The National Archives of Ireland
National Archives of Ireland - image from NAI home page
The following words of wisdom are based on my own experiences. Please get in touch if you can add to this advice with your own observations.
What is this archive and what might you find there?
The National Archives of Ireland (NAI) are located in Bishop St., not far from St. Patrick's Cathedral. They are in a modern building that dates from 1992, having taken over from the Public Record Office of Ireland previously housed at the Four Courts. Various state and court papers have naturally found their retirement home here including such gems as the surviving 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses. There are also other genealogically significant resources that have found their way to the NAI, more of which below.
Of course, sadly, given Ireland's well documented and troubled early 20th century history, there are also many records which should be here but no longer exist having gone up in smoke in 1922 when the Four Courts was engulfed in flames (* sigh * - if there was one thing that we Irish genies wish we could turn back time and change ...)
In fact, spare a thought for Herbert Wood, Assistant Deputy Records Keeper, who published his "Guide to Public Records deposited in the Public Record Office of Ireland" in 1919, only to see it rendered mostly obsolete a mere 3 years later (Sean Murphy has prefaced this version with a very good essay that tells more of Herbert's story.) Having said that, much effort has been put into trying to recreate parts of the collection from alternative sources. In fact, the Irish Genealogical Research Society was founded in London in 1936 for exactly this reason and has built up an unique library of research documents (sadly in storage at the moment as they search for a new home.) However, do check out what they offer online via their website, some of which may only be available to members.
How to find your way to treasure in this archive, in person or remotely?
The NAI recently revamped their introductory pages in Spring 2019, so let me update my text and fix the links that inevitably broke;
The main NAI home page is a bit alarming when you first open it with text boxes flying up from the bottom of the screen - somebody thought this looked good .... Once it all settles down there are some slightly confusing levels for the genealogist to navigate if you want to access everything you did before. There also seems to be quite a lot of repetition with the same information referenced from several different places, which I suppose is better than not at all! Settle down for a good roam around and I'm sure you'll work out your own favourite way to access what you need.
The Genealogy page has some useful looking advice signposted (in particular the Sources for Family and Local History) but if you want to go straight to the online resources you need to choose their Genealogy website, which looks to be unchanged from the previous version and gives you the choice of the following;
However, don't ignore the other choices on the main NAI home page as it appears that you might need to go via some of the other choices to access things not referenced via the Genealogy pages e.g. Wills post 1922 ... are you keeping up? Check out the Legal Records pages for further information, especially the Guide to Testamentary Records page which has some fairly convoluted instructions for accessing the post 1922 will calendars (there used to be a fairly simple page with hyperlinks to the PDFs for each year ... which you can still access in the same way via Chris Paton's helpful shortcuts.)
The NAI Catalogue has never been a thing of beauty according to the gossip I've been party to in the Irish genealogical community and I confess I've wrestled with it infrequently myself before giving up. You are as usual at the mercy of generations of archivists and their own predilections for cataloguing. The basic search screen is the usual "letterbox Scrabble" affair where you have to sort of know what you're looking for in order to find it! There does not seem to be a facility for browsing the catalogue easily by category, which would be hugely helpful in trying to understand the archiving logic.
As far as I am aware there is no Irish equivalent of Amanda Bevan's, "Tracing your ancestors in the National Archives", which is your guide to the British records held at Kew, London. However, I recently found a Guide to the National Archives of Ireland written from much personal experience on the part of well-known Irish genie, Sean Murphy, so see if he can help you unravel the mysteries of this venerable institution.
If you do visit in person, then read their Plan Your Visit page to make sure you are aware of the practicalities of gaining access to the Reading Room etc. There is also a free genealogy service available with an accredited genealogist, which I can't comment on it as I have not taken advantage of it myself.
Having whinged, it's only fair now to give the NAI a huge vote of thanks for the marvellous resources that they have put on-line with some very good source-specific search screens giving access to high quality digitised images for free.
What is this archive and what might you find there?
The National Archives of Ireland (NAI) are located in Bishop St., not far from St. Patrick's Cathedral. They are in a modern building that dates from 1992, having taken over from the Public Record Office of Ireland previously housed at the Four Courts. Various state and court papers have naturally found their retirement home here including such gems as the surviving 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses. There are also other genealogically significant resources that have found their way to the NAI, more of which below.
Of course, sadly, given Ireland's well documented and troubled early 20th century history, there are also many records which should be here but no longer exist having gone up in smoke in 1922 when the Four Courts was engulfed in flames (* sigh * - if there was one thing that we Irish genies wish we could turn back time and change ...)
In fact, spare a thought for Herbert Wood, Assistant Deputy Records Keeper, who published his "Guide to Public Records deposited in the Public Record Office of Ireland" in 1919, only to see it rendered mostly obsolete a mere 3 years later (Sean Murphy has prefaced this version with a very good essay that tells more of Herbert's story.) Having said that, much effort has been put into trying to recreate parts of the collection from alternative sources. In fact, the Irish Genealogical Research Society was founded in London in 1936 for exactly this reason and has built up an unique library of research documents (sadly in storage at the moment as they search for a new home.) However, do check out what they offer online via their website, some of which may only be available to members.
How to find your way to treasure in this archive, in person or remotely?
The NAI recently revamped their introductory pages in Spring 2019, so let me update my text and fix the links that inevitably broke;
The main NAI home page is a bit alarming when you first open it with text boxes flying up from the bottom of the screen - somebody thought this looked good .... Once it all settles down there are some slightly confusing levels for the genealogist to navigate if you want to access everything you did before. There also seems to be quite a lot of repetition with the same information referenced from several different places, which I suppose is better than not at all! Settle down for a good roam around and I'm sure you'll work out your own favourite way to access what you need.
