There are very many sources for information on Ireland. The general rumour which gets passed around is that all irish records were destroyed in the fire in the Four Courts in 1922. That is not true. For the most part those parish records which were destroyed were Protestant records. There are lots of other souces such as wills and deeds - while many of these were destroyed in 1922, there were many other papers and documents relating to Ireland which were not kept here. These can be an invaluable source for family historians - particularly those who are not just tracing their immediate family but the history of a name here. A lot of information on variuos papers and documents has been published in what are called 'Calendars......" - of this or that". The calendars of State Papers are some such Calendars giving a synopsis of documents relating to Ireland which are held by the Public Record Office of Great Britain and were published between the mid 1800's to early 1900's. The following is the instructions to the authors as to how they should deal with the documents which they were abstracting or describing in their respective volumes. This gives you an idea of what is held in these calendars. They are to be found in hard copy form in Salt Lake City and they are held by libraries here and most likely there are other libraries around the world where they can be accessed. Jane -------------------- CALENDARS. The Master of the Rolls desires to call the attention of the Editors of Calendars to the following considerations, with a view to secure uniformity of plan in the important works on which they are engaged :- He is anxious to extend, as far as is consistent with proper economy and despatch, the utility of the Calendars of State Papers now publishing under his control: 1st. As the most efficient means of making the national archives accessible to all who are interested in historical inquiries 2nd. As the best justification of the liberality and munificence of the Government in throwing open these papers to the public, and providing proper catalogues of their contents at the national expense. The greater number of the readers who will consult and value these works can have little or no opportunity of visiting the Public Record Office, in which these papers are deposited. The means for consulting the originals must necessarily be limited when readers live at a distance from the metropolis, still more if they are residents of Scotland, Ireland, distant colonies, or foreign states. Even when such an opportunity does exist, the difficulty of mastering the original hands in which these papers are written will deter many readers from consulting them. Above all, their great variety and number must present formidable obstacles to literary inquirers, however able, sanguine, and energetic, when the information contained in them is not made accessible by satisfactory Calendars. The Master of the Rolls considers that, without superseding the necessity of consulting the originals, every Editor ought to frame his Calendar in such a manner that it shall present, in as condensed a form as possible, a correct index of the contents of the papers described in it. He considers that the entries should be so minute as to enable the reader to discover not only the general content of the originals, but also what they do not contain. If the information be not sufficiently precise, if facts and names be omitted or concealed under a vague and general description, the reader will be often misled, he will assume that where the abstracts are silent as to information to be found in the documents, such information does not exist (missing last line of page here!) As the documents as various, the Master of the Rolls considers that they will demand a corresponding mode of treatment. The following rules are to be observed: 1st. All formal and official documents, such as letters of credence, warrants, grants, and the like, should be described as briefly as possible. 2nd.' Letters and documents referring to one subject only should be catalogued as briefly as is consistent with correctness. But when they contain miscellaneous news, such a description should he given as will enable a reader, to form an adequate notion of the variety of their contents. 3rd.. Wherever a letter or paper is especially difficult to decipher, or, the allusions more than ordinarily obscure, it will he advisable for the Editor to adhere, as closely as is consistent with brevity, to the text of the document. He is to do the same when it contains secret or very rare information. 4th. Where the Editor has deciphered letters in cipher, the decipher may printed at full length. But when a contemporary or authorised decipher exists it will be sufficient to treat the cipher as an ordinary document. 5thi Striking peculiarities of expression, proverbs, manners &c., are to be noticed. 6th. Original dates are to be given at the close of each entry, that the reader may know the exact evidence by which the marginal dates are determined. 7th. Where letters are endorsed by the receivers and the date of their delivery specified, these endorsements are to be recorded. 8th. The number of written pages of each document is to be specified, as a security for its integrity, and that readers may know what proportion the abstract bears to the original. 9th. The language of every document is to be specified. If, however, the greater part of the collection be in English, it will be sufficient to denote those only which are in a different tongue. 10th Where documents have been printed, a reference should he given to the publication. 11th. Each series is to he chronological. 12th. The Prefaces of Editors, in explanation of documents in the volume, are not to exceed fifty pages, unless the written permission of the Master of Rolls to the contrary be obtained. *****Editors employed in foreign archives are to transcribe at full length important and secret papers.