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Indexes to Irish Wills is an alphabetical index of over 30,000 diocesan wills proved in the Consistorial Courts of Ireland between 1536 and 1857. Arranged by Dioceses, and preceded by maps showing in which dioceses the various Irish counties are situated, the Indexes provide the name of the testator, his parish, county, and the date of probate and are, in short, complete lists of diocesan wills proved up until 1857, when the various ecclesiastical courts were abolished by Act of Parliament and superseded by the Probate Court.

Since the Public Record Office in Dublin was destroyed by fire in 1922, information furnished by this work is very often the only source for determining the social and financial status of an ancestor. These indexes also provide clues for checking land records for an estate partition and transfers of lease from testator to heir.

This volume is a perfect companion to Sir Arthur Vicars' Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland, 1536-1810 (see Item 6060), as together they comprise the two classes of Irish wills--diocesan and prerogative.

About the editors: William P. W. Phillimore was the editor of the invaluable Parish Register Series. He edited the first two volumes of the Indexes to Irish Wills, the succeeding volumes being edited, after his death, by Gertrude Thrift.

This volume is available on our Family Archive CD 7275.