Using the Library

Ask a Librarian

We welcome queries about our collections of books, manuscripts, prints and drawings. Just email your query to the librarian on duty or contact us by phone (+353-1-6090600).

How to Gain Admission to the Library

We welcome new readers to the library. Our reading room provides a friendly quiet atmosphere in the heart of the city. To gain access to the library, you must register as a library reader. (ALCID cards are not currently available; see below for further details).

To register, please complete a registration form. You will also need to show a current valid photo ID or

• a letter of introduction from an Academy Member, or from a County Librarian or the Librarian or Head of Department of a Higher Education Authority institution, or from the Higher Education Authority or the Department of Education and Science, or from a North of Ireland third-level institution, or from the Secretary of a Local History Society or

• a National Library of Ireland Reader's Ticket or

• a National Archives of Ireland Reader's Ticket or

• a Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Reader's Ticket or

• a Linen Hall Library Reader's Ticket or

• a letter of introduction from the faculty of a university (in the case of overseas academics and students) or

• a valid student's card and passport

Registration forms must be validated by the Librarian on duty. A Reader's Ticket is issued on payment of €25 and is renewable on an annual basis. The charge may be revised from time to time. The form can be downloaded or sent to you by e-mail/post, or you may obtain one in the library.

Members of Academy committees or commissions, or members of consultative committees affiliated to the Academy, are automatically eligible to read in the Library. They will be issued with a Reader's Ticket on completion of a registration form and are not required to pay a fee.

ALCID (Academic Libraries Co-operating in Ireland)

ALCID is a co-operative access scheme which enables access to the collections of each of the participating libraries, without formality, on production of a common ALCID membership card for full-time academics, academic-related staff and registered students reading for postgraduate degrees.

Please note that the ALCID scheme has been suspended until at least 31 December 2021. 

The following institutions have participated in the ALCID scheme:

• Dublin City University (Glasnevin and St Patrick's campus libraries)

• Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies

• Mary Immaculate College, Limerick

• Maynooth University

• National College of Art and Design (NCAD)

• National University of Ireland Galway

• Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

• Royal Irish Academy

• Saint Angela’s College, Sligo

• Technological University Dublin

• Trinity College Dublin

• University College Cork

• University College Dublin

• University of Limerick

• Ulster University