Reference Library and Archive

A worn catalogue of printing equipment that is shaped like a letterpress cabinet (pre-1971).

Reference Libary and Archive

The specialist reference library boasts an impressive and extensive collection of books, pamphlets, journals, periodicals, handbooks, catalogues and newspapers relating to the history, technology and practice of printing, typography, bookmaking, papermaking and other associated crafts.  Also included in the collection are books, items of ephemera and photographs showcasing various styles of printing and print houses of old.

The Library is reference only. To access the Library you can make an appointment by contacting info@nationalprintmuseum.ie

Prior to your appointment, please provide a list of the items you have identified in the catalogue that would like to access. A table will be set up with all items ready for you on your arrival and WIFI is available in the Museum.

#OpentheArchives at the National Print Museum

As part of her MA in Public History at University College Dublin, Katie Breen carefully selected and researched items from the Museum’s lesser-known archive.

“Being onsite at the National Print Museum for the last month has been such an incredible experience. While the museum had a fair idea about what was in their archive, combing through it and picking out what interested me, and being the first to research those pieces has been simply amazing. As a history student I chose to focus on the stories of the events and people in these pieces. In a living and working museum such as the National Print Museum, having an onsite archive filled with important newspapers and documents from the past is so important, and adds to the heritage of the museum which you can see and touch, just like the printing machines themselves!”
Katie Breen, MA, Public History, University College Dublin, Spring 2022

Katie Breen examines some photographs capturing the ‘Battle of the Four Courts’, printed in ‘The Irish Times’, Saturday, 8 July, 1922
Katie Breen examines some photographs capturing the ‘Battle of the Four Courts’, printed in ‘The Irish Times’, Saturday, 8 July, 1922

Éamon de Valera is installed as third President of the Republic of Ireland at a ‘brief and simple ceremony’ at Dublin Castle on June 25....

Over the coming days we will be sharing some of the carefully selected pieces from our archive chosen by Katie Breen across our social media platforms....

“Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?” … In the early 1950s when anti-Communist hysteria swept across the United States of America, thousands of Americans had to ...

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