Patrick Henchy

Born into a devout Catholic family, Henchy expressed his deep faith and opposed any form of violence throughout his early life.

[2] Henchy was publicly close with those of Patrick Kavanagh, a poet and journalist, J. Barry Brown, an antiquarian book collector, and Edward MacLysaght, a Clare genealogist.

With the advent of the second world war the government called the library's then-current director R. J. Hayes to the Department of Defence and the absence left many responsibilities to Henchy instead.

I mean, think of the poem 'Et tu, Healy', written by the young schoolboy Joyce... which his proud father instantly rushed out and had printed.

[1] His description and reasoning for the Society was "it is a gathering of citizens, scholars, industrialists, and people of all kinds who see that the National Library is an important institution, worthy of more attention than it tends to get.

[1] There he initiated having the library open on Saturdays, as he had done with the NLI, to introduce more visitors because he wanted people to have wider access to its collections of artefacts from multiple continents, mentioning how it was an important addition to Ireland's culture.

[2][5] In his later life, Patrick Henchy continued living in Eglinton Park, Donnybrook, in Dublin, and contributing to the library world.

In 1985 Henchy collected a large sum of money to fund cultural bodies like the Palestrina Choir of St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, the National Library of Ireland, and the Royal Hibernian Academy.

Henchy also heavily aided Con Howard in administering lectures and events as one of the founding members of the Cumman Merriman Organization.

[1] Henchy's policy that extended library hours to include Saturdays is also considered a notable accomplishment and remains in place to this day.

Upon leaving the National Library of Ireland in 1976, Henchy identified Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler as the single book he would take with him upon his departure.