Will Probate Districts & Records, 1858+
Where were wills proved?
Following the Probate Act (1857), 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. A new Principal Registry was formed in Dublin and 11 District Registries replaced those in the dioceses, namely;
(LDS Microfilm ranges) (PRONI images)
Following the Probate Act (1857), 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. A new Principal Registry was formed in Dublin and 11 District Registries replaced those in the dioceses, namely;
(LDS Microfilm ranges) (PRONI images)
- Armagh (1858-1900) (1858-1918)
Excerpt from Will Calendar - image from NAI
How do you find out if any of your ancestors left a will?
Calendars were issued annually indexed by name - the years 1858-1920 for all Ireland are available to search on-line for free via both FamilySearch (1858-1920) and the National Archives of Ireland Will Calendars, 1858-1922 and you can download images of the calendar pages too. To access the calendars post 1920, there are some fairly convoluted instructions on the National Archives of Ireland Guide to Testamentary Records page, or you could raise a glass to Chris Paton, who has made the whole process much less painful by publishing chronological links to the 1923-1981 calendars on the Irish Probate page of his GENES Blog. The CIGO (Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations) website also has some very good first-hand advice on its Wills and Administrations page, especially on what is not there and it also has annual links to the same post 1922 files.
For Northern Ireland, the PRONI Will Calendars application apparently has indexed calendar entries for the Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry probate districts from 1858-1965. If you find an entry in the index, you should be able to access an image directly from there.
It is also worth checking the Probate Calendars for England & Wales, 1858-1995 (Anc=£) too, as any assets or investments held in these countries would require a separate legal process for probate to be granted. Remember, all these calendars were published to reflect the business of that year and complex or contentious wills may have taken years to be proved, so search well after any known death date for records for your ancestors. Be sure to check out all likely entries that appear in later calendars as these may be codicils to the original will.
For a really comprehensive checklist of what is believed to have survived in terms of both indexes and wills, check out John Grenham's Reference Guide to Historic Irish Wills.
What can you learn from the calendars?
As illustrated above, 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) which of the registries named above any will was proved at. 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? Perhaps page references to the original Will Books?
Calendars were issued annually indexed by name - the years 1858-1920 for all Ireland are available to search on-line for free via both FamilySearch (1858-1920) and the National Archives of Ireland Will Calendars, 1858-1922 and you can download images of the calendar pages too. To access the calendars post 1920, there are some fairly convoluted instructions on the National Archives of Ireland Guide to Testamentary Records page, or you could raise a glass to Chris Paton, who has made the whole process much less painful by publishing chronological links to the 1923-1981 calendars on the Irish Probate page of his GENES Blog. The CIGO (Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations) website also has some very good first-hand advice on its Wills and Administrations page, especially on what is not there and it also has annual links to the same post 1922 files.
For Northern Ireland, the PRONI Will Calendars application apparently has indexed calendar entries for the Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry probate districts from 1858-1965. If you find an entry in the index, you should be able to access an image directly from there.
It is also worth checking the Probate Calendars for England & Wales, 1858-1995 (Anc=£) too, as any assets or investments held in these countries would require a separate legal process for probate to be granted. Remember, all these calendars were published to reflect the business of that year and complex or contentious wills may have taken years to be proved, so search well after any known death date for records for your ancestors. Be sure to check out all likely entries that appear in later calendars as these may be codicils to the original will.
For a really comprehensive checklist of what is believed to have survived in terms of both indexes and wills, check out John Grenham's Reference Guide to Historic Irish Wills.
What can you learn from the calendars?
As illustrated above, 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) which of the registries named above any will was proved at. 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? Perhaps page references to the original Will Books?
Excerpt from Kilkenny Will register - image from NAI
Where can you find contemporary copies of the original wills?
If the calendar entry states that probate was granted, there would have been an original will. Whilst sadly it is well known that many of these were destroyed in the Four Courts fire in 1922, especially those proved in the Principal Registry in Dublin, copies of wills proven in the other registries were made in district registry will books, many of which were microfilmed by the LDS. There are currently 2 places online where you can search these will books - via the National Archives of Ireland and PRONI. However, I would be vigilant for ancestors that died in border locations as their wills may be in documents now "across the border".
The National Archives of Ireland have released over 550,000 digital images of contemporary copies of wills for free via Will Registers, 1858-1900 It is not clear which registries are included nor what time periods are covered but I would imagine that the digital images came from the microfilms made by the LDS and therefore the table at the top of this page is as good a guide as any with respect to registries in what is now the Republic of Ireland.
The search screen lets you search by a number of different options including names, dates and location - note this location is not the District Registry office but the address of the deceased as given in the will. 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.
Once you access the image, be sure to pay attention to the end as this is where there will generally be a short section detailing the circumstances of the deceased's demise and a formal annotation of probate.
For Northern Ireland, the PRONI Will Calendars will allow you to see a digital image of the will copied into one of the 3 will books that cover the six counties for selected date ranges. These are detailed above in bold purple for reference only - I cannot link directly to them as individual volumes. If there is an image for your ancestors will, you will be able to open it from the calendar entry.
Should you want to, you can browse digital copies of those original LDS microfilms but only at a Family Search Affiliate Library - they are currently locked for general online access. Click on any of the date ranges appended to districts in bold turquoise above to be taken to the catalogue entry to find out the relevant microfilm reference numbers to order.
