Irish Will Probate Districts & Records, 1858+
How did probate change in Ireland from 1858?
Following the Probate and Letters of Administration Act (Ireland) 1857 (20 & 21 Vic.), the Church of Ireland consistorial courts in each diocese and the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Armagh no longer had the authority to prove wills or issue letters of administration. Initially, a new Principal Registry was formed in Dublin to replace the Prerogative Court and 11 District Registries replaced those in the dioceses. These are named in the table below and you can see that several share their name with the diocesan courts they replaced.
The Principal Registry made grants for both complex wills with assets held across Ireland and also acted as a District Registry for Co. Dublin and several surrounding counties, in whole or in part, according to information from the FamilySearch Wiki page on Ireland Probate Records. Note also that some counties were covered by 2 district registries (names in italics below.)
Unfortunately, I cannot find a map online showing the extent of the various jurisdictions, but there is a very simple map of outlines on page 21 of Brian Mitchell's "A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland" (see my Bookshelves - Guides and Finding Aids page for more information.) Other maps for the counties in this atlas also give a description of what parts of divided counties (parishes and/or baronies) were attributed to different probate districts, but I don't know where the original data came from. There is some divergence on the question of Co. Offaly (King's) with FamilySearch suggesting that both Dublin and Mullingar were applicable, whilst Brian only references the latter. There have been later re-organisations and additions to this list - for reference the current registries are listed here.
Generally speaking, probate for a will would be sought in either the District Registry mandated for the county or the nearest one to the deceased's residence if there were a choice. However, as with most things in Irish genealogy, don't take that as absolute gospel and evaluate all possible candidates in any search results carefully. In particular, be aware that the Waterford District Registry covered Co. Wexford despite the fact that the 2 counties do not share a border. Also, be mindful of the counties that border what became Northern Ireland as the records may be at PRONI now.
The following table is my attempt to draw together the various dates and locations that have been quoted in different places. I explain more about the different time periods in context below. Be patient it may take a few seconds to load. Use the scroll bars to see more information.
Following the Probate and Letters of Administration Act (Ireland) 1857 (20 & 21 Vic.), the Church of Ireland consistorial courts in each diocese and the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Armagh no longer had the authority to prove wills or issue letters of administration. Initially, a new Principal Registry was formed in Dublin to replace the Prerogative Court and 11 District Registries replaced those in the dioceses. These are named in the table below and you can see that several share their name with the diocesan courts they replaced.
The Principal Registry made grants for both complex wills with assets held across Ireland and also acted as a District Registry for Co. Dublin and several surrounding counties, in whole or in part, according to information from the FamilySearch Wiki page on Ireland Probate Records. Note also that some counties were covered by 2 district registries (names in italics below.)
Unfortunately, I cannot find a map online showing the extent of the various jurisdictions, but there is a very simple map of outlines on page 21 of Brian Mitchell's "A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland" (see my Bookshelves - Guides and Finding Aids page for more information.) Other maps for the counties in this atlas also give a description of what parts of divided counties (parishes and/or baronies) were attributed to different probate districts, but I don't know where the original data came from. There is some divergence on the question of Co. Offaly (King's) with FamilySearch suggesting that both Dublin and Mullingar were applicable, whilst Brian only references the latter. There have been later re-organisations and additions to this list - for reference the current registries are listed here.
Generally speaking, probate for a will would be sought in either the District Registry mandated for the county or the nearest one to the deceased's residence if there were a choice. However, as with most things in Irish genealogy, don't take that as absolute gospel and evaluate all possible candidates in any search results carefully. In particular, be aware that the Waterford District Registry covered Co. Wexford despite the fact that the 2 counties do not share a border. Also, be mindful of the counties that border what became Northern Ireland as the records may be at PRONI now.
The following table is my attempt to draw together the various dates and locations that have been quoted in different places. I explain more about the different time periods in context below. Be patient it may take a few seconds to load. Use the scroll bars to see more information.
Click to enlarge (links not active)
How can you find out if any of your Irish ancestors left a will from 1858?
National calendars of indexed names were issued annually, reflecting the probate and administration business of that year. Remember this when you are searching as complex or contentious wills may have taken many years to finally achieve probate - search well beyond any known death dates and do not discount what may look like outliers. My current record is 28 years after death! If your ancestor died intestate, they will still appear in these calendars as grants of letters of administration were also included. There are a number of different ways of accessing these calendars, especially when you take into account the partition of Ireland in the 1920's, as the NAI and PRONI have done different things with some of the same records.
