John Ferrar's Directory of Limerick, published in 1769, was the first directory to deal specifically with a provincial town. The practice spread throughout Munster in the remaining decades of the 18th century, with Cork particularly well covered.

In the 19th century, local directories were produced in abundance, especially in areas with a strong commercial identity, such as Belfast, the North East and, again, Munster. The quality and coverage of these varies widely, from the street-by-street listings in Martin's 1839 Belfast Directory to the barest of commercial lists.

Many small, local publications, especially from the first half of the 19th century, are now quite rare, with only one or two surviving copies. Locating these can be extremely difficult. Some guides are:

James Carty, National Library of Ireland Bibliography of Irish History 1870-1911, Dublin, 1940
Edward Evans, Historical and Bibliographical Account of Almanacks, Directories etc., in Ireland from the Sixteenth Century, Dublin, 1897
M. E. Keen, A Bibliography of Trade Directories of the British Isles in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1979.

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