the national library of ireland

The National Library of Ireland was founded in 1877 and has associations with famous figures in Irish history and literature, including James Joyce and William Butler Yeats. From its foundation the Library has endeavoured to collect all material of Irish interest published through the ages and throughout the world. It is the legal deposit library for all works published in Ireland.

Today the Library's collection of books, manuscripts, prints and drawings, maps, photographs, newspapers and genealogical materials comprise probably the most outstanding collection of Irish documentary material in the world, amounting to some 6 million items.

The National Library of Ireland provides a dedicated Genealogy Service, which is freely available to all personal callers to the Library. The Library holds a vast amount of material relevant to family history research including copies of most Roman Catholic parish records, copies of Griffinth's Valuation and the Tithe Applotment Books, records of many of the former landed estate, trade and social directories, printed family and local histories.<