Index des testaments, Irlande, 1384 à 1858

The five volumes of Phillimore and Thrift’s Indexes to Irish Wills provide an index, or calendar, to more than 30,000 wills recorded in dioceses throughout Ireland. The information was taken from existing finding aids for wills held by Ireland’s Public Record Office. Records for the counties of Cork, Dublin, Meath, and Ossory all begin in the 16th century. Some volumes end with records from the year 1800, while others contain references to wills up to 1858, when jurisdiction for probates moved from ecclesiastical courts to courts of probate.

Not all counties are included because the Public Record Office was destroyed in 1922, before indexing could be completed. Many of the wills referenced in these volumes were lost in that disaster, so these indexes may be the only surviving indication of a will.

You can expect to find a name, address (county, parish, etc.), and date of the will or probate. You may also find an indication of whether a woman was a widow and sometimes an occupation.