As has previously been intimated, the pedigree-hunter, if looking up an Irish family, can discover almost everything he wants (if discoverable at all) in Dublin.

So, even if living in some country district in Ireland, all he requires is to locate himself for some time in the Irish metropolis.

There he will find, in the Dublin Record Office, the Wills and Administrations which he needs, both Prerogative and Diocesan.

There he can revel in the Chancery and Exchequer Bills and Answers which, apart from the direct object of his search, very often supply most interesting and even amusing information.

Cause Papers, another variation of legal documents, are to be found there; also Marriage Licence Bonds for the whole of Ireland, and, indeed, nearly all the more important documents of the various kinds enumerated in earlier chapters.

Besides these, the Dublin Record Office holds the greater number of Irish Parochial Registers, either in the original or as copies, both equally valuable to the searcher. This is a great advantage to him, as he may find what he wants in the registers of a country parish while searching in Dublin.

But many parishes still keep their registers in their own possession, and have not forwarded any “parochial returns” to the Dublin Record Office.

“Inquisitions post-mortem” and “ad quod damnum” of early dates can be consulted there; they are written in Latin, and a novice would not find them at all easy to decipher. The majority of them, however, have been printed in ponderous old volumes, which can be studied by all interested.

The pedigree-hunter should go through as many indexes of documents as he can during his visits to this Record Office on the chance of coming across something new and valuable.

There are bookcases lined with volumes of indexes round the walls of the Search Room, and others, such as those required for Chancery and Exchequer Bills—known as “Bill Books”—will be given to him on application.

Though so much is discoverable at the Record Office, the Dublin searcher must not confine his attention to it, as there are other treasure-houses in that metropolis also.

He should certainly make his way to the Registry of Deeds in King’s Inn, for there he will be sure to have valuable finds, and he can search in the office all day long on payment of two shillings and sixpence.

Indeed, the pedigree-hunter will be more than surprised at the number of deeds under each name which the copious indexes display, and as a separate index is issued (for each letter of the alphabet) for every few years, a long time might be profitably spent in the Search Room of the Registry of Deeds, and each successive visit there be increasingly beneficial.

Therefore the searcher in Ireland must not forget to devote his attention to the Registry of Deeds, King’s Inn, Dublin.

Nor should he fail to visit Trinity College, where he can peruse Matriculation Entries, which supply the father’s name and other particulars, to his heart’s content. No fees are charged for such investigations.

And if the inquiries he wishes to make relate to early times, he may find there also pedigrees of value, for fairly early pedigrees of Anglo-Irish families, as well as other similar documents of interest and importance, are preserved in T. C. D.

At the Castle, Dublin, he can visit the College of Arms, Ulster’s Office, which, of course contains a vast store of genealogical and armorial information.

The Betham MSS. are among the most important of such documents stored there.

But pedigree-hunters are not admitted far into these hallowed precincts; indeed, they are seldom now allowed to make personal searches, as officials undertake the desired investigations for stated fees.

The searcher may derive considerable benefit from visits to the principal Dublin libraries.

The National Library contains the published works already recommended, and has a most valuable stock of newspapers, some of which date from far back in the eighteenth century. Besides this, the indexes will show several out-of-print pamphlets and other papers of interest to the genealogist.

Trinity College Library is of world-wide renown, being one of the five British libraries to which a copy of every published book must be sent. It possesses certain valuable illuminated MS. treasures relating to early Irish history and ancient Irish families. Some noticeable Irish wills are also here deposited. The library, as such, is not open to the public; special permission may, however, be given to read there, if approved by the authorities.

At Christ Church Cathedral a certain number of ancient deeds and other documents have been preserved; particulars as to these can be found in the Reports of the Deputy-Keeper.

These are the principal places in the Irish metropolis where genealogical information can be obtained, and some of them may be found by the searcher to be genuine treasure-houses. This is especially the case with the Irish Record Office, which, as we have seen, preserves most valuable documents of all descriptions.

But if any desirable Parochial Registers are not procurable there, application should be made to the rectors of the parishes in question.

The publications of the Parish Register Society of Dublin might be consulted. The Irish Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead has issued certain volumes which are most valuable, as they record and reproduce the inscriptions on many old Irish tombstones. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, and the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, should also prove valuable to the searcher in Ireland.