Royal Irish Constabulary
The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) was established in 1836 to cover all of Ireland except the city of Dublin, which had its own Metropolitan Police. As well as keeping the peace the force took on a number of other duties. They collected agricultural statistics, enforced fishery laws, regulated food and drugs, weights and measures, explosives, petroleum, and also acted as census enumerators. Papers on the work and administration of the RIC can be found in the Dublin Castle Records in CO 904
and the Irish Office Records in CO 906. War Office army administrative and Easter rising records in WO 35 also include material relating to the RIC.
The force was disbanded in August 1922, having been replaced by the Civil Guard or Garda Siochana in the Irish Free State, and Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland. Pensions to former RIC men were paid by the Paymaster General in London and the service records of the force passed to the Home Office, which is why RIC records are now here in The National Archives.
Service Records
The main series of service records are the registers in 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 give name, age, height, religion, native county, occupation, marital status, native county of wife, date of appointment, counties in which served, length of service and date or retirement or death. The name of the wife is not given or any information about family.
Pension Records
Pension registers for officers and men, and also widows and children, are in the series PMG 48 from 1873 to 1922. The registers are arranged alphabetically by surname and by pension award number. Pensions paid to dependants, officers and staffs are sometimes listed separately. The series also contains details of deceased pensioners for the period 1877 to 1918, and rolls of pensions awarded on the disbandment of the force. Files on pension options at disbandment are arranged by county among the Dublin Castle Records in CO 904/175-176.
