The Clóliosta Digitisation Project

Work is ongoing on a project to digitise the pre 1871 Irish language printings in the NLI’s collections. These are listed in the Clóliosta, a published bibliography of printing in the Irish language before 1871 compiled by the late Professor Richard Sharpe of the University of Oxford and Dr Mícheál Hoyne of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Read more: www.dias.ie/celt/celt-publications-2/cloliosta/

The Clóliosta is the most comprehensive catalogue of Irish-language books published to date. The coverage aims to include every work printed in the Irish language and early works that include passages of Irish, even in some cases where the passage is short.  The National Library’s collections contain extensive Irish language material. Nearly 600 of the items listed in the Clóliosta are in the NLI’s collections. 

The Clóliosta project is the first digitisation project undertaken by the Published Collections department of the Library. Staff in the department select and prioritise items for digitisation on the basis that they are not digitised already or available online, liaising with staff in Conservation and Digital collections to coordinate digitisation of this material.

Written by Honora Faul.