The Hussey-Walsh set of manuscripts is one of the Irish Genealogical Research Society's most important collections, donated to the Society in 1937. It has recently been digitised and is now available to search online. For a limited time, until the end of 2024, non-members of the IGRS can access Volume 1 completely free of charge. This includes images of the original pages.
Click here for free search of Volume 1 - this returns search results and images
Click here to search volumes 1-12 - for non-members this returns the total number of matches only, but no images.
This collection consists of twelve handwritten, large volumes collated by family historian, Valentine Hussey-Walsh (1862-1925). The material contained within each volume was compiled using archives and records that were subsequently destroyed in the fire which consumed the Public Record Office of Ireland in June 1922. While the information pertains largely to families called Hussey and Walsh, nonetheless there are many thousands of references to other associated surnames and families.
In total, there are 2,883 pages of information and there are references to over 100,000 persons, mainly drawn from merchant, middle and upper class Irish Catholic families.These manuscripts represent a rare resource for there is much in them relating to the 18th century, a period for which it can be difficult to trace records of Irish Catholics.
Each volumne typically contains notes and extracts from an array of sources, which can include: copies of wills, marriage settlements, bills, answers and decrees from the courts of exchequer and chancery, notes from patent and close rolls, deeds, parish registers, marriage licence bonds, rare manuscripts, inquisitions post mortem, decrees of innocents, land claims, judgements from the courts of kings bench and common pleas, notes from Dublin castle state papers, extracts from exchequer memoranda rolls, and pedigrees etc.
Here are two examples of what can be found in these volumes.
The first relates to families called Merry and Dunn. Under the provisions of the penal laws, in 1743 Thomas Merry, a ‘Protestant Discoverer’, laid claim to the lands of a Catholic man named Dunn. But was Merry as predatory as he seemed? Given that Daniel Dunn had died relatively recently (in 1739), perhaps Merry was assisting Dunn’s two daughters to keep the land by posing as a ‘Protestant Discoverer’ and, once receiving good title from the courts, holding it in “trust” for the two ladies! This was not an uncommon occurrence. A search in the Hussey-Walsh manuscripts for Thomas Merry returns two entries, one of which is a summary of the court case.
The second example shows how one record can link several generations. The MacDonnell vs MacDonnell entry of 1753 tells of a lease from 1703 and refers to the MacDonnell family of Ballinchalla, Co. Mayo: Farragh MacDonnell, clearly born in the later 17th century, who subsequently married Mary Browne (sister of Andrew Browne of Beughavoy),, who were parents to Randall, Francis and James MacDonnell.
While the loss of vast quanties of original records in 1922 is unquestionably an impediment to genealogical research in Ireland, nonetheless what the Hussey-Walsh collection proves is that there exists a wealth of secondary sources which can help plug the gaps.
There has never been a better time to join the Irish Genealogical Research Society. Founded in 1936, high profile and influential professional genealogist John Grenham has described the IGRS as the "great granddaddy of all Irish family history societies". Click HERE for more information.
