The Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland (formerly the Genealogical Office)
The coat of arms of the Ulster King of Arms
What is this archive and what might you find there?
According to the website of the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland, this ancient institution has been part of The National Library of Ireland since 1943, when it was renamed the Genealogical Office (GO). However, if you read up on the history on their page, you will find that it dates from 1552 and was originally based in Dublin Castle. Led by the Ulster King of Arms, whose ranks have included several distinguished Irish genies including Sir William Betham and Sir Arthur Vicars, its principal job was to police the bearing of coats of arms.
This required reams of lovely historical and genealogical information in the form of dispositions, pedigrees, wills, letters, visitations etc. Sadly, the documents have not always been treated with the reverence we would have hoped they would and in fact, most of the material is said to date from the last 200 years or so. That said, there should be plenty to divert you and given the very specific nature of the material, you may find just what you need to unlock a people puzzle ... or create a whole new pile of jigsaw pieces!
The Genealogical Office did undertake paid for research up until the 1980s but I'm not too sure if any of this material forms a collection. Perhaps not, given more modern data protection laws? However, a cursory glance through the catalogued items does seem to indicate that some third party research has been deposited with the archives over the years.
According to the website of the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland, this ancient institution has been part of The National Library of Ireland since 1943, when it was renamed the Genealogical Office (GO). However, if you read up on the history on their page, you will find that it dates from 1552 and was originally based in Dublin Castle. Led by the Ulster King of Arms, whose ranks have included several distinguished Irish genies including Sir William Betham and Sir Arthur Vicars, its principal job was to police the bearing of coats of arms.
This required reams of lovely historical and genealogical information in the form of dispositions, pedigrees, wills, letters, visitations etc. Sadly, the documents have not always been treated with the reverence we would have hoped they would and in fact, most of the material is said to date from the last 200 years or so. That said, there should be plenty to divert you and given the very specific nature of the material, you may find just what you need to unlock a people puzzle ... or create a whole new pile of jigsaw pieces!
The Genealogical Office did undertake paid for research up until the 1980s but I'm not too sure if any of this material forms a collection. Perhaps not, given more modern data protection laws? However, a cursory glance through the catalogued items does seem to indicate that some third party research has been deposited with the archives over the years.
Click to go to IMC website
How to find your way to treasure in this archive, in person or remotely?
The collections that form the archive for this office mainly consist of manuscripts which are held in the National Library of Ireland. Some collections have been digitised and made available online and other material appears on some commercial sites. However, the vast majority of items will have to be consulted in person (and probably in the form of microfilm) in the Manuscript Reading Room in Kildare St., Dublin, down the road from the main NLI building.
Ordering up your item means wrestling with the NLI Catalogue. However, before you do that, be sure to read John Grenham's comprehensive essay on the Irish Genealogical Office. He helpfully lists out all the references in later pages but to be honest, unless you really know what you are looking for, the catalogue entries are annoyingly brief. He also has an entertaining talk on Heraldry from an Irish point of view on YouTube.
The same John Grenham essay also appears in a free digital publication from the Irish Manuscripts Commission entitled "The Genealogical Office, Dublin" (1998). There is also another essay within this publication by John Barry that attempts to describe the records. Heraldry is very much his thing though, so you are going to have to wade through a lengthy treatise on the subject before getting to some fairly verbose narrative descriptions of various collections, peppered with examples he must have liked. The final third of this book is an index of Will Abstracts held in the GO compiled by that doyenne of Irish probate records, P. Beryl Eustace. Be sure to study the codes on pp83-4 to understand which collections the entry refers to as you will need this to try to navigate the NLI catalogue.
I must confess, I need to study this resource more carefully and try out some searches myself before I can offer any more constructive advice. As ever, I would be delighted if you have tips of your own to share.
The collections that form the archive for this office mainly consist of manuscripts which are held in the National Library of Ireland. Some collections have been digitised and made available online and other material appears on some commercial sites. However, the vast majority of items will have to be consulted in person (and probably in the form of microfilm) in the Manuscript Reading Room in Kildare St., Dublin, down the road from the main NLI building.
Ordering up your item means wrestling with the NLI Catalogue. However, before you do that, be sure to read John Grenham's comprehensive essay on the Irish Genealogical Office. He helpfully lists out all the references in later pages but to be honest, unless you really know what you are looking for, the catalogue entries are annoyingly brief. He also has an entertaining talk on Heraldry from an Irish point of view on YouTube.
The same John Grenham essay also appears in a free digital publication from the Irish Manuscripts Commission entitled "The Genealogical Office, Dublin" (1998). There is also another essay within this publication by John Barry that attempts to describe the records. Heraldry is very much his thing though, so you are going to have to wade through a lengthy treatise on the subject before getting to some fairly verbose narrative descriptions of various collections, peppered with examples he must have liked. The final third of this book is an index of Will Abstracts held in the GO compiled by that doyenne of Irish probate records, P. Beryl Eustace. Be sure to study the codes on pp83-4 to understand which collections the entry refers to as you will need this to try to navigate the NLI catalogue.
I must confess, I need to study this resource more carefully and try out some searches myself before I can offer any more constructive advice. As ever, I would be delighted if you have tips of your own to share.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2023
