Clare inquest reports - where are they archived ?

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Paddy Casey
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Clare inquest reports - where are they archived ?

Post by Paddy Casey » Sun Jan 17, 2016 12:07 pm

This is a follow-on to a thread started by Bob Cusack at http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... f=1&t=6733

In recent years I have been investigating the violent death of a relative in North Clare in 1915. There is no doubt that he died of a gunshot injury. His death, and the manner of his death, was reported in the press and is a prominent part of the family lore. However, despite extensive searching by the assiduous ladies at the office of the Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths at the Sandfield Centre in Ennis, and by an equally helpful lady at the corresponding office in Galway, it was not possible to find a Register entry relating to the death.

So I searched for an inquest report and discovered that there was, at that time, no system for filing and archiving of inquest reports (or, if there was, it was not enforced). The coroners were local solicitors and, so I was told, they were responsible for keeping the records. If that was the case then I wonder what happened to the records when a coroner retired. If a succession of solicitors moved into that retired coroner's office then, who knows, the coroner's records may be still mouldering in the office's attic till this day. Or may have landed in a rubbish skip to make space for more important things.

I contacted the law offices of the current County Clare coroner, an Ennis solicitor, but they were unable to help.

I also contacted the County Clare archivist - I think it was a couple of years ago - and was told that they didn't hold any records at that time. I stress "...at that time..." because old records are being discovered in attics and cellars all the time so I can't exclude subsequent accessions.

As polycarp pointed out at http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... f=1&t=6733 in his reply in that thread, a few of the Clare records are in the National Archives of Ireland in Dublin. There an extremely helpful and knowledgeable senior archivist looked for a coroner's report relating to the death of my relative in 1915 but had no success. He knew about the reporting practices and channels in force at that time relating to violent or unexplained deaths and I say "...extremely helpful..." because he extended his search to other sources such as the RIC reports of that time and the entries in the Register of Chief Secretary’s Office Registered Papers (CSORP) for the period, albeit with no success there either. In a mail to me the archivist wrote "...I examined the Inquest files we hold for 1915 accessioned from Clare Circuit Court Office but found that for that year and, indeed, the surrounding years the collection was not comprehensive...".

In summary, and as far as I have been able to ascertain, there was no systematic, central and comprehensive collection of inquest reports for the County. However, there may be someone out there who sees this posting and tells me I am wrong, in which case I shall be breaking out the prosecco that evening. Also, as Alexander Pope said, hope springs eternal in the human breast and I have this dream about a forgotten pile of sealed boxes which are waiting to be found in a mould-free room in Ennis and are marked "Clare Inquest Reports, 1700, 1701, 1702......1900, 1901, 1902, etc. Sounds ridiculous but when, years back in the broom-cupboard-sized office of a Clare school I was shown a pile of old registers listing, among other things, the scholastic achievements of several of my ancestors I hadn't expected that either.

Paddy

smcarberry
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Re: Clare inquest reports - where are they archived ?

Post by smcarberry » Sun Jan 17, 2016 3:04 pm

Paddy,

Keep that bottle corked. I was hoping to locate a film of the court records that would contain a filed inquest report, but my brief review of the FamilySearch.org online catalog of LDS films doesn't indicate such a thing. You might try contacting the Salt Lake City library headquarters.

I first consulted the British National Archives website (see below screenshot), which confirmed that court records could be a source, if the usual British practice was followed as late as 1915 in Clare. Overall, if the death resulted in a criminal prosecution, the inquest should be part of the criminal case file, eventually scheduled for submission to the National Archives. If no prosecution ensued, the coroner was to file the report with the local court of quarter sessions. I inventoried Clare materials at the Dublin National Archives back in 1998. My notes include:

Peace Office [as in "Crown & Peace"]
Appeal Book & Quarter Sessions
1850 - 1891 and years thereafter [my focus was pre-1900]

There are three books to consult for more/better sources:

James G. Ryan's Irish Records: Sources...

