This important resource is one of the most valuable 19th-century collections. The Chief Secretary's Office, located in Dublin Castle, was a key political office for the British administration at the time. As well as the official records, the archives include unofficial correspondence from private individuals and bodies on a wide variety of topics; some are topics of national importance but there are also many personal stories and plights concerning employment, health, unfair incarceration/punishment, religious intolerance, neighbour disputes, and so on.Among the material are many petitions accompanied by long lists of signatures – an untapped resource that I'm sure genealogists will quickly get stuck into.
Launching the update, Minister Humpreys said: “I am very pleased to announce the online publication of this fascinating material by the National Archives. The updated website includes a catalogue containing over 33,500 items, providing a rich insight into Irish political, social, religious and economic life in the early 19th century. The records include petitions, police reports, official memoranda and private correspondence which flowed into and out of the Dublin Castle administration."
The cataloguing of the collection has been undertaken by archivists at the National Archives funded by the Crowley Bequest and the Department of Culture, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht.
The online catalogue is available at www.csorp.nationalarchives.ie and the original documents are freely available for public consultation at the Reading Room of the National Archives in Bishop Street, Dublin 8, subject to the normal rules of the National Archives.