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Primary Valuation

The Primary Valuation, also known as Griffith’s Valuation, was the first, full-scale valuation of property in Ireland and details of property with valuations were published between 1847 and 1864. There is a printed valuation book for each barony or poor law union in the country, showing the names of occupiers of land and buildings, the names of those from whom these were leased, and the amount and value of the property held. A list of the Primary Valuation books arranged by civil parish is available in the reading room, but the printed valuation can only be consulted on microform in the National Archives. The printed valuation is also available to search free of charge online at www.askaboutireland.ie.

Valuation Records

The National Archives also holds many manuscript records compiled in connection with the Primary Valuation, including Field Books, House Books, Mill Books, Quarto Books and Tenure Books. A list of the records arranged by type of book, county, barony and civil parish is available in the reading room. Some of these books, along with detailed guides to the records, are now available to search online free of charge on our Genealogy website.

A guide to the records of the Valuation Office is available in Research guides & sources.

To ensure the legality of a will of a deceased person, a grant of probate must be made by the courts. As part of this process, the original will is lodged with the courts. If someone dies intestate, without having made a will, the courts can grant letters of administration for the disposal of the estate.

Before 1858, grants of probate and administration were made by the courts of the Church of Ireland, which was the established State church. These courts were the Prerogative Court and the various diocesan or consistorial courts. There are separate indexes of wills and administrations for each court available to search on microfilm in the reading room. Some of these indexes have been published. Of these, the most important are Vicar’s Index to Prerogative Wills, 1536–1810 and the Indexes to Dublin Grant Books and Wills, 1270–1800, Index of Wills and Marriage Licenses for Dublin Diocese up to 1800 and 1800–1858.

From 1858, grants of probate and administration were made by the civil courts: the Principal and District Registries of the Probate Court before 1877 and of the High Court from 1877. These grants are indexed in the annual Calendars of Wills and Administrations, which cover the period 1858–1982 and are available in the reading room.

It is possible to search the calendars (indexes) online. The original documents cannot be accessed online but can be viewed in the Reading Room of the National Archives, or a copy obtained for a fee. For further information on ordering a copy please see Obtain copies of archives.

From 1858 to 1917, the calendars cover the whole of Ireland. After 1918, the calendars cover the 26 counties in the Republic while indexes covering the six counties of Northern Ireland are available in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).

The testamentary calendars available in our reading room have been digitised and can be searched online for the years 1858–1920 on our Genealogy website and 1922–1982 in our online catalogue. From 1923-1951 and 1983-1991, grants of probate and administration held by the National Archives are searchable in the online catalogue by the name of the deceased individual.

A Guide to Testamentary Records held in the National Archives, including information on how to search online, is available in Legal records. Indexes covering the six counties now in Northern Ireland, as well as a further set of post-1858 indexes, are in PRONI.

Church and Congregational Registers of Baptism, Marriage and Burial

For the period before the commencement of civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in 1864, church records provide the only record of most births, marriages and deaths in the form of registers of baptisms, marriages and burials. Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Jewish marriages have been civilly registered since 1845.

Church of Ireland

Parochial registers pre-dating 1870 are public records and some were on deposit in the Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI, now the National Archives) and were destroyed in 1922. Registers survive for about one third of the parishes throughout the country. Generally, records held at the National Archives do not post-date 1880, although a small number range into the twentieth century. There are microfilm or other copies in the National Archives of the surviving Church of Ireland parish registers for the Dioceses of Ferns, Glendalough, Kildare and Meath, as well as many from other parts of the country. Further information is available in Church of Ireland parish registers on microfilm in the National Archives.

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) holds copies of all surviving Church of Ireland registers for the Diocese of Armagh, Clogher, Connor, Derry, Dromore, Down, Kilmore and Raphoe. As well as covering all six counties of the present Northern Ireland, these Dioceses also cover Counties Cavan, Donegal, Louth, Monaghan and part of County Leitrim, which are in the Republic. Copies of those parish registers from within the Republic, microfilmed by PRONI, are held by the Representative Church Body Library and Archive (RCB Library).

