Accession 999/215 in the National Archives is a small, hard-backed notebook entitled Liber Status Animarum: Parochial Register, published by Brown and Nolan in 1912.
The Liber Status Animarum concerns the inhabitants of the Catholic parish of Broadford in the Diocese of Limerick. The entries cover the years 1913-18. The earlier and later years are not filled in. The returns relate to Broadford Village, Tullaha, Banemore, Coolaleen, Knocktoosh, Mountplummer, Lisnafulla, Springfield, Farrihy, Boola, Lecca and Curramore.
The front of the book is divided into alphabetical order and covers ‘House-holders & No.’. There are entries for 187 families.
The entries for individuals give surnames, Christian names, occupations and whether the person performed their annual Easter duty. Unfortunately, the sections for ‘age’, ‘married’, ‘confirmed’ and ‘first communion’ are not filled in. Some people are annotated as ‘Servant’ or ‘Gardener’. Some entries have been deleted and replaced by new ones. While no ages are returned, the description of Mother, Child, Mother-in-Law, Niece, Sister, Son-in-Law, G(od)-Child, help in constructing family relationships.
The ‘Remarks’ section contains entries such as ‘Dead’, ‘Emigrated’, ‘Left’, ‘Married’, while ‘Removal to’ indicates where a person may subsequently be found. Many moved within the district but some people are annotated with ‘Limerick’, ‘London’, ‘Leeds’, ‘Dublin’, ‘Ashford’.
In the years after the 1911 census this easily-overlooked notebook will go some way towards assisting genealogical research for those lucky enough to have families in the Broadford area.
It is not known when the small book came into the Public Record Office of Ireland but it bears an old label on its spine – ‘Oifig Iris Poiblí, Library, 1, 5.42’. At a later date the book was accessioned as an archival record.
Aideen Ireland
November 2013
