islandbaby-thenewme

Rondo Awards Voting Begins Sunday Night!

2012-02-10T09:23:00.000-08:00

The announcement has been made that the 10th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards ballot will be unveiled and voting begins this coming Sunday night.

What is the Rondo Awards?

The Rondo awards, named after Rondo Hatton, an obscure B-movie villain of the 1940s, celebrate the best in classic horror research, creativity and film preservation.

To see the ballot and to vote, go here Sunday night!

On This Date: "Adventures of Superman" Premieres In L.A.

2012-02-09T06:55:00.000-08:00

by Armand Vaquer

It was a hair under a year before my time, but on this date in 1953, the Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves, Phyllis Coates, Jack Larson, John Hamilton and Robert Shayne premiered in Los Angeles on KCEA-TV Channel 7 (the forerunner of KABC-TV).

The premiere episode was "Superman On Earth," which chronicled Jor-El and Lara's sending the baby Kal-El to Earth before the planet Krypton exploded.

The episodes that followed were the ones that Robert Maxwell and Bernard Luber produced. These were rock 'em, sock 'em crime dramas and not kiddie shows.

A round up of news from round and about

2012-02-06T16:33:00.000-08:00

Olympic exhibition under starter's orders: Louth County Museum in Dundalk is researching a major exhibition highlighting the involvement of Irish athletes and officials in the Olympics from 1896 to the present. The exhibition will open this summer and will run for several months, but it needs some help to get to put it together. Curator Brian Walsh would welcome anecdotes and oral testimonies, along with items and memorabilia relating to Irish involvement in the Olympics.

New edition of the Grenham bible: Tracing your Irish Ancestors by John Grenham is widely regarded as the one absolute-must-have book on genealogical research in Ireland. Its fourth edition, which embraces online research, is scheduled for publication next month. Publisher is Gill & Macmillan. 624pgs.

From Cricklewood to Clapham Junction: The Irish Post carried an interesting article about the modern wave of emigrants to London. Seems today's young Irish are more likely to head south of the Thames than to traditional 'Irish' strongholds such as Cricklewood.

'Tis the season to update your website: Thankfully, this is not mandatory, but you could be forgiven for thinking there was some compulsion behind the recent spate of website overhauls. The National Archives of Ireland started it off, and I mentioned it a few days back. It gets top marks for a very good looking new site, but I still think the sign-posting isn't quite as kind to new visitors as it should be. Nonetheless, the searchable catalogue, which I've been playing around with this weekend, is fab. The Certificate of Irish Heritage has also had a face-lift and is looking very smart. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission site is also striding into 2012 with a new look and will be adding more enhancements shortly. These include a facility to search on the 'additional information' field of the database, which could be extremely useful for identifying one deceased soldier from another with a similar name.

Quaker death records 1849 now online: FindMyPast Ireland has released a small collection of Irish death records from the Quaker Annual Monitor 1849 which also goes by the snappy title of Obituary of the Members of the Society of Friends in Great Britain and Ireland for the year 1848. Some entries provided limited detail (typically name, age, date of death, meeting house attended and marital status) but some are accompanied by quite lengthy eulogies written by the elders of the deceased's Meeting House.

And a big thank you to Family History Monthly: Imagine my surprise to open the February issue of Family History Monthly magazine and find this very blog under the Blog Spot light. I had no idea! Fortunately it was a glowing review! Many thanks to Jen and the FHM team.

The Monstrous Movie Photo Of The Day: It Begins With The Incredible ... And That's Only The Beginning!

2012-02-04T17:25:00.000-08:00

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Okay movie poster buffs today I have real treat for you! Everyone enjoys a really cheesy flick from time-to-time and MGM's (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) "Wild, Wild Planet" is considered by connoisseurs of such cinema gems as the cream of the crop. "Spaghetti Westerns" were all the rage in the late 1960's as were a handful of Italian made sci fi films such as WWP. Mix together some bad dubbing with low end special effects and several bizarre (sometimes head scratching bizarre) gimmicks and you have the recipe for cult cinema gold!

Listen to this list straight from the poster!

The Laser-Ray Girls!
The Four-Armed Strangler!
The Menacing Mutants!
The Deadly Doll-Men!
The Flesh-Fusion Experiments!
The Armada Of Spaceships!

That's a lot of hyphens!

You gotta like "Laser-Ray Girls" and "Mutants" .... and ... and lot's of model spaceships zipping around on strings right?

Once again this image is from my personal collection and like the prior two (1, 2) images I posted over the last couple of weeks, wasn't intended for public viewing but was published in movie industry trade publications to entice theater owners to run the film.

This image is printed on heavy stock paper for the back cover of a magazine. I hate the fact that the image was creased before I acquired it but I couldn't pass such a great movie advert up!

Here's your history:

Wild, Wild Planet (Italian: I Criminali della Galassia) is a 1965 Italian science fiction horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti and written by Renato Moretti and Ivan Reiner. Tony Russel stars as Commander Mike Halstead. Also featured are Lisa Gastoni, Franco Nero and Massimo Serato. The low-budget aesthetics and general cheesy vibe of the picture have made it a favorite of bad-movie fans and websites such as badmovies.org.

The film is the second of four "Gamma I" science fiction films originally contracted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to be made for TV movies but were released theatrically instead.

- Wikipedia

The Monstrous Movie Quote Of The Day: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 2005)

2012-02-04T17:07:00.000-08:00

- "What to do if you find yourself stuck with no hope of rescue: Consider yourself lucky that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your present circumstances seems more likely, consider yourself lucky that it won't be troubling you much longer."

- The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (Book)(Stephen Fry) - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

IGRS launches monthly bulletin of genealogy news

2012-02-02T06:47:00.000-08:00

The Irish Genealogical Research Society has launched a monthly e-bulletin packed with bang-up-to-date news on all manner of resources and developments in Irish genealogy.

The five-page launch issue carried an impressive round-up of stories about newly available online collections, forthcoming releases, recent book publications (with specially-arranged discounts), cultural events and lectures in Ireland, England and Scotland, and the latest news and issues concerning a selection of professional institutions, archives and libraries.

