Passage of the Church Temporalities Act 1833 led to the removal of the collection from the Bishop's Palace and in 1835 Cotton hired local architect William Tinsley to design a new building to house the library.

On his appointment in 1961, Dean Charles Wolfe arranged the return of loaned items and attempted to obtain funding to restore the library.

Unable to find sponsors, Wolfe sold hundreds of books to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. and used the money to repair the outside of the building.

In 1994, under Dean Philip Knowles, the University of Limerick agreed to support the library, including managing its finances and administration.

[11][2][12][13][14] Previous board members, trustees, and patrons have included Archbishop John Neill, Founding President of the University of Limerick Edward M. Walsh, Bishop Peter Barrett, and politician Martin Mansergh.

The library includes books from the collections of Catherine of Aragon, Francis Bacon, and Abraham Ortelius, creator of the modern atlas.