For Northern Ireland, the PRONI Will Calendars have indexed calendar entries for the Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry probate districts,1858-1965. Nice and easy to search and don't forget that for some border counties of the Republic, grants may have been made in one of these registries prior to 1922 (see the table above.)
1858-1920 (All Ireland)
Let's start with this time period as it is so much easier to deal with than the later years. You can search indexed digitised collections of these calendars and download associated page images from a number of sites online.
For all Ireland, these are the same resources.
The calendar for 1921 has not been microfilmed or digitised yet apparently, so tough luck if processing of your ancestors' estates fell in that year.
Now for a big dose of caution! John Grenham and CIGO both carefully detail the fairly significant gaps in the early years of the calendars, due to filming errors - so make yourself aware of these before you start searching. Also, note, the images for 1918-1920 are in a different format to the others as they appear to have filmed the testamentary card indexes rather than the bound calendars - less information available I'm afraid.
1923+ (Irish Free State / Republic of Ireland)
Get a cup of tea and a biscuit - you'll be here awhile! This period is not so straightforward to search and you may need to employ a few different tactics.
For the period 1923-1982, the will calendars are held by the NAI, but accessing them via their website requires the patience of a saint... The National Archives of Ireland Guide to Testamentary Records offers several sets of instructions - there is no one clean way of accessing all the data via a search screen like the earlier files. Let me try to pick the bones out of what they recommend and add my experiences.
If you want my advice on a much easier way of accessing any of the PDFs for the period 1923-1981, then take advantage of either of the following websites.
National calendars of indexed names were issued annually, reflecting the probate and administration business of that year. Remember this when you are searching as complex or contentious wills may have taken many years to finally achieve probate - search well beyond any known death dates and do not discount what may look like outliers. My current record is 28 years after death! If your ancestor died intestate, they will still appear in these calendars as grants of letters of administration were also included. There are a number of different ways of accessing these calendars, especially when you take into account the partition of Ireland in the 1920's, as the NAI and PRONI have done different things with some of the same records.
For Northern Ireland, the PRONI Will Calendars have indexed calendar entries for the Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry probate districts,1858-1965. Nice and easy to search and don't forget that for some border counties of the Republic, grants may have been made in one of these registries prior to 1922 (see the table above.)
1858-1920 (All Ireland)
Let's start with this time period as it is so much easier to deal with than the later years. You can search indexed digitised collections of these calendars and download associated page images from a number of sites online.
For all Ireland, these are the same resources.
- Calendars of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1920 (NAI) Transcripts and images. It wrongly says 1922 on the title bar - read the notes.
- Ireland Calendars of Wills & Administrations 1858-1920 (FamilySearch) Transcripts & images.
- Ireland Calendars of Wills & Administrations 1858-1965 (FMP=£) Transcripts and links to NAI images for all Ireland up to 1920. Post 1920 = Northern Ireland only.
- Web: Ireland, Calendar of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1920 (Anc=£) Search screen only. Links to the NAI record for the same image.
The calendar for 1921 has not been microfilmed or digitised yet apparently, so tough luck if processing of your ancestors' estates fell in that year.
Now for a big dose of caution! John Grenham and CIGO both carefully detail the fairly significant gaps in the early years of the calendars, due to filming errors - so make yourself aware of these before you start searching. Also, note, the images for 1918-1920 are in a different format to the others as they appear to have filmed the testamentary card indexes rather than the bound calendars - less information available I'm afraid.
1923+ (Irish Free State / Republic of Ireland)
Get a cup of tea and a biscuit - you'll be here awhile! This period is not so straightforward to search and you may need to employ a few different tactics.
For the period 1923-1982, the will calendars are held by the NAI, but accessing them via their website requires the patience of a saint... The National Archives of Ireland Guide to Testamentary Records offers several sets of instructions - there is no one clean way of accessing all the data via a search screen like the earlier files. Let me try to pick the bones out of what they recommend and add my experiences.
- You can use the Advanced Search screen to search the main catalogue by putting elements of your ancestors name in the Title field. I also recommend that you put "CS/HC/PO/4*" into the Reference field to narrow down your search to the right document series - think like an archivist! You may find an entry but I don't know what the cut off dates are for finding people like this.
