National Archives of Ireland: latest catalogue additions

The National Archives of Ireland (NAI) has added the following lists to its online catalogue:

• General Prisons Board: penal files of prisoners who escaped, died in prison or were transferred to lunatic asylums, 1860–1926 (but mostly 1880s to the 1920s)(GPB/PEN/3). Most of the prisoners listed either died or were transferred to Dundrum Lunatic Asylum, Co Dublin.
  
• Applications to the Commissioners of National Education, Co Galway, 1859–1889 (ED/1/35-37)
  
• Castlebar District Probate Registry: testamentary lists from 1983–1991
  
• Cavan District Probate Registry: testamentary lists from 1983–1990
  
• Clonmel District Probate Registry: testamentary lists from 1983–1988
  
• Cork District Probate Registry: 1990 transfer of testamentary records (2011/5)
  
• Probate Office, 1983 transfer of testamentary records (2004/74)
  
• Department of Local Government: files relating to the provision of services by local authorities in Co Cork, 1922–1982 (ENV/4, 2014/16)
  
• Department of Local Government: files relating to the provision of services by local authorities in Co Cork, 1917–1974 (ENV/5, 2014/19)
  
• Irish Girl Guides: records (PRIV1235, 2007/21)
  

In addition, the NAI has listed the Chief Secretary’s Office Irish Crimes Records 1848–1893, under the reference code CSO/ICR. This series includes annual returns of outrages from local constabulary offices reported to the Constabulary Office at Dublin Castle, between 1848 and 1893. The earliest returns record offences from 1837. Returns include monthly statistics for every county and province arranged by type of offence. From 1863, descriptions of homicides are recorded from the previous year, with name of victim and perpetrator, motive and punishment.

The first two entries in the list, CSO/ICR/1 and CSO/ICR/2, are printed annual returns of outrages for the years 1848–1878 and 1879–1893, and digital copies of these documents are available to view with the descriptions.

I took a look through the annual returns for 1854 to see what was happening across the island 160 years ago. Here's a flavour: Infanticides outnumbered homicides (110 and 106, respectively), while cattle stealing was rife in Leinster (161 cases) and Munster (132 cases). Only 60 cases of highway robbery were reported and of the 69 cases of rape, nearly half (32) occurred in Munster. There was one case of Administering a poison (Co Donegal), one case of kidnapping a child (Co Meath), and two cases, both in Leitrim, of bigamy.