Further information on alternative sources held in the National Archives is available in Church of Ireland Parish Surrogates.

A list of all Church of Ireland parish registers, indicating whether they survive and where they are held, is available in the National Archives and also on the website of the RCB Library. The names and addresses of the clergy are given in the annual Church of Ireland Directory.

Records of marriage licences provide information concerning some Church of Ireland marriages before 1845. People wishing to obtain a licence to marry without having banns called were required to enter into a bond with the bishop of the diocese. The licences and bonds do not survive (in most cases), but the indexes to the bonds lodged in each Diocesan Court and the Prerogative Court are available on microfilm in the reading room.

Some of the indexes have been published. Betham’s abstracts of Prerogative and Dublin Diocesan marriage licences give further details. Some other records of marriage licences are indexed in the Testamentary card index available in the Reading Room.

The Parish Searches consist of thirteen volumes of searches made in Church of Ireland parochial returns (generally baptisms, but sometimes also marriages). The searches were requested in order to ascertain whether the applicant, in the period c.1908–1922, but mainly c.1915–1922, was entitled to an Old Age Pension based on evidence abstracted from the parochial returns then in existence in the PROI. Sometimes, only one search against a specific individual has been recorded from a given parish. Multiple searches against various individuals in city parishes have been recorded in volume thirteen. These volumes are available on microfilm in the reading room.

Parochial registers of baptisms, marriages and burials of the Church of Ireland (Anglican Church) post-1880 have been deposited in the RCB or remain with the relevant parishes.

Roman Catholic

Original parochial registers (i.e. baptisms, marriages and burials) of the Roman Catholic Church remain with the relevant parishes. Microfilm copies of original parochial registers are available at the National Library of Ireland (NLI) for most Roman Catholic parishes in Ireland for the years up to 1880, and in some cases up to 1900. These microfilms have now been digitised and are available to view online for free on the NLI’s Catholic Parish Register website. The names and addresses of Roman Catholic clergy are given in the annual Irish Catholic Directory.

Other Sources

Transcripts (and some digitised images) of Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland parochial registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, for the pre-1900 period, are available free of charge on www.irishgenealogy.ie. This site is hosted by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Other records, which are not organised on a parochial basis may also be of interest:

Records of the Jewish community in Ireland, including birth records, may be held in the Irish Jewish Museum in Dublin at 3 Walworth Road, Dublin 8. An Irish Jewish family history database is available at www.irishjewishroots.com.

Records of the Methodist Church in Ireland include registers of baptisms and marriages of the Irish Methodist circuits and chapels. Many are held by the Methodist Historical Society of Ireland in Belfast, which also has a small archive collection in Dublin. Many Methodist records have been microfilmed by PRONI. Researchers should consult Steven C. ffeary-Smyrl, Irish Methodists: where do I start? (Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations, Dublin, 2000) for a guide to Irish Methodist records.

Records of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland comprise registers of baptisms and marriages. Many are held by the Presbyterian Historical Society in Belfast. Most Ulster Presbyterian records have been microfilmed by PRONI.

Records of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Ireland contain transcript registers of births, marriages and deaths from the seventeenth century onwards. These are held by the Religious Society of Friends Historical Library in Dublin or the Religious Society of Friends, Ulster Quarterly Meeting in Lisburn.

Most parochial registers (regardless of denomination) for the northern counties of Ireland are available on microfilm in PRONI.

Useful general introductions to church records include James G. Ryan (editor), Irish Church Records (Dublin, 2001) and by Steven C. Smyrl, Dictionary of Dublin Dissent: Dublin’s Protestant dissenting meeting houses, 1660–1920 (Dublin, 2009).

Civil Registration in the General Register Office (GRO)

All births, marriages and deaths occurring since 1 January 1864 (and Jewish and non-Roman Catholic marriages occurring since 1 April 1845) should be on record in the public research room of the General Register Office, Werburgh Street, Dublin 2. All written communication for the General Register Office should be addressed to the General Register Office, Government Offices, Convent Road, Roscommon, F42 VX53.

