdown through to War of Independence play a key role in Irish history, and diaries of those involved help historians to understand what life was like on the ground, from a range of perspectives.   Dr Kathleen Lynn was the Irish Citizens’ Army’s Chief Medical Officer. Her diary covers the first three weeks of her imprisonment following the Easter Rising and provides many insights into her experiences.  This can be contrasted with the 1916 diary of Dorothy Stopford Price, a medical student at Trinity College Dublin.

At the same time, the First World War meant that large numbers of Irishmen were also fighting overseas.  Albert Woodman’s diary provides historians with insights into his experience as a signaller in the Royal Engineers, while diaries written by Mary Martin and Elsie Henry provide insights into the lives of mothers and sisters of the men who had gone to fight in the First World War, Elsie Henry herself working for the Red Cross in Dublin.⁷

Post-independence diaries provide historians with perspectives on the newly-formed state. The Danish writer Signe Toksvig’s Irish Diaries 1926–1937 detail her life in Ireland,⁸ including details of those who moved in the same literary circles as she and her husband, Francis Hackett.

More recently, diaries can provide perspectives on the Troubles.  Eimear O’Callaghan’s diary published as Belfast Days, A 1972 Teenage Diary chronicles her teenage years in West Belfast in 1972.⁹ It provides a different perspective on the Troubles.

What kinds of topics do historians research using diaries?

The range of topics that historians study using diaries is vast, but some common themes are discussed briefly here.

History of class: There is a tendency for written materials of the wealthy, educated, elite to be better preserved, so surviving diaries are inevitably skewed towards those members of society.  Middle- and working-class people also wrote diaries and where these survive, they provide us with valuable insights into the lives and attitudes of ‘ordinary people’.

History of Family: Diaries can be an excellent source for those who are interested in the relationships and roles of family members over time. Some historians are interested in the parent-child relationship – for example, were elite parents detached as is often suggested? The mother of Victor Cavendish, ninth Duke of Devonshire, whose main seat was Chatsworth House, England but whose Irish seat was in Lismore, Co Waterford wrote a journal documenting his memories from the age of two, complete with an inscription from his dog!

Environmental history: Weather diaries which record regular weather observations such as temperature and precipitation are useful sources for those studying environmental history and climate history.  Isaac Butler’s Diary of the Weather and Winds covers data for the City of Dublin between 1716 and 1734.

Medical history: Physicians’ diaries can be a good source for the history of medicine, medical journals and case-books being commonly used by them to make clinical observations. Seán Ó Ríordáin’s diaries (1940–1977) held at UCD Special Collections are important to scholars of the Irish language and literature, and also to historians of medicine. Ó Ríordáin suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis and his respiratory problems are described in great detail in his diaries.

History of Travel: Travel literature is a genre in its own right, with travel diaries forming a subset. Ludolf von Münchausen described a journey to Ireland in a diary written in 1590, while Loveday visited Ireland as described in his Diary of a tour in 1732 through parts of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. In 1788 Revd. Daniel A. Beaufort visited Kerry and his manuscript had been published online.

Diaries as material culture: Historians are also interested in diaries as material culture (physical objects) – the paper from which they are made, and the way in which they are bound can tell us a lot about their production.

Historians often encounter words that are no longer in current usage. The Oxford English Dictionary is a good starting point for identifying archaic terms as it includes definitions and terms from a wide range of periods.  Another issue is that the meaning of words can change over time, so you might encounter a familiar word that does not make sense given the context. Again, check in a dictionary or reference guide to find the correct definition.

Why did they write the diary?

As ego-documents, diaries are usually written for the self, but the underlying motivations can vary and as historians we need to be aware of these. Some diaries were written as a record of daily activities, others as a means of self-reflection, and others still for posterity.

Henry William Massey, who started writing his diary on 17 February 1839, gives some indication of what one might expect in a diary, by explaining precisely what he had not managed to achieve in his previous attempts:

My last journal-book was very imperfectly kept and, on looking over it, appears merely to give an account of my departures from home & returns, without at all going into a detail of my thoughts and actions or even of the occasions (I might often call them adventures) of my ordinary life…

Lejeune identifies four functions of diaries: to express oneself, to reflect, to take pleasure in writing and to freeze time.¹⁰ Some diarists considered their diaries as a ‘safe space’ and mentioned events that they could not write about elsewhere – for example, homosexual relationships at a time when they were forbidden by law. Others wrote diaries as a means of spiritual reflection.

Whatever the purpose of writing a diary, it is important to understand that although diaries appear to be an individual’s unedited views, they are still mediated – that is, the author chooses what to record and how to record it.  Some diarists go back over their diaries and edit them – Anne Frank, for example, updated previous entries. Others, because they know that their diary will be read in the future, write in a particular way. When Elizabeth Smith of Baltiboys started writing her journal in 1840 she noted that she intended it to be read by her children.

