WILLS
Information
Given.
Testamentary
Authority before 1857.
Consistorial
Wills and Administrations.
Prerogative
Wills and Administrations.
Prerogative
Wills: Betham Abstracts.
Testamentary
Authority after 1857.
Calendars
of Wills and Administrations.
Abstracts and Transcripts.
Will Abstracts:
Inland Revenue Records.
Will Abstracts:
Land Commission Records.
Wills in
the Registry of Deeds.
Will Abstracts
in the Genealogical Office.
Will Abstracts
and Transcripts: Other Sources.
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Testamentary Authority after 1857
The Probate Act of 1857 did away with the testamentary authority of the Church of Ireland. Instead of the Consistorial Courts and the Prerogative Court, power to grant probate and issue letters of administration was vested in a Principal Registry in Dublin, and eleven District Registries. Rules similar to those governing the geographical jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts applied, with the Principal Registry taking the place of the Prerogative Court, as well as covering Dublin and a large area around it.
Transcripts of the wills proved and administrations granted were made in the District Registries, and the originals forwarded to the Principal Registry. Almost all of the records of the Principal Registry were destroyed in 1922. The few surviving Will and Grant Books are detailed in Ancestor Search. The Will Book transcripts made by the District Registries survived, however. The records of those Districts covering areas now in the Republic - Ballina, Cavan, Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Mullingar, Tuam and Waterford - are in the National Archives. For districts now in Northern Ireland - Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry - the Will Books are in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
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