The publisher of Collectanea Hibernica is the Franciscan Province of Ireland. The Irish Franciscans form part of the world-wide Order of the Friars Minor (O.F.M.), founded by St Francis of Assisi in 1209. In keeping with its long tradition of scholarship, especially in Irish history and culture, the Irish Franciscans established a House of Celtic Studies and Historical Research near Dublin in 1945 with a team of qualified friars in residence. It began publishing the periodical in 1958 as a means of making unpublished Irish historical source material available to other scholars and students. Most of the material comes from Irish and European sources but some also comes from Irish Franciscan manuscripts. The periodical ceased publication in 2006. However, the tradition of scholarship continues in collaboration with University College Dublin in the Mícheál Ó Cléirigh Institute for the Study of Irish History and Civilisation.