Irish Wills Index

Alicat

I think I'm losing my mind. I know I've looked up Irish Wills indexes online before but I can't for the life of me remember where they were! I've checked the forum links to see if it was there but I don't see it.

It's either my age or my hangover that's getting to me

Ponster

I don't think that there's a free-to-search index of these wills. I know sites like Ancestry and Origins provides this info...

Alicat

I found the link! It goes by year, here

Rebelheart

Alicat wrote: »

I think I'm losing my mind. I know I've looked up Irish Wills indexes online before but I can't for the life of me remember where they were! I've checked the forum links to see if it was there but I don't see it.

It's either my age or my hangover that's getting to me

What period are you looking for?

In addition to the above, online Arthur Vicar's Index to the prerogative wills of Ireland, 1536-1810 (1897) can now be searched for free over on the superb Archive.org website here (Eneclann is selling it here).

Irish Origins on www.origins.net also has access to an index of Irish wills here. However, you do have to pay for it. If you go into the National Library of Ireland they will allow you access for free.

Physical copies of wills can be found in the National Archives on Bishop Street, Dublin. They are on the right, on the other side of the wall as you walk in the door. They should be there under Funeral Entries. They are primarily 16th and 17th century wills. There are also the RC manuscripts which contain numerous inquisitions into wills and deaths, and are calendared by Margaret C. Griffith in the published Calendar of inquisitions (IMC, 1991). The NAI also allows you to take digital photographs of most manuscripts between certain hours each day.

Ponster

Rebelheart wrote: »

can now be searched for free over on the superb Archive.org website here (Eneclann is selling it here).

broken link

Waitsian

Alicat wrote: »

I found the link! It goes by year, here

What a fabulous resource of links! wow! Of course many I've used, but many not.

http://www.cigo.ie/links.html

patsman07

The PRONI website has some wills which you can view online. I found my GG Grandfather's will on their site. It may only cover the 6 counties though as his will was registered in Armagh.

RGM

Alicat wrote: »

I found the link! It goes by year, here

I found my great-grandfather listed. Are we able to access the actual wills?

shanew

RGM wrote: »

I found my great-grandfather listed. Are we able to access the actual wills?

You have to request them from the National Archives - there's an order form for copies of documents on the NAI website. Once Wills are a certain number of years old they are sent there - cant remember exactly but something like 30 years. Believe it's been discussed before on here

Some of the items on the Calendars are 'administration' - which means there was no will.


S.

shanew

found the NAI link - they have Wills over 25 years old.. see the order form at the end of the page.

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/wills-testamentary-records/

RGM

shanew wrote: »

found the NAI link - they have Wills over 20 years old.. see the order form at the end of the page.

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/wills-testamentary-records/

Great, thanks.