Exclusive to members of the IGRS, the new e-bulletin is the latest addition to a range of member benefits that includes a bi-annual newsletter, an annual scholarly journal, and access to a library that is internationally recognised as the largest and most impressive collection of Irish genealogy material in private hands.

The Society's website also offers a changing online programme of member-only access to a selection of manuscript materials.

Announcing the launch of IGRS Research Update, IGRS chairman Steven Smyrl said: "Last year was the 75th anniversary of the Society and we held a number of exciting events to celebrate this important milestone. But we intend 2012 to be equally exciting with a wave of new initiatives to be rolled out over the course of the year. The launch of the new members-only bulletin is the first of these, and evidence that there has never been a better time to join the Society."

1926 Census still moving in the right direction

2012-02-02T05:56:00.000-08:00

Last November Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, indicated in the Dail that it was his intention to have the [1926] census returns digitised and made available on-line as a 1916 centenary project.

Now, in a reply to a recent Parliamentary Question, Deenihan has confirmed that he is progressing with his plans to allow access to data from the 1926 Irish census.

His written response said: “The Programme for Government contains a commitment to enable the publication of the 1926 Census. The project requires two principal components to be addressed. The first is the legal necessity to change the relevant legislation to permit publication of the Census before the expiry of the statutory 100 year period, while respecting certain rights. The second is the technical process whereby the material can be converted from the paper records to a searchable electronic database in a cost-effective fashion. Legal advice has been obtained in relation to the legislative changes and consultation with bodies involved is in progress. Possible technical approaches are also currently being considered, as are their resource implications.”

Steven Smyrl of CIGO, the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations, which has long campaigned for the early release of the census, described the Minister’s commitment to this project as 'terrific'.

"We first raised it with him a few weeks before the 2011 general election and he immediately saw the project’s potential and promised to do all he could to get it off the ground. This received a real fillip when, through CIGO’s lobbying, the project was included in the post-election Programme for Government. When Deenihan was then made Culture Minister we realised that our long campaigning was finally about to pay off!”

But just to keep the pressure on, make sure to sign CIGO's petition!

Latest uploads of records and photos to IGPA

2012-02-02T03:41:00.000-08:00

A list of the new files uploaded to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives in the last two weeks.

ARMAGH Genealogy Archives
Vital Records - Marriage: MORROW

CARLOW Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary - 1840-1841 Royal Irish Constabulary

CAVAN Genealogy Archives
Military & Constabulary - Royal Irish Constabulary 1840-41

CLARE Genealogy Archives
Marriages - Assorted Marriages from Magazine of Magazines
Military & Constabulary - 1840-1841 Royal Irish Constabulary

CORK Genealogy Archives
Headstones - Keeffe, Owen - Kilcrumper Cem. Fermoy (single photo)
Military - 1840 & 1841 Royal Irish Constabulary

DOWN Genealogy Archives
Military and Constabulary - Royal Irish Constabulary 1840-1842

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives
Headstones - Deansgrange Cemetery, St. Mary's Section, Pt. 1
Headstones - Mount Jerome, Dublin - Part 36-37
Military & Constabulary - Royal Irish Constabulary with native county of Dublin 1840-1841

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives
Church - Trory, Births recorded in St. Michaels C. of I, 1779 - 1922

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives
Photos - Costello & Downes Photos
Obits - Assorted new obituaries

MAYO Genealogy Archives
Land Records - Encumbered Estate property of DOMINIC BROWNE (Curskeagh, Carrowmore & Carrowmor Upper) 1857

MEATH Genealogy Archives
Biographies - Mulvany Biographies

ROSCOMMON Genealogy Archives
Land - Encumbered Estate property of DOMINIC BROWNE (Cloonlough) 1857

Irish Genealogy Toolkit is the Research Help Partner of Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives.

Gundam Front Tokyo Opening April 19

2012-02-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

by Armand Vaquer

There's a new theme park opening in Tokyo. It's called Gundam Front Tokyo.

According to the Japan Times:

A theme park featuring popular "anime" series "Mobile Suit Gundam" will open on April 19 in Tokyo's Odaiba district.

According to Bandai Co., the new theme park, named Gundam Front Tokyo, will have a huge dome-shaped screen showing images of Gundam, the venerated fighting robot in the popular series, and rare documents related to the series' production will be on display.

The most "Gundam" I've ever done was to pose in a Gundam uniform on the Gundam Lift at the old Bandai Museum (below).

To read the full article, go here.

The Monstrous Movie Photo Of The Day: Unleashing The Newest, Biggest Double Shock The Screen Ever Got!

2012-01-31T21:51:00.000-08:00

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Today I continue on deeper into my personal collection of movie and TV related images. Like my last promotional item from "The Land Unknown" this full page advert was not something created for the eyes of the general public but instead to entice theater owners to screen the film, or in this case films, at their respective movie house.

I really love this dual advertisement for the films "The Monster That Challenged The World" and "The Vampire". The graphics are really sharp, though I could do without the banner that spans across the image. Like I stated before in a previous article, every single promotional image for "The Monster That Challenged The Word" looks like human-slug intercourse.

Am I wrong? Tell me that isn't what that looks like! Please! I may have a dirty mind but even Mother Theresa would say that looks a lot like the "horizontal mambo".

Anyway ... as film buffs will recall both films ran as a double feature in most cinemas though "The Vampire" (actually known as "El Vampiro in it's native Mexico) never enjoyed the cult status achieved by "Slugs Gone Wild!"

Here is some history:

The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) is a science-fiction monster movie, about an army of giant mollusks that emerge from the Salton Sea, California. Directed by Arnold Laven, the film starred Tim Holt and Audrey Dalton.

It was produced by Gramercy Pictures (not related to the former PolyGram division) and released by United Artists.

An earthquake has led to the hatching of eggs belonging to a prehistoric mollusk. The hatchlings emerge from the Salton Sea, escape into an underground aquifer, and proceed to terrorize the citizens of California's Imperial Valley. The navy is called in to battle these monsters. Navy Lieutenant Commander John Twillinger (Holt), teams up with several scientists to battle the threat.

