Discover the Dublin diocese like never before

3-4 minute read

By Daisy Goddard | April 21, 2023

From Wicklow to Wexford, explore your Irish roots this week.

This week sees updates to two of our Irish collections: Ireland, Diocese Of Dublin Marriage Licences, 1638-1858, and Ireland, Diocese Of Dublin Wills and Grants, 1270-1858. With over 130,000 new records and over 600 years of history, there are so many exciting stories to discover.

Ireland, Diocese Of Dublin Marriage Licences, 1638-1858

First up among the new additions are our Irish marriage licenses for the Diocese of Dublin, to which we've added 98,470 new records which span from 1638 to 1858.

In this period, the Dublin diocese covered the following counties: Dublin, Wicklow, Laois (Queen's County), large parts of Kildare, and parts of Carlow. If you've got ancestors who lived in any of these places, their marriage license may just be included in this collection.

College Green, Dublin, c.1800.

You'll find both transcriptions and images for these records, which contain key information like the date of registration and both spouses' names. On some records, addresses and occupations are also recorded.

Ireland, Diocese Of Dublin Wills and Grants, 1270-1858

We've added an additional 34,450 wills and grants records for Ireland this week. These records are from index books that were published in the 1890s, covering all wills, grants of probate, or administrations recorded by the Anglican Diocese of Dublin, between 1270 and 1858.

Like the marriage licenses above, you'll find the date and the name of those featured in the record - address and occupation are also sometimes listed. On these images, you'll see an acronym indicating the nature of the record; while ML is a marriage license, W stands for will.

Example of a record featuring occupations. View the full record for yourself here.

You'll also see page numbers listed alongside each name. These refer to the page in the original grant books, which were destroyed in the 1922 destruction of the Public Records Office of Ireland. Since this tragic event resulted in the loss of practically all original documents indexed here, this set is the only evidence that survives.

Acronyms appear regularly in this set. To avoid getting confused, consult the 'Acronyms' tab towards the bottom of this page, which should explain everything you need to know.

New pages from Greenford to Guernsey

We added 470,868 pages to our newspaper collection, with three all-new titles from London and the channel island of Guernsey and updates to 17 publications.

One of our new additions is the Guernsey Evening Press and Star, a daily title first published on 21 July 1897. This paper's four pages are filled with local news and the day's telegrams, as well as reports from the British mainland.

Guernsey Evening Press and Star, 3 August 1897.

Whether you've got ancestors from Guernsey or you're just curious to find out what life was like for residents in the early 20th century, explore the pages of this fascinating addition via our newspaper collection.

We've also added two all-new London titles: the Richmond and Twickenham Times and the Eastern Post.

The Eastern Post was a popular workers' paper in East London. Among its pages of local news and reports can be found political writings and letters, including contributions by famous communist figures Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Eastern Post, 23 December 1871.

Interestingly, this paper was the organ of a working-class organization (the International Workingmen’s Association) from February 1871 to June 1872.

From Mile End in the East to Richmond in the West, we've got London covered in our newspaper collection. With parish news, politics and so much more, these titles provide a vivid snapshot of the life of the capital city in this period.

In addition to these titles, new pages have been added to a further 17 publications, including the Manchester Evening News and the Stratford-upon-Avon Herald.

Here's a full rundown of all that's new next week:

New titles: