Press Release: Richard Harris – first public exhibition of collection to take place at The Hunt Museum

Richard Harris archive collection donated to University College Cork

• The archives of Richard Harris have been donated to University College Cork, home to one of Ireland’s leading film schools.
• UCC Library and the Richard Harris Estate have collaborated to house a collection of letters, photographs, literary works, artefacts and professional and personal documents which belonged to the late actor.

Announcement 24 October 2022; London / Cork

University College Cork (UCC) and the Richard Harris Estate are delighted to announce today (Monday 24^th October) that the archives of Richard Harris have been donated to UCC.  

The Richard Harris archives span over 50 years and are an extensive collection of manuscripts, letters, photographs, literary works, artefacts and professional and personal documents which belonged to the late actor. The Richard Harris Archive gives a unique insight into one of Ireland’s most legendary actors who starred in some of the most celebrated pieces of cinema of the last half century, and who won and was nominated for the most prestigious awards in film and theatre.  

Among the archives are Richard’s personal creative writing manuscripts including poetry, publicity and location photos from his screen and stage performances including Camelot, The Field, Pirandello’s Henry IV and as Professor Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films. In addition, the archive includes private memos, items from film sets, Young Munster rugby plaques and pictures as well as letters and wire communications from family and friends, arts critics, and co-performers. 

Leading expert on the career of Richard Harris

Dr Barry Monahan from the Department of Film & Screen Media at UCC research focuses on the relationship between Irish film and theatre, and the work of Richard Harris, particularly his contribution with his contemporaries to defining a national style of performance on stage and screen.

“The Richard Harris Collection bridges important moments in the biography of the world-celebrated Irish actor, offering fascinating insights to aspects of his career and personality that might have been lost in the gap between his public and private stories” stated Dr Barry Monahan.  

Jill Cousins, Director of The Hunt Museum in Limerick stated “It will be an honour to curate this wonderful archive into an exhibition about one of Limerick’s favourite sons. We are looking forward to the collaboration with University College Cork and the Harris Family and to the joyful experience people will get from a greater insight into the man who was both an athlete and an actor.” 

Archives give personal glimpse into life of actor

A preview of the collection was presented by Jared Harris and University College Cork at an event attended by members of the Harris family in London. Prominent items from the archives were unveiled at the event which took place in the Savoy Hotel’s Richard Harris Suite, where the late actor resided for many years.  

Harris’s personal documents reveal a man whose skills as a gifted athlete and talented rugby player not only served him in practical ways for his performance in This Sporting Life, but for the duration of his career on stage and screen, and as a writer, director and producer of universal acclaim.  

New stage of cultural collections at UCC  

University College Cork’s acquisition of these archives marks a new stage in the development of contemporary cultural collections at the university.  

Crónán Ó Doibhlin, Head of Collections at UCC Library said, “The Richard Harris Archive will be of great benefit to the arts and culture industry to Richard Harris’s home province of Munster, where his legacy as a loved and internationally respected actor continues to be celebrated and cherished.” 

UCC has plans to develop a UCC Treasures Gallery which will be a fully secure and serviced space which will provide for public display and interpretation of a variety of artefacts.

Further details of University College Cork Library’s Richard Harris Archive exhibition at the Hunt Museum, Limerick will be released at a later date  

Press Contacts:  

For all media enquiries please contact Premier: 

CorkExhibit@PremierComms.com  / +44 (0) 20 7292 8330 

 University College Cork (UCC) Press contact  – Eoin Hahessy – Director of Media & Communications – eoin.hahessy@ucc.ie / +353 (0)86 046 8950  

About Richard Harris:

  Richard St. John Harris (1 October, 1930–25 October, 2002) was an Irish actor, writer and musical performer. He appeared with inexhaustible talent on stage and screen, most notably as Frank Machin in This Sporting Life, for which he won Best Actor at The Cannes Film Festival (1963). He was nominated for the Academy Award twice, in 1964 for This Sporting Life and in 1991 for The Field. He won The Golden Globe for his portrayal as King Arthur in the 1968 film Camelot, and later in his life went on to portray the role in the 1981 revival of the stage musical.  In his later career, he played English Bob, a gunfighter, in Clint Eastwood’s Western Unforgiven (1992), Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000), and Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films, the latter of which was his final film role.  

About Dr Barry Monahan

Barry Monahan lectures in the Department of Film & Screen Media at University College Cork. In his research on the relationship between Irish film and theatre, he has studied the work of Richard Harris, and particularly his contribution with his contemporaries to defining a national style of performance on stage and screen.