El vampiro (English: The Vampire) is a 1957 Mexican horror film, directed by Fernando Méndez. The film is about Marta, a young woman, who travels to her childhood village, only to find that one of her aunts is dead and another is under the influence of Mr. Duval, who later turns out to be a vampire whose name is the Count Karol de Lavud. It is possibly the first movie to actually show a vampire with elongated canines. F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (Max Schrek) had elongated incisors; Tod Browning's Dracula (Bela Lugosi) did not show his teeth at all.

- Wikipedia

February diary of lectures and events

2012-01-31T16:25:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 1 February: From Dongon to Conolly: Castletown and the making of the Irish Protestant Ascendancy, with Patrick Walsh (University College London). Lecture 4 of the Castletown Winter Lecture Series. 8pm. €5, payable at the door. No booking required. Tea/coffee after lecture.

Thursday 2 February: Organising a Reunion, with Bill Shaw. Researching Ulster Doctors of the past, with Prof. R.S.J. Clarke. Belfast NIFHS, Holywood Arches Library, Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 1NT. www.nifhs.org/belfast.htm 7.30-9.30pm. Details.

Monday 6 February: Emigration to Canada, with Mickey McGuinness, local historian and author. Foyle branch NIFHS, City's Central Library. 19:00 – 21:00pm. Details.

Sunday 12 February: Ashling Comedy Benefit Night. The 14th annual charity fundraiser organised by Aisling Project patron Ardal O'Hanlon and Noel Faulkner of the Comedy Club in Shorditch. Ardal will be host for the evening. Line up includes Ed Byrne, Andrew Maxwell and Ian Stone. Bloomsbury Theatre, Euston, London. More

Monday 13 February: The Finances of Grand Juries in Ireland, with Dr Aidan Kane. Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, Harbour Hotel, The Docks, Galway. 8pm. All welcome. Free. Details.

Tuesday 14 February: The Little Blue Flower (flax and linen), with Ken McElroy. Craigavon Historical Society. Civic Centre, Craigavon. 7:45pm.

Wednesday 15 February: Davy Crockett - The Ulster Scots Connection, with Belinda Mahaffy. Newbuildings & District Archaeological & Historical Society, Community Centre, 4 Duncastle Road. 7:30pm.

Thursday 16 February: Journey to the Fifth Province, London Irish Centre, 50, Camden Square, London NW1 9XB. £12 (£8 concessions) at the door. A showcase performance, in association with the Irish Embassy. A theatrical experience, a feast of story, music, poetry and humour. Wine reception at 6.30pm. Show 7.30pm. Tel: +44 020 7916 2222.

Thursday 16 February: Presbyterianism in Ulster under Threat - the Ejection of 1661, with Rev Professor Robert McCollum. 8pm. Lisburn Reformed Presbyterian Church, Nettlehill Road, Lisburn. Details.

Thursday 16 February: Irish Resources Online, with Chris Paton. Renfrewshire FHS, Paisley. Details

Thursday 16 February: The Civil War in County Waterford - Part I, with Pat McCarthy. Julian Walton's Winter Lecture series at Dunhill Multi-Education Centre, Ballyphilip, Waterford. €5 includes refreshments.

Saturday 18 February: The Famine in Fermanagh, with John B. Cunningham. Fermanagh NIFHA. The Library, Halls Lane, Enniskillen. 14:15 – 16:15pm Details.

Monday 20 February: Ulster Scots Connections, with Dr William Roulston. Larne branch NIFHS. The Board Room, ‘The Cliff’, Seacourt Road, Larne. 19:30 – 21:30pm. Details.

Tuesday 21 February: New Insights into the development of Skellig Michael World Heritage Site, with archaeologist Michael Gibbons. Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society. Tralee Library. 7.30pm. All welcome. Details.

Thursday 23 February: Exploring Local History - Crime. Dr Janice Holmes, Dr Olwen Purdue and Dr Barry Sheen from OUI examine the theme and sources. PRONI staff present examples from their collections. PRONI, Belfast. 6.30-8pm. Free, but booking required.

Thursday 23 February: Tour through Ulster's Graveyards, with Dr William Roulston. Ballymena branch of the Northern Ireland FHS. Michelin Arts Workshop, Braid Arts Centre, 1-29 Bridge Street. 7.15pm. Enquiries.

Friday 24 February to Sunday 26 February: WDYTYA? LIVE.Olympia, London. Full details. I'll do a show preview nearer the time.

Tuesday 28 February: Irish Migration Ships, with Dr. Brian Lambkin. Coleraine NIFHS. Coleraine Branch Library, Queen Street. 20:00-22:00pm.Details.

New "Dark Shadows" Complete Series DVD Set

2012-01-30T17:58:00.000-08:00

by Armand Vaquer

Back during my junior high (called "middle school" these days) and high school years, there was a Gothic soap opera (or "spook opera") that played on ABC-TV at 4:00 PM.

The show was Dark Shadows and it starred Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the matriarch of the Collins Family of Collinsport, Maine and Jonathan Frid, as 175-year-old vampire Barnabas Collins.

It was a real treat to unwind after school to a show that featured vampires, witches, warlocks, a Frankenstein-type monster, ghosts, werewolves and all kinds of creatures of the occult.

The show ended in April 1971, but it never died. It was syndicated over the years and VHS and DVD sets were issued of the series. In 1991, it was revived as a prime-time show with a new cast. There have also been audio plays based on the series produced. Currently, it is now in production as a feature film starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins. This isn't the first feature film based on the series. House of Dark Shadows was released by MGM in 1970 and Night of Dark Shadows a year later.

Now, Dark Shadows fans can shell out $599.98 (SRP) to buy the over 1,200 episodes of the original series in a big, new DVD set. It comes in a fancy coffin package (photo at top).

For more information on the new Dark Shadows DVD, set go here.

The Monstrous Movie Quote Of The Day: Han Solo (Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope 1977)

2012-01-30T08:12:00.000-08:00

- Han Solo: Uh, everything's under control. Situation normal.
Voice: What happened?
Han Solo: Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?
Voice: We're sending a squad up.
Han Solo: Uh, uh... negative, negative. We had a reactor leak here now. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak, very dangerous.
Voice: Who is this? What's your operating number?
Han Solo: Uh...
(Han shoots the intercom)
Han Solo: Boring conversation, anyway. LUKE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE COMPANY!

