Madam, – I have been commissioned to write the official history of the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland (AMAI), to mark its centenary.
The association was founded in 1912 as a representative body for the municipal authorities of Ireland. Current membership consists of all the 85 urban authorities in the Republic of Ireland, of which five are cities and 80 are towns.
The AMAI has a complete set of the annual reports of the organisation in its archive for the years 1917-2008 inclusive. However, it does not have copies of the first five annual reports, which cover the years 1912-1916.
During this period, the presidents of the association were mayor of Dublin, Lorcan Sherlock (1912-15), mayor of Belfast Sir Crawford McCullagh (1915-16), and mayor of Limerick Stephen Quin (1916-17). The first secretary of the association was Robert Finlay Heron (1852-1923), town clerk of Blackrock Urban District Council.
I have been unable to locate these reports in the National Library, National Archives or any other recognised repository. I wonder if any of your readers have copies.
In particular, anyone whose family members were involved in the AMAI, such as the above named persons, may have copies. If so, they might contact me. – Yours, etc,