The journal has been published by the University since 1939 with the aid of the Adam Boyd Simpson Bequest and is now funded by the NUI Publications Fund.
Éigse is devoted to the cultivation of a wide range of research in the field of Irish language and literature. Many hitherto unpublished texts in prose and verse ranging from Old Irish down to the modern language and including items from oral narration have appeared in its pages.
Éigse also regularly includes important contributions on grammar, lexicography, palaeography, metrics, and the history of the Irish language, as well as on a wide variety of Irish literary topics. There is special emphasis on all aspects of the study of the language and literature of Modern Irish. Textual studies are complemented by broader, contextual studies. Contributions, which may be in Irish or English, are particularly welcome from younger scholars and those working in newer and emerging research areas such as the interaction of manuscript and print, the revival period, and sociolinguistics.
A portion of each volume is devoted to scholarly Book Reviews and Éigse aims to provide objective and measured reviews of all major publications in the field of Irish language and literature studies, situating the new works in the contemporary state of their discipline. A full listing of Éigse volumes is available from the Éigse Website
The current editor of Éigse is Liam Mac Mathúna, Emeritus Professor of Irish, University College Dublin