Research Guides: Irish Studies: Irish Literature Resources

Research in Irish Literature

For more information on research in literature, please see:

Literatures in English Research Guide
by Leila Walker Last Updated Oct 17, 2023 223 views this year

There are two places to look for books:

CUNY Catalog
The CUNY Catalog is where we list all the books in our collection, along with many other resources we provide.
OneSearch
OneSearch is a tool that combines the catalog with the databases.

If you know the headings already, you can do a subject heading search.

In CUNY Catalog, you do this by choosing Subject begins with...

In OneSearch, you do this by clicking Browse Local Catalog on the top right.

The following are usually subject headings:

There are also some headings dealing specifically with Irish literature:

You can also look for books on the shelf -- similar books are shelved near each other.

Here are some call numbers you might try:

MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
A standard of literary research. This should be your first stop when researching literature in any modern language. In the Advanced search, you can use National Literature to limit your search to Irish literature or language to limit to articles on works in Irish.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR archives the full text of journals in all disciplines. It is both possible and necessary to use more specific search terms than in MLA. For instance, a search for Gaeltacht autobiograph* retrieves 14 items in JSTOR and only two in MLA.
JSTOR provided expanded access during the pandemic (June 2020-June 2023). Expanded access expires on June 30, 2023. CUNY will reinstate that access beginning in January 2024.You may review the Electronic Resources Status Dashboard for updates. Questions? Email: access-support@qc-cuny.libanswers.com or Open a Ticket!
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to a wide array of scholarly journals. Do a keyword search on your topic, or browse their journals on Irish Studies.
Gale Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
A good source for general background information on authors, including biographies, overviews, interviews and more.

CELT: The Corpus of Electronic Texts
CELT is a searchable online corpus of multilingual texts of Irish literature and history, currently with 1058 available texts.
A Database of Irish Women's Writing, 1800–2005
A bibliographical database of Irish women writers who wrote in both Irish and English between 1800 and 2005, including a whole range of publications such as novels, articles, poems, memoirs, travel writing, essays, cookery writing, plays, films, etc.
The International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures
IASIL is an academic association promoting the study and teaching of Irish literature around the world.