Resident Magistrates and Justices of the Peace were appointed to bind people over to keep the peace and hear minor civil and criminal matters. Criminal matters were also heard at Quarter Sessions which were held four times a year, and outside of these sittings, at Petty Sessions courts.
Civil matters were heard by the County Courts. The document which was required to begin a case in the County Court was the Civil Bill, which still forms the basis for claims heard in the Circuit Court today.
Records of the Quarter Sessions and County Courts are contained in the finding aids for the Offices of Crown and Peace.
Petty Session records
The records of the Petty Sessions Courts largely consist of Petty Sessions Order Books. The Order Books are court registers giving the names and places of residence of the parties to a case. They may also include the names of witnesses, with statements of the nature of the case and the verdict.
Petty Sessions records held by the National Archives largely date from 1851 to 1924. The collection of Order Books consists of over 11,000 volumes, however there are some large gaps, most notably the registers of the Dublin Metropolitan Police Court.
The Petty Sessions records also include a separate series of Dog Licence Register books and some Registers of Criminal Proceedings. Dog Licence Registers are important as they record the names and addresses of individuals.
Series reference codes
- CS/PS/1: Order Books
- CS/PS/2: Dog Licences
- CS/PS/3: Miscellaneous series
How to access Petty Session records
These records can be searched in the online catalogue or by using the finding aids in the Reading Room.
The finding aids include the microfilm reference codes:
- MFGS/58: Order Books
- MFGS/60: Dog Licences
- MFGS/61: Miscellaneous
The finding aids also contain details of the National Archives reference code, the District, Court location and the dates of the Order Book. It should be noted that court districts may cross county boundaries.
Information about Petty Session records that are not on microfilm or online are available in the finding aids in the Reading Room.
Courts of Crown and Peace
Originally two separate offices, the courts of Crown and Peace were amalgamated in 1877 and were administered by a Clerk of the Crown and Peace, an office similar to the modern Circuit Court County Registrar.
The duties of the Clerk of the Crown and Peace were varied and as well as organising court sittings, he acted as secretary to the Grand Jury, prepared legal documents, arraigned prisoners, recorded pleas, orders and proceedings of the court in the Crown Book, swore in and examined witnesses at trials, prepared and kept all records of the Assizes and received returns of inquests from Coroners.
The Courts of Assize were the precursor to the High Court. They dealt with the most important civil and criminal matters and sat on circuit twice a year.
Up until the Local Government (Ireland) Act of 1898, the Crown and Peace offices carried out many local administrative as well as legal duties. This is reflected in the records and specifically those of the Grand Jury. The Grand Jury was the most important local body in rural Ireland during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and it was empowered to raise money by means of county rates.
Grand Jury Presentments are the chief records of the county administration prior to 1898. They contain information about work ordered to be carried out by the Grand Jury on roads, bridges, jails, constabulary duties in the counties, as well as the names of those who received money for such work.
The types of records which can be found in the Courts of Crown and Peace include:
- Affidavits
- Appeal Books
- Convictions
- Crown Books
- Depositions
- Malicious Injury papers
- Patents
- Publican’s Licenses
- Workmen’s Compensation Act papers
- Writs of Certiorari (judicial review)
Administrative/local interest records include:
- District Drainage Schemes
- Fishery Papers
- Railway plans and maps
- Road widening schemes
- Township Improvement Act plans
- Tramways (Dublin) improvements
How to access Crown and Peace records
The finding aids for Crown and Peace records are held in three blue folders in the Reading Room. These records are not currently searchable in the online catalogue.
These lists were compiled from the original findings aids, which consisted of a handwritten volume for each county and are arranged alphabetically by subject.
How to order records
To request these records, complete a docket order form in the Reading Room. Include the reference for the Crown and Peace (NAI/CS/CP/) followed by the county and the description of the record as shown in the finding aid, and the covering dates of the document.
The records are available unless they are too damaged or fragile to handle.
Most of these records are stored in our Four Courts repository and take two days to produce if ordered in person, or three working days if requested by email.
High Court of Justice (Pre-1924)
The High Court of Justice was established by the Supreme Court of Judicature (Ireland) Act, 1877.
It brought together the courts of Chancery, Queen’s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, Probate, Matrimonial Causes, Landed Estates and Admiralty. The remit of the High Court of Justice was very like that of our modern High Court, including the functions of hearing appeals and dealing with points of law.
The records of the High Court of Justice are arranged by type, rather than by case. Consequently there are no case files, and the individual court documents are stored separately by year. For instance, all affidavits within a specific year are stored together.
When researching a specific case, it is necessary to look for each type of commonly used court documents in cases to identify all the relevant papers for a particular case.
To locate the date and documents for a particular case, researchers will need to look first at the original indexes for a court. These indexes, known as cause books, will contain the date a case was initiated and the original reference numbers. This information will assist with identifying the various types of records created for a case.
How to access High Court of Justice records
The finding aid for the High Court of Justice is contained in a blue folder in the Reading Room. There is an alphabetical subject index at the beginning of the finding aid. The records of the High Court of Justice are not searchable in the online catalogue.
How to order records
To request a record, complete an order docket in the Reading Room. Include the reference for the High Court (NAI/CS/HC/) followed by the description of the record as given in the finding aid, including the covering dates.
The records are available unless they are too damaged or fragile to handle.
Most of these records are stored in our Four Courts repository and take two days to produce if ordered in person, or three working days if requested by email.