eResources
The National Library of Ireland has acquired a number of digital resources to assist with research in our collections.
They provide access to:
- Hundreds of Irish newspaper titles and serials
- Full text access to many standard reference works
- Records of government and official publication
- Digitised books, manuscripts and maps
These eResources include many subscription sites which we make freely available to registered readers in all our reading rooms. To visit our reading rooms and access these eResources you must have a reader’s ticket, which you can apply for online.
Irish Genealogy, Government of Ireland (Free)
A state sponsored site popular for those undertaking family history research as it contains civil registration documents from as far back as 1864, as well as earlier church and other records.
Census of Ireland, National Archives of Ireland (Free)
A database of census records of Ireland including the 1901 and 1911 census, and fragments of census records dating back to 1821. The earliest complete surviving census of Ireland is the 1901 census.
Find My Past, Findmypast (Onsite/Subscription)
This site is a useful gateway to other genealogy sites. Important categories include the census, civil and church records, wills, directories and property records.
Ask about Ireland – Griffith’s Valuation, Eneclann and NLI (Onsite/Subscription)
A digital search tool to browse the vital records of Griffith’s Valuation. This searches the names of owners and occupiers of property across Ireland in the 1850s and is one of the most important 19th century tools for genealogical research.
Ancestry, Ancestry (Onsite/Subscription)
A large database of online resources with worldwide access, mainly focusing on UK and US records.
Family Search, Church of Latter-day Saints (Onsite/Subscription)
A significant website with many millions of records. Irish records include, births and baptisms, 1620-1881, calendar of wills, 1858-1920, and the Ireland census search forms. It allows geographical searching by browsing map records.
Irish Ancestors, John Grenham (Onsite/Subscription)
The site is a useful a reference aid to assist with genealogy research from a practical, ‘how to’ approach. Features include spelling variants for surnames as well as an index of place names to poor law unions.
Irish Townlands (Free)
A search tool for townlands, civil parishes, baronies, electoral divisions and counties. It has a strong modern and detailed map tool interface which allows users to browse neighbouring townlands.
Logainm, Government of Ireland (Free)
A government of Ireland website which is modern and easy to search. It links with other databases, so it is possible to link a townland to any folklore in the Dúchas collection online. It provides translations of Irish place name elements which may be useful for local history purposes.
Landed Estates, NUIG (Free)
A database of landed estates and historic houses in Connacht and Munster, c. 1700-1914.
Find a Grave (Free)
A community-driven database providing extensive coverage of surveyed cemeteries across Ireland. It has clear information and contains photographs of memorials and transcripts.
Further resources for Family History Research are available online.
Irish Newspaper Archive, Micromedia (Onsite/Subscription)
Extensive collection of Irish digitised newspapers both national and provincial. It is easy to navigate titles, volume and date range, and provides full text results.
The British Newspaper Archive, BL and Findmypast (Onsite/Subscription)
A partnership between the British Library and Findmypast, and thousands of newspaper titles from the British Library's collections have been digitised with strong coverage of many historic Irish newspapers. The NLI subscription allows for up to ten readers to log on simultaneously, and you need to sign in with your own details.
The Irish Times Archive, Irish Times (Onsite/Subscription)
Standalone website belonging to the Irish Times with holdings of the newspaper from 1859 to present. The viewing tool clips the page to the area of interest.
The Times Digital Archive, Gale (Onsite/Subscription)
Full-text facsimile of the oldest daily newspaper in continuous publication since 1785.
The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, Gale (Onsite/Subscription)
Includes every published issue of the ILN from 1844-2003. It is full-text with high-quality digital images.
The Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive, Gale (Onsite/Subscription)
A weekly literary review that was founded in 1902 as a free supplement to The Times (London), and it became a separate publication in 1914. It covered the most important publications in a variety of languages.
17th/18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers, Gale (Onsite/Subscription)
From the British Library’s collections of early newspapers, the collection includes more than 1,000 pamphlets, proclamations, newsbooks and newspapers from the period.
British Library Newspapers, Gale (Onsite/Subscription)
Full-text coverage of both the Belfast Newsletter and the Freeman’s Journal.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress (Free)
Provides access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized American newspaper pages with material added on an ongoing basis.
JSTOR Irish Studies, Jstor (Onsite/Subscription)
Full-text access to 49 well known academic Irish journals known as Irish Studies as well as a small number of books relating to Irish American studies.
C19 - The Nineteenth Century Index, ProQuest (Onsite/Subscription)
A bibliographic digital resource for 19th century research, providing integrated access to important indexes and finding aids for books, periodicals, official publications, newspapers and archives.
Téarma: An Bunachar Náisiúnta Téarmaíochta don Ghaeilge
The National Terminology Database for Irish,
Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU and Foras na Gaeilge (Free)
National terminology bi-lingual database for the Irish Language with 186,000 entries.
Foclóir, Foras na Gaeilge (Free)
An English-Irish dictionary which provides translations for the English content, it also contains grammatical information and sound files.