How reliable is the information in the diary?

Although diaries are written in the first person and convey information about that person’s experiences, thoughts and perspectives, the historian would be mistaken to take everything that is written in them at face value.  In writing a diary the author can be selective about what information to include or omit so we may not be getting the full story. Likewise, we are obtaining their perspective on events which could be distorted. As with every historical source, we need to examine the evidence with a critical mindset. For more on critically analysing diaries and archives, see related lesson Archival diary as object: interpretation and critical analysis, and section 5, FAQ: Beginner’s guide to Archives.

3b. Published diaries

Historians often transcribe and subsequently publish manuscript sources such as diaries. These can be published in journals, such as Analecta Hibernica, in book format, or sometimes online. These print or digital editions can be useful for researchers who cannot easily access the manuscript diaries, and often provide additional helpful contextual information.

However, when working with such editions it is important to understand the approach that has been taken to create them. The following questions are worth considering:

Is this the complete diary or an edited version?

Particularly in the case of prolific writers, published diaries often consist of just a selection of material that was included in the original(s), based on what the editor thought was most interesting. In the introduction to his edited volume, The Diary of Elizabeth Dillon, Brendan Ó Cathaoir explains that ‘the ideal has been to exclude everything that is redundant and nothing that is important. Much of her early diaries, suffused with pious reflections, have been omitted’.¹¹ Clearly if one wanted to analyse passages of Dillon’s pious writing one would need to go back to the original diaries, held within the Dillon papers at Trinity College Dublin. William LeFanu notes in the introduction to Betsy Sheridan’s journal that ‘comments on Alicia’s Dublin news have mostly been omitted, and discussion of ailments and moods has been drastically curtailed’.¹² Certainly a historian of medicine or the emotions would need to review the original. It is important to know what has been included and what has been omitted.

What editorial process has been followed?

Editors of diaries will make decisions – for instance, they might decide to correct misspellings, ignore words that have been crossed out, or reduce the amount of capitalisation. Incorporating such changes into published editions can make these works more accessible for the modern reader. Usually, the editor will explain in the introduction the editorial process that was followed.

In some cases, editors will try to include all aspects of the text.  In his edition of the controversial Roger Casement’s diaries 1910: The Black & the White, Roger Sawyer explains that:

Because of allegations that the Black Diaries are wholly or partly forged, care has been taken that the text is reproduced as faithfully as possible. Ampersands, inconsistent spelling and use of accents, and poor punctuation have therefore been preserved.  Spanish and Portuguese words and phrases have been translated in square brackets, wherever possible, though many of these appear in a corrupt or misspelt form…¹³

What translation process has been followed?

Published editions can be very useful when a researcher wants to read a diary that was originally written in another language, particularly if it is not possible to travel to overseas archives, or maybe the researcher does not have the requisite language skills.  It is important to understand the process that was taken by the editor in translating the document.  Some translators choose to translate a text as closely as possible to the original, while others focus on conveying the sense of the original. As historians we need to understand which the approach the translator has taken. In the introduction, the editor or translator should explain the process that they followed.

Co Kilkenny school-teacher Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin wrote his diary covering the period 1827–35. His name is anglicised to Humphrey O’Sullivan and Tomás de Bhaldraithe has translated and edited the original diary into a translated edition, Diary of an Irish Countryman. He explains that ‘while trying to remain faithful to the original’ he wanted to avoid ‘a slavish word for word translation’ because ‘the style of good writing in one language cannot be adequately reproduced in another’.¹⁴ While reading this edition might be a good route into the diary, the historian must be aware that the translation is a mediation of the text; additional nuances might be gleaned from reading Ó Súilleabháin’s work in the original Irish, though this would of course require a good level of understanding of the Irish language and an ability to read old Irish script.  The same cautions about translations of Irish diaries hold true for any translations from any language (Chinese, German, Latin, Spanish etc.) or from any period e.g. Old Irish, Old English. It is important for the scholar to understand what it is that they are reading.

In this section you will find a selection of readings relating to diaries. Section one includes readings on diaries as sources for historical research. Section two includes examples of academic articles and book chapters that are based on diaries. Section three provides information on published diaries or extracts of diaries.

Diaries as sources for the historian

• Dekker, R., Egodocuments and history : autobiographical writing in its social context since the Middle Ages (Hilversum, 2002).
• Hämmerle, Christa, ‘Diaries’ in Miriam Dobson and Benjamin Zieman, Reading Primary Sources: The Interpretation of Texts from Nineteenth and Twentieth Century History (2^nd edn., Abingdon, 2020). Available at UL Library, 909.8072 DOB.
• Lejeune, Philippe, On Diary (Hawai’i, 2009).
• Vivian, Frances (ed.), Letts keep a diary – A history of diary keeping in Great Britain from 16^th–20^th century (London, 1987).

