Dublin, Ireland, Probate Record and Marriage License Index, 1270-1858

This database contains details extracted primarily from Irish probate records.

Historical Background

The vast majority of records in this database are index entries extracted from wills, letters of administration, acts of probate, marriage licenses, and other records within the Diocese of Dublin. These indexes were included as appendices to two volumes (the 26th and the 30th) of the Reports of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records and Keeper of the State Papers in Ireland. These appendices were titled

Index to the Act or Grant Books, and to Original Wills, of the Diocese of Dublin to the year 1800.

An Index to the Act or Grant Books and Original Wills of the Diocese of Dublin from 1800 to 1858.

A note accompanying the second explains that “the following Index is a continuation of that published as an Appendix to the Twenty-sixth Report of the Deputy Keeper, which extended to the end of the year 1799. The present one reaches to the 9th January, 1858, after which date the testamentary jurisdiction of the Consistorial Court of the Diocese was transferred to the Court of Probate.”

What You Can Find in the Records

Most of the entries list a name, place, occupation, year, record type, and a page number for the original volume. The records use the following abbreviations for sources:

• I. Intestacy
• M.L. Marriage Licence
• M.L.A. Marriage Licence Affidavit
• M.L.B. Marriage Licence Bond
• O.W. Original Will (unentered in Will and Grant Books)
• W. Will, Probate, or Grant connected with Will