Research Guides: HIST 212: The Long History of Christian Ireland (Spring 2025): Finding Primary Sources

Databases at W&M

TIPS

Consider the types of primary source you need:
- newspaper
- letters
- legal documents
- church record
- etc

Narrow primary source by type using our database selection page
Select Irish history from the options on the right

Other tips

Keep your search simple; only use a few search terms at once
use contemporary language
use the time period limiters on the side
select databases based on the type of primary sources you need.

Highlighted Databases

British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diariesincludes the immediate experiences of approximately 500 women, as revealed in over 100,000 pages of diaries and letters. Particular care has been taken to index this material so that it can be searched more thoroughly than ever before. The collection now includes primary materials spanning more than 300 years. Each source has been carefully chosen using leading bibliographies. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database. Coverage: 1500-1950
Early English Books Online (EEBO)
Books and other items printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and British North America, and works in English printed elsewhere. Coverage: 1473-1700.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
English- and foreign-language titles printed in Great Britain from 1701-1800, along with thousands of important works from the Americas. Searchable full text. Includes books, pamphlets, and broadsides. Coverage: 1701-1800.
Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times: Historical Newspapers 1859-2019
The Irish Times provides comprehensive news reporting as well as sports, business, arts, lifestyle coverage, and more. Each issue contains in-depth analysis and lively debate of current events. The Weekly Irish Times coverage (1876-1958) includes The Times Pictorial.

Digital Irish Newspapers
Coverage between 1698-present
Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Selected Sources: Celtic States
Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Selected Sources: The Celtic World
Irish History Online

Printed Primary Sources in the collection

Main Library Catalog
Search for your topic (ex. Pirates, trade, religion, etc) and then limit the publication date the exclude items before 1776. The catalog will search many of our major primary source databases for you, as well as Hathi Trust and other resources.

Librarians assign Genre headings to all materials in the catalog. Search any of these as subject to find materials of that type. Do NOT limit publication date because it will exclude republished facsimiles or compiled sources. Genre headings include

Personal narratives
Correspondence
Biography
Interviews
Letters
Speeches
Pamphlets
Sermons
Diaries
Wills
Logbooks
Sources

You can also use the publication date limiter to find primary sources.

Example: IRELAND AND catholic* 1600-1700