D'Alton: King James's Irish Army List

D’Alton, John. Illustrations, Historical and Genealogical of King James’s Irish Army List, Volume I. Dublin: John D’Alton, 1689

John D'Alton's work contains a vast wealth of family history, including information outlining the lineage, honours and achievements of families connected with Ireland, either through birth, rank, title or alliance. As many of the sources used in compiling the two volumes are now lost they stand as a highly valuable tool for Irish family research.

D’Alton, John. Illustrations, Historical and Genealogical of King James’s Irish Army List, Volume I. Dublin: John D’Alton, 1689

D’Alton, John. Illustrations, Historical and Genealogical of King James’s Irish Army List, Volume I. Dublin: John D’Alton, 1689

John D'Alton's work contains a vast wealth of family history, including information outlining the lineage, honours and achievements of families connected with Ireland, either through birth, rank, title or alliance. As many of the sources used in compiling the two volumes are now lost they stand as a highly valuable tool for Irish family research.

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John D’Alton (1792-1867) was born in Bessville, Co. Westmeath. He attended Trinity College before being called to the Bar in 1813. Later, in 1835, he became Commissioner of the Loan Fund Board in Dublin.

He was a noted author and historian, writing a number works of on Irish history. Drawing on his vast library, which included an extensive manuscript collection, D’Alton eventually published King James’s Irish Army List in 1689.

The work contains a vast wealth of family history, including information outlining the lineage, honours and achievements of families connected with Ireland, either through birth, rank, title or alliance. As many of the sources used in compiling the two volumes are now lost they stand as a highly valuable tool for Irish family research.

Among the family histories included are families both in Ireland and abroad. These include old Irish families, Scots-Irish families, and other settler families. The volumes traces the family history of those who remained settled in Ireland as well as including information on the families and history of the original Wild Geese. The Wild Geese were some 30,000 to 40,000 Irish whose estates were plundered forcing them to leave Ireland, often entering into the service of France, Spain and Austria. The clan histories listed often go back several generations and provide the origins and dates of arrival of settler families from England and Scotland.