National Archives of Ireland

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The National Archives of Ireland is the official repository for the state records of the Republic of Ireland. Established by the National Archives Act 1986, it came into existence in 1988, taking over the functions of the State Paper Office and the Public Record Office of Ireland. The National Archives moved to its current premises in Bishop Street, Dublin, in 1991.

The State Paper Office (founded 1702) was originally based in Dublin Castle. The Public Record Office of Ireland was established under the Public Records (Ireland) Act, 1867 to acquire administrative, court and probate records over twenty years old. During the Civil War, the Four Courts, where it was based, was seized and the repository building destroyed by fire in June 1922, along with most of the records, some dating back to the thirteenth century.

When the southern part of Ireland became independent as the Irish Free State in 1922, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland was set up to take over the records of that part of Ireland which remained in the United Kingdom.

[edit] Holdings

The holdings of the National Archives include:

archives of the Irish Government, 1922 – 75;
archives of the British administration in Ireland, mainly from the 19th and 20th century, but including materials from 17th and 18th century;
original census returns from the Census of Ireland, complete for 1901 and 1911, and the surviving fragments for 1821, 1831, 1841, and 1851;
archives of the court system, from the 14th century and 19th and 20th century;
archives acquired from other sources, including Church of Ireland parishes, harbour boards, health boards, hospitals, schools, charities, trade unions, business firms, solicitors' offices, and estate offices, relating especially to the 19th and 20th centuries, but including material for the 17th and 18th centuries;
transcripts, calendars, abstracts and indexes relating to original records dating from the 13th to the 19th century which were destroyed in 1922;
private papers of individuals, including Jack Lynch and Liam T. Cosgrave.