Index to the Marriage License Bonds of the Diocese of Cloyne, Ireland

This index, which lists marriage license bonds between 1630 and 1800 in the Diocese of Cloyne (county of Cork), was compiled by T. George H. Green and published in 1899. An explanation of the importance of marriage license bonds is included in the preface:

"In the absence of Parish Registers and of Marriage Licence Grants, the next best evidence ... is a Marriage Licence Bond. Such a bond had to be entered into before a Bishop would grant his licence for a proposed marriage, because the Bishop was open to an action for damages if he issued a licence for the solemnisation of a marriage against which there existed some 'canonical let or impediment,' or some other legal objection, such as a pre-contract of one of the parties to marry some other person; and so, to protect himself, the Bishop required two solvent persons, of whom the intending bridegroom was generally one, to enter into a bond for the sum stated therein ... that there existed no such impediment or objection.

"These bonds contain the names of the respective persons proposing to be married, and of the surety who joins ... in the bond, and residences or parishes of these persons, with occasionally other particulars relative to them."

This original text is kept in the R. Stanton Avery Special Collections of NEHGS, call number IRE CLO 50.

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