Deep History, Deepening Collaborations

40 From Rebellion to Union Home Office and Ireland (1793–1803) By Dr Timothy Murtagh, Modern History (VRTI) and Dr Neil Johnston (The National Archives UK) Supported by the Friends of The National Archives (UK) The Home Office (Ireland) Correspondence held at The National Archives (UK) — also known as the HO 100 series — consists of letters written by high-ranking officials in Dublin Castle, addressed to the central administration in London. The HO 100 series is especially important as it helps to replace the many records of the Irish Chief Secretary’s Office (CSO), destroyed in the Four Courts in 1922. The CSO oversaw the entire administrative machinery of Dublin Castle, acting as the executive government for Ireland. It was the main channel of communications between government departments in England and their counterparts in Ireland, coordinating administration of a wide range of issues, from trade and taxes, to policing and putting down insurrections. The destruction of much of the CSO’s archive was a great tragedy of the 1922 fire. Fortunately, this destroyed collection was only one half of the Dublin–London correspondence, with the other half preserved in the files of the Home Office. Even more fortunately, the secretaries in the Home Office occasionally made copies of their responses to Dublin, providing us with duplicates of both sides of the correspondence. With the generous support of the Friends of The National Archives (UK ), Dr Timothy Murtagh surveyed eighty volumes of HO 100. The volumes selected cover the years between 1793 and 1803 — a tumultuous decade including war, rebellion and the Act of Union. The year 1793 commenced with the outbreak of war between Britain and France. 1793 also saw the passage in Dublin of a Relief Act dismantling many of the ‘penal laws’ on Irish Catholics, the last major measure of Catholic relief for more than twenty years. Above: Proposed uniform for a new regiment of light infantry. Credit: TNA HO 100/67/155.