Treasures in Burns Library

Mary O’Hara’s exhibit on display in Burns Library

Mary O’Hara, Singer and Harpist: A Retrospective is one of many fascinating exhibits in John J. Burns Library. This exhibit, which continues through April 30, features newly acquired materials from the collection of O’Hara’s body of work.

O’Hara has achieved renown as a harpist and singer, and she has played a significant role in reviving the harp as an accompanying instrument. At a time when Irish harp music was nearly extinct in the 1950s, O’Hara renewed this tradition.

Many aspects of O’Hara’s life and career are on display in Burns Library. Posters, records, medals, plaques, sheet music, and a letter of recommendation from the fifth President of Ireland, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, praising her character and talents may be found in the exhibit, with each item shedding light on the life of this Irish singer and harpist.

O’Hara lived a remarkable life. Born in Ireland in 1935, she has performed all over the world, from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

In 1978, she appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, and even though she was diagnosed with the flu the previous day, she performed to great critical praise. She also appeared at the Palladium for Queen Elizabeth and Princess Alexandra at a “Royal Variety Show” in 1978.

When her husband, American poet and Oxford Rhodes Scholar Robert Selig, passed away from Hodgkin’s disease just over one year after they were married, O’Hara became a nun at Stanbrook Abbey for 12 years. According to Elizabeth Sweeney, the Irish Music Librarian and curator of the exhibit, O’Hara had planned to give up music at this time in her life, but the Mother of Stanbrook Abbey encouraged her to bring her harp and continue practicing her music. After a period of illness, O’Hara was no longer assigned daily labors such as gardening, and instead was allowed to focus on playing her harp.

However, she eventually decided to leave behind her life as a nun. One song was particularly influential to her. “Lord of the Dance” moved O’Hara to take up performing again after more than twelve years in Stanbrook Abbey. O’Hara has been widely recognized for her work and has attained international renown for her performances. In 1986, the Eire Society of Boston awarded a gold medal to Mary O’Hara “in recognition of her contribution to Irish music and culture.”

O’Hara’s harp is currently on display in Burns Library. This harp traveled with Mary around the world since she first acquired it in 1953. It was made in Scotland because, during the 1950s, no harps were being produced in Ireland. The O’Hara papers came to Burns Library as a result of O’Hara’s search for a suitable home for her collection. The papers were originally intended for display at Harvard University, where O’Hara’s husband’s papers are located, but an archivist there suggested that the collection would be better served among the other Irish collections at Boston College’s Burns Library.

In addition to the O’Hara Collection, there are also very many other resources available in Burns Library. The John McCormack Exhibit showcases the life and work of this Irish tenor and will be on display until December 11. In the coming weeks, there will be an exhibit commemorating the murder of Jesuit priests in El Salvador to accompany Boston College Chancellor J. Donald Monan’s presentation titled “Living Legacies: the 20th Anniversary of the Martyrs of El Salvador.” Past collections in John J. Burns Library include displays of Haitian Paintings, scientific holdings, a collection celebrating British Catholic Authors, a Jesuit exhibit, and Thomas P. O’Neil’s papers.

Sweeney also described an area of specialty of Burns: “John J. Burns Library has among its Irish collections an Irish Music Archives, actively documenting Irish music in America. O’Hara did perform in the U.S. a number of times, and so it is very appropriate that we archive her work in Burns Library.”

Visitors are always welcome at Burns Library, and there are many fascinating resources there. Burns Library is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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