Collection Development Policy
Irish Studies

The Irish Studies collections in Irish history, music, and literature, interdisciplinary in nature, consist of books, journals, music, newspapers, pamphlets, and non-print materials that document the history of Ireland, including its language, literature, and culture from ancient times to the present day. Historically, the research collections tend to be particularly strong in 18th century Irish history, with strong collections emerging in 19th and 20th century Irish literature and music as well. The formation of the collections dates back to the mid- nineteenth century.

PROGRAMS AND CLIENTELE SUPPORTED:

The Irish Studies collections directly support the Donald and Marilyn Keough Center for Irish Studies, founded in May 1993. The Keough benefaction also supports the Donald and Marilyn Keough Chair in Irish Studies at Notre Dame, established in 1993 in the Department of English.

The Keough Center for Irish Studies hosts invited lectures, supports graduate studies in Irish literature and culture, and expands research capabilities in Irish studies.

The collections primarily support research requirements of faculty and students in the Irish Studies program. The collections more generally support research in social, political, and economic history, literature, drama and theater, film studies, music, gender studies, government and international studies, theology, economics, peace studies, and Medieval Studies. The Irish Studies collections also support the work of the Charles and Margaret Hall Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, particularly in the area of Irish immigration history and Irish American studies.

Notre Dame students who take their junior year in Trinity College, Dublin, or University College, Dublin, may make use of the Libraries' extensive collections in Irish history, literature, and culture. Saint Mary's students who study in Maynooth have the same opportunity to make use of the Libraries' resources.

SUBJECT LIBRARIANS:

Charlotte Ames
Librarian for Irish Studies
Collection Development Department
Room 217, Hesburgh Library
(574) 631-5176
Ames.5@nd.edu
FAX: (574) 631-6772

Laura S. Fuderer
Librarian for English and French Language and Literature
Room 219, Hesburgh Library
(574) 631-5233
Fuderer.1@nd.edu

FAX: (574) 631-6772

Jennifer Matthews
Librarian for Music
Collection Development Department
Room 204, Hesburgh Library
(574) 631-9038

Jennifer.C.Matthews.27@nd.edu
FAX: (574) 631-6772

GENERAL COLLECTION GUIDELINES:

Languages:  Works are collected primarily in English, with a selective representation of Irish language and literature.

Chronological:  All chronological periods in Irish Studies are included from ancient to modern times.

Geographical:  The majority of works in Irish Studies have been published in Ireland, Great Britain, and the United States. All aspects of Irish history and culture are represented in all geographical domains.

Treatment of Subject:  Scholarly works in Irish Studies, including monographs and serials, are collected extensively. Reference materials which treat both broad and more specific areas of Irish Studies are collected extensively. Government documents and other works which are available through the Center for Research Libraries are generally not purchased. Original manuscripts are not purchased. Relatively few highly specialized scientific and technical works are collected. Juvenile works are not collected, but may be retained as gifts when deemed appropriate by liaisons. Cook books and mass-market popular music are not collected.

Types of Material:  Monographs, serials, pamphlets, newspapers, maps and atlases, microforms, sound recordings, audio cassettes, music scores, videos, government documents, and CD ROM products are acquired. As electronic texts become increasingly available on the Internet, the Library will facilitate appropriate access accordingly.

The Center for Research Libraries:

The Center for Research Libraries holds extensive collections of monographs and serials in Irish history, including Northern Ireland Parliamentary Publications, 1921-1972, and Northern Ireland Political Literature, which will eventually reproduce in microfiche the entire Northern Ireland Political Collection at the Linen Hall Library, Belfast (estimated 35,000 items). The Center holds the Irish University Press selected reprints of 19th century papers, which includes 1000 volumes of sessional papers. The Center also holds an extensive collection of Irish newspapers, including backfiles of the Freeman's Journal , 1763- 1924, the Irish Times , 1860- , and the Irish News and Belfast Morning News , 1977- .

