Postcards from the Yeats Archive

Zoomed in excerpt from a postcard, featuring a stamp and the first line of an address
Part of the Irish Archives

Postcards from the Yeats Archive

The Yeats archive consists of a prestigious collection of material donated to the Gallery by Anne Yeats in 1996 and additional collections acquired since. These collections relate to Jack B. Yeats and members of his extended family and include sketchbooks, library books, journals, manuscripts and postcards. 

 

The National Gallery of Ireland has recently lent a selection of postcards from these collections to the McMullen Museum in Boston, USA as part of an exciting collaboration. Featured as part of the McMullen's landmark exhibition on the Yeats family; Collaborating in Conflict: The Yeats Family and the Public Arts, these postcards detail some of the family's travels abroad. 

 

Collaborating in Conflict runs from 1st February 2026 to 31st May 2026.

Postcards from Anne Yeats to Jack Butler Yeats at Portobello nursing home, Portobello house, Dublin

Frontside of a postcard, featuring an image of a plane with a building behindBackside of a postcard, with a handwritten message

 

Frontside of a postcard, featuring a statueBackside of a postcard, with a handwritten message

 

Frontside of a postcard, featuring an image of a building, cars and peopleBackside of a postcard, featuring a handwritten message

 

"a wonderful sunset, a huge and wonderful dinner"

 

For more from this collection, click here.

Postcards from Elizabeth Corbet Yeats (Lolly) to Jack Butler Yeats and Mary Cottenham Yeats

 

Frontside of a postcard, featuring an advert for Dun Emer IndustriesBackside of a postcard, with a handwritten message

 

"The fish were especially praised by the judges"

 

Frontside of a postcard, with an image of cloisters from OxfordBackside of a postcard, with a handwritten message

 

Frontside of a postcard, featuring an image of the Customs House in DublinBackside of a postcard, with a handwritten message

 

For more from this collection, click here

Postcards from the Yeats’s trip to New York

Frontside of a postcard, featuring an image of a steamship and information about the White Star LineBackside of a postcard, with no message written

 

Frontside of a postcard, featuring an image of a busy New York streetBackside of a postcard, with no message written

 

For more from this collection, click here.

 

Postcards from Lily Yeats to Jack Butler Yeats and Mary Cottenham Yeats

Frontside of a postcard, portrait orientation, featuring an illustration of a village and a handwritten message

 

Frontside of a postcard, featuring an advert for the Irish International Exhibition, 1907Backside of a postcard, with a brief handwritten message

 

For more from this collection, click here.