Find your ancestors in Ireland, Dublin Metropolitan Police prisoners books 1905-1908 and 1911-1918

What can these records tell me?

Each result will provide you with a transcript of all or some of the following details:

  • First name(s)
  • Last name
  • Age
  • Birth year
  • Event year
  • Event date
  • Occupation
  • Residence
  • Offence
  • Police station
  • County
  • Country
  • Archive
  • Volume year range
  • Page
  • Line
  • Record source—which links to images of the original record books

The images, which can be viewed by clicking on link providing in the **Record source** field, can provide additional details: by whom arrested, by whom sentenced, sentence, date of sentence, and remarks.

Discover more about these records

In 1836, the Dublin Metropolitan Police, alongside the Irish Constabulary (later, the Royal Irish Constabulary), was established. These two organisations replaced the County Constabulary. After the truce of July 1921 following the War of Independence, the Royal Irish Constabulary disbanded and the Civic Guard (later named Garda Síochána na hÉireann) was established. In 1925, the Dublin Metropolitan Police merged with Garda Síochána.

These valuable records provide great insight into the social and political life in Dublin during periods of great upheaval, including the start of the First World War and the Easter Rising. The records will provide useful information for those interested in genealogy, criminology, and family history.

The collection consists of four leather-bound, double-ledger volumes. Included are volumes 1, 3, 4, and 5. Volume 2 was lost.

  • Volume 1 – arrests from 1 April 1905 to 1 January 1908
  • Volume 3 – arrests from 1 January 1911 to 30 September 1913
  • Volume 4 – arrests from 1 October 1913 to 31 December 1915
  • Volume 5 – arrests from 1 January 1916 to 30 September 1918

The entries are handwritten and include the details of daily charge sheets. Each volume contains an index of prisoners with references to the pages containing details of the charge. The volumes contain a wide range of alleged crimes—from murder to breaking glass. Additionally, the age range represented by the accused perpetrators is equally vast—from eight to eighty. Of note, a new series of offences were introduced following the passage of the Defence of the Realm Act on 8 August 1914. These new offences were often used against political activists.