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Research Guides Royal Irish Constabulary RecordsDomestic Records Information 54Contents1. Introduction 1. IntroductionDespite 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 grand juries (the local authorities) 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 census enumerators. 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 and then on to The National Archives (TNA). From 1922 to 2001, The Royal Ulster Constabulary GC (RUC) became the police force in Northern Ireland. It was founded out of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). In 2001, it became assimilated into the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). 2. Service RecordsThe main series of service records are the registers in record series HO 184 . They are arranged by service number, to which there are alphabetical indexes for constables. There are separate registers, with integral indexes for officers, and also for members of the auxiliary forces. The indexes are available in a published format, J Herlihy, The Royal Irish Constabulary. A Complete Alphabetical List of Officers and men, 1816-1922 (Dublin, Four Courts Press, 1999). The registers normally give the following information:
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. 3. Pension RecordsPension registers and allowances granted, from 1873-1922, to officers, men and staff, and to their widows and children, are recorded in the series Royal Irish Constabulary Pensions (PMG 48 ). These registers are arranged either alphabetically by 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 series 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 by county alphabetically, among the: Dublin Castle Records ( CO 904/175-176 ). In some cases these provide addresses and information about service. Lists of officers recommended for pensions when the Constabulary was disbanded are arranged by districts with separate series for British and Irish recruits ( HO 184/129-209 ) - in most cases the information in these lists was entered into the general registers of service in this series. 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. The list gives:
4. Other RecordsThe 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 884/9 , nos. 149). The RIC was heavily involved in combating the disturbances throughout Ireland between 1916 and 1922. Papers relating to events in Ireland between those dates can be found in WO 35 (War Office: Army of Ireland: Administrative and Easter Rising Records), and these include reports on assassinations and police operations. 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. Home Office: Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC Symbol Series) Files (HO 340 ) covers pensions and allowances awarded to RIC members and their dependents, including those who served as temporary policemen (Black and Tans and Auxiliaries) after 1919. 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 series 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. 5. The National Archives' Library BibliographyThe following recommended publications are available in The National Archives' Library. Where indicated a publication is also available to buy at The National Archives' Bookshop. Jim Herlihy, The Royal Irish Constabulary: A Complete Alphabetical List of Officers and Men, 1816-1922 (Four Courts Press Ltd, 1999) Further Reading G Brooker, Rural Disorder and Police Reform in Ireland 1812-1836 (Studies in Irish History 2nd series volume VIII, 1970) 6. Records not held at The National ArchivesNational Archives of Ireland, Dublin Although service records for members of the Royal Irish Constabulary passed to the Home Office in London, after the RIC was disbanded, it is still possible to find background information relating to the RIC at the National Archives of Ireland in Dublin: The National Archives, The Police Service of Northern Ireland In 1983, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, formeraly the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), establised a Police Museum in order to ensure the preservation of 'the history of the constabulary in Ireland'. Located at Police Headquaters in Belfast, the museum has displayes of uniforms, photographs, medals and other equipment relating to policing in Ireland for the early 19th Century to the present day. The museum also contains a computer database of Irish Constabulary service records from 1822 -1922. The Police Museum, | ||
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