The National Library’s holdings constitute the most comprehensive collection of Irish documentary material in the world and offer an invaluable representation of Ireland’s history and heritage. Material acquired through Legal Deposit, donations and purchases is subsequently processed for storage and access. Providing appropriate storage and care for all collections is a vital part of our work and ensures its preservation for future generations.
The National Library collections comprise a number of formats; to facilitate easy navigation of this section of the website, collections have been grouped into four categories: Printed, Manuscripts, Visual, Digital. See the Accessing Material section to find out how to consult these collections.
Printed
Our printed collections include books, periodicals, newspapers, official publications, maps, and music.
Manuscripts
The Department of Manuscripts has approximately one million items in its collections spanning nearly a thousand years.
Visual
The National Library's visual collections include photographs, prints & drawings and ephemera.
Digital
This category includes information on digital collections, the NLI Web Archive and digitisation programme.