Landed estate records are valuable historical resources. Access to these private archives is often restricted, but those deposited in public repositories are available for research purposes.
Types of records in landed estate collections
Leases
Leases are legal documents that outline the terms of a tenancy agreement. They typically include details such as:
- Duration of the tenancy
- Amount of land leased
- Annual rent
- Property maps and plans
Rentals or rent rolls
Rentals or rent rolls provide details and conditions of rent owed or paid by tenants.
Lease books
Where rentals do not include the terms under which tenants held their land, the information may be available in lease books.
Correspondence
Correspondence between landlords and their agents provides insights into:
- Estate management challenges
- Landlord-tenant relationships
- Economic and social conditions
Reports by agents or experts on estate conditions and potential improvements are also common in these collections.
Estate maps
Estate maps, often predating official Ordnance Survey maps (which began in 1824), provide detailed information on:
- Land ownership and usage
- Field names
- Tenant names
- Demesne details
- Tree and plant species planted
Accessing estate collections
You will need to know where the individual or family lived. Pinpointing this will help identify the relevant estate collections. Some ways to access the collections include:
- Explore the downloadable PDF lists of large estate collections below
- Access finding aids for other collections available only in the Reading Room
Estate collections have been assigned the following prefixes:
- Older collections: D (Deed) or M (Miscellaneous)
- Later collections: 999 (smaller) or 1000+ (larger)
- Post-1996 collections: Year of accession
Please note that not all collections have survived and some may remain in private hands with limited access. Additionally, the National Archives holds many catalogued estate collections accessible only to researchers in the Reading Room. Some collections may have limited access due to deposit agreements. Any restrictions will be noted on the finding aid.
Finding aids to download
- Ball estate, Ballsgrove, Drogheda, County Louth (accession 2000/20)
- Bodkin Family (accession 1155)
- Papers of HC Gregory (accession 2001/108)
- Papers of George Gavan Duffy (accession 1125)
- Papers of Brian J Cantwell (accession 1182)
- Papers of William Monsell (accession 1075)
- Pembroke Estate which covers the development of Dublin city and county, dated c.1240-1968 (accessions 1011, 2011, 97/46)
- Richardson Family papers (accession 1197)
- Vigors of Burgage, county Carlow and Holloden, county Carlow, dating 1611-1970 (accessions 1096 and 1140)
- The papers of John Woulfe Flanagan (accession 1189) and the Woulfe Flanagan Family (accession 1192)
- Private Accessions, 1961-1988 (accession 1025)
- Private Sources 1980-2002
- Private Accessions 1997-2002 (accession 97/13-2002/102)
- Small Private Accessions (accession 97/13-2002/102)
- Family and Estate Papers (accession 99/56)
Finding aids available in the Reading Room
- Bellew, Barmeath Castle, County Louth, dating from the 11th to the 19th centuries (accession 1121)
- Blake of Ballyglunion, County Galway, dated 1652-1900 (accession M 6931-6)
- Cahir Estate Company, County Tipperary, dated 1826-1966 (accession 976)
- Colclough of Tintern Abbey, County Wexford, dated 1551-1937 (accessions 1131/7, 1177)
- Congreve of Mount Congreve, County Waterford, dated 1609-1935 (accession 1079)
- Coote, especially of Ballyfin, County Laois and County Limerick, dated 1628-1932 (accessions 999/404, 1025/1/19-26, 1025/3/10, 1025/4/4, 1025/5/1-3, 1147/6, also MFA 37)
- Esmonde of Ballynastragh, County Wexford, dating from the 17th to the 20th centuries (accession 981)
- Franks and Carter Estate Office, Mountrath, County Laois, dating from the 17th to 20th centuries (accessions 1025/1/52-55 & 130-49, 1025/3/19, 1025/3/47, 1025/3/48, 1025/4/10: 1025/5/24)
- King Harman, especially of counties Longford and Roscommon, dated 1604-1893 (accessions 1/211,/270, 1/393, 1/582, 90, 1151)
- Middleton Estate Office, County Cork, dated 1750-1953 (accession 978)
- Palmer of Kenure, County Dublin, dated 1670-1954 (accession 1174)
- Pike Fortescue, Ravensdale, County Louth, dated 1626-1949 (accession 1004)
- Taylor of Ardgillan, County Dublin, dated 1663-1914 (accession M 7069)
- Vandeleur of Kilrush, County Clare, dated 1785-1929 (accessions 1074/2, 99/13)
Tracing ancestor estates
In some areas of Ireland, multiple landed estates existed. Larger estates may have been subdivided over time as part of marriage settlements, while some estates were sold, particularly in the mid- to late-19th century. To trace any surviving estate papers, it is necessary to discover the names of as many local landowners as possible.
This can be done from commercial directories, other printed sources and from the Primary Valuation. Records held in Irish and non-Irish repositories will be indexed in Hayes’s Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilisation. It will also be necessary to check the ‘Miscellaneous,’ ‘Pre-1708 Deeds’ and ‘Estate Maps and Rentals’ finding aids in the Reading Room of the National Archives to trace the most modern accessions.
For material still in private hands, the best guide is the reports of the survey of documents available in the National Library of Ireland. These are listed in Hayes’s Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilisation, which is available online.
Other sources for estate collections
Although the National Archives holds a large number of landed estate collections, the majority of surviving collections are held in other repositories, including the National Library of Ireland and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
The Landed Estates Database hosted by NUI Galway is useful for locating surviving archival collections or determining family names. For further information about Irish sources in British archival repositories, see Irish History Online and the UK’s National Archives.