Celia Heritage's Tracing Your Ancestors Through Death Records (2013, chapter 4 deals with inquests)

Brian Griffin's Sources for the Study of Crime in Ireland, 1801 - 1921

I am confident that you will let us know when you find the inquest and will fill us in on sources to consult.

Best of luck,
Sharon C.
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Paddy Casey
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Re: Clare inquest reports - where are they archived ?

Post by Paddy Casey » Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:31 am

Thanks for those book references and the other information, Sharon.

Another book that has been warmly recommended to me is Medicine and Charity in Ireland, 1718-1851 by Dr. Laurence (Larry) Geary, Senior Lecturer in History at University College Cork(Dublin: UCD Press, 2004, not yet available in e-book format, unfortunately). My informant, who works in this field, described him as "...a great expert on almost every aspect of the history of disease and medical care in C18 Ireland and, indeed, the whole period down to the Famine and beyond..." and the book as "...one of the most informative, insightful and well-researched books on any aspect of medical history which I have ever read". Details on Laurence Geary, including his long list of publications, can be found at http://publish.ucc.ie/researchprofiles/A019/lgeary . I have noted his contact details there and must try to call or visit him when I next return to The Sod.

Over the years I have spoken to many archivists and almost every one has, with a sigh, said something along the lines of "We've numerous crates of documents that we haven't got round to opening, let alone indexing...we just haven't the resources at the moment...". That buoys up my hope that some time, one day.... Of course, the archives themselves are constantly shredding old documents because storage space with its stringent environmental requirements is limited. I happen to live across the road from a senior government archivist and she tells me that a key part of her daily work is deciding what to keep and what to scrap as the palettes of documents come trundling into the stores. Seemingly trivial collections may hide valuable historical information. For example, a pile of old Petty Cash books from a government office may, if number-crunched, reveal systematic bribery of individuals in the context of some major political jiggery-pokery and thus explain what brought a government down. And then there is the shredding of those key 19th century Irish census records to recycle the paper, for goodness sakes.

Paddy

smcarberry
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Re: Clare inquest reports - where are they archived ?

Post by smcarberry » Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:42 am

Mmm, I hear you on that score. The only thing worse than events lost to history because paper didn't exist, is paper records being destroyed for lack of space and/or personnel to process them. I will keep that cause in mind for when I win the big lottery and can fund a better way of addressing the situation. I don't suppose these various archives have considered volunteer transcribing. I see that the U.S. National Archives has now set up such a thing.

For the sake of being comprehensive, I should mention two other sources for a family historian seeking information on a death that was followed by an inquest. You are seeking more in-depth information but other people at the stage of determining if an inquest had been done can consult both general and legal newspapers of the time. I am thinking of a particular suspected suicide in Clare in 1850, written up in the local newspaper as confirmed by inquest. I also saw online a 1908 edition of a British publication called Law Times, which would cover inquests and prosecutions in Ireland. My memory tells me that the mention of specific inquests also appeared in the voluminous Parliamentary Papers with its annual reports of anything and all in Ireland justifying British order and regulation.

SMC

Lucille
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Re: Clare inquest reports - where are they archived ?

Post by Lucille » Mon Jan 18, 2016 1:58 pm

I read the Laurence Geary book on Medicine in Ireland a couple of years ago, but nothing has stuck in my mind (or my notes) about Inquests, but that's not to say there wasn't something, but it wasn't my focus. It is a highly informative and easily read book, with an extensive bibliography and is available through the Dublin public library system - not of any use to you Paddy, I'm sorry. He actually spoke to the Clare Roots Society back in 2010 - maybe he would respond to an email.

Enneclann have podcasted several of their excellent lectures of the last year, including one, entitled "Move over Sherlock", by a legal history expert on criminal documents etc. http://www.eneclann.ie/blog/ It may be of interest even if it doesn't answer your particular question.

I'm presuming Paddy that you scoured the 1915 Clare papers for an inquest report? It wouldn't be official, but might be informative.

Lucille

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