North, John S. The Waterloo Directory of Irish Newspapers and Periodicals, 1800–1900, Phase II. Waterloo: North Waterloo Academic, 1986. 838 pp. Phase 2, vol. 1 of Waterloo Directory Ser. of Newspapers and Periodicals: England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, 1800–1900. Z6956.I7 N67 011′.35′09415.

A bibliography and finding list of 3,932 serials published in Ireland during the nineteenth century. Publications are listed alphabetically by earliest title or issuing body for nonspecific titles; cross-references cite alternative titles, issuing bodies, and many subtitles. Main entries record, when possible, title; subtitles; title changes; series, volume, and issue numbering; publication dates; places of publication; editors; proprietors; publishers; printers; size; price; circulation; frequency of publication; illustrations; issuing bodies; indexing; subject matter; departments; religious or political stance; mergers; miscellaneous notes; references to studies or histories; and locations (in selected British and Irish collections). Three indexes: subjects; persons (including companies and issuing bodies); places of publication. The Waterloo Directory, a majority of whose entries are based on the actual examination of runs, offers the most accurate, complete accumulation of information on Irish serial publications. The extensive indexing makes essential sources for the study of nearly all facets of nineteenth-century Irish life and culture readily accessible for the first time. An indispensable work that supersedes all earlier bibliographies listing nineteenth-century Irish periodicals and newspapers and stands as an example of the kind of guide needed for serials of other countries and periods. Review: Rosemary T. VanArsdel, Newsletter of the Victorian Studies Association of Western Canada 13.1 (1987): 63–68.

Since locations are restricted to 50 British and Irish libraries, consult the following for additional holdings: Fulton, Union List of Victorian Serials (M2530); Ward, Index and Finding List (M2535); Union List of Serials (K640a); British Union-Catalogue of Periodicals (K645a); and WorldCat (E225).

Clyde, Tom. Irish Literary Magazines: An Outline History and Descriptive Bibliography. Dublin: Irish Academic, 2003. 318 pp. PR8711.C58 820.9′9417.

An annotated bibliography of approximately 225 Irish literary magazines in English whose first issue was published in Ireland between 1710 and 1985 (with the early terminal date apparently determined by the scope of the doctoral dissertation on which this work is based). Entries, which proceed chronologically, include title, editorial address and printer, editor(s), inclusive dates of publication, total number of issues, frequency, average number of pages per issue, locations of copies (with details of microfilms and reprints), an evaluative (sometimes acerbic) description (hence the Descriptive of the subtitle), and citations to scholarship. Indexed by title. Based on firsthand examination of copies, the entries offer a wealth of detail. Unfortunately, the usefulness of Irish Literary Magazines is severely hindered by the absence of indexes of names and subjects, a flaw thrown into sharp relief by the suggestions for projects that conclude the preliminary outline history. Anyone taking on the recommended studies of publishers, editors, authors, censorship, or small presses will be relegated to reading large blocks of text.