Purchased in late 2024, about six months before the poet’s death, the archive covered material from the 1960s to the present day and included hundreds of his notebooks, manuscript drafts of poems and other works and annotated copies of his publications.
Mr Durcan was a profusive letter-writer and the archive also includes correspondence with other writers such as Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel and John McGahern.
The NLI bought the first tranche of Mr Durcan’s papers in 2006. According to its website, these were in 69 boxes and included handwritten and typed drafts, unpublished work and a large amount of correspondence.
The NLI annual report shows that among the other acquisitions it made in 2024 was an “additional archive” related to Ross O’Carroll Kelly, a fictional character created by Paul Howard, at a cost of €6,500.
Six years ago, the institution acquired a collection of Ross O’Carroll Kelly illustrations and drawings by the artist Alan Clarke.
Other acquisitions noted in the annual report are an archive related to Richard Robert Madden, a 19th-century Irish doctor who was a prominent campaigner in the anti-slavery moment, which cost €108,000; and an archive from Pluto Press, an independent book publisher based in London, for €22,745.
Letters between the poets Seamus Heaney and Harry Thomas, written between 1993 and 2004, were acquired at a cost of €11,598.
The accounts for the year ended December 31, 2024 show that the NLI’s total income fell to €12.2m from €14m the year before. This was largely due to a decrease in the state grant, which fell from €12.3m to €10.5m.
The NLI incurred a deficit in both 2023 and 2024
Meanwhile, total expenditure rose to €12.1m from €11.4m, including an increase in payroll from €7.8m to €9.1m.
It meant that the NLI recorded a deficit of €746,104 for the year, which was double that of 2023, which came in at €343,548.
“The NLI incurred a deficit in both 2023 and 2024, which has reduced its accumulated reserves,” the report said.
“The NLI is funded primarily through annual allocations from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, which enables it to carry out its core activities and meet its financial obligations.
“In October 2025, the NLI received confirmation of its 2026 funding allocation from the department which provides for an increase on 2025 levels.”
Income of €150,000 was received in sponsorship from Bank of Ireland. This was a contribution towards the operation of the NLI’s exhibition Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again located in the bank’s cultural and heritage centre in its branch at College Green in Dublin.
The NLI needs 43km of shelving, a requirement that is expected to grow to 50km by 2040. Almost 3,500 books were added to its collection in 2024.
The annual report records that there were over 127,000 visits to NLI exhibitions in 2024.
There were over 25,000 on-site researchers, who consulted over 24,000 items.
source