 

COLLECTING LEVELS:

LC Class	Subject	Collecting Level
DA906	General Reference Works	3
BR790-797	Religion, other than Catholic	2
BX1503-1508	Roman Catholic Church	3
BX1756	Sermons	2
BX2600-2602	Monasticism	3
BX4700	Lives of the Saints	3
CS480-499	Genealogy-Ireland	2
CS2410-2419	Genealogy-Personal Family Names	1

 

 

Bibliographies, handbooks, and guides on individual Irish families, and family names of particular Irish regions are collected at the minimal level unless they are of particular importance in a larger historical context.

LC Class	Subject	Collecting Level
CT808	Personal Histories, Autobiographies, correspondence	3
DA900-999	History	3
E184	Irish-American History	4
GR146	Folklore	2
HA1141-1170	Statistics (Compendia, Census)	1

 

 

A considerable volume of material in this area is available from the Center for Research Libraries.

LC Class	Subject	Collecting Level
HC257	Economics	3

 

 

Works on the economic history of Ireland, the formation of the Irish economy, and Irish economic policy are collected at the instructional support level.

LC Class	Subject	Collecting Level
HC260.5	Land Economics	2

 

 

Works on economic conditions in Ireland, including poverty, famine, and the modern industrialization of Ireland are collected at the basic information level.

LC Class	Subject	Collecting Level
HD1930	Agriculture	2
J307	Parliamentary Debates	1

 

 

Works on parliamentary debates are collected at the minimal level. The Center for Research Libraries holds extensive collections of these materials which are available on loan.

LC Class	Subject	Collecting Level
JN1400-1572	Politics and Government	3
KDC	Law	1
M 1744	Ballads	2
M 2119	Irish Music	2
ML 287	Irish Music	3
N6782-6789	Art	2
PB1000-1499	Irish, Celtic Languages	1
PN2601	Theater History	2
PR	English Literature, Irish Authors	2

 

 

With the exception of major Anglo-Irish writers, including Beckett, Joyce, Synge, Wilde, and Yeats, who would rate at least a level 3, Irish authors are collected at the basic information level.

LC Class	Subject	Collecting Level
PR 8698-8899	Literature, Collected Works	3
Z2027-2043	Bibliographies	2

 

 

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections holds a number of significant works and collections in Irish Studies, including a facsimile of the Book of Kells; the Abbey Theatre Collection of programs of plays performed from 1926-1942; and the Cuala Press Collection of works by William Butler Yeats and other Irish writers. In addition, it holds a number of works relating to the Irish Rebellion of 1798; the Thomas C. and Helen G. McGrath Collection of Sea Charts of Ireland, and the David J. Butler Collection of Maps of Ireland printed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and the Irish Parliamentary Register (1784-96?). The O'Neill Irish Music Collection contains nearly 1500 printed titles, the bulk of which were published between 1825 and 1920, and more than 100 cassettes of Irish music located in the Renner Family Audio Learning Center. The collection contains the Wolf Collection of Irish Postage Stamps which includes all of the stamps used in the Republic of Ireland since its independence in 1922.

Endowed funds:  Currently five endowed funds support the purchase of monographs and serials in Irish Studies: Keough (History); Heinz (History); Gibbons (History); O'Neill (Music); and O'Loughlin (Literature). The Rex and Mary O'Connor Endowed Collection in Irish Law supports the Law Library's collections. The Deane Fund as well as English and Phalin funds have also been used to develop the collections in Irish studies.

Government Publications:  The University Libraries receive selected works published by the European Communities.

COORDINATION:

The Subject Librarian for Irish Studies maintains a working relationship with the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, the Medieval Institute, and the Law Library. The Cushwa Center supports research in Irish Studies by offering awards for manuscripts selected for the Irish in America series published by the University of Notre Dame Press. Funded by an endowment from the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Cushwa Center also administers the Hibernian Research Award, and regularly sponsors lectures, publications and conferences related to the Irish-American experience.

To facilitate access to works available through the Internet, the Bibliographer also maintains a working relationship with the PC/Network Coordinator and others as required.

 

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