Deposited Collections

Biographical History

Born in Dundrum, County Tipperary and educated at Clongowes Wood and UCD, he continued his studies at Grenoble, Munich and Vienna where he was awarded the PhD for his dissertation on 10th and 11th century Anglo-Saxon manuscript illumination. He obtained a position as an Assistant Keeper at the National Gallery, London in 1930 and in 1935 was appointed Director of the National Gallery in Dublin, where he remained for fifteen years, lecturing and writing on art matters and acting as examiner in the history of European painting at both Trinity College and University College Dublin. He moved back to London in 1950.

Archival History

This collection was deposited in April 1989 by Rex Britcher.

Scope and Content

Material relating to his academic career, mainly concerning art history, and the award of PhD from the University of Vienna.

Material relating to his work as an Assistant Keeper at the National Gallery, London (1930–5) and as Director of the National Gallery of Ireland (1935–50) including correspondence, lectures and papers.

Personal papers and correspondence (1935–87) including a daily diary kept by Furlong (June–December 1940) commenting on the Dublin social and artistic milieu. Material relating to his work as an examiner in the history of art at University College and Trinity College, Dublin (1936–53).

• Access: Available by appointment to holders of a UCD Archives reader's ticket. Produced for consultation in original format. Original material will be retrieved on Fridays only. It will be made available for consultation in the UCD Special Collections reading room on Level One of the James Joyce Library.
• Language: English
• Finding aid: Descriptive catalogue