(Special Collections) The collection, which includes both primary and secondary resource material, spans a twenty-eight year period of Irish history from 1775-1803, concentrating on the Rebellion of 1798. This particular period of Irish history marks the beginning of the Irish republican movement which has dominated Irish politics to this day. The Collection includes significant material pertaining to the impact of the American War of Independence on Ireland, the rise influence and decline of the Irish Volunteers, the influence of the French Revolution on Irish radical thought, the social and economic consequences of the age of Enlightenment, the insurrection of 1803 and the other related topics. It contains close to 2,000 monographs, serials, newspapers, pamphlets, broadsides and manuscripts. (Rare Books & Manuscripts)