A Factbook of Irish History is a major contribution to Irish historiography. Its three volumes comprise more than 450,000 words and contain thousands of Irish historical facts from the earliest times to 1969, including the life dates, where available, of every person mentioned and a range of statements and soundbites from Strabo to Jack Lynch.
It was compiled from a wide range of sources including manuscripts, state papers, political and religious tracts, letters, parliamentary records, newspapers, pamphlets, periodicals and a large number of books published in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The contents are assembled under 105 headings and are extensively cross-referenced.
While it is published with teachers, students and researchers mainly in mind, it is also accessible to the casual reader with an interest in Ireland's past.
As a particular benefit for researchers, it provides references for many older and largely forgotten works which are in the public domain and free online.