Ainm, Fiontar agus Scoil na Gaeilge DCU (Free)
Contains 1,791 biographies. All of the featured lives, from 1560 to the present day, had a connection to the Irish language. The entries are in the Irish language only.
Dictionary of Irish Biography, Royal Irish Academy (Free)
Provides full-text concise biographies of important Irish figures. The chronological scope extends from the earliest times to 21st century. The living are not included, and it features 11,000 lives and continues to grow.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press (Onsite/Subscription)
Covers the biographies of over 60,000 lives relating to Britain, from earliest times to 21st century. It also contains 11,000 portraits.
Who's Who, Oxford University Press (Onsite/Subscription)
Contains over 34,000 autobiographical entries of influential figures who impact British life. It also contains Who Was Who with over 94,000 entries for those deceased.
Dictionary of Irish Architects, Irish Architectural Archive (Free)
Contains biographical and bibliographical information on architects, builders and craftsmen working in Ireland from 1720-1940, and information on the buildings on which they worked.
Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press (Onsite/Subscription)
Provides a guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words, past and present, from across the English-speaking world.
Oxford Bibliographies, Oxford University Press (Onsite/Subscription)
An online research tool providing access to resources for a variety of academic topics. Written and reviewed by academic experts, it is a guide to the current scholarship, containing original commentary and annotations.
Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain & Ireland, Oxford University Press (Onsite/Subscription)
A full-text reference work on family names in the UK and Ireland, covering Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh and immigrant surnames with 45,000 entries.
Sources: A National Library of Ireland database for Irish research.
This extensive database contains records for Irish manuscripts many of which are now catalogued on the Online Catalogue. It also contains records of Irish manuscripts held elsewhere listed between 1940 and 1970 as well as articles in 150 Irish periodicals up to 1969.
Irish History Online Royal Irish Academy (Free)
A bibliographic catalogue featuring works on Irish history published since the 1930s, with selected earlier material.
It includes information on books and pamphlets, journal articles and conference proceedings.
Irish Statute Book, Irish Government (Free)
Includes Acts of the Oireachtas and Statutory Instruments. It is possible to track amendments to legislation, access the Constitution and a selection of pre-1922 legislation. Links to external legislation resources are also provided.
Iris Oifigiuil, OPW (Free)
The official means used by the Government for announcing appointments to public offices and publishing proclamations, statutory instruments, appointment of receivers to companies, etc. This online archive covers 2002 onwards.
House of the Oireachtas, Houses of the Oireachtas (Free)
A comprehensive, dynamic, bi-lingual site providing information on the workings of the government, including details of bills and acts and meeting schedules for the Dáil and the Seanad.
Northern Ireland Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Free)
Online access to the working of the Northern Ireland Assembly, including details of current members and legislation.
Northern Ireland: A divided Community, Cabinet Papers of the Stormont Administration 1921-1972, Gale (Onsite/Subscription)
Government documents containing a full record of the devolved government, sourced through the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.
UK Parliamentary Papers (Onsite/Subscription)
Provides complete online coverage of the sessional papers of the British House of Commons, the Hansard Debates and the 19th century House of Lords. It includes detailed primary sources for the history of Britain, its colonies and the wider world. It covers working documents of government for all areas of social, political, economic and foreign policy.
State Papers Online 1509-1714, Gale (Onsite/Subscription)
Online resource covering the period 1509-1714 in British and European history. It is a digital manuscript archive of British State papers combined with full-text searchable calendars.
UK Official Publications Online, TSO (Onsite/Subscription)
Brings together legislation, Parliamentary, Command and House publications in a single searchable online library.
OECD iLibrary, OECD (Onsite/Subscription)
Contains thousands of e-books, chapters, tables and graphs, papers, articles, summaries, indicators, databases and podcasts - discoverable by theme, country or content type.
National Collection of Children's Books, IRC and TCD (Free)
Facilitates the exploration of over 250,000 children’s books in over 90 languages held in five Dublin libraries with major holdings of children’s books.
Early English Books Online, ProQuest (Onsite/Subscription)
Features page images of almost every work printed in the British Isles and North America, as well as works in English printed elsewhere from 1470-1700. Over 200 libraries worldwide have contributed to EEBO.
Eighteenth Century Collections, Gale (Onsite/Subscription)
A fully text-searchable database of books, pamphlets and broadsides in all subjects printed between 1701 and 1800. It contains over 180,000 titles. It is the product of the English Short-Title Catalogue project which recorded all works published or printed in Britain, Ireland and countries under British colonial rule, and the United States.
Intelex Past Masters, InteLex (Onsite/Subscription)
A large collection of primary source full-text editions on philosophy and political thought.
Ordnance Survey Maps, OSI (Free)
The national geospatial data hub, providing discovery, evaluation and access to Government geospatial data.
OpenStreetMap (Free)
Provides map data for thousands of websites, mobile apps and hardware devices and is community led.