1.2 million Irish court records from 1850 to 1910 now available online

Online records are seen as an untapped resource of Irish family history

This first batch of records is particularly useful for areas of the country where family history records are notoriously sparse, such as Connaught and Donegal.

The reasons for cases being brought before the Petty Sessions Court are incredibly varied, but unsurprisingly, the most common offence was drunkenness, which accounted for over a third of all cases.

The top five offences tried before the courts were:

1.    Drunkenness - 33%
2.    Revenue/Tax offences - 21%
3.    Assault - 16%
4.    Local acts of nuisance - 5%
5.    Destruction of property - 4%

The nature of these cases was significantly different from those in England. Figures show that the rate of conviction for drunkenness was three times greater, four times greater for tax offences, 65 percent higher for assault, and twice as likely for “malicious and willful destruction of property” than that of our nearest neighbors.

For more information visit www.findmypast.ie.

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Nster.com