Get in touch if you would like to know more about using our collections for your research. Let us know how you are using, or plan to use, our collections for your work.
L&RS collections
We hold two important collections of documents: Documents Laid and Historical. You can search both our collections via our online catalogue.
- Documents Laid collection
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Documents are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas by Departments or agencies to support the democratic process. Approximately 2,000 documents, such as committee reports and annual accounts, are laid before the Oireachtas each year, and the collection dates from the 1920s.
The L&RS manages the procedures relating to the laying of documents before parliament. Since the foundation of the State, legislation has determined which documents should be laid before the Houses.
- Historical collection
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Our historical collection is recognised as an extremely important repository of material relating to Irish affairs in the nineteenth century. After the Oireachtas Library was established in 1924, it acquired the library of the Chief Secretary’s Office in Dublin Castle and the Library of the Irish Office in London. These collections were, in effect, the reference libraries of the British administration in Ireland. Major themes and topics of Irish history are represented which include historic books, maps, archival material, periodicals, cartoons, prints and pamphlets. Many of the items have been digitised and are available to the public through our online catalogue.
SFI Public Service Fellowship Programme
- How we work with the SFI as a host organisation
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The Oireachtas Library & Research Service is a host organization under the SFI (Science Foundation Ireland) Public Service Fellowship Programme.
This pilot initiative offers researchers an opportunity to be temporarily seconded to Government Departments, agencies etc, where they can add value resulting in mutually beneficial outcomes. Other participants in the programme include the Revenue Commissioners, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Justice and the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA).
The fellowship provides an opportunity for researchers in residence to see how the Oireachtas works from the inside. This allows them to identify ways in which they can be more effective in communicating their research to Members of the Oireachtas. The fellowship gives the L&RS and Members the opportunity to find out about emerging research in science and technology and the implications, impact and opportunities science creates.
The process started in October 2019, when applications were opened to researchers under two calls from the L&RS:
- Responding to climate change and sustainability
- The economic, social and ethical implications of technological innovation
The areas in which the calls were made reflect the themes chosen by the Parliamentary Research Service for its topical research programme 2019-2021 as set out in the Parliamentary Research Service Strategic Plan.
- Our researchers, their residencies and their research topics
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Dr Boris Galkin (TCD) 5 Oct 2020 - 5 Jan 2021
The economic, social and ethical implications of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones)Dr Rónán Kennedy (NUIG) 5 Oct 2020 - 5 Jan 2021
The economic, social and ethical implications of lawtech in the Irish legal services marketDr Tim Jacquemard (RCSI) 16 Nov 2020 - 16 Feb 2021
The economic, social and ethical implications of health technology innovation in IrelandDr Cormac Ó Coileáin (TCD) 25 Jan - 25 Apr 2021
The economic, social and ethical implications of nanotechnologyDr Nicholas Vafeas (UCD) 25 Jan - 25 Apr 2021
Responding to climate change and sustainability - geothermal energy in IrelandProf. David Lewis (TCD) 15 Mar - 15 Jun 2021
The economic, social and ethical implications of artificial intelligence and big data - Context and strategic alignment
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Our engagement with SFI and the SFI Public Service Fellowship is part of the Parliamentary Research Service’s strategic objective to increased engagement with the scientific and academic community. In doing so the Parliamentary Research Service aims to strengthen its own, and the Houses' capacity to access and provide evidenced-informed research to support Members in their parliamentary duties. It supports the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission strategic objective of an open and engaged Parliament.
Apart from the short-term benefits of the programme to both the Houses and the researcher, it is hoped there will be a long-term return on investment. We hope the academics who have engaged in the programme will continue to engage with the Oireachtas. We also hope they will promote within their networks the value and methods by which STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) researchers can engage with the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Bibliography
Bibliography of Parliament
Our new Bibliography of Parliament in Ireland lists works relevant to parliament in Ireland since the foundation of Dáil Éireann in 1919.
You can use the bibliography to generate references to sources such as books, journal articles, web pages and conference papers.
Bills
Historic Bills
Bills published from 1997 to the present day are available in the Bills & Acts section of this website. The Bills that were published from 1922 to 1996 have recently been digitised and are being added to the website.
If you cannot find the Bill you are looking for, visit the Oireachtas Library's online catalogue. The catalogue has all the different versions of the Bills as they were amended.
Guides for researchers
These documents provide more information about our services as well as guidance for researchers.
Parliamentary fellowships
The Oireachtas parliamentary fellowship was designed to advance the study of and contribute to scholarship on the Houses of the Oireachtas and to promote knowledge and understanding of the history and workings of the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Oireachtas parliamentary fellowships were awarded in 2010 to Dr Brian Hunt and in 2011 to Dr Gavin Barret.
Research bursaries
The Library & Research Service has awarded a number of research bursaries to help academics explore our collections. Here’s a sample of how some researchers have used our collections to date.
- Dr. Conor Mulvagh
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Lobbying and the land question: Dublin Castle pamphlets and landlord responses to the land war
- Dr. Marie Leoutre
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The notion of colony - An exploration of the constitutional relationship between Ireland and England in 17th and 18th centuries
Dr. Leoutre's paper is an accepted manuscript of an article published in Parliaments, Estates and Representation, 27 Mar 2014.
- Dr. Sarah Campbell
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Loyalty and Disloyalty: The Fenian treason trials, 1865 - 1867 and the evolution of British counter - insurgency policies in nineteenth century Ireland