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| Ionad Staidéir Áitiúil Local Studies Centre |
| Contact: Mr. Peter Beirne Tel. 065-6846271 Email: localstudies@clarelibrary.ie Local Studies Centre, Clare County Library, The Manse, Harmony Row, Ennis, V95 R236. |
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Clare County Library's Local Studies
Centre is a reference library and research centre dedicated to the
collection of material
on any aspect of County Clare. Located at the Manse, beside the de
Valera Library in Ennis, it is open to the public free of charge.
The Centre
also houses a collection of Irish interest material. Much
of the material in the Local Studies Centre has also been digitised
and published
online by Clare County Library.
Books - The Centre aims to collect all published books relating to Clare, all books by Clare-born authors and any general publications containing Clare material. This Clare Collection contains c.3,000 titles dealing primarily with the history, archaeology and topography of the county. Directories, almanacs, topographical dictionaries and unpublished works such as theses and projects are also part of the collection. The Irish Collection comprises c.10,000 works on all facets of Irish society. Journals - The Local Studies Centre
contains a comprehensive collection
of Irish journal titles including
all major Irish historical and geographical publications. Journals
of specific relevance to
Clare include North
Munster Antiquarian Journal, Dal gCais (index by
Martin Breen), The Other Clare,
Molua, The Clare Association Yearbook and Sliabh Aughty. Local Parish
and sporting
magazines are also collected.
Newspapers - The following newspapers are available and copies of the national daily papers are held for three months Celtic
Times 1887 Dunboyne News Cuttings, 1824-1878 - Sources
for the study of nineteenth-century Clare. Compiled
by the Honourable Theobald Fitz-Walter Butler, Lord Dunboyne. “Newspaper
scraps relating to the County of Clare”. Earliest
entry from the Dublin Evening Post, 3 January 1824 and last entry from
The Evening Mail, 31 December 1878. Contains 224
microfiche pages of seven panels x seven columns each, with 49 pages
per microfiche,
the entirety running to almost 11,000 pages. Dunboyne News Cuttings, 1824-1878 - selected abstracts Estate Records - The Petworth House Collection comprises filmed copies of some papers of Lord Egremont, who held extensive lands in Clare, during the 17th and early 18th centuries. The Studdert Papers includes details of the Burton, Arthur, Lloyd, Studdert, North and other estates between 1880 and 1930. The O'Brien Rent Rolls date from 1685 to 1828. Manuscripts relating to the Duke of Buckingham's estate in north-west Clare in 1847 and 1848 are also held. The Westby Estate maps of 1736 and 1851 are held on microfilm. Distressed Estates Collection – A collection of terriers, rentals and particulars of sale for various lands, tenements and properties in County Clare from 1850 to 1892. The collection chronicles the disposal, transfer and conveyance of lands in Clare immediately after the Great Famine through the Land War and up to the end of the nineteenth century. Further details here. Twigge Collections - Filmed copies of The Twigge Collections (held in the British Library) comprising "Materials for a history of Clann-Cuilein" by Robert William Twigge containing historical, topographical and genealogical collections relating to Clann Chuliéin, or "Macnamara's Country", in East Clare. Office of Ulster King of Arms, later
the Genealogical Office - The Local Studies Centre holds
three reels of microfilm of documents [follow
link here for more info...] from the Genealogical Office at the National
Library of Ireland, before 1943 known as the Office of Ulster King of
Arms, including some of the collection of the late Alfred Molony who compiled
Clare material drawn from the Ennis Chronicle and the Clare Journal. The
Irish Times wrote of the Molony compendium of genealogical information
(11 March 1943): 'Molony's interest in genealogy led him to go through
these newspaper files, painstakingly copying out all announcements of
marriages or deaths of prominent merchants, landowners and clergymen and
putting these notebooks in alphabetical order.' Land Surveys - The Books of Survey and Distribution record landed proprietors and their estates during the 2nd half of the 17th Century. Thomas Moland surveyed the Earl of Thomond's estate, which included large tracts of land in Clare, in 1703 and 1711-12. The Tithe Applotment Books (1830s) and Griffith's Valuation (1855), similarly, give information on land holding in the 19th Century. Auctioneer’s Posters from East Clare - The John Holohan Collection of auctioneer’s posters from east Clare covers the half-century from 1895 to 1945 and covers the sale of all forms of property in east Clare, and especially in the Feakle and Scariff areas. Records of Local Government -
Grand Jury presentment books, outlining the construction of roads
in the county,
have survived, in part, since 1830 as has the Corporation Book of Ennis
(1660-1810).
List of Proposals adopted by the Proposals Committee and Rural District Councils and considered by the County Council at half-yearly meetings, 1903-1920 (incomplete). Parliamentary Legislation - A comprehensive collection of nineteenth and twentieth century statute law of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, starting in 1814 (54 Geo 111) and ending in 1921 (11 & 12 Geo 5) is held in the Local Studies Centre, along with the Public General Acts passed by the Oireachtas of Saorstát Éireann from 1922, and subsequently by Dáil Éireann. The Index to the Statutes 1922 to 1968 with chronological tables is also available. Government Publications - One of
the principal sources for local studies of the 19th Century are government
publications known as the Parliamentary Papers. Many of these publications
contain substantial material of a local nature included in minutes of
evidence and appendices.
Some copies of the annual reports of the Deputy Keeper of the former Public Record Office of Ireland and of the former State Papers are also available. The Census has been taken each decade
since 1821 and provides information on population, housing, age, sex,
occupation, agriculture, emigration and other topics. The Centre also
holds copies of the 1901 and 1911 census manuscript forms for county Clare,
which provide detailed information on each resident of the county in those
years. The 1901
Census is available on this website. The Old
Age Pension Returns of 1841 and 1851 for the county are available
(Cens/5/1-1084). Church of Ireland Parish Records Burial Records The
Reports of Commissioners for enquiring into the condition of the Poorer
Classes in Ireland, 1835-7, have data on the circumstances of impoverished
women, children and the old and infirm.Extensive
papers relating to the Famine and its relief, 1846-53, include correspondence
from Relief Committees and documents relating to the Poor Law administration.
Bureau of Military History, Clare
Witness Statements, 1913–1921 The Bureau has assembled a total of 1773 witness statements along with other documentary sources such as voice recordings, photographs and press cuttings. Detailed instructions governed the taking of statements as obtaining an accurate factual account from witnesses was the paramount concern of the Bureau. General information on the military archives of the Bureau of Military History can be found in the publication “An Introduction to the Bureau of Military History 1913 – 1921” (Dublin, 2002). There are copies of 44 Clare witness statements available. These can be viewed online here. War of Independence Compensation
Claims, 1921-1923 Other Links: | |||||||||
Donations: How you can help Each year the centre receives queries on how funds can be donated or given to the centre to enhance services there or to contribute in some meaningful way to the work of the centre. Clare Local Studies Centre now formally seeks donations of funds to develop its services in ways which would not normally be possible within its existing resources. Click here for more info... |
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Genealogy
- The genealogical material is listed 
