- Home
- Articles
- World Records
- Full list of the Irish family history records
- Life Events (Birth, Marriage, Death)
- W.P.W. Phillimore & Gertrude Thrift, Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1858
Find your ancestors in W.P.W. Phillimore & Gertrude Thrift, Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1858
Records in this collection
- Ardagh Wills 1690-1857
- Betham Prerogative Marriage Licences Abstracts, 1629-1810
- Cantwell's Memorials of the Dead
- Clonfert Marriage Bonds 1663-1857
- Clonfert Wills and Administrations 1663-1857
- Crossle Genealogical Abstracts
- Deputy Keeper of Ireland, Index to the Act or Grant Books, and to Original Wills, of the Diocese of Dublin 1272-1858 (26th, 30th and 31st Reports, 1894, 1899)
- Donegal cemetery records
- Farrar's Index to Irish Marriages 1771-1812
- Fermanagh cemetery records
- Fermanagh parish registers baptisms
- Fermanagh parish registers burials
- Fermanagh parish registers marriages
- Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858
- Ireland BillionGraves Cemetery Index
- Ireland Calendars Of Wills & Administrations 1858-1965
- Ireland civil birth registers index
- Ireland civil marriage registers index
- Ireland Deaths 1864-1870
- Ireland Down Anaghlone Presbyterian baptisms 1839-1913
- Ireland Down Anaghlone Presbyterian marriages 1845-1913
- Ireland Down Annaclone (COI) baptisms 1877-1900
- Ireland Down Annaclone (COI) burials 1877-1900
- Ireland Down Annaclone (COI) marriages 1845-1900
- Ireland Down Ballyroney Presbyterian baptisms 1819-1913
- Ireland Down Ballyroney Presbyterian marriages 1831-1906
- Ireland Down St Colmans Annaclone (RC) baptisms 1834-1913
- Ireland Down St Colmans Annaclone (RC) burials 1851-1913
- Ireland Down St Colmans Annaclone (RC) marriages 1851-1913
- Ireland memorial and burial register, 1618-2005
- Ireland Memorial Inscriptions
- Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
- Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Burials
- Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Congregational Records
- Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Marriages
- Ireland Roscommon Kiltullagh cemeteries
- Ireland, Dublin Church of Ireland Baptisms
- Ireland, Dublin Church of Ireland burials
- Ireland, Dublin Church of Ireland marriages
- Ireland, Gravestone Records
- Ireland, Inland Revenue Wills & Administrations 1828-1879
- Ireland, Non-conformist marriages
- Ireland, original will registers 1858-1920
- Ireland, Society of Friends (Quaker) births
- Ireland, Society of Friends (Quaker) deaths
- Ireland, Society of Friends (Quaker) marriages
- Irish Births 1864-1958
- Irish Death Notices In American Newspapers
- Irish Deaths 1864-1958
- Irish Marriage Notices in American Newspapers
- Irish Marriages 1845-1958
- Kiltullagh Parish (RC) Baptisms
- Kiltullagh Parish (RC) Marriages
- Leighlin Administrations 1700-1857
- Limerick non-conformist baptisms
- Limerick non-conformist congregational records 1911-1945
- Lincolnshire marriages
- Marriage Licence Bonds; Diocese of Cloyne 1630-1800
- Memorials of the Dead: Galway & Mayo
- Quakers Annual Monitor 1849
- Raphoe Marriage Bonds 1710-55 and 1817-30
- Register of Derry Cathedral Baptisms 1642-1703
- Registers of the French Non-Conformist Churches Dublin 1701-1831
- Registers of the French non-conformist churches Dublin 1702-1731
- Sir Arthur Vicars, Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland, 1536 - 1810
- The Parish Register Society of Dublin, The Registers of St. Patrick, Dublin, 1677-1800, 1907
- The Register of Derry Cathedral Burials 1642-1703
- The Register of Derry Cathedral Marriages 1642-1703
- Thomas Philip Le Fanu, Registers of the French Church of Portarlington, Ireland, 1694-1816
- Thrift Genealogical Abstracts
- Tipperary Clans Archive
- Tyrone Cemetery Records
- W.P.W. Phillimore & Gertrude Thrift, Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1858
- Wicklow cemetery records
- WW1 Irish Soldiers Wills, 1914-1920
The well-known English family history publisher W.P.W. Phillimore along with the tireless Irish genealogist Gertrud Thrift published a 5 volume series of indexes of Irish wills between 1909 and 1920. These were compiled from the finding aids then in use at the Public Record Office in Dublin (PROI). The volumes record surviving wills, then in existence at the PROI, which had been proved at local diocesan courts. Each entry records:
- Names
- Address
- Year of probate
- Social status/occupation
- Whether there is a will only (in other words no grant of probate).
The series does not cover every diocese because the project was cut short by the destruction of the PROI in 1922. Following that disaster, this index represents often the only evidence that a will was left at all, and as a consequence is vital for researchers.
The index includes entries for over 32,000 wills for many diocesan consistorial courts in Ireland. In 1858 responsibility for all wills and testamentary matters was removed from the hands of the established church (the Church of Ireland) with the establishment of the Registry system. These indexes cover the years up to 1800, and in some cases 1858.
The following list of diocese covered by these volumes, gives the covering dates. We have also listed the counties which are covered by these diocese, with the principal county or counties listed first.
- Ardfert & Aghadoe, 1690-1800, Cos. Kerry, Cork
- Cashel & Emly, 1618-1800, Cos. Tipperary, Kilkenny, Limerick
- Cloyne, 1621-1800, Cos. Cork, Limerick, Waterford
- Cork & Ross, 1548-1800, Cos. Cork, Kerry
- Derry, 1612-1858, Cos. Derry, Antrim, Donegal, Tyrone
- Dromore, 1678-1858, Cos. Down, Antrim, Armagh
- Ferns, 1601-1800, Cos. Wexford, Carlow, Wicklow
- Kildare, 1661-1800, Cos. Kildare, Laois (Queen's), Offaly (King's), Wicklow
- Killaloe & Kilfenora, 1653-1800, Cos. Clare, Tipperary, Laois (Queen's), Limerick
- Leighlin, 1652-1800, Cos. Carlow, Laois (Queen's), Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow
- Limerick, 1615-1800, Cos. Limerick, Clare, Cork, Kerry
- Newry & Mourne (Exempt Jurisdictions), 1727-1858, Cos. Down, Armagh
- Ossory, 1536-1800, Cos. Kilkenny, Laois (Queen's)
- Raphoe, 1684-1858, Cos. Donegal
- Waterford & Lismore, 1645-1800, Cos. Waterford, Cork, Tipperary