
                    **********************************
                          PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE 
                    RECORDS INFORMATION Leaflet No: 11
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  [Note: this and all other PRO Records Information leaflets are (c)
  Crown Copyright, but may be freely reproduced except for sale or
  advertising purposes.  Copies should always include this Copyright
  notice -- please respect this.]  (C) Crown Copyright, March 1986

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                   RECORDS OF THE ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY
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Despite a series of acts of parliament passed during the eighteenth
century, the Irish police force at the time of the Act of Union of 1800 was
still composed only of small groups of sub-constables. These part-time
policemen, appointed by the local authorities - the grand juries - were few
in number and poorly paid out of the county funds. The passage of the Irish
(Constabulary (Ireland)) Act 1836 finally brought a single, unified force
into being. Power to appoint and discharge members of the force, to make
rules and to fix salaries was vested in the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

The Irish Constabulary thus created was responsible for the peace of the
whole country, with the exception of Dublin which retained its own police,
the Dublin Metropolitan Police formed in 1786. Operationally, the
Constabulary came under the command of an Inspector-General who maintained
close contact with the Chief Secretary's Office; to that Office were
referred all major questions concerning the control, distribution and
discipline of the force.

In September 1867, in recognition of its loyal and faithful services, the
Constabulary was renamed the Royal Irish Constabulary. The duties of the
Constabulary were gradually extended. At first it was solely concerned with
keeping the peace, a duty which could entail the suppression of armed
rebellion, sectarian riots or agrarian disturbances; later it inherited the
functions of the Revenue police, made inquiries on behalf of departments
of state, collected agricultural statistics, enforced the fishery laws and
performed a variety of duties under the laws relating to food and drugs,
weights and measures, explosives and petroleum. Members of the force also
acted as enumerators at the censuses of population.

The Royal Irish Constabulary was disbanded on 30 August 1922. Pensions
continued to be paid by the Paymaster General in London and the service
records of members of the force passed to the Home Office.


RECORDS OF SERVICE

The prime source is the class Royal Irish Constabulary Records (HO 184).
The records are entered in registers arranged numerically by service
number; there are separate, alphabetical indexes from which the service
number can be obtained. Separate registers, with integral indexes, were
compiled for officers and for members of the auxiliary forces. The
registers normally give:

                  full name;
                  age;
                  height;
                  religious affiliation;
                  native county;
                  trade or calling;
                  marital status;
                  native county of wife;
                  date of appointment;
                  counties in which the man served;
                  length of service; and
                  date of retirement and/or death.

The name of a wife is not given, nor any information about parents. The
reference numbers quoted in these records refer to papers which have not
survived.

Pensions and allowances granted to officers, men and staff, and to their
widows and children, are recorded in the class Royal Irish Constabulary
Pensions etc (PMG 48).

Entries in these registers are arranged either alphabetically in order of
surname or by pension award number, and normally include the place of
residence of the recipient. Pensions paid to dependants, commissioned
officers and office staff are sometimes entered separately from those for
members of the force. The class also contains registers of deceased
pensioners for the period 1877-1918, and rolls of pensions awarded on the
disbandment of the force. Files on pension options at disbandment are
arranged county by county in Ireland: Dublin Castle Records (CO 904) pieces
175 and 176. In some cases these provide information about addresses and
service. Lists of officers recommended for pensions when the Constabulary
was disbanded, arranged by districts with separate series for British and
Irish recruits are in HO 184 pieces 129-209; in most cases the information
in these lists was entered into the general registers of service in this
class.

A list of superannuations awarded to police in Ireland before the unified
force was created was published in 1832 in <House of Commons Sessional
Papers 1831-1832>, XXVI 465 (PRO reference ZHC 1/1045). The list gives:

                  name;
                  period of service;
                  amount granted; and
                  nature of injury leading to the superannuation.


OTHER RECORDS

The Dublin Castle Records (CO 904) and Irish Office Records (CO 906)
contain much information about the work and administration of the Royal
Irish Constabulary, including police reports, papers on criminal offences,
disorders, attacks on the police, the Special Branch, pay, pensions,
establishments, circulars and instructions. Further circulars, constabulary
codes and correspondence with the Treasury are in HO 184. There are some
intelligence notes in Confidential Print: Ireland (CO 903). A memorandum
on the training and organisation of the force in 1905 is in Confidential
Print: West Indies (CO 884) piece 9 number 149.

The records of the Home Office, particularly Ireland: Correspondence and
Papers (HO 100) up to 1840 and Registered Papers (HO 45) thereafter,
contain numerous references to the Constabulary and its predecessors.
[[Correspondence of the Secretary to the Governor of Northern Ireland]] (HO
267) includes some policy files and a few case files on pensions and
compensation claims. The Ireland Files (T 192), which cover the period
1920-1922 contain information about expenditure on the force. Other
material can be found in Treasury Board Papers (T 1) up to 1919, and for
the later period in Finance Files (T 160), Supply Files (T 161),
Establishment Files (T 162), General Files (T 163) and Pensions and
Superannuation Files (T 164). These classes consist chiefly of
administrative files and papers. Although some contain details about
individual members of the Constabulary, there is no general index of names
to them. A search for information about a particular individual would be
both speculative and protracted.


FURTHER READING

R B McDowell, <The Irish Administration 1801-1914> (Studies in
Irish History 2nd series volume II, 1964); and

G Brooker, <Rural Disorder and Police Reform in Ireland 1812-
1836> (Studies in Irish History 2nd series volume VIII, 1970).

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