- Once you find a promising entry, click through to it. Make sure you make a note of the full catalogue reference, because you will need this later if you want to order any copies of the documents. Whilst you were doing that, there may or may not have been something appear under the "Gallery" heading at the bottom of the entry - the hyperlinks took a while to appear when I was searching. And when they did appear, they were both very unhelpfully titled "No Image Available" - go figure? Only one of them was active anyway, so I clicked on it and up popped the right calendar page for you to download! No idea why there is another inactive link. Image to the right shows you what I mean... Seriously, does anyone know what is going on here, as I find it really odd that something like this would have made it through systems testing?
- However, this tactic will only work for wills and administrations granted between 1923-1951 and 1983-1991 - are you keeping up?! If your ancestor's estate was dealt with between 1952-1982, you will have to browse each year to find what you are looking for. According to the NAI, to access the annual PDF files in sequence, you will need to click on the dark red link "1952-1982" which is buried deep in the NAI Guide reference above. This will take you to a results screen (which I cannot link to directly because of the way the NAI have chosen to host it * sigh *.) Pick a year and somewhere in the middle of the next catalogue screen is a link to download a PDF... which you cannot search with Ctrl-F, because it contains images of the calendar pages, not active text * sigh *. Get scrolling through the alphabetic entries and hope you find something for your surnames of interest - I'd refresh that cup of tea and lay in more biscuits if I were you! And be careful when you go to save anything as you are not saving one page but the entire (large!) document. I'd recommend doing a screen grab and editing it in a simple tool to produce an image of the page. I know I shouldn't really complain because this data is being made freely available, but I do wonder what it would take to just sort this out into something way more user friendly.
If you want my advice on a much easier way of accessing any of the PDFs for the period 1923-1981, then take advantage of either of the following websites.
- Chris Paton has chronological links on the Irish Probate page of his GENES Blog.
- The CIGO (Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations) website also has annual links to the same post 1922 files on their Wills and Administrations page. There is also some very good advice on this page, explaining gaps which might just help you understand why you are not finding something you think ought to be there.
In addition to these registers, there is also a small (c.15K) collection of testamentary records that appear to have been created by the Inland Revenue.
The images originated on FamilySearch, where you can browse them for free, but they are also available to search through indexes on Ancestry. As it starts in 1828 and straddles the diocesan / registry period, I've created a separate page which explains what is in the resource and gives some tips on searching within it - see Searching the Inland Revenue Testamentary Indexes.
The images originated on FamilySearch, where you can browse them for free, but they are also available to search through indexes on Ancestry. As it starts in 1828 and straddles the diocesan / registry period, I've created a separate page which explains what is in the resource and gives some tips on searching within it - see Searching the Inland Revenue Testamentary Indexes.
Excerpt from Will Calendar - (c) NAI (click to enlarge)
What can you learn from the Will Calendars?
The calendar entry will provide brief details of the deceased - date and place of death, last usual residence if different, occupation and the value of the deceased's property in Ireland. Executors will usually be named, sometimes including their relationship to the deceased. It should also state (usually in bold) the registry which proved the will or grant.
If there was no will and the deceased died intestate, you will generally see the word "Admons" or the phrase "administration granted to" and a person named to administer the estate according to inheritance law.
One curious annotation I still haven't figured out is the significance of the numbers that appear in square brackets below the name - can anyone enlighten me? I thought perhaps they were page references to the original Will Books (see below), but my wholly inconclusive testing of this theory says no so far.
These calendars were very much working documents and often have annotations scribbled in the margins - note the mysterious ticks on the right of this image. However, sometimes you might find clues to further treasure, but you are going to have to read my blog post on the subject to learn more!
So, you have now found an index entry for your ancestor - how can you learn more? First the bad news, generally speaking, not all calendar entries relate to any further surviving documents. But many do, so read on in hope.
The calendar entry will provide brief details of the deceased - date and place of death, last usual residence if different, occupation and the value of the deceased's property in Ireland. Executors will usually be named, sometimes including their relationship to the deceased. It should also state (usually in bold) the registry which proved the will or grant.
If there was no will and the deceased died intestate, you will generally see the word "Admons" or the phrase "administration granted to" and a person named to administer the estate according to inheritance law.
