Early modern Irish sources

Date: [unknown] to 1800
Location: Ireland
Surnames/tags: Ireland Irish_Roots

This page introduces and links to other freespace pages on sources for early modern Irish genealogy.

For example profiles using these sources see Example profiles.

'Early modern' refers to the period between the late middle ages and the 'age of revolutions' which started in about 1800. In Ireland it therefore covers the period from the Henry VIII's attempts to extend his writ beyond 'the pale' through all the plantations, the rebellion of 1641, Cromwell's invasion and the Williamite-Jacobite wars up to the rebellion of 1789.

• Rebellion, plantation and war. This space introduces historical and genealogical sources for the times of the plantations of Mary, Elizabeth and James, the rebellion of 1641, the wars of the three kingdoms, the Cromwellian settlement, the restoration, the Williamite/Jacobite wars, the religious census and the rebellion of 1798.
• Irish Quaker sources and resources. As well as covering Quaker records, genealogies and histories, this space deals with Irish genealogy more generally with sections on general resources, historical and academic journals, land records, legal records, deeds and wills, newspapers and journals, civil records, directories and specific occupations and background geographical information.
• Irish patent and close rolls and fiants. Patent and close rolls were the copies kept by the royal clerks of public (patent) and private (close) royal proclamations. They cover topics of all kinds. Fiants were instructions to prepare letters patent.
• Irish inquisitions post-mortem and on attainder. Inquisitions were enquiries by the royal court of exchequer to protect the royal interest in lands. Inquisitions post-mortem were carried out after the death of one of the royal tenants; those on attainder were carried out when lands were confiscated for treason etc.
• Calendars of Irish State Papers. These 'calendars' are mostly ‘summaries full enough, for most purposes, to replace the original documents'. They cover the period from Henry VIII to Charles II. The papers include those of both Charles I and Parliament during the civil war, the commissioners for the commonwealth in Ireland and James duke of Ormond, who was lord lieutenant to Charles I and II.
• Irish estate papers. This space introduces and links to papers of aristocrats who either held substantial lands in Ireland or held important positions in the government of Ireland or both.
• Beyond 2022 - Ireland's Virtual Record Treasury describes 'Ireland's virtual record treasury', an ambitious project to recreate as much as possible of the public records of Ireland destroyed in the fire of 1922. It falls some way short, but still publishes many useful documents for the first time.
• The Casey Collection (full name 'O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and the Upper Blackwater in Ireland') comprises 16 huge volumes on the genealogy of Cork and Kerry published between 1952 and 1961 which reportedly contain three million names.
• Irish local histories lists and links to local histories including those in the 'Ancient and present state' and 'Council book' series as well as the calendars of papers of the City of Dublin and a large number of religious histories.
• Scots-Irish links, a series of publications by Scottish genealogist David Dobson with probably the biggest listing of Scots participants in the plantation of Ulster and other people with connections to both countries like Irish graduates of Scottish universities.
• Irish gravestones lists and links to resources covering tombstone inscriptions and burial records for Ireland.
• Historical Maps and Gazetteers of Ireland explains the different sources of maps of Ireland from before the Tudor plantations until WWII. It explains plantation maps, the Down Survey, the Ordnance Survey and others like the Griffith's valuation and bog survey maps. It also details sources of local maps, lists the main repositories of Irish maps on line and has a section on gazetteers and townland names.
• Reports on public records of Ireland lists reports by first the Commission on Public Records of Ireland and later the reports of the Deputy Keeper of Public Records of Ireland and highlights contents of interest to genealogists.