Carmelite gift to University of York

The British Province of Carmelites Friars have given a large collection of books to the The JB Morrell Library at the University of York The 117 titles, mostly on art history, were in the collection of Fr Paul O'Brien, a young Carmelite friar who died tragically in 1999 at the age of 43, and will form a collection within the University Library in his memory. The Carmelite Order, which had its first foundation in the city in the 1250s, has strong links with the City of York. Carmelite friars form part of the Ecumenical Chaplaincy team on the campus, which was recently named 'University of the Year' by the Sunday Times. The decision to give the donation to the University of York was based on the renown of its History of Art department (rated second in the country for the quality of its research), and because of the opportunities offered to students by the prestigious new Raymond Burton Library for Humanities Research. The Carmelite Order has long been a patron of study and the creative arts. One of the most famous artists of the Italian Renaissance, Filippo Lippi, was a Carmelite friar, and Carmelite shrines in England house some of the most important works of the twentieth-century sculptors Michael Clark and Adam Kossowski. For more information visit: www.carmelite.org