One curious annotation I still haven't figured out is the significance of the numbers that appear in square brackets below the name - can anyone enlighten me? I thought perhaps they were page references to the original Will Books (see below), but my wholly inconclusive testing of this theory says no so far.
These calendars were very much working documents and often have annotations scribbled in the margins - note the mysterious ticks on the right of this image. However, sometimes you might find clues to further treasure, but you are going to have to read my blog post on the subject to learn more!
So, you have now found an index entry for your ancestor - how can you learn more? First the bad news, generally speaking, not all calendar entries relate to any further surviving documents. But many do, so read on in hope.
What testamentary documents may have survived?
First, let's start with what paperwork was generated by the business of probate. If your ancestor left a will, I think the following broad process applied, producing the types of documents stated.
So, what exactly has survived for what time periods? I've hunted around for definitive information and found differing advice, so let me explain the dates I've chosen to put into the table above.
Working out what the NAI actually hold takes a bit of sleuthing, and to be honest, I'm still struggling to make sense of different advice on their various pages, and don't get me started on their catalogue! Here's what I've used to try to work out what they have re: Will Registers / Books.
Tucked away at the bottom of the home page for the Calendars of Wills and Administrations, is the following statement. I've separated out the sentences to try to make it a bit clearer - read it carefully!
"The fact that there is an entry in the Calendar does not mean that the will or letters of administration referred to survives."
"There are copies of all wills proved elsewhere than the Principal Registry from 1858 to 1922 available in the National Archives"
"There is a full set of original wills for everywhere except the Principal Registry from 1900 on, and for the Principal Registry from 1904 on."
Got it?! Rosemary ffolliott's excellent essay on "Wills and Administrations" in Irish Genealogy: A Record Finder, published in 1987 (See Bookshelves - Guides & Finding Aids) had some slightly more nuanced information on the extent of the surviving will books deposited with the NAI. However, I haven't been able to corroborate this information myself via the NAI catalogue. The dates in the 4th column for the Northern Irish registries are those quoted for the PRONI Wills Database which combines the will calendars and will registers (see below for more information.)
FamilySearch created microfilm images of many of these will books but for some reason they filmed mostly only up to the end of the 19th century, give or take a year. Their catalogue entries can be accessed from the hyperlinks in the 3rd column above, but unfortunately, the digital images are not currently widely available online (see below for further advice.)
Finally, based on that NAI statement above, I have noted the start dates of original wills for each registry in the 5th column. I am currently assuming that any original wills that were proved in the Northern Irish registries are now in PRONI.
For more detailed information, check out the following research advice websites too.
First, let's start with what paperwork was generated by the business of probate. If your ancestor left a will, I think the following broad process applied, producing the types of documents stated.
- Testator made and signed a will, which was witnessed and probably notarised by a solicitor or notary. (Family originals) (Solicitors originals)
- After their demise, the executor(s) would have sought probate at the appropriate registry. As well as appearing as a calendar entry for that year, the actual will would have been copied into large bound ledgers called Will Registers or Will Books. As far as I can tell, these ledgers remained at the registries, including Dublin, until some time after 1922. Those for the Principal Registry/Dublin District Registry were virtually all destroyed, but the majority of the regional volumes did survive and were later deposited with the PROI (now the NAI). The volumes for the 3 District Registries in Northern Ireland made their way to what eventually became PRONI. (Will Register Copies)
- According to the Public Records (Ireland) Act of 1867, it wasn't until 20 years later that original wills and any other supporting documentation were required to be deposited with the PROI for legal safe-keeping. It's not clear to me where these papers were being held prior to their deposition, but a good bet might be the District Registries, including Dublin. This means that many wills dating from the beginning of the 20th century would not yet have been deposited in Dublin at the time of the Four Courts fire but did make their way there later. (Original 20thC wills)
- As the PROI attempted to, literally, rise from the ashes the call went out to the legal and academic professions in particular to donate whatever documents they had to replace those lost. In addition to abstracts and selected transcripts, a precious few pre-20th Century wills did find their way to Dublin. These are discussed in a lower section of this page. (Original/Copy pre-20thC wills)
So, what exactly has survived for what time periods? I've hunted around for definitive information and found differing advice, so let me explain the dates I've chosen to put into the table above.