Transcripts (and some digitised images) of records of Civil Registration are available free of charge on www.irishgenealogy.ie. This site is hosted by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

National Archives does not hold civil records of births, deaths and marriages.

For the six counties, which comprise Northern Ireland (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Derry (Londonderry) and Tyrone) from 1922 onwards, records of births, marriages and deaths should be held by General Register Office for Northern Ireland, Colby House, Stranmillis Court, Belfast, BT9 5RR. The General Register Office for Northern Ireland also holds all local register books for Northern Ireland from 1864 (for births and deaths) and from 1922 (for marriages). See www.nidirect.gov.uk.

For a comprehensive guide, researchers should consult Eileen O’Dúill and Steven C. ffeary-Smyrl, Irish Civil Registration: where do I start? (Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations, Dublin, 2000).

Irish archives are a major source for Australians researching Irish convict ancestors, despite the fact that not all records from the Chief Secretary’s Office in Dublin Castle survive, especially from the period before 1836. Penal transportation to Australia, and later to Bermuda and Gibraltar, covered the years 1791 until 1853, when the sentence of penal transportation was commuted to a prison sentence in Ireland.

The National Archives holds a wide range of records relating to the transportation of convicts from Ireland to Australia covering the period 1788 to 1868, which are available on a the Transportation database. In some cases, these include records of members of convicts’ families transported as free settlers. While the collection of convict petitions dates from the beginning of transportation from Ireland to Australia in 1791, all transportation registers compiled before 1836 were destroyed in 1922. Therefore, if the person you are researching was convicted before 1836, but was not the subject of a petition, he or she will not appear on this database as the records from which the transportation database was compiled are incomplete. A successful search in the records may produce not just a bald official summary, but perhaps one of the thousands of petitions submitted by, or on behalf, of prisoners. The records relating to transported convicts comprise:

• Transportation Registers, 1836–1857;
• Prisoners’ Petitions and Cases, 1788–1836;
• State Prisoners’ Petitions, 1798–1799;
• Convict Reference Files, 1836–1856 : 1865–1868;
• Free Settlers’ Papers, 1828–1852; (f) Male Convict Register, 1842–1847;
• Register of Convicts on Convict Ships, 1851–1853.

The database index of transportation records is designed to be searched by surname, but may also be searched under place of trial, crime or date. Microfilms containing full copies of the records are available in the Reading Room and the index and microfilms are also available in state libraries in Australia. If the search of the transportation database and the microfilms has been successful there may be enough information to pursue the search in other National Archives’ sources, including the Chief Secretary’s Office Registered Papers, which includes Outrage Reports, or in newspapers held in the National Library of Ireland.

Further information on Transportation records and the Chief Secretary’s Office Registered Papers can be found in Research guides & sources.

The National Archives holds over 9,000 wills of enlisted and non-commissioned soldiers from the thirty-two counties of Ireland who fought in the British Army in the First World War. The entire collection of wills has been digitised and is available free of charge on our Genealogy Website.

Soldiers serving in the army were encouraged to make wills so that in the event of their death, it simplified the settling of their affairs. If a soldier did not make a will, or the will was lost, the War Office sometimes accepted a letter written by the soldier where he had stated who he wished to inherit any money or property he had. Letters written after a soldier’s death by comrades, family or friends testifying that he had stated in their presence who he wished to inherit his effects, were also submitted to the War Office.

Many of the men who died can also be located in the 1901 and 1911 Census. The website of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission includes the names of each of the deceased soldiers and records where they are buried, or commemorated on a memorial.

Throughout the eighteenth century, restrictions enacted by the Penal Laws were relaxed for those Catholics who took the Oath of Allegiance to the King and renounced their religion for that of the established Church of Ireland. In the majority of cases, this was not a sincere renunciation of the Catholic religion as it was the only legal means whereby a Catholic could obtain basic civil rights.

