Find your ancestors in Ireland, Genealogical Office Manuscripts, Wills

What can these records tell me?

These records are notes and pedigrees compiled from wills, so the detail will vary from one record to the next. The following information is generally present:

• Name
• Will Date/Year: the date the will was written
• Probate Date/Year: the date the will was approved
• Address (place, county and country)
• Occupation
• Manuscript: series
• Item: Volume within the series
• Original record: link to the image [hosted externally]
• Navigate to page: page number
• Archive: The National Library of Ireland

The images may provide additional details about your ancestor such as names of your ancestor’s family members. In some cases, the images can be hard to decipher, which can lead to incorrect transcriptions. It is always best to consult the original image.

Discover more about these records

These records were compiled by two men, Sir William Betham (1779-1853) who was the Ulster King of Arms, the chief herald of Ireland. He transcribed thousands of Prerogative Wills in notebooks which are mostly held in the National Archives of Ireland, and also available on Findmypast [see Useful Links]. He then compiled these notes into pedigrees which are published here. The rest of the records were created by another professional genealogist Denis O'Callaghan Fisher (1809-1869). His transcripts are of mostly from Dublin, Cork and Cloyne Diocesan wills, and he also compiled them into pedigrees. To learn more about the differences between Prerogative and Diocesan Wills see the Useful Links section.