- Han Solo (Harrison Ford)(Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope)(1977)

National Library improves services for researchers

2012-01-30T03:59:00.000-08:00

The National Library of Ireland will be introducing a number of improvements to its services in two weeks' time.

A new advance order form will be available, and it will be possible to order material online from both the Main Reading Room and the Manuscripts Reading Room simulataneously, and choose the delivery time that suits you best.

Orders for the 9.30am delivery must be placed by the last delivery time on the previous working day. For example, orders for 9.30am on Monday must be placed by 11.30am on the previous Saturday. This will ensure the prompt availability of material in the Reading Rooms.

Other service improvements are:

The installation of four new microfilm printers in the Copying Servicees room for use with newspapers on microfilm
An additional six computers in the Main Reading Room to access online resources, such as newspaper archives and digitised book collections
Microfilm copies of the Tithe Applotments Books will be available on open access in the Genealogy Microfilm Reading Room.

These improvements will take effect from Monday 13 February.

A sad resource: Dublin's Deserted Children 1850-1854

2012-01-30T03:28:00.000-08:00

FindMyPast Ireland has released a set of records which may prove useful to those with orphans or adopted children in their family tree.

The Deserted Children Dublin 1850-1854 release is taken from a return made to the House of Commons in July 1854 and is a report on the all of the deserted children taken into the care of the Dublin Metropolitan Police Force in the years ending 30th June 1850 to 1854.

It delivers a unique if harrowing picture of social conditions in Dublin over a five-year period. Typical entries provide the following information:

Name: where known
Age: in general most of these were mere days or months old
Sex - Place or location where found: a street number is given in the majority of cases
Place or location where found: a street number is given in the majority of cases
Date overseers took charge of child
Sum agreed to be paid for nursing of the child
Name given if baptised in care of police
Religious denomination of Minister who baptised the children who remained in police care
Remarks: this is the most informative, and often the most distressing section of the report. These remarks tend to detail the fate of the child, in most cases they were either taken into the care of the parish or received into the Union Workhouse system. A minority of the children were repatriated with their mothers, who would have then been arrested.

Bere Island plans emigration exhibition

2012-01-30T02:42:00.000-08:00

Bere Island Heritage Centre is planning a major exhibition about emigration from the island.

The exhibition will look at the reasons behind the momentous decision to leave the island, how the emigrants settled into their new homes and how their descendants still maintain a strong allegiance to their island roots.

Bere islanders emigrated to England, mainland Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Some also travelled to Africa to work with religious orders, while a considerable number went to Argentina. Indeed, a descendant of a Bere Island man set up the First Cattleman's Bank of Argentina.

Many curious and interesting stories have been uncovered, and the organisers of the exhibition are hoping more will pour in. Bere Island Heritage Centre's Helen Riddell told IGN: "We are asking that anyone with stories of their families who have emigrated get in touch with us at biheritage@gmail.com or on 00353 277 5956."

A number of events will run alongside the exhibition, which will open in June. These include talks from historians and lecturers on the subject of emigration, and workshops for children; dramatisations of emigration stories involving local theatre groups; an American Wake party; music/poetry sessions; a 'food night', where everyone will be invited to bring a traditional dish from a country where they have family.

Here's a taste of some of the stories uncovered so far:

Jack 'The Slasher' from Bere Island was well-known for being the fastest and most efficient mine-shaft sinking contractor in the USA.
Senator John H O'Sullivan of Ballinakilla ran for Mayor of Boston against JFK's grandfather 'Honey Fitz'.
A Bere Island woman working as a stewardess on a liner is reputed to have brought late President De Valera back from the States as a baby.
Another Bere Island woman worked as a maid next door to Lizzie Borden and her family. Lizzie Borden subsequently murdered her parents.

The Monstrous Movie Photo Of The Day: Deep In The Icy Antarctic ... A Paradise Of Hidden Terrors!

2012-01-28T15:05:00.000-08:00

Written By: Ken Hulsey

I am so happy that everyone has been enjoying my movie photo and poster series. Since I first started doing these regular occurring features I have gotten nothing but positive feedback ... and I thank you. Today I decided to tweak things just a little bit by combining the photo and poster series. For the foreseeable future I won't be scouring the internet like I have been for images to share but pulling items from my own personal collection. Some of these images will be studio originals, others will be rare items, and yet others will be copies, that is to say images that aren't original studio photos but copies of said photos.

I've got a scanner and I'm not afraid to use it people!

For my fist image I have chosen a promo advert for the 1957 Universal International release "The Land Unknown". Now what sets this particular image apart from any other movie poster, magazine add, or lobby card is the simple fact that it wasn't produced for the general public to see. It was instead produced for theater owners via trade publications. The image, which I think is truly amazing, was produced on heavy stock paper to be stapled into a magazine and actually appeared on the back of a two-page (three out of four sides) promo for the release of "Run of the Arrow" a western.

I will be posting the image from "Arrow" sometime later on.

Many of you probably remember "The Land Unknown" and may or may not remember "Run of the Arrow", anyway back in the 1950s westerns were way more popular than dinosaur flicks so this advert got the butt end of the promotion.

I hate to admit it but I haven't seen "Run of the Arrow" but the poster has a beautiful Indian maiden on it ... plus the movie stars Rod Steiger, Brian Keith and Charles Bronson so I really should search it out.

As for as "The Land Unknown" goes ... well it wasn't exactly "Jurassic Park" then again what movie is?

Synopsis:

The Land Unknown (1957) is a sci-fi, CinemaScope adventure film about a naval expedition trapped in an Antarctic jungle. The story was allegedly inspired by the discovery of unusually warm water in Antarctica in 1947. It starred Jock Mahoney and Shirley Patterson and was directed by Virgil W. Vogel. The film is notable for its low-budget special effects, which include men in dinosaur suits, puppets and monitor lizards standing in for dinosaurs. William Reynolds recalled the studio spent so much money on their mechanical dinosaur that they couldn't afford to shoot the film in colour as they first planned.