The Genealogy page has some useful looking advice signposted (in particular the Sources for Family and Local History) but if you want to go straight to the online resources you need to choose their Genealogy website, which looks to be unchanged from the previous version and gives you the choice of the following;
- 1901 & 1911 Censuses
- 1841 / 1851 Census Search Forms (Proof of age for Old Age Pensions introduced in 1908 for persons aged 70+)
- Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-1837
- Valuation Office Books, 1824-1856
- Diocesan and Prerogative Wills, 1595-1858
- Will Calendars, 1858-1920
- Will Registers, 1858-1900
- Soldiers Wills from the First World War
- Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage Licence Bonds Indexes, 1623-1866
- Catholic Qualification and Convert Rolls, 1700-1845
- Crew and Shipping Records, 1860-1921
However, don't ignore the other choices on the main NAI home page as it appears that you might need to go via some of the other choices to access things not referenced via the Genealogy pages e.g. Wills post 1922 ... are you keeping up? Check out the Legal Records pages for further information, especially the Guide to Testamentary Records page which has some fairly convoluted instructions for accessing the post 1922 will calendars (there used to be a fairly simple page with hyperlinks to the PDFs for each year ... which you can still access in the same way via Chris Paton's helpful shortcuts.)
The NAI Catalogue has never been a thing of beauty according to the gossip I've been party to in the Irish genealogical community and I confess I've wrestled with it infrequently myself before giving up. You are as usual at the mercy of generations of archivists and their own predilections for cataloguing. The basic search screen is the usual "letterbox Scrabble" affair where you have to sort of know what you're looking for in order to find it! There does not seem to be a facility for browsing the catalogue easily by category, which would be hugely helpful in trying to understand the archiving logic.
As far as I am aware there is no Irish equivalent of Amanda Bevan's, "Tracing your ancestors in the National Archives", which is your guide to the British records held at Kew, London. However, I recently found a Guide to the National Archives of Ireland written from much personal experience on the part of well-known Irish genie, Sean Murphy, so see if he can help you unravel the mysteries of this venerable institution.
If you do visit in person, then read their Plan Your Visit page to make sure you are aware of the practicalities of gaining access to the Reading Room etc. There is also a free genealogy service available with an accredited genealogist, which I can't comment on it as I have not taken advantage of it myself.
Having whinged, it's only fair now to give the NAI a huge vote of thanks for the marvellous resources that they have put on-line with some very good source-specific search screens giving access to high quality digitised images for free.
Looking to the Future ... Beyond 2022
Beyond 2022 - Ireland's Virtual Record Treasury - has bold ambitions to harness the power of technology to re-create in a virtual format as much as possible of the contents of the doomed Public Record Repository that littered the Dublin skyline with seven hundred years of burning historical documents nearly 100 years ago. Ironic when you consider that after earlier conflagrations at storage facilities elsewhere in Dublin, the new building was so carefully designed to be fireproof but sadly not bombproof.
I must admit when I first heard about the project it seemed to be all about virtual reality headsets and the task of reassembling anywhere near enough material sounded daunting to say the least. However, I listened to a talk in 2020 entitled "In praise of transcribers: Beyond 2022 and the hunt for lost records". Dr. Ciaran Wallace, Deputy Director of the project, reported how the process of collaboration right across the world was being hugely assisted by the power of clever technology.
By tracking down Victorian and Edwardian transcripts, snippets of personal research, legal papers lurking in law offices and even old photographs of documents, the project is gradually re-assembling some of the lost treasures. They have even invested in some clever software that can turn handwriting into transcribed content very quickly.
There are some short videos on their YouTube channel that illustrate the challenges and the work being undertaken. This introductory video is a good one to start with.
Keep an eye on this project as you never know what it might recreate that could help your research.
*** UPDATE *** The Virtual Treasury of Ireland launched on the anniversary of the Four Courts fire in July 2022. There has been plenty of chatter online and in print from the genealogical community as you might expect, including yours truly - see my blog. John Grenham has also blogged about "Rabbit Holes outnumbering Rabbits", which I think is an hilariously apt way of summing up the fact that there is not really much there at the moment - be sure to take a look at his YouTube video too.
Beyond 2022 - Ireland's Virtual Record Treasury - has bold ambitions to harness the power of technology to re-create in a virtual format as much as possible of the contents of the doomed Public Record Repository that littered the Dublin skyline with seven hundred years of burning historical documents nearly 100 years ago. Ironic when you consider that after earlier conflagrations at storage facilities elsewhere in Dublin, the new building was so carefully designed to be fireproof but sadly not bombproof.
I must admit when I first heard about the project it seemed to be all about virtual reality headsets and the task of reassembling anywhere near enough material sounded daunting to say the least. However, I listened to a talk in 2020 entitled "In praise of transcribers: Beyond 2022 and the hunt for lost records". Dr. Ciaran Wallace, Deputy Director of the project, reported how the process of collaboration right across the world was being hugely assisted by the power of clever technology.
By tracking down Victorian and Edwardian transcripts, snippets of personal research, legal papers lurking in law offices and even old photographs of documents, the project is gradually re-assembling some of the lost treasures. They have even invested in some clever software that can turn handwriting into transcribed content very quickly.
There are some short videos on their YouTube channel that illustrate the challenges and the work being undertaken. This introductory video is a good one to start with.
Keep an eye on this project as you never know what it might recreate that could help your research.
*** UPDATE *** The Virtual Treasury of Ireland launched on the anniversary of the Four Courts fire in July 2022. There has been plenty of chatter online and in print from the genealogical community as you might expect, including yours truly - see my blog. John Grenham has also blogged about "Rabbit Holes outnumbering Rabbits", which I think is an hilariously apt way of summing up the fact that there is not really much there at the moment - be sure to take a look at his YouTube video too.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2022
