This post is not intented to drag up discussion anywhere on acts against Catholics. Read the definition of Protestant according to the Act. Many people don't know about this book of names......and whenever I mention it to someone they ask me what it is about.... so.......... The 'Act to prevent the further growth of popery' was passed in 1703 and it made it obligatory on converts from Catholicism to Protestantism to provide proof of conformity. According to the Act a Protestant was a member of the Church of Ireland and not any other non Catholic religion. If a Catholic 'converted/conformed' to Protestantism and provided this proof then being 'enrolled' as a Protestant all rights were restored to him. This took effect from the date of the enrolment andnot the date of conversion. The Act said that "The said Court of Chancery is hereby required to take care that distinct rolls be kept for the enrolment of such certificates which shall publicly hang up or lie in some public office of place belonging to the said Court to be appointed, where all persons may at all reasonable times resort to and peruse the same without fee or reard, and for the enrolment of each and every such certificate the sum of six pence and no more shall be paid. These rolls were known as the Convert Rolls. In order to convert the person read his renunciation of Catholicism in front of a clergyman and congregation at a public service. He then got a certificate saying he was a convert from the Bishop of the Diocese and enrolled it in the court of Chancery. The Bishops certificate was necessary until 1782 and from there on it was enough that the convert would receive the Sacrament from a Minister of the Church of Ireland, take the oath before him and file a certificate to that effect in the Court fo Chancery. The Convert Rolls were destroyed in the fire in the Four Courts (Irish Public Records Office) in 1922. But they had been calendared and recorded (as were so many other documents). The Calendar is in two volumes, Volume 1 covers the years 1703-1789 and has about 5,500 names and Vol. 2 covers 1789-1838 with 380 names and of these there were only 73 between 1800 & 1838. Names are entered in alphabetical order, date of enrolment and date of certification, for some the address is also lists. Most people enrolled in Dublin 1703-1731 : 700 people enrolled, mainly people who were well off. 1732-1741: 600 people 1742-1751: 549 1752-1761: 864 1762-1771: 1,347 1772-1789: 1,421 1789: 1838: 385 most of the converts were men, but there are about 1,500 women mentioned. About 600 of these are described as married with about 40 widows, the remainder being unspecified or spinsters, daughters of gentlemen. The list of convert rolls was published by the Irish Manuscripts Office in 1981 and could at that time be purchased from the Government Publications Office. I don't have an ISBN for this book, I don't own a copy of this book while I have copied pages of interest to me. Examples of entries: Kearney, Bridget. cert. 13 November 1791, enrolled 10 February 1792. Kehoe, Elizabeth, enrolled 17 november 1803 Kennedy, Patrick of Ardmagh, Co. Tipperary, cert 7 May 1792, enrolled 9 May 1792. Kevenagh, James, of Glassmullen, Co. Wicklow, cert 31 August 1799, enrolled 20 November 1799