After the fire, appeals were made throughout Ireland, England, Scotland, and America, for all who had copied the records during the past 53 years, to send their copies or transcripts, abstracts, or notes, to replace the burned records.
It was known that a large number of original records (wills, marriage records, parish registers, etc.) had never been sent to this office and these or copies were requested.
The appeals brought tremendous response. Legal (solicitors') offices, governmental, historical and genealogical repositories in Ireland and abroad sent original records, transcripts, abstracts, and notes from the burned records, as gifts or on loan for copying. Genealogical collections representing the
life work of great genealogists such as Betham, Crossle, Groves, Sadleir, etc., were given or sold to this office.
Individuals by the hundreds sent collections of family documents covering several generations. Several hundred parish registers of baptism, marriage and burial, either original or transcripts, were in local custody at the time of the fire, and so were available.
One of the most valuable collections acquired, which for the genealogist, repaired the loss of the Prerogative Wills, is the great collection of 241 volumes of the Betham Genealogical Abstracts. Sir William Betham, Ulster King of Arms, filled 80 volumes of this collection with abstracts of about 37,000
Prerogative Wills, 1595-1800, which represented all that were proved in the Prerogative Court of Armagh during this period. The other volumes were: Two of Kildare Wills, 1661-1826; 16 of Prerogative marriage licenses, 1629-1801; 56 of Prerogative administrations, 1595-1800; 4 of Prerogative marriage licenses, 1629-1800.
The last 29 volumes are miscellaneous extracts from court records, pedigrees and memoranda. An indexed catalogue of the collection is in the Public Record Office. Besides these Betham Manuscripts,
there are 8 volumes of his letters dealing with his genealogical researches and memoranda and extracts on genealogical subjects and other important collections of manuscripts which are listed in the Fifty-Eighth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Records
There are also card catalogues, in the public search room, and typed indexes to various collections. The card index of testamentary documents is very extensive; it indexes many thousands of wills, duplicates and official plain copies of wills, grants of administrations, and original unproved wills never lodged for probate, which became too numerous after 1936.
