Manuscripts Collections

Since the founding of the Academy, the Library has received grouped collections of manuscripts. Information on these collections can be found here.

Betham Manuscript Collection

A collection of Irish manuscripts purchased from Sir William Betham in 1851.

Detail of ending of a typed letter with handwritten signature of Hodges & Smith at the ending.

Hodges & Smith Collection

Collection of medieval and early modern Irish manuscripts purchased by the Academy in 1844.

White marble bust sculpture of a man with side burns, whose shoulders are draped in a Grecian robe.

William Elliot Hudson Bequest

An essay on the manuscripts and books bequeathed to the Academy by William Elliot Hudson in 1853, with a list of the Irish manuscripts in the bequest.

Book plate of William Smith O'Brien. The book plate design comprises a woodland setting with the helmet from a suit of armour and family crest on a shield lying on the ground amongst the trees.

William Smith O'Brien Irish Manuscript Collection

Irish manuscripts presented and bequeathed by William Smith O'Brien, MRIA, MP (1803-1864).

Detail from front cover paste down of a book binding, which is inscribed O'Daly Collection no. 20.

John O'Daly (Seán O Dálaigh) Manuscript Collection

A collection of Irish language manuscripts acquired from John O'Daly in 1869.