The collection comprises books, pamphlets and House of Commons /Lords Journals. The main subject areas are theology and ecclesiastical matters, but the classics, history, literature and science are also represented. Most of the books were printed in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, chiefly in London and Dublin. There are three small collections of pamphlets dealing with:
Languages in the collection include French, German, Italian, Latin, Irish Gaelic, Greek, Dutch, Spanish.
Both Bishops Crow & Stopford believed in recording their ownership of each book. The former generally wrote his name and sometimes the date, place and circumstances of acquisition on a flyleaf or the title page; Stopford's books bear his armorial bookplate. For the bibliophile, Crow is the more satisfying, for he acquired works from a number of continental printing houses, both famous and obscure, as well as those of London and of course his alma mater, Oxford. Their subject matter reflects the concerns of his own and the preceding centuries with the scrutiny of the earliest and most authentic texts of the Bible, the Early Fathers, and the principal classical authors. Stopford's collection, by contrast, mostly comprises contemporary works printed in Britain and Ireland, but the content is more varied than Crow's, particularly his two series of pamphlets which include items on political events and aspects of social life.
There is no way of knowing which of the early books belonged to Bishop Browne, apart from a few signed copies dedicated to him by their authors.
Several dozen early items have their bindings stamped with the arms of the Tighe family and may have come from the library of William Tighe of Dublin (1657-1679).
The collection contains 6 incunabula. Fragments forming part of the binding of various items are found within the collection.
The pre-20th century collection was acquired in 1982-1983 and the original shelfmark (Letter.Number.Number or Letter.Letter.Number.Number) was retained. Modern books purchased in 1998.