Records from the courts are an important source for researchers interested in their family history, students with a particular interest in legal or political history, and professional researchers looking for specific court cases.
Legal records are full of valuable information about the courts and of the individuals who interacted with them. While on the surface an individual record relates to one particular case, the overall content of the records reflect society at the time they were created.
The National Archives holds records of all levels of courts, except the Special Criminal Court. The legal framework and societal and economic values of Irish society are can be explored from the 15th to the late 20th Century.
Preparing to search Court Records
Before you visit the National Archives find as much information about the topic or court case as possible. The records are arranged according to how they were created and managed by the individual courts.
To search Court records, you need the:
- date of the sitting
- name of the court where the case was heard:
- District
- Circuit
- High
- Supreme
Without this information, it is unlikely you will be able to search the Court records successfully.
How to research a legal case
To find out where or when a legal case was held, consult the archives of local and national newspapers, many of which are online. You can also find microfilm copies of newspapers in the National Library of Ireland.
Historic newspapers often contain information about court sittings and the details of cases held. This information can be useful to locating any files or other documentation that may exist.
Circuit Court records include coroners’ inquest files. District Court records consist of registers without supporting files.
Access court records at the National Archives
The finding aids for Court records, including District and Circuit Court records, and all other higher courts and their predecessor bodies, must be consulted in the Reading Room. These contain details about the records and the reference codes which are used to locate and retrieve them.
Family law cases are closed to the public and require permission from the County Registrar or the Central Office of the High Court.
District Court records
District Court records are stored on site and can be ordered and viewed on the day of your visit.
All other court records
All other legal records are held on our Four Courts premises.
This includes:
- Circuit Court records from before the mid-1970’s.
- High Court, Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeal
- Records of the Crown and Peace
To access these records, follow these steps:
- Visit the Reading Room at Bishop St to consult the Finding aids and locate the record you want and its reference code.
- Reference codes generally have three parts, e.g., 2004/74/993.
- If a record lacks a National Archives reference code, use the original reference, e.g., CC/CN/E178/1980.
- Place an order for the record.
- Return to the Reading Room to consult the record when it has been delivered to Bishop St.
Ordering copies of archives
It is possible to order copies of legal records. An authenticated copy, also known as a certified copy, can be ordered if required for legal purposes.
Early court records
For early court records that were destroyed in the Public Record Office of Ireland during the Civil War in 1922 you should check for copies of the original records. Important sources for these records include records obtained from private sources such as solicitors’ collections and business records, or transcripts of records created before the original records were lost.
For information on wills and probates, see How to find a will.
Referencing archives
As part of your research it is advised that you keep a note of any archives consulted. Detailed notes of reference codes or descriptions of document titles are useful if you need to consult the records again. Where researchers are citing documents in publications, it is important to retain this information in order to include the correct reference code and document descriptions.