The O'Neill Collection of Traditional Irish Music

The collection is made up of over 1,000 volumes relating to Irish studies. While most relate in some way to Irish music, only about 150 of the volumes are exclusively devoted to music. The collection includes first editions of O'Neill's own works, notably The Music of Ireland, now a classic in the field.

The majority of imprints are late nineteenth and early twentieth century, but the collection also includes some rare eighteenth century titles. With selected recent additions, this collection was Captain O'Neill's personal library which he donated to Notre Dame in 1931.

The O'Neill Collection was the subject of an exhibit titled "Music Mad: Captain Francis O'Neill and Traditional Irish Music," held in Special Collections in the summer of 1990. A PDF of the exhibition catalog can be downloaded here (17 MB).