In other words it was "The Land That Time Forgot" from a time forgotten.

This little gem is one of my favorites and I hope to have it framed and mounted on my wall for all to see very soon!

"Deep In The Icy Antarctic ... A Paradise Of Hidden Terrors!"

This one is a treasure just for that tag line ... "Paradise?" ... "Terrors?" One of these words is not like the other! Gotta love that!

Lucky Clare

2012-01-27T16:48:00.000-08:00

Clare County Library has launched a superb new online maps viewer called GMaps.

The county's GMaps are based on the Google Map system, allowing Google Maps to be overlaid with historical maps dating from 1842. This new system, developed by Rainer Kosbi, uses many of the same controls as Google Maps, and it has been linked to the thousands of pages on the Library's impressive website that deal with the archaeology, history and administrative divisions of County Clare.

It's an easy system to navigate, allowing you to quickly orientate yourself on the old maps using the modern-day road maps. Dropdown menus allow instant navigation to towns, townlands etc.

This is the latest addition to a site that family historians researching in other counties can only envy. It's just remarkable.

As the Clare Roots Society says: Go to Clare Library's site and start drooling.

The Monstrous Movie Clip Of The Day: "You Are In Front Of Me. If You Value Your Lives, Be Somewhere Else! "

2012-01-27T07:17:00.000-08:00

Written By: Ken Hulsey

There were plenty of great sci fi and fantasy television shows in the 1990s including the "The X-Files", "Xena: Warrior Princess" and an seemingly endless parade of programs with the word "Trek" in the title. The one show that stood out amongst all of these top-notch programs was J. Michael Straczynski's five-year space war saga "Babylon 5". Many critics at the time took the show lightly but Straczynski's strong character driven stories kept me glued to my set episode after episode.

Yes ... "Babylon 5" was my sci fi soap opera.

Today's clip features one of the shows most dramatic and down right awesome scenes from the episode "Severed Dreams". To set things up for you if you never watched the show the space station Babylon 5 has broken away from the Earth Alliance because of attacks on Mars civilians ... okay the story is really too complicated to get into here, just understand that B5 has declared it's independence and a fleet of Earth Alliance cruisers have come to take the station back by force. There is an intense space battle in which the Earth forces overpower the fleet protecting the station, then just when everything seems lost Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari swoops in with her fleet to save the day!

"Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari Fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else!"

Needless to say the Minbari are bad ass mofos and the Earth ships were wise to turn tale and run for home! If you followed the series then you know that fair skinned ones with a massive bone structure protruding out of the back of their skulsl kicked the crap out of us in war several years prior. In fact they almost brought our race to extinction but stopped just short of erasing us off the map.

Again ... a long and complicated story!

Are you keeping up? Okay maybe only a fan of the show can appreciate just how cool this scene was.

Trust me .... it's so friggin cool!

To put some perspective on this sequence watch the entire battle below:

Northern Irish death certs to record parents' names

2012-01-26T16:01:00.000-08:00

The General Register Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI) has announced that future death registrations in Northern Ireland will include provision for noting the names of the deceased's parents. New regulations are to be drafted for implementation later this year and will be modelled on the Scottish system; provision of the information will be voluntary, and requires informants only to provide information they have knowledge of.

Confirmation of the change to Northern Ireland's civil registration system was sent to CIGO, the Council for Irish Genealogical Organisations, which has long campaigned to improve the data recorded on death registrations across the island of Ireland.

Informants of death in the Republic of Ireland have been required to provide the names of the deceased's parents since December 2005. It followed a change in the law secured when CIGO appealed to the then Minister for Social Welfare, Mary Coughlan TD, drawing attention to the fact that the United Nations had long promoted the need for universal registration of 'vital' events and had produced a 'Model Civil Registration Law’ to assist developing Third World countries!

While the Republic responded quickly, GRONI was slow to move on the issue. However, the campaign received a huge boost in 2009 when CIGO executive liaison officers Steven Smyrl and Robert Davison appeared before the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Finance & Personnel Scrutiny Committee to give evidence about civil registration practices in Northern Ireland. They made a convincing case for Northern Ireland to follow the Republic’s lead and to begin noting the name of each deceased person’s mother and father.

Across Britain and Ireland, this now leaves only England & Wales to recognise the value of, and commit to, this important provision for future generations and future genealogists.

The Monstrous Movie Quote Of The Day: Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981)

2012-01-26T07:51:00.000-08:00

- "Oh, Marcus. What are you trying to do, scare me? You sound like my mother. We've known each other for a long time. I don't believe in magic, a lot of superstitious hocus pocus. I'm going after a find of incredible historical significance, you're talking about the boogie man. Besides, you know what a cautious fellow I am."
(tosses a gun into his suitcase)

- Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford)(Raiders of the Lost Ark)(1981)

Traditional music and genealogy - what a great mix!

2012-01-26T07:18:00.000-08:00

As part of Temple Bar TradFest 2012, Dublin’s biggest and best festival of Irish Music and Culture, genealogists from the Irish Family History Foundation will be offering free advice and expertise in the Crypt of Christchurch Cathedral from 11am to 4pm this Saturday.

The festival, which started yesterday and runs to Sunday, includes more than 200 free events, a music trail, concerts in the Cathedral, City Hall and the Button Factory, the international Celtic Irish dance show, pipe bands, street performers, and much more. And family history is part of the mix.

Should be great fun.

More Cork resources go online

2012-01-25T02:54:00.000-08:00

Four more Cork directories have been made available free and online through Cork City Library. They are all from the Slater's Directory series. They comprise the 1846 Cork City and Cobh edition and the 1856, 1870 and 1881 editions for Cork City and County Cork.

The recent additions join an impressive line-up of directories dating from 1787 to 1945.

Meanwhile, Cork City and County Archives (CCCA) has just completed its project to create and make available online full descriptive lists for its Board of Guardians collection. The latter covers all of the county's 14 Poor Law Unions. The lists can be downloaded in pdf format from the CCCA website. Summaries are also now available on the Irish Archives Resource website.