Working out what the NAI actually hold takes a bit of sleuthing, and to be honest, I'm still struggling to make sense of different advice on their various pages, and don't get me started on their catalogue! Here's what I've used to try to work out what they have re: Will Registers / Books.
Tucked away at the bottom of the home page for the Calendars of Wills and Administrations, is the following statement. I've separated out the sentences to try to make it a bit clearer - read it carefully!
"The fact that there is an entry in the Calendar does not mean that the will or letters of administration referred to survives."
"There are copies of all wills proved elsewhere than the Principal Registry from 1858 to 1922 available in the National Archives"
"There is a full set of original wills for everywhere except the Principal Registry from 1900 on, and for the Principal Registry from 1904 on."
Got it?! Rosemary ffolliott's excellent essay on "Wills and Administrations" in Irish Genealogy: A Record Finder, published in 1987 (See Bookshelves - Guides & Finding Aids) had some slightly more nuanced information on the extent of the surviving will books deposited with the NAI. However, I haven't been able to corroborate this information myself via the NAI catalogue. The dates in the 4th column for the Northern Irish registries are those quoted for the PRONI Wills Database which combines the will calendars and will registers (see below for more information.)
FamilySearch created microfilm images of many of these will books but for some reason they filmed mostly only up to the end of the 19th century, give or take a year. Their catalogue entries can be accessed from the hyperlinks in the 3rd column above, but unfortunately, the digital images are not currently widely available online (see below for further advice.)
Finally, based on that NAI statement above, I have noted the start dates of original wills for each registry in the 5th column. I am currently assuming that any original wills that were proved in the Northern Irish registries are now in PRONI.
For more detailed information, check out the following research advice websites too.
- John Grenham's Reference Guide to Historic Irish Wills. Wonderfully comprehensive.
- The FamilySearch Wiki page referenced above, Ireland Probate Records, is also a goldmine of information.
- The National Archives of Ireland's Guide to Testamentary Records is also full of information but you will have to take your time and read it carefully as, in my opinion, it is very much phrased from the archivist's point of view. It also hasn't been updated to mention the fact that the Will Registers are now also online. Speaking of which...
Where can you find Irish wills, either copies or originals, online?
Firstly, let's consider the Will Registers. The National Archives of Ireland have released over 550,000 indexed digital images of surviving contemporary copies of wills for free via their digital collection entitled Will Registers, 1858-1900.
You can also access the same indexed records via FindMyPast and Ancestry too,
I'm really not sure what is going on with the different end-date given by FindMyPast as when I tried querying on there for records specifically in 1920, all the records returned actually had no date and when I studied some of the transcripts, the series reference clearly indicated much earlier will books? If anyone knows what's going on, put me out of my misery!
Where did the images come from? Did the NAI use their copies of the FamilySearch microfilms? Note carefully that universally truncated end date of 1900, despite the fact that most deposited Will Books are believed to extend a good few years beyond this date. It is not made explicitly clear which registries are included in the NAI collection but I would imagine that the digital images came from the FamilySearch microfilms. Therefore that column in the table at the top of this page is probably as good a guide as any as to what is in this collection.
The home page for the collection ends by mentioning a Browse feature that I can't for the life of me find anywhere. If anyone else can find it, that might be the best way of verifying exactly what is in this collection.
The search screen lets you search by a number of different options including names, dates and location. However, the major flaw with this screen is that, contrary to what you might reasonably think, the location is not the District Registry that you might have learned from the Will Calendar. The location refers to the address of the deceased as given in the will, so bear that in mind too if your ancestor died away from home or even moved later in life without updating their will. You can search on a number of different criteria but you almost have to know what's in the will in order to find it! Your best bet in trying to go from a Will Calendar entry to a Will Register image is probably to use the surname and the date of the grant. Anyway, experiment and see how you get on, as you never know what else might turn up for your man or woman...
...that's because one really useful feature of this site is that when you are searching for a particular name, you will first get the results where the name appears as the "Deceased", followed by where the same name may have appeared as an heir or executor in someone else's will or grant of administration. The index results also helpfully list all the named heirs or executors too, which should make it easier to identify which candidate is your man or woman in a list of more common names.
The following images show what you can expect to find in terms of the opening section that identifies that testator and when they made their will and the closing probate declaration that will give you information about when they died. This last section is also where you will be able to corroborate which District Registry proved the will.
