Thomas William Lyster

Thomas William Lyster (1855–1922) was director of the National Library of Ireland in Dublin between 1895 and his retirement in 1920.[1][2]

Thomas William Lyster
In The Sketch, 18 December 1895
Born(1855-12-17)17 December 1855
Kilkenny, Ireland
Died12 December 1922(1922-12-12) (aged 66)
Dublin, Ireland
EducationTrinity College Dublin
OccupationLibrarian
SpouseJane Robinson Campbell

Lyster joined the library in 1878 and was appointed as its director in 1895.

He was also a scholar who translated Düntzer's Life of Goethe in 1883 and edited a poetry schoolbook, the Intermediate School Anthology.[2]

Although a member of the Church of Ireland, he was used by James Joyce as the model for the eponymous "quaker librarian" in his novel Ulysses. An whimsical account of him is given in Oliver St John Gogarty's As I was Going down Sackville Street when Gogarty visits the national library.[3] In this book Lyster is very solicitous of the various needs of the readers in the library.

Biography

Thomas William Lyster was born in Kilkenny on 17 December 1855. He attended Wesleyan School in Dublin, and earned an MA from Trinity College. He married Jane Robinson Campbell.[4]

He was elected to the Royal Irish Academy in 1913.[4]

He lived at 10 Harcourt Terrace in Dublin.[5] He died there on 12 December 1922.[4]

Works
  • 1883: Heinrich Düntzer's Life of Goethe. London: Macmillan & Co. (translation)
  • A series of volumes called English Poems for Young Students (editor)
  • 1893: Select Poetry for Young Students; 2nd ed
  • Intermediate School Anthology

References
  1. "Thomas Lyster". Ricorso. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  2. "Directors of the Library". National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  3. Gogarty, O. St J. (1954) As I was Going down Sackville Street. Harmondsworth: Penguin; ch. 1
  4. Donlon, Patricia. "Lyster, Thomas William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59736. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. FUSIO. "10, 11 Harcourt Terrace, Dublin 2, DUBLIN". Buildings of Ireland. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
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