Belfast Central Library

Belfast Central Library (est. 1888) is the principal library in Northern Ireland and houses some 1,000,000 volumes. The largest Heritage collection in Libraries NI is located in Belfast Central Library.

As well as material relating to all of Ireland, much of this collection relates to Belfast specifically. Archives held in Belfast include that of

• F.J. Bigger, a Belfast solicitor and enthusiastic book collector, whose interests included archaeology, antiquities and the United Irishmen all of which are reflected in the archive.

• Literary archives of note including Sam Thompson, Forrest Reid, Lynn Doyle and Amanda McKittrick Ros. 

• The theatre archive in Belfast Central Library includes over 3000 theatre posters, programmes and newspaper reviews ranging in date from the 1820s until the year 2001. Within this is a particularly fine collection of Theatre Royal material. There is also information and archive material about the Grand Opera House, Empire and Hippodrome theatres.

• Other archives cover a range of subjects including travel, linen, theatre and transport.

• Belfast Central also houses the Fine Book Room.

An important section within Belfast Central Library is the Newspaper Library. Ranging in date from the 18th century to the present day, the newspaper collection includes almost complete runs of the Belfast newspaper titles, as well as a large range of provincial newspaper titles from every county in Northern Ireland and some in the Republic of Ireland.