At first glance the low yield of books produced by the Dublin printing presses for circulation in early Stuart Ireland could lead to two hasty conclusions: first, that Irish society was unreceptive towards reading; and second, that the printing presses had to contend with a very small (literate) target audience.1 Yet nothing could be further from the truth. In recent years Raymond Gillespie has done much to dispel these suppositions.2 His appraisal of English port books, printing press accounts from the continent and library borrowing lists plainly demonstrates the appetite of an interested reading public in lreland.3 The value of analysing book loaning lists was further underlined by William O'Sullivan when he partially revealed the borrowing records belonging to the historian and antiquarian, Sir James Ware.4 In so doing, he drew attention to the potential of a deeper exploration of Irish cultural and intellectual life.