Firstly, let's consider the Will Registers. The National Archives of Ireland have released over 550,000 indexed digital images of surviving contemporary copies of wills for free via their digital collection entitled Will Registers, 1858-1900.
You can also access the same indexed records via FindMyPast and Ancestry too,
- Ireland, Original Will Registers, 1858-1920 (FMP=£)
- Ireland, Wills and Grants of Probate, 1858-1900 (Anc=£)
I'm really not sure what is going on with the different end-date given by FindMyPast as when I tried querying on there for records specifically in 1920, all the records returned actually had no date and when I studied some of the transcripts, the series reference clearly indicated much earlier will books? If anyone knows what's going on, put me out of my misery!
Where did the images come from? Did the NAI use their copies of the FamilySearch microfilms? Note carefully that universally truncated end date of 1900, despite the fact that most deposited Will Books are believed to extend a good few years beyond this date. It is not made explicitly clear which registries are included in the NAI collection but I would imagine that the digital images came from the FamilySearch microfilms. Therefore that column in the table at the top of this page is probably as good a guide as any as to what is in this collection.
The home page for the collection ends by mentioning a Browse feature that I can't for the life of me find anywhere. If anyone else can find it, that might be the best way of verifying exactly what is in this collection.
The search screen lets you search by a number of different options including names, dates and location. However, the major flaw with this screen is that, contrary to what you might reasonably think, the location is not the District Registry that you might have learned from the Will Calendar. The location refers to the address of the deceased as given in the will, so bear that in mind too if your ancestor died away from home or even moved later in life without updating their will. You can search on a number of different criteria but you almost have to know what's in the will in order to find it! Your best bet in trying to go from a Will Calendar entry to a Will Register image is probably to use the surname and the date of the grant. Anyway, experiment and see how you get on, as you never know what else might turn up for your man or woman...
...that's because one really useful feature of this site is that when you are searching for a particular name, you will first get the results where the name appears as the "Deceased", followed by where the same name may have appeared as an heir or executor in someone else's will or grant of administration. The index results also helpfully list all the named heirs or executors too, which should make it easier to identify which candidate is your man or woman in a list of more common names.
The following images show what you can expect to find in terms of the opening section that identifies that testator and when they made their will and the closing probate declaration that will give you information about when they died. This last section is also where you will be able to corroborate which District Registry proved the will.
Opening section of will register entry - (c) NAI (Click to enlarge)
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Probate Declaration - (c) NAI (Click to enlarge)
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Should you want to, you can browse digital copies of those FamilySearch microfilms but only at a FamilySearch Affiliate Library - they are currently locked for general online access. Click on any of the date ranges in the relevant column in the table above to be taken to the catalogue entry, where you may be able to find out about where to access them.
Browsing them can be challenging, but if you are not finding what you think ought to be there via the NAI search screens (only ever as good as the indexes that drive them remember), then settling in for a good read is your only option. Based on the Kilkenny books I accessed like this on microfilm when they were at the National Archives in Kew (now an affiliate library), you should find a name index at the front of the volume referring you to a numbered page. However, if you don't find your ancestor in the index at the front, scroll through the film as the volume may be divided into sections, each with their own index - I found one ledger that actually consisted of 3 separately indexed sections. These index sections are usually fairly easy to spot in the thumbnail view.
Browsing them can be challenging, but if you are not finding what you think ought to be there via the NAI search screens (only ever as good as the indexes that drive them remember), then settling in for a good read is your only option. Based on the Kilkenny books I accessed like this on microfilm when they were at the National Archives in Kew (now an affiliate library), you should find a name index at the front of the volume referring you to a numbered page. However, if you don't find your ancestor in the index at the front, scroll through the film as the volume may be divided into sections, each with their own index - I found one ledger that actually consisted of 3 separately indexed sections. These index sections are usually fairly easy to spot in the thumbnail view.
For Northern Ireland, the PRONI Will Calendars page will also allow you to directly access a digital image of the will if they have it. Their advice page, About Wills and Will Calendars, is a bit vague about date ranges, so I suspect there might not be will register images beyond 1921. This was certainly the case for one name from my tree that I quickly tested out. If there is an image for your ancestor's will, you will be able to open it from the list of results returned from the calendars, by clicking on the "image" hyperlink if it appears in the last column.
What about any other copies of 1858+ Irish wills online?
