The library has recently gained access to the below four newspapers for library users:
The Irish Times (1859-2008) and The Weekly Irish Times (1876-1958) From the aftermath of the Great Famine, the launch of the Titanic, and the Easter Rising of 1916, World Wars to the Dublin début of River dance, this resource captures it all in the context of the time.
The Guardian (1821-1900) and The Observer (1791-2003) Covers the past political and social events of the past 200 years. From Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo to the Russian Revolution to Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, these newspapers will enchant not just genealogists but anyone with an interest in news and history.
All of these newspapers are part of ProQuest’s Historical Newspaper Database. This is a digital archive that allows access to every issue of each title scanned from paper-cover-to-cover, with full-page and article images in easily downloadable PDF format. 
Therefore these newspapers contain not just news stories but:
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Births, Deaths, Marriages and Engagement Notices
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Editorials and Letters to the Editor
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Photographs, Advertising, Cartoons
- Society pages, Advice and Reviews.
The newspapers in this collection reside on a single platform so users can cross-search all ProQuest Historical Newspapers titles with one another. Users can sort their results by oldest, most recent, or most relevant. In addition, stories that originally spanned multiple pages of a newspaper are “threaded” together, appearing as one continuous image and improving readability. These newspapers sit nicely with the other historical newspapers we provide access to through the British Library’s collection of newspapers 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection and the 19th Century British Library Newspapers. A real find for those who have developed an interest in family history through the use of our genealogy database Ancestry Library Edition or those who take an active interest in the events that have made our world what it is today.
A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself – Arthur Miller
I’ve had a good look at the Burney Collection and 19th Century British Library Newspapers and they are fantastic. I love the way you can do a keyword search and it highlights the word in the text – great when reading the old type.
The Burney collection was gathered by the Rev Charles Burney – brother of Fanny and son of the music historian Charles Burney.
http://burneycentre.mcgill.ca/bio_charlesjr.html
He had a misspent youth including being caught stealing books from the university library while at Cambridge. He had replaced the book plates with his own and sold them to dealers in London! Sounds a bit familiar to us Christchurch folks.
His legitmate collecting is a great legacy though
The Guardian (1821-1900) and The Observer (1791-2003) Covers the past political and social events of the past 200 years.
Past 200 years!!!! wow!
I searched for my family name – Liddicoat _ and found a ship’s captain who rescued some stranded pleasure boaters; a mayor of Falsmouth; and a mysterious Mrs Liddicoat, who was the female heroine of what the reviewer called a “lame” love story. Oh, and a 1980s jockey who rode a horse in Ireland named Street Girl.