Clare inquest reports - where are they archived ?
Posted: 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
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