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*Tracing Your Roots > Irish > Irish Records In the UK
* Royal Irish Constabulary 
 
Although a unified Irish Constabulary was only brought into being in 1836, the service records held in the National Archives cover the period 1816-1922, including the records of the earlier county constabularies. For each recruit, the General Register ((PRO) HO184) records:

  • Age
  • Height
  • County of birth
  • Religion
  • Marriage date (if during the period of service)
  • Wife's county of birth
  • Person recommending him to the force
  • Previous occupation
  • Date of appointment
  • Counties in which he served
  • Dates of transfer
  • Promotions and demotions
  • Length of service
  • Date of death or retirement
  • Pension or gratuity
  • Counties to which he or his wife were connected
The last category - counties to which he or his wife were connected - was available so that a constable could avoid postings in areas with which he might have personal connections. This category is not always filled in however.

The records are entered in registers arranged numerically by service number, with separate, partly alphabetical indexes from which the service number can be obtained. Separate registers, with their own indexes, were compiled for officers and members of the auxiliary forces.

Jim Herlihy's The Royal Irish Constabulary: A Complete Alphabetical List of Officers and Men, 1816-1922 (Dublin 1999) gives a complete listing of members of the Force, with their service numbers. It simplifies access to the records.

Microfilm copies of the General Register are also available in:

  • The National Archives of Ireland
  • The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
  • Through the Family History Centers of the LDS Church

Creators: John Grenham

 
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