Academic articles and chapters based on diaries

• Breathnach, Ciara, ‘Professional patienthood and mortality: Seán Ó Ríordáin’s diaries 1974–1977’ in Medical Humanities, 42:2 (2016) pp 1–5 (doi:10.1136/medhum-2015-010828).
• Breathnach, Ciara, ‘Heavier the interval than the consummation:’ bronchial disease in Seán Ó Ríordáin’s diaries’ in Medical Humanities 40:1 (2014), pp 11–16 (doi:10.1136/medhum-2013-010386).
• Carter, Kathryn, ‘The Cultural Work of Diaries in Mid-Century Victorian Britain’, Victorian Review 23, 2 (1997), pp. 251–267.
• Eckerle, Julie A. and Naomi MAreavey, Women’s Life Writing and Early Modern Ireland (Nebraska, 2019). Available at UL library, 820.9004 ECK.
• Murphy, Rachel, ‘Lady Charlotte Stopford: A lady of leisure?’ in Leeann Lane and William Murphy, Leisure and the Irish in the Nineteenth Century (Liverpool, 2016), pp 226–244.
• Pelger, Erin Kennedy, ‘Lives through the looking glass: The diaries of three nineteenth-century American women’ (1999). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers, University of Montana.
• Sanderson, M. G., ‘Daily weather in Dublin 1716–1734: the diary of Isaac Butler in Weather 2018–06, Vol.73 (6), pp 179–182.

Published diaries / extracts from diaries

• Bhaldraithe, Tomás, The Diary of an Irish Countryman 1827-1835 (Cork, 1979) Available at UL Library Special Collections, Leonard B/305
• Cullen, Clara, The World Upturning –  Elsie Henry’s Irish Wartime Diaries, 1913–1919 (Dublin, 2012).
• Lenox-Conyngham, Melosina (ed.), Diaries of Ireland, An Anthology 1590–1987 (Dublin, 2009). Available at UL Library, 941.5 LEN.
• LeFanu, William, Betsy Sheridan’s Journal – Letters from Sheridan’s Sister (Oxford, 1986). Available at UL Library ARC, 942.073 SHE.
• Legg, Marie-Louise (ed.), The Diary of Nicholas Peacock, 1740–51 (Dublin, 2005). Available at UL Library, 941.9407092 PEA.
• Léoutre, Marie, Jane McKee, Jean-Paul Pittion and Amy Prendergast, The diary (1689–1719) and accounts (1704–1717) of Élie Bouhéreau (Dublin, 2019). Available at UL Library HSM, 941.506092.
• MacDermott, Brian (ed.), The Irish Catholic petition of 1805: the diary of Denys Scully (Dublin, 1992). Available at UL Library, 941.5081 SCU.
• Thomson, David with Moyra McGusty (eds)., The Irish Journals of Elizabeth Smith, 1840–1850 (Oxford, 1980). Available at UL Library, 941.840810924.
• O’Callaghan, Eimear, Belfast days: a 1972 teenage diary (Kildare, 2014).
• O’Malley, Cormac K.H. and Róisín Kennedy, ‘Nobody’s Business’: The Arran Diaries of Ernie O’Malley (Dublin, 2017).
• Phil, Lis (ed.), Signe Toksvig’s Irish Diaries 1926–1937 (Dublin, 1994). Available at UL Library, 823.912 TOK/P.
• The Gladstone Diaries 1825–1896, is available in thirteen volumes plus and index edited by M.R.D. Foot (Vols I and II) and H.C.G. Matthew (Vols III–XIV).

Online diaries

• Boyle, Richard, First Earl of Cork, Hathi Trust Digital Library
• Butler, Isaac, Diary of the Weather and the Winds, Gilbert Collection, Dublin City Library and Archives
• Croghan, Col. George (1765), University of Pittsburgh Digital Collections
• Bonnivert, Gédéon, CELT (Corpus of Electric Texts), UCC
• Fleischmann Diaries, UCC
• Godwin, William, Bodleian Library, Oxford
• Lynn, Kathleen, Royal College Physicians Ireland (RCPI)
• Machyn, Henry, British History Online
• Martin, Mary, Digital Humanities @ TCD
• Massey, William Henry, University of Limerick Digital Library
• O’Brien, William, National Library of Ireland
• Pepys, Samuel, The Diary of Samuel Pepys Online
• Stopford Price, Dorothy, Digital Humanities @ TCD
• See also: Carnegie Mellon University Libraries Women’s History: Collections, Papers, Letters and Diaries, and Utah State University Digitised Historical diaries.