Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland

Photo by Alex Block on Unsplash

The Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland was created to recapture some of the lost data that was destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin. As people researching our Irish roots, we lost so much historic information. All those 19th century censuses were destroyed that would help us to track our family ancestors in Ireland. Let’s look at what records have been recreated.

From the main page, you can choose to search via a keyword and filter by category. Another option is to choose to browse the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland. I prefer this because you can see the actual record locations. For example, for Donegal I can see that they have Donegal County Libraries and Donegal County Archives (Lifford). I did a search for a small village called Laghey and it resulted in: Grand Jury of County Donegal, records from 08/09/1753 - 05/09/1768. The images are interesting, listing the jury names and then various fund appropriations for people and places in County Donegal.
Here’s an excerpt from this document: “We present fifteen pounds to be levied and paid the Treasury by him paid to Mr. John Makilevaine to reimburse him for damages sustained in run[n]ing new road thro his Farm.”  Wouldn’t it be fun if you found a tidbit like that about your ancestor? This document isn’t indexed but like all treasure hunts, you may need to spend time scanning the data.

Excerpt from Grand Jury of County Donegal, records from 08/09/1753 - 05/09/1768 in Virtual RecordTreasury of Ireland

The Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland has recently released 175,000 historical documents by partnering with archives in Ireland and around the world. You can read more here. While you may not find a record specific to your ancestor, you will have the opportunity to delve into Irish history and regional documents. Happy Exploring!