The National Archives of Ireland has released online the final batch of records from the soldiers’ wills collection, http://soldierswills.nationalarchives.ie/search/sw/home.jsp .

These wills were made by non-commissioned soldiers who were encouraged by the army to make a will before leaving for active service. There is a small number of wills surviving for Irishmen who served in the British army in the late 19^th century and during the South African wars of 1898-1902; however, the vast majority of the collection dates from the First World War.

The National Archives have digitised all these records and the entire collection is now available free online where researchers will be able to search the collection and view digitised images of the original wills.

 

 

 

 

Hazel Menton

Archivist

Collection Care Division

National Archives

Bishop Street

Dublin 8