The archives of the valuation of Ireland, 1830–65
Frances McGee
'The archives of the valuation of Ireland provides a very readable and well-illustrated guide to what many see as a quite difficult resource to navigate and understand. The enormous significance of these archives is amplified by the loss of other early nineteenth-century sources in the fire at the Public Records Office ... Frances McGee's excellent guide should be on the top of your reading list', Ireland's Genealogical Gazette (August 2018).
'The valuation records, by virtue of their content and survival, are an invaluable source for the study of 19th-century Ireland ... Frances McGee was an archivist in the Public Record Office/National Archives for 40 years where among other things, she worked on the valuation records. It is this intimate connection between the archivist and the collection ... which develops an understanding of each volume, each map, each piece of paper and how they come together to form a coherent collection. It is this knowledge which has made possible the production of a guide providing the researcher with an accessible overview of the collection, a detailed exposition of its contents and a sense of its place in the development of 19th-century Ireland', Raymond Refaussé, Irish Archives (2018).
'... the work is an indispensable guide for historical researchers who want to navigate through the valuation archives.' - Fiona Fitzsimmons, National Genealogical Society Quarterly.
'Archives of the Valuation of Ireland, 1930-1865, by Frances McGee is the latest publication in the highly-regarded Maynooth Research Guides for Irish Local History series. This expert guide leads the reader on a journey that explores the history of property valuation in nineteenth-century Ireland through the prism of a set of remarkable records ... [Frances McGee] has produced an extensive and thorough account that informs and provides advice to those researching one of the NAI's more complex collections. .. The author masterfully handles this complex subject ... McGee takes great care to tell the human story including a chapter on the important role played by the valuation staff themselves who were often accompanied by surveyors when in the field. The main body of the book, however, describes the actual records within the archive, which comprises manuscript books, maps, the Primary valuation (a set of printed published lists) and appeal records ... The text is accompanied by 16 pages of high quality colour reproductions of documents including maps, house books, and tenure books amongst others ... This is an extraordinary book and a delight to read. The passion of the author clearly resonates throughout', Stephen Scarth, Archives and Records, The journal of the Archives and Records Association, 40:2, 213-215 (2019).
