The Reference Department

Our Reference Collection, which extends over four floors, includes an Art Library, an Irish room housing our books on Ireland's religious and secular history, a periodicals room housing a substantial retrospective collection of Catholic journals, and of course our general holdings of material on Catholic history, culture and teaching. We also house over 1,000 books of Catholic interest published before 1850.

Our reference collection is used by members of the Church, lay students of theology, visitors with religious and spiritual interests, priests and religious, as well as visitors from the UK, the US and the continent. It is also appreciated by postgraduate students and academic staff undertaking research into the history of the Catholic Church in Ireland. The collections of the Central Catholic Library are increasingly recognised as a very valuable resource in this regard.

See also the article on Collections.