For the Record, the Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils

Galway County Council Archives has published, as an action under the Decade of Commemorations Strategy, 2013-2023, a guide to its Rural District Council archive holdings.  It is hoped that this easy to read useful guide, titled For the Record, the Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils, will raise awareness of the existence of this important primary source material.  

The collections, dating from 1899-1925, detail the functions and achievements of our predecessors in early local government, dealing with, among other things, the provision of labourers’ cottages, water pumps and burial grounds, and also the maintenance of local roads.  The collections, which are comprised primarily of minutes, chart the change in political thinking in the early 1900s when the Councils supported Home Rule but were by 1920 demanding full independence and recognising the underground Dáil Éireann.

Copies of the publication are available by contacting archivist@galwaycoco.ie