The Monstrous Movie Photo Of The Day: The Illustrated Marilyn Monroe

2012-01-24T07:43:00.000-08:00

Story And Photograph By: Ken Hulsey

Marilyn Monroe is without a doubt the most iconic actress to have ever graced the silver screen. Her images have become synonymous with the golden age of Hollywood and have been plastered on everything from clocks to underwear.

Though literally thousands of photographs of the troubled starlit were taken during her brief but well publicized career not many drawings were made of her likeness.

Today I have one of these rare illustrations for you but the really cool thing about it (well at least I think so) is not the mere fact that it is a drawing of Marilyn but who made it. A close inspection of the drawing reveals the name "Jane Russell" ... yes that Jane Russell.

Actually a fellow Hollywood bombshell herself Russell was quite the artist and often times made drawings of fellow costars on the set.

This particular drawing was made in 1953 during the filming of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".

PRONI: change to this week's scheduled lecture

2012-01-24T07:25:00.000-08:00

PRONI have had to cancel the planned Exploring Local History Lecture on Crime which was due to be held at their Titanic Quarter offices on Thursday (26th).

Instead, this week's lecture will be on the theme of Religion, with Dr Janice Holmes at the podium. It is a free lecture, run in conjunction with the Open University of Ireland with PRONI experts presenting relevant examples from the collections. 6.30pm to 8pm. Booking required at proni@dcalni.gov.uk.

RCB Library in brief

2012-01-24T02:39:00.000-08:00

The Representative Church Body Library in Dublin is one of the major repositories for Church of Ireland records, including birth, marriage and burial registers, and has huge potential for family history research.

For a good overview of its value to those with Church of Ireland ancestors, see this blog post by Fiona Fitzsimons of FindMyPast.ie.

The Monstrous Movie Clip Of The Day: Dinosaur Wrangling Made Easy?

2012-01-23T21:59:00.000-08:00

Written By: Ken Hulsey

Way back in 1969 the master special effects Ray Harryhausen created one of the most spectacular stop-motion animation shots for the movie "The Valley of Gwangi". To the casual viewer this sequence may not seem like a hard illusion to pull off but to those who know how the scene was achieved it stands as a true testament to hours of hard work and an amazing attention to detail.

Here is the problem that was presented to Harryhausen, "How do you get live action cowboy actors on horseback to lasso an Allosaurus model (Gwangi) that is only about a foot tall and make it look real?" The effect was achieved by having the actors actually lasso a pole that was the same height as a real Allosaurus that was mounted to the back of a Jeep. The jeep and pole when filmed with the miniature dinosaur are on a back rear projection plate and hidden by the body of the model, and the portions of rope attached to it's body are painted wires that are matched with the real ropes for each individual frame by Harryhausen using his keen eye looking through the camera's viewfinder to ensure everything lined up perfectly. The model of Gwangi also had to be manipulated to make it look like the horses and their human riders were reacting to the dinosaurs movements and not vice versa. Overall the five minute sequence took almost a month to complete via this process.

Any brainy graduates in your tree?

2012-01-23T14:53:00.000-08:00

FindMyPast Ireland's fourth new release of 2012 sees the Register of Queen's Colleges Ireland 1849-1858 ready for searching online.

The Queen's Colleges of Ireland were established to create multi-denominational universities. Queen's Collegs of Belfast, Cork and Galway were formally incorporated in 1845 and received their first students four years later. The Register is a list of students for each college during its first decade.

Typically, each entry includes the name and religion of the student and the department in which he studied.

The Belfast list is the largest with 930 students, while there are 680 graduates listed for Cork and 245 for Galway.

While we're with FindMyPast, I'll just mention again that Find My Past UK is currently offering a 10% discount on new subscriptions. This offer lasts until the end of the month, is valid only on the UK site, and you need to enter the promotion code NEWYEAR12 when you sign up.

Female Werewolf Movie: A Film & Video Project

2012-01-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

by Armand Vaquer

Above, Donald F. Glut. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Writer/producer/director Donald F. Glut plans to make a "female werewolf movie" (as yet untitled).

He has set up a Kickstarter.com website to raise the necessary funds to make the movie. His goal on Kickstarter is to raise $175,000 in 60 days.

Says Glut:

My passion for movie-making began at age 9 when, in my Chicago backyard, I made my first of 41 amateur films. Decades later I realized my dream, producing/writing/directing (so far) 6 independent professional feature-length, campy/sexy horror and fantasy movies – DINOSAUR VALLEY GIRLS, SCARLET COUNTESS, THE MUMMY’S KISS, COUNTESS DRACULA’S ORGY OF BLOOD, THE MUMMY’S KISS: 2ND DYNASTY and, the most recent. BLOOD SCARAB.

Next up -- but requiring financing – is a sexy yet scary female werewolf movie (sorry, the title is still secret; I don’t want anyone snagging it) about the last werewolf in Transylvania who flees to the USA and starts a brothel (or den) of lusty female werewolves, a beautiful “lost girl” who becomes a member of her “pack,” a charismatic Native American psychic investigating the gruesome “full moon murders” and … oops!, I don’t want to give away too much of the plot.

The movie will shoot in Hollywood and nearby Southern California areas.

Financial backers will receive credits or benefits (depending on amount pledged).

Kickstarter.com is "the world's largest funding platform for creative projects."

To see Glut's Kickstarter.com page with all the details, go here.

Around the archives

2012-01-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

The Balfour Album, an outstanding collection of photos taken by Belfast photographer Robert John Welch in 1893-1895, has been added to europeana.eu. The latter is a site where cultural institutions from across Europe can upload, link and share their digital projects; some 20million items are accessible on the site.

Already available on NUI Galway's website, this new initiative will allow the collection to reach a wider audience. And it deserves to, because it includes some really wonderful images of Galway during the years when the Galway to Clifden Railway was being built. Here are men carrying curraghs across the beach, children resting beside a holy well, spinners outside a whitewashed cabin, as well as some marvellous landscape views.

The album, which was a gift to the former Chief Secretary for Ireland, Arthur J Balfour, in recognition of his support for the building of the railway, was presented to him a year after the railway opened. It's only 50-images strong, but its recent arrival on the wider European stage is a good excuse to take a look.
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The National Library of Ireland has published a report of a project that its Learning & Outreach department worked on last summer with a group of adults with intellectual disabilities.

