The Empire & Central Europe

Archives / Sources

The references provided are taken from a range of archives in modern-day Austria, the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the U.S.A. Other, as yet untapped Latin, Italian, Spanish, German, English and Irish language sources may, of course, exist both in these countries and elsewhere, for instance, in the regional archives of Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. Nonetheless, Richard J. Hayes's multi-volume 1965 publication, Manuscript sources for the History of Irish Civilization, has been of great importance in outlining the relevant repositories on the European mainland, particularly with respect to collections in German archives. More recently, the Charles Ingrao edited, A Guide to East-Central European Archives, is a similarly useful source that will help, in a general sense, to guide English-language scholars unfamiliar with the repositories of the lands that were the Habsburg monarchy.

A) AUSTRIA

VIENNA

KRIEGSARCHIV

a) Central offices (Zentralstellen)
Records of the Aulic War Council (Hofkriegsrat) (1556-1848) - this council was the main administrative body of the Imperial army. The Protokolle section of the records contains accounts of army organization and orders for provisions. In many instances, these also deal with personnel matters.
Records of the Vienna War council (Wiener Hofkriegsrat) and the Inner Austrian War Council (Innerösterreichischer Hofkriegsrat) - regional equivalents of the above.
Military appointments (Bestallungen) - contains details of all major promotions in the army during the same period.

b) Battlefield records (Feldakten)
Old field records (Alte Feldakten) - consists of an annual index of documents relating to events on the battlefield during the early-modern period.

HAUS-, HOF-, UND STAATSARCHIV

a) Documents relating to war (Kriegsakten) - contains material relating to all the major Imperial diplomatic missions and military campaigns between 1519 and 1866.

b) Diplomatic correspondence (Staatenabteilungen) - includes State Papers relating to all the major courts at that time. Of particular significance are those relating to the Stuart kingdoms (Staatenabteilung Grossbritannien) from 1518-1845/1860

c) Estate and family archives (Nachlässe, Herrschafts- und Familienarchive) - includes the Taaffe family archive (Taaffe, Familienarchiv).

ÖSTERREICHISCHE NATIONALBIBLIOTHEK
See the library's on-line catalogue (http://katzoom.onb.ac.at) for further details. The manuscripts include Father Patrick Taaffe's account of the assassination of Wallenstein in 1634 (Narratio caedis Alberti comitis de Waldstein - Signatur: 10451) and a collection of letters from Father Nicholas Donnellan (d.1679), professor of canon law at the University of Vienna, to Peter Lambeck, the Imperial librarian (Epistolae ad Petrum Lambecium - Signatur: 9712-16; 9714, ff.43, 71; 9715, ff.40, 48).

FRANZIKANERKLOSTER
Millett worked with these Franciscan papers.

SCHOTTENSTIFT
Hayes makes several references to documents relating to this period from the archives of this foundation ('The Abbey of the Scots').

DOMINIKANERKLOSTER
These Dominican archives are also referred to frequently in Hayes's catalogues.

B) CZECH REPUBLIC
For a general overview (in Czech) with links to the web-sites of all major Czech archives, see www.cesarch.cz

PRAGUE

STÁTNÍ ÚSTREDNÍ ARCHIV V PRAZE.
Following the suppression and closure of the Irish Franciscan College in Prague in 1786, its archives were scattered. However, at least some of the documents can now be found in this major repository, 'The State Central Archive' of the Czech Republic.

a) Records of the Irish Franciscans in Prague (Archivy zrušenýc klášteru, Rád hybernu Praha) - contains a number of documents relating to the foundation of the Irish Franciscan College.

Other records include the wills of two Irish military veterans, Edmund de Burgo and Walter Deveroux, along with documents relating to Imperial grants and privileges, gifts of land and other bequests, along with petitions for asistance, according to Millett.

STRAHOVSKÉ KNIHOVNY
This is the largest monastery library in the Czech Republic and, as Parez has shown, contains much of the literature produced by the Irish Franciscans in Prague.

PANNY MARIE SNEŽNÉ
According to McGrath and Millett, writing in the 1950s, the archive of the friary of the Bohemian Franciscan Province ('St. Mary of the Snows') contained a dossier marked 'Hyberni' (The Irish), consisting of 83 documents concerning relations between the Bohemian and Irish Franciscans.

ÚSTREDNÍ KNIHOVNA UNIVERZITY KARLOVY/ARCHIV NÁRODNl KNIHOVNY
Contain Irish related items, used by McGrath.

