Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory Of Ireland, 1868

Each record comprises a transcript of the original almanac. The amount of information listed varies, but the records usually include a combination of the following information about your ancestor:

• First name(s)

• Last name

• Year

• Section

• Town

• County

The record set comprises 100,355 records.

Originally published in 1844 by Alexander Thom & Co., Thom's Irish Almanac & Directory is still being published and is regarded as the pre-eminent directory and almanac for Ireland. The first issue contained less than 1,000 printed pages; by the time of this 1868 issue the Directory contained around 2,000 printed pages.

In addition to statistics for the country as a whole taken from the 1861 Census of Ireland, the Official Directory provides county-by-county information on Irish landowners of 1,000 acres and upwards and 10,000 acres and upwards, state functionaries, and the civil, religious, financial and military officers in Ireland. This includes all the incumbents of the various parishes and benefices in the country, all army and navy officers, barrister and solicitors, doctors and physicians, all educational and medical institutions and members of their governing bodies, and even the clubs and private institutions, such as learned and academic societies and members of their respective councils.

Furthermore, the records contain statistical information on every county derived predominantly from the 1851 and 1861 Population Censuses of Ireland in addition to the names of all the civil functionaries of the counties ranging from the deputy lieutenant down to local magistrates, the places and dates of county fairs, poor law unions, petty sessions and polling stations and this section is complete by the Borough Directory, which provides similar information for the municipal boroughs and towns of Ireland.

These records also contain a comprehensive street directory of Dublin, which extends to the various townships and suburbs of the city, including Rathmines, Pembroke and Kingstown along with the residents of many of the larger villages, which at this time had not been incorporated into the city. In addition, there is a list of the Dublin City and county nobility, gentry, merchants and traders, as well as a trades directory.

Alexander Thom

Alexander Thom was born in Moray, Scotland, in 1801. At the age of 20, he moved to Ireland to help his father, Walter, to manage the Dublin Journal. Following his father’s death in 1824, Thom obtained the contract for printing for the post office in Ireland, via the influence of Sir Robert Peel. In 1838, he got the contract for the printing of all royal commissions in Ireland and in 1844, he started the Irish Almanac and Official Directory, which emerged as a leader in its field. In 1852, he included the Dublin Street Directory for the first time.