Research Databases and Services
We provide free access to online databases in your local Fingal Library branch and at home
Accessible at your local Library Branch
The Ask about Ireland website is an online cultural, educational and environmental resource with over thirty general interest topics showcasing national datasets and the local studies collections from all library authorities. This is an extremely useful website for primary and secondary students when doing projects or homework.
Explore hundreds of thousands of articles from newspapers in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland too.
Accessible from your Fingal Library
FamilySearch offers access to digital genealogical records consisting of digitized historical materials such as books and microfilm. The popular webservice has over 6 billion searchable names and 2 billion images of historical genealogical records. FamilySearch adds over 300 million free genealogical records and images online yearly from all over the world and manages the famous Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. It has amassed billions of birth, marriage, death, census, land and court records from more than 130 countries to help you discover and make family connections.
All ten Fingal Library branches and our Local Studies and Archives department are now FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries.
Access: To get started on your search, log-in to your local Fingal Library computer, locate the FamilySearch icon on the desktop or visit familysearch.org to begin your family history journey. You need to create your free account first before you can view records.
Findmypast Ireland is a website set up by family history experts which will help you to understand your Irish heritage and make amazing discoveries about your ancestors. It is currently available in all Fingal branch libraries except Garristown Library.
A full scale Valuation of Property in Ireland
Irish Newspaper Archive
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.
Accessible from your own home computer
Encyclopaedia Britannica:
- Access the full text of the famous encyclopaedia series
- Great for researching and studying
- Browse articles, primary sources, biographies, news, atlases, images, dictionaries …etc.
Britannica Student:
- Access the student version of the famous encyclopaedia series
- Designed for students aged 12-18
- Browse articles, primary sources, biographies, atlases, videos and images
- Compare countries and tour Europe
Britannica Junior:
- Access the children’s version of the famous encyclopaedia series
- Designed for children aged 5-11
- Great resource for anyone doing homework or school projects
- Learn more about geography, animals, famous people and so much more
Business.ie:
- Ireland’s largest business database
- Consists of over 130,000 company records, with 80,000+ executive contacts
- Search businesses in Ireland by location, sector, employee size, type, product and executive contact
- Increase your sales, source suppliers and reach the top business-to-business contacts
- Contact your local library branch for access/reports https://bit.ly/YourLocalFingalLibrary
- Join the library here
- https://bit.ly/BusinessieFingal
Credo Reference:
- Browse 3,654,956 full text articles from 214 publishers
- Subjects include health, medicine, psychology, biographies, history, science & environmental studies
- Offers research tips
- To login type 'Fingal County Libraries' for your branch, then type in your library card number
Mintel:
- The world’s leading market intelligence agency
- Offers expert analysis of the highest quality data and market research
- Mintel market research reports cover market, consumer and brand research as well as tracking international market insights and trends
- Excellent resource for business people and those seeking to develop their career
- Contact your local library branch for access/reports https://bit.ly/YourLocalFingalLibrary
- Join the library here
- https://bit.ly/MintelFingal
National Library of Ireland:
- Contains over 180,000 catalogue records for Irish manuscripts & for articles in Irish periodicals.
- Search all the National Library's manuscripts catalogued up to the 1980s
- Access Irish manuscripts held in other libraries & archives in Ireland & worldwide, listed between the 1940s & the 1970s
- Search articles, reviews and other content that appeared in over 150 Irish periodicals up to 1969
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
- The Oxford English Dictionary is the unsurpassed guide for researchers in any discipline to the meaning, history and usage of over 500,000 words and phrases across the English speaking world
- Includes guides on understanding the various entries and how to use the website features
- Includes recently added words, recently updated words and a word of the day
- Features additional resources on word history, etymology, localised and cultural language usage, and commentary on words and word-origins
- Access at home using your library card number. Join the library here
- https://www.oed.com/
Grove Art:
- The foremost art encyclopedia, covering art and architecture from prehistory to present day
- 30,000 signed articles and images on every aspect of the visual arts
- Over 6,000 entries and 20,000 biographies, by nearly 7,000 international scholars
- 7,000 searchable images from such organisations as the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Free learning resources including subject guides, timelines and educator resources
- Access at home using your library card
Oxford Bibliographies:
- Oxford Bibliographies offers exclusive, authoritative research guides across a variety of subject areas
- Written and reviewed by academic experts,
- Combines the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia
- This resource directs researchers to the best available scholarship
- Its user-friendly interface guides you to information and saves time with personalized citation lists
- Links to full-text print and online content
Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland:
- The ultimate reference for family names, covering Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish and immigrant surnames
- An introductory essay offers a guide to surname research and family history research
- It includes every surname that currently has more than 100 bearers and those that had more than 20 bearers in the 1881 census
- Each entry contains lists of variant spellings of the name
Oxford Music Online:
- This music encyclopedia, offers coverage of music, musicians, music-making, and music scholarship.
- This resource for music research has over 52,000 articles written by nearly 9,000 scholars
- Charts the history and cultures of music around the globe
- Offer access to free teaching and researching resources including topical guides, articles, indexes, timelines, interviews and more
- Access at home using your library card
The Times Digital Archive (1785-2014):
- The Times Digital Archive is an online, full-text facsimile of more than 200 years of The Times newspaper
- Access resources for 18th, 19th, 20th & early 21st century news coverage
- With over 12 million articles available, the archive supports research across multiple disciplines and areas of interest, including business, humanities, political science, and philosophy, along with coverage of all major international historical events.
- Access using password: tryinfomarks
Vision-Net:
- Access documents filed in the Irish Companies Registration Office.
- Information available includes Irish Company & Business addresses, activities, directors, profit & loss, assets etc.,
- updated daily;
- printouts available.
- Limited information on UK and Northern Ireland companies.
- Access at home using your library card