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Anthony J. F. O’Reilly Endowed Collection in Irish History and Society
The Anthony J. F. O’Reilly Endowed Collection in Irish History and Society was established in 1986 by the H. J. Heinz Company Foundation. Tony, a native of Dublin, retired as chairman of the H.J. Heinz Company in 2000, after leading the company for nearly 30 years. In 1987, he was named the first non-family chairman.
Tony, or Sir Anthony, as he is now known, was awarded a Knighthood in Britain’s 2001 New Year’s Honours List in recognition of his work for the Worldwide Ireland Funds, a philanthropic network he co-founded in 1976, which has raised more than $400 million toward its mission to “be the largest network of friends of Ireland dedicated to supporting programs of peace and reconciliation, arts and culture, education and community development throughout the island of Ireland.”
Through the O’Reilly Endowment, the Libraries have had the opportunity to purchase works concerned with 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century Irish history and sociology. Resources for students of history have been strengthened through the acquisition of newspaper microfilm sets and the addition of some rare travel accounts of Ireland. One example is the 1824 illustrated book, A picturesque tour through Ireland by Dennis Sullivan, held only in 15 libraries. The Irish Fiction Collection supported new kinds of scholarship by providing digital copies of Catholic Youth Literature.