Some airs from this period are preserved in manuscript, the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book being one of the more notable examples.
In the appendix of Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards (1786) by Joseph Cooper Walker there is a collection of 43 tunes.
In 1793, Cooke published a Selection of Twenty-one Favourite Original Irish Airs arranged for Pianoforte, Violin or Flute containing many tunes.
George Petrie (1790–1866) was an antiquarian, artist and important collector of Irish airs and melodies.
Canon James Goodman (1828–1896), a Church of Ireland clergyman, collected over 2,000 tunes and songs, mainly from the south-west of the country.