In 1774, an Act was passed to permit the King’s subjects, of any religion, to take an oath at the local assizes (courts) “to testify to their loyalty and allegiance to him, to promote peace and industry in the kingdom”.

These names were then registered in the Catholic Qualification Rolls according to surname, first name, address, and date of qualification. Occupation is sometimes also supplied. The rolls cover the period from 1700–1845, with most entries after 1800 dealing with naturalised citizens. Over 50,000 people are listed.

The Rolls can be searched on our Genealogy website by name, date, county, residence and diocese. The county, residence and diocese entries are not consistent; sometimes all three appear; sometimes only one.

The records of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen consist of crew lists and agreements with seamen regarding wage rates, conditions of service and related information of ships, registered in what is now the Republic of Ireland between 1863 and 1921.

These records were deposited in the National Archives in 1971 and 1978 by the Board of Trade in Britain.

The shipping records contain much useful information not only for family and local history, but also for maritime, social and economic history.

The records include details of:

• Crews: Name, age or year of birth, town or district of birth, last ship served on, port to which she belonged, date and place of discharge from previous ship, date and place of joining present ship, capacity in which he joined, if service discontinued, cause, date and place.
• Ship: Name, registered number, port of registry, date of registry, owner’s name and address, dates and places of arrivals and departures.
• Log: Date of event logged, occurrence situation by longitude and latitude, amount of fine or forfeiture inflicted.
• Wages: Amount of wages per calendar month, share or voyage.
• Provisions: Scale of provisions to be served to the crew each day given with weights per day for bread, flour, coffee, butter, water, beef, peas, sugar, tea, port.
• Apprentices: Name, age, date of indenture, port of indenture, date of assignment, port of assignment.
• Births: Date, name, sex, parents’ names, mother’s maiden name, occupation of father, nationality and last abode of parents.
• Deaths: Of crew: name, agreement reference number, net wages paid. Of passengers: date of death, name, age, sex, occupation, parents’ names, cause of death.

The records have been digitised and are searchable free of charge on our Genealogy website by name, vessel name, departure port, date of event, age, town/county of origin, year of birth, year of death and place of death.

A systematic government census of the Irish population was taken every 10 years from 1821 until 1911.

No census was taken in 1921, but the work of taking census resumed in 1926. All census returns from 1926 onwards are closed to the public for 100 years in accordance with section 35 of the Statistics Act, 1993. The 1926 census will be released to researchers after 100 years.

Census of 1821–1851

Almost all census returns for the years 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851 were destroyed in the former Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI) in 1922. There are some surviving returns for 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851, however. These cover parts of the following counties and census years:

 

Antrim	1851
Cavan	1821, 1841
Cork	1841
Fermanagh	1821, 1841, 1851
Galway	1821
King’s County (Offaly)	1821
Londonderry (Derry)	1831, (1834 revisions)
Meath	1821
Waterford	1841

In addition, there are lists of names of heads of household taken from the returns of 1851 for part of Belfast City and for Dublin City (see list of 19th century census returns in the Reading Room of the National Archives). Surviving census returns are now fully searchable online on our Census website. Searching is free of charge.

Census of 1861–1891

No census returns of individual households survive for the years 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891. Census returns for 1861 and 1871 were destroyed in 1877 after census data was analysed and the census reports published. The returns for 1881 and 1891 were destroyed in 1918.

Census of 1901 and 1911

Almost all the original manuscript returns for each household survive for the thirty-two counties of Ireland for 1901 and 1911. The returns are arranged by county, district electoral division (DED) and townland or, in urban areas, by street. The returns for each townland or street in 1901 and 1911 consist of:

• forms titled Form A, filled in by the head of each household, giving the names of all people in that household on census night and their age, occupation, religion and county or city of birth (or country of birth if born outside Ireland); and
• forms (titled Forms N, B1 and B2) filled in by the census enumerator official taking the census, summarising the returns for that townland or street.

