How to search the archives online
The National Archives has a selection of databases (online catalogues and lists) to help you find the records you require. The records themselves cannot be viewed online but members of the public are welcome to consult them in the Reading Room. The databases contain descriptions of records which are searched online using key words.
The majority of the searchable databases on the site relate to the records of Government Departments and are not especially relevant for genealogy research. The chief exception to this is the Ireland-Australia transportation database (1791–1853) which consists of a searchable index of Irish convicts transported to Australia during the years 1780–1868, together with associated document reference numbers.
The records which are searchable using the databases constitute just a selection of our holdings: the vast majority of our records can otherwise be accessed using the hardcopy finding aids in the Reading Room.
The databases to the records of Government Departments comprise a listing of records transferred by certain Government Departments over the last number of years. Although the complete list of records from each Department is not currently available to search online, the digitisation of the backlog occurs on a phased basis and we intend to make more records searchable on our site in the near future.
Using the tips provided below, online visitors may search a selection of databases, ranging from Government files to the Ireland-Australia transportation database (1791–1853).
Search tips
Before beginning a search, please remember that the documents referred to in the searchable databases are not available to view online, but may be examined in person in the Reading Room of the National Archives.
- Each database consists of descriptions of individual items or files within that particular record series.
- The databases are searchable individually and searches across all the databases can also be done by entering a single dot (.) in the general search box.
- The search system used is a free text system rather than a keyword system – this means that whatever text is entered in the search box will be matched in the list of records generated by the search.
- More than one word can be entered – the search word does not have to be an entire word or phrase and it is not case-specific.
- The search will return all entries which contain both or all the words anywhere in the entry. A dot (.) matches any character, therefore all records within the particular database can be searched by entering a single dot in the search box.
- The search results page contains a list of records within that particular database which match the text entered in the search box.
- The list of records consists of a brief description of each document/item and its date span, together with its unique reference number, which should be quoted when ordering the document in person in the Reading Room.
Example
- Enter the words “United States” in the “Search the Department of Foreign Affairs”box and select 2001 from the drop-down menu and click “Do the Search”.
- A search results page will be automatically generated identifying those files of the Department of Foreign Affairs released in 2001 which relate to the USA.
Searchable finding aids
To carry out a search of records relevant to your area of interest, please click on the databases categorised below. The database pages consist of a brief introduction and description of the collection contents together with the search facility which is located at the bottom of each page.
Government Departments
Records of Government Departments are transferred to the National Archives when they are 30 years old in accordance with the National Archives Act, 1986. The searchable finding aid databases includes those Government Departments which transfer records to the National Archives on an annual basis, in addition to those Government agencies from which the NAI receives intermittent accessions.
The date spans following the database titles refer to the covering dates of the files contained in that particular database and not to the entire record collection itself ie the totality of material in the collections may pre-date and/or post-date the date span of the material contained in the databases. Departmental titles apply for the year 2006.
Governmental Department databases.
Government Agencies
The following databases relate to the collections of 19th and 20th century material from the Office of Public Works (OPW), the Ordnance Survey, the Famine Relief Commission and the Government Information Service
Miscellaneous databases and lists
The following searchable databases and lists range from records of the National Schools and courts systems to the archives of Dáil Éireann and records acquired from private sources.