ZÁMRSK

STÁTNÍ OBLASTNÍ ARCHIV V ZÁMRSKU
This 'State Regional Archive' at the castle of Zámrsk in North Bohemia has been used by several international scholars. The most important collections for Ireland include:

a) Piccolomini Family Archive (Rodinný Archiv Piccolomini) - contains the correspondence of the Italian Imperial general, Ottavio Piccolomini. The section entitled 'Historica' includes a letter in Latin, sent to him by the Irish Confederates on 23 November 1644. Besides that, there are several letters to/from Francesco Foissotte during 1645, the latter being a Spanish Habsburg representative who was then in Ireland, attempting to recruit soldiers to serve in the Spanish Netherlands. These letters, sent from Waterford, Kilkenny and elsewhere are in Spanish, and can be found in the same section of the collection.

b) Schlick Family archive (Rodinný Archiv Šlik) - It seems likely that the 19.8 metres of this collection contain material relating to the Irishman Richard Walsh of Carrickmayne (1583-1622), who married a member of the Schlick family.

BRNO

MORAVSKÝ ZEMSKÝ ARCHIV V BRNE

Walsh/Wallis family archive (Rodinný archiv Wallisu) - The 'Moravian Provincial Archives' contain 30.4 metres of material relating to the 'Austro-Bohemian' branch of the Walsh/Wallis family (G267). The documents are split into two separate sections, the Ústrední správa Wallisu Budec covering the period from 1786-1920 (all accessible) and the Rodinný archiv Wallisu Moravské Budejovice from 1645-1945 (partly accessible). The documents include letters of application for nobilitation and details regarding the Wallis regiment in Imperial service. It would appear that they have barely been touched by previous historians concerned with the family, such as Hussey Walsh and Barker.

C) ENGLAND

LONDON

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES (PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE)

State Papers relating to the Holy Roman Empire (SP80) - for this period these contain correspondence relating to Irish troops in Imperial service and the letters and reports of a number of Irishmen from the Imperial court in Vienna. Amongst the most numerous are those sent by Theobald Taaffe, the First Earl of Carlingford (d.1677) during his 1665-67 embassy and those of Father Nicholas Donnellan (d.1679).

BRITISH LIBRARY

Add 41, 842, ff.78-140 - includes upwards of twenty-five letters from Nicholas Taaffe, Second Earl of Carlingford, envoy to the emperor, and from Thomas Lane, his secretary, to Lord Middleton and others at the Stuart court in London, 13 May-10 October 1688.
Add 41, 823, ff.103, 106 - further 1688 correspondence of Nicholas Taaffe, Second Earl of Carlingford amongst letters to British representatives in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Muscovy.
Add 46, 827, ff100, 104 - letters from Count Oliver von Wallis, Austrian general, to F. Drake from 1796 (French).
Add 34, 941, f.66 - a letter from Count Joseph Wallis, Austrian general, to Lord Nelson from 1795.
Add 13, 167 (Rawlinson Manuscripts), Rawl. b.391 - includes a letter from J. Donnelan, an officer in Austrian service to the Royal Society from 14 August 1669.

D) GERMANY

MUNICH

HAUPTSTAATSARCHIV
Contains material relating to Irish/Scottish dispute over the Schottenklöster and perhaps also on the Irish in Bavarian service.

E) IRELAND

KILLINEY

FRANCISCAN LIBRARY

Section C
11/12 Louvain Papers - includes a 9 August 1624 letter of Ferdinand II to Archduchess Elisabeth in commendation of Sorley MacDonnel, the veteran of the Battle of White Mountain.
23/26 Prague papers - includes documents relating to the Irish Franciscans in Prague and a register of the college 'ex libro Memorabilium'.

F) ITALY

ROME

ARCHIVIUM COLLEGII ST ISIDORI DE URBE

Section W
8-14 - Contains some of the correspondence of Luke Wadding, including letters to/from Francis Harold in Vienna/Prague; from John Colgan, Patrick Fleming and Hugh Ward in Vienna/Prague; from Fleming to Fallon from Prague; from Fleming to Robert Rochford from Prague; a document noting the foundation of the college in Prague by Fleming; the papal bull of foundation for the Irish Franciscan College in Prague; letters from Isabella Clara Eugenia, infanta of Spain, archduchess of Hungary and duchess of Bohemia; a document from Joseph Beraigne, general definitor and commissary general for Germany, Belgium, Ireland, England and Scotland. (The contents of the archive are available via an on-line catalogue at www.geocities.com/Paris/3658/archivesw.html)

G) U.S.A.

YALE UNIVERSITY

BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY.

Carlingford Papers: James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection - letters from Theobald Taaffe, 1st Earl of Carlingford, Charles II's envoy to Emperor Leopold I and the Prince-Bishop of Munster from 1665-67. Various papers of his sons, Nicholas and Francis, are also included in the collection. The Carlingford Papers span the years 1651-1764 but the bulk of the material covers the periods 1657-59 and 1665-67. See http://webtext.library.yale.edu/xml2html/beinecke.CARLING.con.html