This was the 5th annual such project, and the tricky subject of the Irish Famine was chosen, broken down into specific themes. Research was carried out into the type of meals the majority of Irish people ate, what their houses were like and the style of clothes they wore. Eviction and emigration, two such integral features of life during and after the Famine, were also studied.

Find out more about the six week project here.
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The National Archives of Ireland is revamping its website and improving its search capabilities. It looks great, really very impressive, and navigating around the site is now a lot, lot easier. However, I was a bit thrown to begin with when I typed "Census" into the search box and was returned with along list of documents about the Irish census but no obvious link to the searchable census database.

I found it after a while, under Quick Links on the home page. Trouble is, those quick links are 'below the fold' and I can't help think that many new visitors to the site won't spot them. They'll either do as I did, and type Census into the search box, or they'll click through to the Researching your Family Tree page where there's no mention of the Census.

Suggestion to the web developers: add a link to the census database from Researching your Family Tree page.

Suggestion to researchers: bookmark the direct link!
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National Archives (UK): I followed a link from I know not where (possibly Twitter) the other day and discovered a treat – a useful podcast on the subject of Irish land records.

Land records are often a bit of a minefield for beginner researchers. They're not as clear cut as census and bmd records. Best advise is to understand why the different records were created in the first place, as this often informs the best route for research. So I recommend taking some time out to get a clear idea of what's available rather than try the scattergun approach.

This podcast was first published in 2009 but has plenty of useful information that's worth listening to. Pull up a chair – it's 43 minutes long.
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Were any of your ancestors Freemen of Dublin?

2012-01-17T04:25:00.000-08:00

FindMyPast Ireland has today released a directory of the Freemen of Dublin City 1774-1824.

This directory derives from a nineteenth century printer’s galley which never reached publication.

The list covers almost 6000 men admitted to the Freedom of the City of Dublin between 1774 and 1824. It is predominately made up of tradesmen and craftsmen, including makers of furniture, silver and clocks but also includes masters of other branches of the fine and applied arts so it will be of interest to all family historians whose ancestors were artisans or tradesmen in the city.

Men were admitted to the Freedom of Dublin City in a number of ways. The abbreviations used in the directory are as follows:

B = Birth (signifying the eldest surviving son of a freeman)
S = Service (i.e. having duly served apprenticeship to a Dublin freeman of the relevant trade)
G.E. = Grace Especial (i.e. by special request, favour or recommendation)
Gratis = admitted by special arrangement and without payment of fees

NOTE: An earlier collection, with records from 1461-1491 and 1564-1774, is known as the Ancient Freemen of Dublin and can be searched free of charge at Dublin Heritage.

First IGP Archives update for 2012

2012-01-16T00:46:00.000-08:00

Sprinting into the New Year, Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives have uploaded the following records in the past two weeks.

All-Ireland - Military & Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary with no native county stated 1842 (JOHNSTON, BRENNAN)

Antrim - Military
1840-1841 Royal Irish Constabulary men

Armagh - Military
1840-1841 Royal Irish Constabulary men

Dublin - Headstones
Deansgrange Cemetery, St. Patricks Section, pt 10
Mount Jerome - Parts 31 - 35

Fermanagh - Church
Derryvullan (CoI) Marriages 1847-1903 (Tirkennedy, Enniskillen)

Tipperary - Military
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary men

Sligo - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary men

Wexford - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary men

Wicklow - Military, Headstones
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary men
Glenealy Cemetery

Irish Genealogy Toolkit is the Research Help partner of Ireland Genealogy Projects Archive.

Emigrant ancestors in South Ontario?

2012-01-13T03:12:00.000-08:00

FindMyPast Ireland has today released travel and migration papers that will be of interest to anyone whose Irish family history takes them to Southern Ontario, Canada.

For brevity, the collection has been given the working title of Canadian Emigration: 1826 Parliamentary papers. But the official title, though worded in typical civil servant style, actually gives a clearer indication of what is within: Return of the Assessed Value of the Townships in the Newcastle District in Western Canada, which were settled by Pauper Emigrants from Ireland, between the years 1825 and 1828 at the public expense: Of the number of various Emigration Societies formed in Canada in 1840, by Canadian Proprietors desirous of Settling Emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland upon their Estates. (1848).

This parliamentary paper publishes the correspondence and extensive supporting documents of the British government with the Governor-General of Canada concerning the settlement of poor Irish in the Newcastle District in 1826, or 'Mr. Robinson’s Emigrants' as they became known. This was the result of a Commons request for the publicly funded settlement.

Initially the Governor-General sent updated valuations of the relevant townships (Ashpodel, Douro, Dummer, Emily, Ennismore, Ops, Otonabee and Smith) which had since be designated as part of the District of Colbourne. But he subsequently sent a detailed breakdown for each plot settled by Irish paupers in 1826 by Peter Robinson. Typical entry details include:

Name of the 1826 settler
Number in the settler’s family
Lot number
Concession
Acreage
Number of acres cleared by 1847
Number of horses and horned cattle on the plot
Name of present occupants on lot
Relationship of occupants to settler
Other critical pieces of information

In total around 260 plots are covered, giving details of over 700 people.

It's a small record collection, but beautifully formed for those whose ancestors were among Mr Robinson's settlers.

London's Electoral Registers 1835-1965 now online

2012-01-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

Major genealogy database provider Ancestry.co.uk has added 139 million records from the London Electoral Registers to its UK and Ireland Collection.

Dating from 1835 to 1965, and covering the old counties of London and Middlesex, the collection will be of interest to most Irish researchers because it's a very rare family from Ireland that has no link with the English capital.

The collection contains lists compiled each year of people (and their residences) who were eligible to vote in local and parliamentary government elections. It's worth knowing a little about the history of universal suffrage in England as it may help to explain why you can't find an ancestor before 1928.

Restricting eligibility to those who owned property over and above certain financial values was the main means of keeping voting rights within a tight, select class from 1832. However, by the end of WW1, when disenfranchised (and armed!) soldiers were returning from the trenches, and the Bolshevik Revolution was demonstrating the potential for disaffection among the masses, this rich and privileged group realised the halcyon days in an exclusive club had passed.

