Hands-On Ireland Handout

 

Dublin

  1. National Archives

Address: 8 Bishop St, Dublin, Ireland

Website: http://www.nationalarchives.ie

Records:

Services:

  • Onsite Genealogist
  • Onsite archivist
  • Regular lecture series

 

  1. General Register Office (GRO)

Address:  Werburgh St, Dublin, Ireland (behind Dublin Castle)

Website: https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/GRO_Research.aspx

Records:

  • Births registered between 1st January 1864 and 31 December 1921 inclusive, and in Ireland (excluding the six north-eastern counties of Derry, Antrim, Down, Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone known as Northern Ireland) from 1922 onwards.
  • Deaths registered between 1st January 1864 and 31st December 1921 inclusive and in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland) from 1922 onwards.
  • Non-Roman Catholic Marriages registered between 1st April 1845 and 31st December 1863 inclusive. 
  • Marriages registered between 1st January 1864 and 31st December 1921 inclusive and in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland) from 1922 onwards.
  • Domestic Adoptions registered from 10th July 1953 onwards.

Bilingual: Gaelic and English

Fee Schedule: 20 Euros per day and 5 Euros per record request

 

  1. Epic Centre

Address: CHQ, Custom House Quay, Dublin

Website: https://epicchq.com

Services:        

  • Onsite Family History Centre
  • World class digital museum of the Great Famine

 

  1. Trinity College 

Address: College Green, Dublin

Website: www.tcd.ie

Highlights:

  • Book of Kells
  • Library

 

Belfast

  1. Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)

Address: 2 Titanic Boulevard, Belfast, in the Titanic Quarter

Website: www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni

Records:

Church records - Church registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials 

Valuation books and maps - valuation records from 1828 onwards covering every property in the six counties that make up Northern Ireland. 

Tithe Applotment Books - Tithe was a tax payable to the Established Church (Church of Ireland).  There will be a tithe applotment book for almost every parish and townland in Northern Ireland from 1823 to 1837.

Estate records – record details on landholding, tenants, farming, towns, transport, emigration, politics, and local administration, as well as the building of schools and churches.

Maps - maps dating from the 17th century up to the present day including various editions of the Ordnance Survey (OS).  OS memoirs covering most of the province of Ulster, dating 1830 to 1840, also provide descriptions and commentaries of local areas.

School records - The records of over 1,600 national (later known as public elementary or primary) schools in Northern Ireland, mainly from the 1860s to the 1940s, are accessible at PRONI.  The records may include:

  • the names, ages and addresses of pupils enrolled
  • details of the parents’ occupation
  • the name of the previous school attended by newly enrolled pupils

Boards of Guardians records - for 28 Poor Law Unions.  The poor law system was introduced to provide relief to the poor if they entered a workhouse. The workhouse system lasted until the introduction of the Welfare State in 1948.

Hospital records - patient records for mental hospitals, committal papers, case books and admission registers.  Hospital records are closed for 100 years after the date of the last register entry.

Court records - The earliest criminal files together with the crown books summarizing each case and recording the sentence, are to be found in the records of the Crown and Peace Courts for each county in Northern Ireland.  Some criminal records date back to 1822, with the majority dating from the 1880s and 1890s.

Wills and testamentary papers - Before 1858, wills were proved, and letters of administration were issued by the Church of Ireland courts.  Unfortunately, these records were lost when the Public Record Office of Ireland (Dublin) was destroyed in 1922.  An index to pre-1858 wills and administrations survived and PRONI holds those for dioceses in Northern Ireland.  Copies of some pre-1858 wills have been uncovered in privately deposited archives held by PRONI and an index to these is available.

From 1858, wills began to be proved by the Supreme Court of Judicature (the High Court).  Only copies of wills have survived for the period 1858-1900.

A fully searchable index to the will calendar entries for the three District Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast, and Londonderry, for 1885-1943 is available on the PRONI website.  PRONI holds original wills and grants of letters of administration for deceased people in Northern Ireland from 1900 to 2004.

Business records - The business records held in PRONI range from the archives of the large industries that have made Northern Ireland famous - linen, engineering, shipbuilding - to smaller businesses such as bakeries and flour mills.  They provide information on customers, suppliers, employees, directors, and shareholders.  Wage books give information on employees’ names, hours worked, and wage rates.

 

  1. Titanic Museum

Address: 1 Olympic Way, Queen's Road, Belfast in the Titanic Quarter

Website: www.titanicbelfast.com

 

  1. Orange Order

Address: Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland Schomberg House, 368 Cregagh Road, Belfast, BT6 9EY

Website: www.grandorangelodge.co.uk/contact

 

 

Roscommon GRO Office 

Address: Convent Street, Roscommon

  • Births at Sea of children, one of whose parents was born on the island of Ireland between 1st January 1864 and 31st December 1921. Births at Sea of Children, one of whose parents was born in Ireland after 1921.
  • Deaths at Sea of persons born on the island of Ireland between 1st January 1864 and 31st December 1921 and of persons born in Ireland after 1921.
  • Births of children of Irish parents, certified by British Consuls abroad, between 1st January 1864 and 31st December 1921.
  • Deaths of Irish-born persons, certified by British Consuls abroad, between 1st January 1864 and 31st December 1921. 
  • Marriages celebrated in Dublin by the late Rev. J F G Schulze, Minister of the German Protestant Church, Poolbeg Street, Dublin, from 1806 to 1837 inclusive.
  • Births, Deaths, and Marriages registered pursuant to the provisions of the (Army) Act, 1879. 
  • Births and Deaths registered pursuant to the provisions of the Defense Act, 1960. 
  • Certain births and deaths occurring outside the State (Pursuant to the provisions of The Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Act, 1972).
  • Certain Lourdes Marriages (Pursuant to the provisions of the Marriages Act, 1972, Sec.2). 
  • Stillbirths registered in Ireland from 1st January 1995 (certified copies available to parents only). 
  • Deaths of Irish officers and enlisted persons killed in action or who died while serving abroad in The Great War (WW1) 1914 - 1919.
  • Death returns relating to the South African War (1899 – 1902) of Irish subjects.

 

 

 

 

 

Ron Gilmore

Last Updated: April 4, 2023

Email:  rvg3@me.com

Website:         rgenealogy.ca