1901 and 1911 census returns are now fully searchable online across all categories of information recorded on the original census forms. Searching is free of charge. As well as surname searches, the returns may be searched by religion, occupation, relationship to head of family, literacy status, county or country of origin, Irish language proficiency, specified illnesses and, in the case of 1911, child mortality. This is possible by clicking on the ‘More search options’ tab. There are no maps corresponding to the 1901 and 1911 census returns.

Census Substitutes

Official Copy Census Records

Although almost all original census returns for the years 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851 were destroyed in 1922, official copies of a small number of individual returns made by staff of the former PROI, or others, prior to this date have survived. A list of 19th century copies and certified copies is available for consultation in the Reading Room. There are some surviving returns for 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851. These are all now digitised and searchable on our Genealogy website.

Census Search Forms

Census search forms contain information provided by people to enable a search to be made in the original 1841 and 1851 census for proof of age in connection with claiming an old age pension.

The Old Age Pensions Act, 1908 introduced a non-contributory pension for eligible people aged 70 and over. It was implemented from January 1909 in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. To be eligible, applicants had to be 70 years old and have an income of less than £31.10.00 per annum.

Proof of age had to be provided with an application, but as civil registration of births did not begin in Ireland until 1864, some applicants had difficulty in providing documentary evidence of age. To overcome this, searches of the 1841 and 1851 census returns, still in the PROI at this time, as well as church registers of baptism were deemed acceptable documentary evidence of an applicant’s age. The applicant had to provide their parents’ names and place of residence in March 1841 or 1851. They also had to state the age they believed themselves to have been in the appropriate year.

Forms containing this information were sent to the PROI where searches were carried out in the 1841 and 1851 original census. When a search could not find reference to the applicant, the form was annotated with ‘not found’ or ‘no trace’ written on it. Even in the case of negative searches, the census search form will provide the applicant’s version of his family members’ names and location in 1841 or 1851. Many searches were successful, and these can often provide the names and ages of every person living in the claimant’s household at the time of the relevant census.

The census search forms are organised within each county, by barony, parish, townland or urban street and name of the applicant (including maiden name, where applicable). Census search forms are now available online and can be searched for free on our Genealogy website.

Agricultural Census

The agricultural census comprises two separate documents: one a return of livestock in Country Antrim in 1803–1804, the other an account of corn in the possession of the inhabitants of County Louth, c.1800–1816. The agricultural census was taken when the country was in a vulnerable state in the aftermath of the rebellions of 1798 and 1803. Both returns form part of the archives of the Office of Chief Secretary for Ireland held in the National Archives under reference CSO/OP/153/103 and CSO/OPMA/163, respectively. The documents provide details of live and dead stock as well as corn and implements, together with the names and addresses of the owner inhabitants of the areas for which the returns were compiled.

Religious Census, 1766

Not strictly a census, but none-the-less of genealogical importance, is the Religious Census of 1766. This census was authorised by a resolution of the Irish House of Lords and consists of returns of Protestant and Roman Catholic (Papist) heads of households, listing names in each parish. Sometimes only statistical information on the numbers of Protestants and Roman Catholics in a parish is recorded, however. The returns survive in original or transcript form. For further details, see Guide to the Religious Census, 1766.

Elphin Census, 1749

This census was taken under the direction of Edward Synge, Bishop of Elphin. He was anxious to know the proportion of Protestants to ‘Papists’ in the Church of Ireland diocese of Elphin, which covers most of County Roscommon, as well as portions of County Galway and County Sligo. The original Elphin Census is held in the National Archives under reference M2464 and has been published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission as The Elphin Census, 1749 (edited by Marie-Louise Legg, IMC, 2004).

Some Inhabitants of the Baronies of Newcastle and Uppercross, Co. Dublin, c.1650

Held in the National Archives under reference M2467, this lists householders and servants organised according to parishes and townlands; the fullest entries include name, age, stature, face, hair, occupation and disability. About 4,000 names are returned. This has been published in The Irish Genealogist, vols 7–8, 1989–1993 (edited by Richard Flatman).