About Local Studies

Limerick City & County has a particularly rich history. The city’s situation where the River Shannon enters the Estuary gave it a strategic significance, which made it a focal point of many of the conflicts that have occurred throughout the history of Ireland, from the Viking invasions of the 8^th century to Ireland’s Civil War of a hundred years ago. The county, similarly, has played a central role in many of the historical events in the nation’s history.

Limerick has always been fortunate to have a vibrant history community, which has recorded the city and county’s stories in hundreds of books, thousands of journal articles and countless newspaper articles. This collection of materials, an essential aid for anyone researching the history of Limerick, can be found at Limerick Local Studies.

Books

An extensive collection of books on Limerick city and county, covering all areas of local interest including history, archaeology, geography, politics, religion, culture, and commerce, including celebrated historical surveys such as John Ferrar’s The History of Limerick (1787) and Maurice Lenihan’s Limerick: Its History and Antiquities (1866). We also hold a range of wider historical reference works relevant to the study of Limerick such as the Dictionary of Irish Biography, the Irish Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns, the Civil Survey 1654-1656, the Convert Rolls, the History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800, the Complete Peerage and Burke’s Irish Families, and the Cambridge History of Ireland.

Journals

A wide range of local history, parish and community journals from across the city and county, including complete runs of the North Munster Antiquarian Journal and the Old Limerick Journal. We also hold copies of historic and current city and county council reports and regional development plans.

Newspapers

An extensive hardcopy, microfilm, and digital local newspaper archive, including titles such as the Limerick Chronicle (1784-2018), Limerick Leader (1893-present), Limerick Reporter (1839-94), Limerick Echo (1899-1947), and the Munster News (1851-1930). We also provide free access to the Irish Newspaper Archive and the British Newspaper Archive onsite, the latter containing a significant cache of Irish newspapers, including runs of various Limerick titles.

Maps

We hold an extensive collection of historical maps relating to Limerick city and county, most significantly the Down Survey, Ordance Survey, and Griffith’s Valuation maps.

Archival Sources

• Registers of Electors for Limerick city, ranging from 1884 until 2014.
• A selection of Limerick trades directories, ranging from 1769 to 1930.
• Microfilm copies of the Tithe Applotment Books for county Limerick, and hardcopy Griffith’s Valuation Books for Limerick city and county, with accompanying maps.
• A wide range of historic local government resources such as the Board of Guardians and Rural District Council collections for Limerick county, Limerick County Council minute books (1899-1961), and the Grand Jury Presentments (1807-1900). We also hold a small collection of private papers, including Monteagle, Coote, and Massey estate papers.
• Free access onsite to FindMyPast.ie which provides an extensive range of historical records such as British Army and Royal Irish Constabulary records, Irish prison registers, the records of the Irish court of petty sessions, and immigration records. Its ‘Easter Rising and Ireland under Martial Law 1916-1921’ collection includes over 300,000 documents from the Irish revolutionary period, including the proceedings of War of Independence-era military courts of inquiry.
• The Schools’ Folklore Collection for county Limerick and Limerick content from the Life and Lore series of oral history recordings.

We provide assistance to researchers with microfilm readers and other equipment, as well as with our digital databases. All Local Studies materials can be viewed, printed, scanned and/or downloaded onsite. Use of these facilities is open to all and there are no costs except for photocopying and printing which are charged at 20c per A4 page and 40c per A3. We also provide computer facilities for those who wish to avail of the library’s online resources – both our own Local Studies website and the newspaper and genealogical services for which we hold subscriptions.

Please note that our entire Local Studies collection is not held at the department in Watch House Cross Library. If looking for a particular item or resource we recommend that you contact local studies in advance of your visit.

Limerick Libraries has one of the most extensive collections of online resources in Ireland. From digitised books and journals to trades directories and obituaries from local newspapers, along with much more. Many local studies research queries can be resolved through use of the digital collections.

The Local Studies collection of Limerick Libraries is located at Watch House Cross Community Library, about 3 kilometres from Limerick city centre.