If copies of lost wills were deposited with the PROI (later the NAI), they would have been initially indexed on an old-fashioned card index, which is accessible online. As this index, and associated documents, actually covers a much wider period than just from 1858, I have create a separate page of advice on querying it - see NAI Testamentary Index and Documents.
If copies of lost wills were deposited with the PROI (later the NAI), they would have been initially indexed on an old-fashioned card index, which is accessible online. As this index, and associated documents, actually covers a much wider period than just from 1858, I have create a separate page of advice on querying it - see NAI Testamentary Index and Documents.
Advanced Search (c) NAI - Click to Enlarge
Testamentary records are also indexed on the NAI catalogue. If you know a reference number from the card index, use the Advanced Search screen and enter the T/number into the Reference field. Somewhat annoyingly in my experience, not all T/number references are indexed in the catalogue, which doesn't make sense to me. Also remember, you won't be able to access any of these wills online via the NAI website as I don't believe they have been digitised. You would have to try ordering a copy (see below.)
Another way of speculatively searching the NAI catalogue directly would be to try an open search of the series by entering "T/*" in the Reference field as pictured to the right. This returned nearly 5000 results when I tried it recently, so try refining the search with various keywords in the Title field e.g. a surname or perhaps a distinctive location name.
Another way of speculatively searching the NAI catalogue directly would be to try an open search of the series by entering "T/*" in the Reference field as pictured to the right. This returned nearly 5000 results when I tried it recently, so try refining the search with various keywords in the Title field e.g. a surname or perhaps a distinctive location name.
How do I get copies of Irish wills that are not online?
If you are hunting for original wills from before 1992, then you will have to apply to the National Archives of Ireland for a copy. Sadly, this is not via a secure online process and the advice on the NAI website is a bit all over the place. There is a prominent page entitled Ordering Certified Copies but as personal researchers what most of us will probably need is a cheaper uncertified copy.
To order one, you need to use the Testamentary Copy Order form, the link to which is buried deep in the text of the Guide to Testamentary Records page, or just use my link in blue above. The fee is quoted in Euros, but I have been advised by the NAI staff that you can also pay with a £Sterling cheque too - you just need to supply some evidence of the exchange rate you have chosen to apply yourself, which is novel. I've yet to give this a go myself, so I'll have to let you know what happens when I do.
For wills proved from 1992, you will need to search the Probate Register Online at the Probate Office and follow their process to obtain a copy.
If you are hunting for original wills from before 1992, then you will have to apply to the National Archives of Ireland for a copy. Sadly, this is not via a secure online process and the advice on the NAI website is a bit all over the place. There is a prominent page entitled Ordering Certified Copies but as personal researchers what most of us will probably need is a cheaper uncertified copy.
To order one, you need to use the Testamentary Copy Order form, the link to which is buried deep in the text of the Guide to Testamentary Records page, or just use my link in blue above. The fee is quoted in Euros, but I have been advised by the NAI staff that you can also pay with a £Sterling cheque too - you just need to supply some evidence of the exchange rate you have chosen to apply yourself, which is novel. I've yet to give this a go myself, so I'll have to let you know what happens when I do.
For wills proved from 1992, you will need to search the Probate Register Online at the Probate Office and follow their process to obtain a copy.
And Finally...
If all these suggested resources have failed to yield any testamentary evidence for your ancestor, then be open to the possibility that parts of their estate may have been subject to probate somewhere else in the world. Or they may have emigrated and died possessed of overseas assets and / or retained interests in Irish assets, in which case you might find so much more may have been recorded and survived elsewhere. I once found a will proved in New York that included a copy of the woman's parents' Irish marriage settlement because she still retained an interest in her mother's marriage portion of land rents.
For further inspiration, take yourself off for a Midnight Feast - Hunting for Irish Wills.
If all these suggested resources have failed to yield any testamentary evidence for your ancestor, then be open to the possibility that parts of their estate may have been subject to probate somewhere else in the world. Or they may have emigrated and died possessed of overseas assets and / or retained interests in Irish assets, in which case you might find so much more may have been recorded and survived elsewhere. I once found a will proved in New York that included a copy of the woman's parents' Irish marriage settlement because she still retained an interest in her mother's marriage portion of land rents.
For further inspiration, take yourself off for a Midnight Feast - Hunting for Irish Wills.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2023
