Finding Aid created for St Patrick's Cathedral records

To mark the 350th anniversary of the birth of Jonathan Swift,the RCB Library Archive of the Month for November highlights some aspects of the Muniments of St Patrick's Cathedral collection which relate to Swift's tenure as Dean of St Patrick's from 1713 until his death in 1745.

Jonathan Swift, dean of St Patrick's Cathedral,
Dublin, 1713-1745, was born in the city's
St Werburgh parish on 30 November 1667.

The collection (RCB Library C2/) was transferred to the library in 1995 and has been organised into nine distinct groups of records: Volumes; Deeds; Maps; Plans & Drawings; Loose Papers; Photographs; Printed Materials, Seals and Music.

As part of the Archive of the Month exhibition, an extensive hand-list or finding aid to the collection has been published online for free download by researchers who may wish to consult its rich and varied materials.

The Volumes group – comprising more than 300 items – is the most likely to reward family historians. It includes the Register of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials (RCBL C2.1.15) which contains baptisms 1677–1868, marriages 1708–1840, burials 1687–1869 and intermittent confirmations from the 18th and 19th centuries. This register has been published with an index and is available for purchase here.

Beyond the registers are Board Minute Books dating from 1872, Account books from the early C18th, Attendance Books of the choir (clergy, choristers and organists) 1856-1976, Preacher Books 1805-1878 and Registers of Vestrymen 1870-1980, and much more, including a good number of miscellaneous one-off documents, letters, memorials and accounts.