Government Departments
Department of the Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of the Irish Government or Prime Minister, and the office came into being following the adoption of the new Irish Constitution in 1937. The Department of the Taoiseach has its origins in the Secretariat of Dáil Éireann (Legislative Assembly of Ireland) established in 1919, and in the Department of the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State established in 1922. The principal deposited records include Dáil Éireann Cabinet Minutes and Files 1919-22, Government and Cabinet Minutes 1922-, Files of the Department of the Taoiseach (S Files) 1922-, Files of the Private Office of the Taoiseach (RA Files), and records of the Office of the Governor-General 1922-, the Constitution Committee, the North-East Boundary Bureau, the Commission on Vocational Organisation, and the Government Information Service 1934-. Lists of records are at Case 4, and there is a partial search facility on the National Archives website.
Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry
Deposited records date from 1899, and incorporate records of the former Department of Lands and the pre-1922 Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction. Draft lists of records are available on request. See D Horton, A History of the Department of Agriculture, Dublin 1971.
Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht
Deposited records date from 1929, and consist of material transferred from the Departments of Education and the Taoiseach, and the former Departments of Lands and the Gaeltacht. Draft lists of records are available on request.
Department of Defence
The records of this Department date from 1919 and are held in the Military Archives in Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin, where they may be viewed by appointment. The principal classes of records include papers relating to the IRA 1919-22, the Civil War 1922-4, the Army Mutiny 1924, the 'Emergency' 1939-45, United Nations Service 1958-, and there are also Department of Defence Files and over 600 collections of private papers.
Department of Education
Deposited records date from 1832 and consist mainly of records of the Commissioners of National Education, with some records of the Commissioners of Intermediate Education. The National Education records include Applications for Grants 1832-1890, Registers (administrative) 1835-1905, Teachers' Salary Books 1834-1918 (held in the Four Courts), Newspaper Cuttings 1854-1922, Case Files 1877-1924. See lists of Education Records at Case 3, National Archives on-line guide to National Schools Records, and also a Card Catalogue of records as they relate to individual schools. Most old Registers of Pupils or Rollbooks are still retained by individual schools, but a growing number is being deposited in the National Archives (see List).
While most records relating to the Six Counties have been deposited in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, a considerable quantity of northern material remains in the National Archives. For further information on Education Records see Ken Hannigan, 'Educational History in the National Archives', in Aine Hyland and Kenneth Milne Editors, Irish Educational Documents, Dublin 1987, pages 367-78; The National School System, 1831-1924: Facsimile Documents, Public Record Office of Ireland/State Paper Office 1984.
Department of Enterprise and Employment
Deposited records date from 1922 and consist of material transferred from the former Departments of Industry and Commerce, and Labour. Lists of Labour records are at Case 3.
Department of the Environment
Deposited records date from 1922, and incorporate records of the former Department of Local Government and Public Health, and of the pre-1922 Poor Law Commissioners and Local Government Board. The records include files and transcripts of Poor Law Guardians' Minutes, 1916 and 1919-22, Register of Letters relating to Labourers Acts, 1899 and 1900, and Register of Loans to Local Authorities 1932-4. See draft lists of records, and Registers at Cases 17-19.
Department of Finance
Deposited records date from 1916, and include General Files 1922-, Compensation for Damage to Property 1916-23, and Dáil Éireann Loan Records 1919-35. Lists of records are at Case 3. See Ronan Fanning, The Irish Department of Finance 1922-58, Dublin 1978.
Department of Foreign Affairs
Deposited records date from 1919, and incorporate records of the former Dáil Éireann Department of Foreign Affairs, and the former Department of External Affairs. The records include Files of the Head Office 1922-, Files of Embassies (Paris 1920-, Brussels 1922-, Washington 1925-, Madrid 1930-, Berlin 1943-, Bonn 1950), Card Indexes to Passports 1922-45, and Records of the Irish News Agency 1950-5. Lists of records are at Case 3, and there is also a Card Catalogue, as well as a partial search facility on the National Archives website. See Bernadette Chambers, 'A Note on the Archives of the Department of Foreign Affairs', Irish Archives, Autumn 1995, pages 44-56.
Department of Health
Deposited departmental records date from the 1920s, and incorporate material from the former Department of Local Government and Public Health. Lists of records are at Case 3. For Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths, see General Register Office, page 28.
Department of Justice
The deposited records of this Department, formerly titled Home Affairs, date from 1922 and include H Series files. Lists of records are at Case 3.
Department of the Marine
Deposited records date from 1845, and incorporate material from the Office of Public Works, the former Department of Fisheries and its precursors, and the former Department of Industry and Commerce. Lists of records are at Case 3.
Department of Social Welfare
Deposited records date from 1919, and incorporate material from the former Departments of Industry and Commerce, and Local Government and Public Health, as well as from the Irish Department of the pre-1922 Ministry of Labour. Lists of records are at Case 3.
Department of Tourism and Trade
Deposited records date from 1922, and incorporate material from the former Departments of Industry and Commerce, and Transport and Power. Lists of records are at Case 3.
Department of Transport, Energy and Communications
Deposited records date from 1900, and incorporate material from the former Departments of Industry and Commerce, Transport and Power, Posts and Telegraphs, and Energy, as well as from the pre-1922 Post Office. Lists of records are at Case 3.