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Did your Irish ancestor serve in the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)? Explore this plethora of RIC police records containing general registers, disbandment registers, nominal returns, and more. You can also find records of Royal Irish Constabulary clerical staff.
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Auxiliary division general register
These mostly consist of nominal rolls, which recorded the member’s service number, rank, dispersed date, and company name. You will also find division journals. The journals recorded the names of members as well as their company, dates of appointment and promotion, and details about whether the member stayed in the hospital at any point.
Clerical staff: record of service and salaries
These records list the names of the clerical staff who worked for the Royal Irish Constabulary. The lists recorded the staff member’s birth date, age at appointment, rank (such as junior or senior clerk), and department. You will also discover the person’s salary.
Constabulary Force Funds
There are two types of books related to the Constabulary Force Fund. One is the correspondence registers which contain lists of members’ names who paid into the fund with notes regarding whether the person had been pensioned, died, or received any rewards from the fund. The second set of records show the names of constables whose widows or children received monetary awards from the fund.
Constabulary lists
This list of chief constables was created during the first year of the Royal Irish Constabulary. The lists show the chief constable’s name, county, and station. Any marked with an asterisk are for chief constables of the 2nd class. Those marked with a cross means the constable was a member of the Peace Preservation Force, a peace keeping force which existed before the Royal Irish Constabulary.
Disbandment registers
The disbandment registers were created in 1922 when the Royal Irish Constabulary was disbanded
after the creation of the Free Irish State. Each entry of the register includes a constable’s name, rank, number, birth year, and the number of years the constable spent in the force. They also noted the constable’s pensionable pay and the recommended pension.
General registers
These register books recorded the constables’ service history. The entries include the individual’s birth date, native county, religion, previous occupation, date of appointment, and promotions, as well as any rewards or punishments received and the date of pension or the date of discharge.
Nominal returns, arranged by counties
The lists are organised by county and include the names of all the men serving with the Royal Irish Constabulary. The lists recorded the individual’s number, rank, name, religion, date of appointment, marital status, and station location.
Officers’ registers
The officers’ registers are similar to the general registers. These registers also provide records of transfers and dates, favourable and unfavourable records, and dates of promotions, as well as indicating if the officer served in the army or navy.
Pensions and gratuities
There are a small number of pension records within this collection. They recorded the member’s name, number, county, rank, and age, as well as the number of years in service in the force. The registers also recorded the constable’s rate of pay and the amount of pension calculated.
Recruits: index
The index provides names of new recruits, their dates of appointment and arrival, and their company. The remarks column explains if the recruit resigned or was dismissed, as well as where they were stationed.
Other types of records you will find in this collection include
- Chief of police department: staff and administration, correspondence
- Conferring of the title `Royal Irish Constabulary': programme of ceremony (incomplete)
- Constabulary code - revised edition
- Dublin Metropolitan Police-D division. Superintendents journal and letter book
- Head constables: list of ‘good’ men
- Intelligence notes
- Law opinions
- Miscellaneous acts
- Officers' numbers
- Recovery of old firearms: Ballincollig
- Recovery of old firearms: Carrickfergus
- RIC acts (two copies, one with amendments to 1918)
- Statement on behalf of the officers commenting on Part 1 of the Report of the Committee on the Police Services in England, Wales, and Scotland
- Transport code: first edition
- Veterans' division: temporary constables, drivers, fitters
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