Occupational records cover a vast array of material and locating which records are relevant will depend on the occupation of your ancestor and the period in which they lived.

Records are available for most occupations; however, due to the vagaries of Irish record keeping and the complex relationship between church and state within Ireland, the rate of survival of most records vary hugely.

In most cases, good records survive for military (army/police), educational, medical, clerical and legal professions and many of these are available to search in national institutions such as the National Archives or the National Library of Ireland. These institutions also retain records pertaining to other professions, and trades, but in many cases the vast array of material is stored with societies or other private archives with a direct association with these occupations (see Directories).