Browsing can be challenging, but if you are not finding what you think ought to be there via the 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've accessed like this, 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.
If the calendar entry states that probate was granted, there would have been an original will. Whilst sadly it is well known that many of these were destroyed in the Four Courts fire in 1922, especially those proved in the Principal Registry in Dublin, copies of wills proven in the other registries were made in district registry will books, many of which were microfilmed by the LDS. There are currently 2 places online where you can search these will books - via the National Archives of Ireland and PRONI. However, I would be vigilant for ancestors that died in border locations as their wills may be in documents now "across the border".
The National Archives of Ireland have released over 550,000 digital images of contemporary copies of wills for free via Will Registers, 1858-1900 It is not clear which registries are included nor what time periods are covered but I would imagine that the digital images came from the microfilms made by the LDS and therefore the table at the top of this page is as good a guide as any with respect to registries in what is now the Republic of Ireland.
The search screen lets you search by a number of different options including names, dates and location - note this location is not the District Registry office but the address of the deceased as given in the will. 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.
Once you access the image, be sure to pay attention to the end as this is where there will generally be a short section detailing the circumstances of the deceased's demise and a formal annotation of probate.
For Northern Ireland, the PRONI Will Calendars will allow you to see a digital image of the will copied into one of the 3 will books that cover the six counties for selected date ranges. These are detailed above in bold purple for reference only - I cannot link directly to them as individual volumes. If there is an image for your ancestors will, you will be able to open it from the calendar entry.
Should you want to, you can browse digital copies of those original LDS microfilms but only at a Family Search Affiliate Library - they are currently locked for general online access. Click on any of the date ranges appended to districts in bold turquoise above to be taken to the catalogue entry to find out the relevant microfilm reference numbers to order.
Browsing can be challenging, but if you are not finding what you think ought to be there via the 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've accessed like this, 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.
Testamentary Index Card (Click to enlarge)
What about any other copies of wills, lost or otherwise?
Following the disastrous PROI fire in 1922, there was, and continue to be, various initiatives to reassemble copies of lost documents. The most recent is the Beyond 2022 project which I have blogged about and am keen to see it start to deliver exciting results. However, there were earlier calls for copies of destroyed documents, including wills. Those that made their way to what is now the National Archives of Ireland were indexed on a card system, images of which are available to browse via FamilySearch's Index to Testamentary Records in the Public Record Office, Dublin, 15th-20th Century. Choose the relevant alphabetical file and page through the thumbnails to see if there was anything deposited for your family names. Note, this resource is not limited to post 1858 wills - there might be earlier ones too. There are also some references to marriage licence bonds to distract you too!
Once you locate an entry, note the reference number that is prefaced with a "T". You will need this to choose the right film from the next free FamilySearch resource - Testamentary Documents in the Public Record office, Dublin. This is a bit of a daunting list of 137 microfilms all labelled with various ranges of T numbers, but not all of them - there are sizeable gaps and omissions that are probably for items that were too large to film perhaps?. Most films are available for online access, but bizarrely a few have that annoying little key symbol over the camera icon which means they are only accessible via a FamilySearch Affiliate Library. Choose your film and attempt to find your document.
The reference numbers are written on the opening pages of the packet of documents, so you are going to have to squint at those thumbnail images and try to pick out what look like opening pages. You will spend a fair bit of time paging around to try to locate your number (hopefully in sequence!) However, this is no bad thing, as in my experience I have found that there can be a run of documents for related family members - perhaps they all arrived from a solicitor's office and were catalogued one after the other. This resource is crying out to be indexed - I wonder if it is on the list awaiting volunteers?
Following the disastrous PROI fire in 1922, there was, and continue to be, various initiatives to reassemble copies of lost documents. The most recent is the Beyond 2022 project which I have blogged about and am keen to see it start to deliver exciting results. However, there were earlier calls for copies of destroyed documents, including wills. Those that made their way to what is now the National Archives of Ireland were indexed on a card system, images of which are available to browse via FamilySearch's Index to Testamentary Records in the Public Record Office, Dublin, 15th-20th Century. Choose the relevant alphabetical file and page through the thumbnails to see if there was anything deposited for your family names. Note, this resource is not limited to post 1858 wills - there might be earlier ones too. There are also some references to marriage licence bonds to distract you too!
Once you locate an entry, note the reference number that is prefaced with a "T". You will need this to choose the right film from the next free FamilySearch resource - Testamentary Documents in the Public Record office, Dublin. This is a bit of a daunting list of 137 microfilms all labelled with various ranges of T numbers, but not all of them - there are sizeable gaps and omissions that are probably for items that were too large to film perhaps?. Most films are available for online access, but bizarrely a few have that annoying little key symbol over the camera icon which means they are only accessible via a FamilySearch Affiliate Library. Choose your film and attempt to find your document.
The reference numbers are written on the opening pages of the packet of documents, so you are going to have to squint at those thumbnail images and try to pick out what look like opening pages. You will spend a fair bit of time paging around to try to locate your number (hopefully in sequence!) However, this is no bad thing, as in my experience I have found that there can be a run of documents for related family members - perhaps they all arrived from a solicitor's office and were catalogued one after the other. This resource is crying out to be indexed - I wonder if it is on the list awaiting volunteers?
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2020
