Liala Allman: Liala Allman, who has died aged 96, was managing director of Dublin University Press, Ireland's oldest printing house. Founded in 1734, it issued its first book in 1738 and remained in the Printing House built for it on the campus of Trinity College Dublin until 1976.
Her father took on the university press in 1944, succeeding Ponsonby and Gibbs who had run it since 1902. She joined the press in 1946, having being recruited to fill the gap left by the death of the works manager. Inheriting this part of her father's business on his death, she ran it from 1958 to 1975.
Some members of staff found it difficult to accept a woman manager, given that the trade was dominated by men. However, she established a good relationship with the staff and was remembered for many acts of kindness and the personal interest she took in the men's families.
Her role at the press presented some problems for the college. In the 1940s all women had to be off the premises by six o'clock in the evening. Consequently, she had to get a special dispensation to remain on in the Printing House after that hour. This was granted on condition that, when her work was finished, she would be escorted to the Front Gate by one of the men on the staff.
Conservatism was not the sole preserve of the authorities. In 1960 the printers refused to handle a reproduction of a Modigliani nude to illustrate an article for a student magazine by Bruce Arnold, then an undergraduate. Arnold stood his ground, and the men ultimately relented and printed the issue.
Born in 1911, she was one of the two children of Rev William Brown Allman and his wife Adelaide. He retired early from the ministry following an accident in which he lost a leg, and took charge of the Brunswick Press in 1929. The family lived at Mount Merrion Avenue.
Liala was educated at Rutland College, Dublin, and studied arts at Trinity, graduating with a BA in 1933. She then went to work at the Brunswick Press. On the outbreak of the second World War she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in Britain.
Cold, dark and damp, the Printing House at Trinity in the 1940s showed clear signs of neglect. Its basement was subject to flooding when there were high tides in the Liffey, and duck boards on the floor were a permanent feature. One compositor said it had the "smell of death". Known in the trade as a "Protestant house", the university press did business principally within its own community. It mainly employed people of its own religion, although the staff of about 30 included Catholics. Staff members took pride in the association with Trinity, and overtime payments were generous.
The press specialised in printing exam papers, and many commercial and educational bodies availed of its expertise. Its reputation was based on accuracy, high security and a 100 per cent record in meeting deadlines.
The press handled bookwork for institutions such as the Royal Irish Academy, Royal Dublin Society, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Irish Texts Society and the Church of Ireland. Publications of note included Prof Emile Arnould's La genèse du Barbier de Séville(1965) and Calvert Watkins's Indo-European origins of the Celtic verb(1967). 1971 saw the publication of T.W.Moody's Irish Historiography 1936-70, printed for the Irish Committee of Historical Sciences.
An interesting piece of jobbing printing was the citation at Trinity's conferral of an honorary doctorate on President John F. Kennedy during his visit to Ireland in 1963. It was printed in Latin, English and Irish.
The press overcame some major setbacks, including two fires, under her stewardship. A serious downturn in profits in the early 1970s was reversed and by the middle of the decade the company was in a financially strong position. However, a number of factors - including her looming retirement - prompted the board to agree to relinquish the Printing House and merge with the Brunswick Press at Sandymount. She resigned as managing director in January 1976, but played an active role in the company until Christmas of that year.
Active in the Girl Guides, she also served on the board of the Molyneux Home. A former Feis Ceoil competitor, she sang with a number of parish choirs including, most recently, St Mary's, Anglesea Road.
She is survived by her nephews Peter and Brian and niece Carole.
Liala Allman: born May 17th, 1911; died October 14th, 2007.