The following guide outlines a selection of sources held in the National Archives which relate to the study of women’s history, though it is important to note that many record series other than those mentioned will also contain relevant material. What follows is a short account of the main series of records likely to repay examination. Please click on the three links below to navigate the article
Introduction | Records series | Additional sources |
Introduction
By virtue of its official function, the majority of the records in the custody of the National Archives are official records reflecting the state's views of events and individuals. The exceptions to this are business records like those of the Dublin Laundry Company, trade union records like those of the LGPSU or the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers and private records like those of the Protestant Orphan Society. (Some of the records series also appear in: Ken Hannigan, Labour records in the Public Record Office of Ireland, Saothar 6 (1980), pp 93–99.)
A number of the records series, though in the custody of the National Archives, were accessioned by the Irish Manuscripts Commission's Business Records Survey. Records located by the Business Records Survey are described annually in the Journal of Irish Economic and Social History.