This series contains music papers, financial documents, religious papers, family history material as well as material relating to Derek Bell’s death. The files within the series have been arranged chronologically. Within this series there are three files and two subseries. The first subseries, ‘Music Papers’, has been divided into four files. The first contains papers relating to his music education in the Royal College of Music, London, England and Trinity College Dublin, as well as material relating to teaching and the study of composition. The remaining three files contain papers about the musical instruments played by Bell during his solo, orchestral and ensemble career - the piano, the pedal and Irish harp, the oboe, cimbalom [dulcimer] and heckelphone. Receipts and financial documents relating to touring with The Chieftains and the purchase of musical instruments can also be found in this series. The second subseries contains religious papers mostly dating from the 1990s. This subseries is divided into three files, the first relates to the guru Gideon Fontalba and the second and third relate to Bell’s interactions with two spiritual organisations the Church of Self Realization and Arcane School, London, England. The two remaining files in this series contain papers relating to family history research into the Bell family and material acquired by Bell’s widow, Stefanie Bell, after his death in 2002.
