Donegal County Archives is delighted to announce that the Donegal Grand Jury Archive is now available to view freely online along with the Catalogue.
Donegal County Archives, the Archives Service of Donegal County Council, is celebrating 21 years this year. The Archives Service collects, preserves and makes accessible to the public archives relevant to the county’s history, culture and society and has built up an impressive collection of archives of both public and private origin.
Among its key collections are the Donegal Grand Jury Archive. This Collection dates from 1753 to 1898. It is our oldest public collection and is of great significance for local, family and academic history.
The Grand Juries are believed to have been in existence since Norman times.
They were the predecessor bodies of modern local authorities and had a wide variety of public functions, including contracting out the building and maintenance of roads and bridges, construction and maintenance of infirmaries, dispensaries, courthouses, schools and the County Jail; rate (‘county cess’) collection; and contracting out various services such as translation of Irish.
These records include ‘presentments’; treasurers’ accounts and other financial records; resolutions; minutes of meetings; correspondence; and memoranda, alongside a photograph of the last Grand Jury. They reveal much of the social, political and economic history of 18th and 19th century Ireland and are very popular. The original records are held at the County Archives. The microfilms of the original records have been digitized and can now be viewed online at no charge.
View the collection at:
http://www.donegalcoco.ie/culture/archives/donegalgrandjurydigitised/
