Editing National Library of Ireland (section)

==Collections==
===Basis and legal deposit===
The collection began with the transfer of books and papers from the Royal Dublin Society, and was significantly boosted by the addition of the library as a copyright library for Ireland from 1927 (by contrast, the library of Trinity College Dublin was already a copyright library for the UK and Ireland, a status it retains). The National Cultural Institutions Act 1997 mandated that the National Library of Ireland (NLI) collect all materials relating to Ireland to provide an accurate record of Irish output.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Ní Dhuibhne|first=Éilís|date=2012|title=Poetry in the Archive: Reflections of a Former Archivist on the Manuscripts of Twentieth-Century Irish Poets in the National Library of Ireland|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24577105|journal=Irish University Review|volume=42| issue=1 |pages=155–168| jstor=24577105 |access-date=25 April 2021|archive-date=25 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425180641/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24577105|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Major collections===
The library holds over 12 million items.<ref name="NLI_collns">{{Cite web |title=Collections |url=https://www.nli.ie/collections |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=National Library of Ireland |language=en}}</ref> The main collection is a combination of stock transferred from the Royal Dublin Society, including the Joly collection (25,000 volumes), later acquisitions, and copyright deposits of most printed, and some other, works published in Ireland since 1927.  The library purchases content from Northern Ireland, and attempts to collect all publications in Irish, and acquires a limited supply from further afield.<ref name="NLI_colln_bks">{{Cite web |title=Collections – Books |url=https://www.nli.ie/collections/our-collections/books |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=National Library of Ireland |language=en}}</ref> The book collection numbers around 1 million volumes, principally sourced from the RDS legacy and legal deposit copies.<ref name="NLI_colln_bks"/> Other major collections include serials (recurrent publications other than newspapers, including magazines, journals and annual reports), maps and drawings, Government and other public sector publications, manuscripts, and original and microfilmed newspapers.  The NLI holds over 2,785 subject items related to 20th century Irish poets,<ref name=":1" /> and is a major source for poetry by Irish writers.<ref name=":1" />[[Image:Dublin, Nationalbiblioteket, Nordisk familjebok.png|thumb|1907 photograph of the National Library of Ireland, as taken from the ''[[Nordisk familjebok]]'']]

===Personal archives and papers===
The National Library of Ireland houses collections of archival papers, including personal notes and work books, of eminent writers including:
* [[Roddy Doyle]]<ref name=seamus_heaney_declutters/>
* [[Seamus Heaney]]<ref name=seamus_heaney_declutters>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/arts/seamus-heaney-declutters-home-and-donates-personal-notes-to-national-library-2970392.html|title=Seamus Heaney declutters home and donates personal notes to National Library|date=21 December 2011|access-date=21 December 2011|first=Lyndsey|last=Telford|work=Irish Independent|publisher=Independent News & Media|archive-date=2 August 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120802045337/http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/arts/seamus-heaney-declutters-home-and-donates-personal-notes-to-national-library-2970392.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Michael D. Higgins]]<ref name=seamus_heaney_declutters/>
* [[James Joyce]]<ref name=seamus_heaney_declutters/>
* [[Edna O'Brien]]<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crowley|first=Sinéad|date=10 September 2021|title=Edna O'Brien archive acquired by National Library of Ireland|publisher=RTÉ Culture|url=https://www.rte.ie/culture/2021/0909/1245719-edna-obrien-archive-acquired-by-national-library-of-ireland/|access-date=16 September 2021|archive-date=16 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916113605/https://www.rte.ie/culture/2021/0909/1245719-edna-obrien-archive-acquired-by-national-library-of-ireland/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Colm Tóibín]]<ref name=seamus_heaney_declutters/>
* [[Una Troy]]
* [[Sheila Wingfield]]
* [[W. B. Yeats]]<ref name=seamus_heaney_declutters/>

The National Library of Ireland houses the Sheehy Skeffington Papers, a collection of articles, books, poems, and other materials of Irish writers and activists, [[Francis Sheehy-Skeffington|Francis Sheehy Skeffington]], and [[Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington|Hanna Sheehy Skeffington]].  These writings offer an understanding into the influence of the Francis and Hanna Skeffington in early 20th Century Irish culture and thought as well as insight into their family life.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Culhane|first=Dara|date=2015|title=The Sheehy Skeffington Papers: Treasure Hunting at the National Library of Ireland Archives|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24635400.|journal=The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies|volume=39| issue=1 |pages=50–63| jstor=24635400 }}</ref>

The library also holds the Cooper Collection. Austin Cooper (1759–1831) was a [[County Tipperary]] clerk who produced numerous sketches of Irish antiquities which were preserved by his great-grandson.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Harbison|first=Peter|date=2001|title=Irish Artists on Irish Subjects': The Cooper Collection in the National Library|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20493166|journal=Irish Arts Review Yearbook|volume=17|pages=61–69| jstor=20493166 |access-date=25 April 2021|archive-date=25 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425180643/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20493166|url-status=live}}</ref> The Cooper Collection also contains drawings by other artists including [[Francis Wheatley (painter)|Francis Wheatley]].<ref name=":0" />

===Parish registers===
The Library also maintains an online index of all Catholic parish registers up to the 1880s which recorded baptisms, marriages and some burials. The original collection was preserved on microfilm and later was provided online.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fitzsimons|first=Fiona|date=2015|title=Catholic Parish Registers|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43235414|journal=History Ireland|volume=23| issue=2 |page=21| jstor=43235414 |access-date=25 April 2021|archive-date=25 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425180646/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43235414|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Music===
In 2010, the National Library of Ireland began a collaborative effort in a new website, the National Archive of Irish Composers, which was designed to develop a free online comprehensive collection of the sheet music of 18th and 19th century Irish composers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hunt|first=Una|date=July 2011|title=The National Archive of Irish Composers: Creating a Digital Collection of Music from the National Library of Ireland|journal=Fontes Artis Musicae|volume=58| issue=3 |pages=266–273|via=EBSCOhost}}</ref> As of 2021, the website of the National Archive of Irish Composers describes the project as a collaborative venture between the National Library of Ireland, TU Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama, Heritage Music Productions, directed by Dr Una Hunt.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021|title=National Archive of Irish Composers|url=https://arrow.tudublin.ie/naic/#:~:text=The%20National%20Archive%20of%20Irish%20Composers%20is%20a%20collaborative%20venture,Drama%20and%20Heritage%20Music%20Productions.&text=In%20addition%20to%20the%20sheet%20music%20there%20are%20also%20audio%20recordings.|url-status=live|website=National Archive of Irish Composers|archive-date=3 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303142654/https://arrow.tudublin.ie/naic/#:~:text=The%20National%20Archive%20of%20Irish%20Composers%20is%20a%20collaborative%20venture,Drama%20and%20Heritage%20Music%20Productions.&text=In%20addition%20to%20the%20sheet%20music%20there%20are%20also%20audio%20recordings.}}</ref>

===Digital===
In 2019, the Library accessioned its first "[[Born-digital|born digital]]" collection as a pilot scheme, receiving the digital collection of Irish author, [[Marian Keyes]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=McGreevy|first=Ronan|date=16 October 2019|title=Marian Keyes becomes first Irish writer to donate digital archive|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/marian-keyes-becomes-first-irish-writer-to-donate-digital-archive-1.4052814|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-16|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|archive-date=2 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102150155/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/marian-keyes-becomes-first-irish-writer-to-donate-digital-archive-1.4052814}}</ref>