Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was born on 25^th November 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland in a typical weaver’s cottage with only one room consisting of half the ground floor which was shared with the neighbouring weaver’s family. His uncle, George Lauder, whom he referred to as ‘Dod’ introduced him to the writings of Robert Burns and such historical Scottish heroes as Robert the Bruce, William Wallace and Rob Roy. Falling on very hard times as a handloom weaver and with the country in starvation, William Carnegie decided to emigrate with his family to Allegheny< Pennsylvania in the United Sates in 1848 for the prospect of a better life. Andrew’s family had to borrow money in order to immigrate. Allegheny was a very poor area. His first job at age 13 in 1848 was as a bobbin boy, changing spools of thread in a cotton mill twelve hours a day, six days a week. His wages were $1.20 per week. Andrew’s father, William Carnegie, started off working in a cotton mill but then would earn money weaving and peddling linens. His mother Margaret Morrison Carnegie earned money by binding shoes. Carnegie became a very wealthy industrialist. He devoted the latter part of his life to funding various charities and the building of libraries in Europe and America.

Kilkenny Corporation approached Andrew Carnegie for a grant to aid the establishment of a free library service. Carnegie agreed to build and equip the library on condition that the local authority provided the site and would maintain the service once established. £2,750 was promised by Carnegie for Kilkenny but was reduced to £2,100. The rate struck by the Corporation was low. The rate was to yield £140 but only yielded £105. Lady Desart purchased the site for the sum of £600. She also paid for the interior fit-out and the furniture provided by the Kilkenny Woodworkers. Between 1897 and 1913, Carnegie made grants amounting of up to £170,000 for the provision of eighty libraries in Ireland and England. The grants were made to local authorities that had adopted the 1855 Library Act. The fund was administered by the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust (CUKT). Sixty-two libraries were built in Ireland. The first library was built in Dundalk in 1856, followed by Dublin 1884, Belfast, 1888 and Waterford in 1894.