In 1918, property owning restrictions were lifted for nearly all men over the age of 21. They were also lifted for women aged 30 and over who were married to householders or held a university degree.

It was not until 1928 that universal suffrage for adults (21+) was achieved.

Because they were updated every year, the electoral registers can help you not just to pinpoint your ancestor as he/she moved around London, but also to find out about their life between the 10-yearly census. And if you've got ancestors that always managed to avoid being recorded on census night, they may have found it trickier to evade registration on an annual basis.

The Electoral Registers collection originates from the London Metropolitan Archives, with whom Ancestry is involved in a huge digitisation project. Already more than 11million parish register entries have been made available, as have Bishops Transcripts, Registers from Non-Conformist congregations and Board of Guardians registers which include workhouse records.

School admission and discharge registers, land tax records and wills are still in the pipe.

Cork City non-conformist baptisms – online and free.

2012-01-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

Like most researchers, every now and again I tumble across some records that have been quietly and freely available for some time. That's what happened this week when I followed a link from the Irish Genealogical Research Society's facebook page to the Unitarian Church of Cork. What a treasure trove for those with non-conformist ancestors!

In a database of records dating from 1717 to 1900 are 4,500 baptisms. While the majority of entries don't give an address for the new parents, nor, most unfortunately, the mother's maiden name, many provide exciting additional information rarely seen in church registers.

The following will give you an idea of the potential of these records:

Henry Alexander was baptised by Mr Hinks on 27 January 1811. He was the son of Henry and Mary Leith. A note in the margin adds that Henry junior is his father's 10th son.
James, the son of James and Janet Ferrod, was baptised on 3 May 1749. His father is described as a Warwickshire (England) man but a soldier in the Highland Regiment. The family is noted as 'going to America'.
The daughter of Amos Varian, Hester, was baptised on 29 May 1826, her birth 'occasioning the death of her mother', Dorcas.
A set of triplets, Hector, Anne and Ellinor, was baptised on 23 February 1752 by Mr Bryan. They were the children of John and Christian (sic) Mackay.

A significant proportion of the fathers were soldiers and in most post-1750 entries their rank and/or regiment is given (ie Drummer Major 78th, Capt in Carr's Regt). Other entries carry clues such as 'their first (child) here' or 'first by his present wife'.

These records were discovered by members of the congregation in 2010 and uploaded to the Church's website 'about a year ago'. It is hoped that Marriage Registers will be added at some time in the future.

The Unitarian Church, Princes Street, is the oldest place of worship in Cork City. Building commenced in 1715 and the first service was held on 4 August 1717. Images of the registers and the Excel database of baptisms can be downloaded here.

A miscellany...

2012-01-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to catch up on news for the last two weeks and, with this last round up of items, I believe I've almost got there! Almost.

Lunchtime nostalgia on film: The Irish Film Institute is running free screenings of Radharc films made in Ireland between 1961 and 1996. Often provocative, these archive films offer insights into social and religious practices. There's also an interview with Christy Brown and the first film ever made in an Irish prison. At between 20 and 30 minutes long, these are lunchtime perfect if you're near Temple Bar on a cold, frosty January day (Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturday).

Genealogy Records for Westmeath: Flyleaf Press will be publishing a new title, Tracing your Westmeath Ancestors, in April. Written by Gretta Connell of the Westmeath Public Library Service, the book provides a comprehensive guide to tracing ancestors in the county, which includes the towns of Mullingar and Athlone.

So what are Marriage Bonds?: If you saw my recent post about the online release of Clonfert's Marriage Licences by FindMyPast.ie, you might be wondering just what is or was a marriage bond. Fiona Fitzsimons of Eneclann stepped up to the FMP blog with an expert explanation to answer all your questions, here.

TV show starts tonight: Starting tonight on TG4 at 10pm is a second series of Who Lived In My House?. Each episode of the 12-parter examines the architectural evidence of an individual property and speaks to families, neighbours and local historians to discover the characters who crossed the threshold in the past. The opening show features Coolatore House, a Victorian pile near Rosemount, county Westmeath, that links the ancient kings of Ireland to Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky and Shirley Bassey. Repeated on Sunday at 9pm.

The Coming of the Railways: Too late for the main Diary listing, I've received news from Foxrock Local History Club that their main lecture at next week's meeting (Tuesday 17 January, 8pm) is on the subject The Coming of the Railways. The Lecturer will be Brian MacAongusa. In addition, a short talk on the Voting Irregularities in Coldblow Lane, Donnybrook will be given by Greg Peppard. Venue: Foxrock Pastoral Centre, at the junction of Kill Lane /Bray Rd. Admission €4.

North American Connections

2012-01-12T07:31:00.000-08:00

A small collection of US and Canadian items has come my way over the last couple of weeks.

New York Drop In: Joe Buggy, a professional genealogist from Kilkenny now working in New York, will be providing free guidance to family historians at a new Drop-in service at the New York Irish Center. The service will run on Wednesday afternooons, from 1-4pm, starting on 1st February. Details.

Irish American Museum for Washington DC: There are Irish American centres, museums and clubs all over the US but the creation of a NATIONAL museum in the nation's capital is of a rather more ambitious design.The intention is to create a major cultural institution with a library, performance and workshop facilities, a cinema, a national wall of honour, exhibition space, oral history centre, restaurants and (of course) a gift shop. More.

1940 US Census release in April: The US federal census taken on 1 April 1940, which contains the details of 132million people, is due for release on 2 April 2012. It's going to be released to the public in digital image format on the US National Archives website first but you'll need to know the names and likely addresses of ancestors before you can do much with it in this format (there's some advance advice here about identifying the correct Electoral Districts). However, it probably won't take much time for the big-name genealogy databases (Ancestry, Family Search, FindMyPast etc) to get the returns indexed and transcribed ready for online searching.

Irish ancestry in the USA: Recently released statistics gleaned from the 2010 US Census show that the Irish are the 4th largest ethnic group in the United States. They represent 12.26% of the total population, behind Hispanic/Latino (16.4%), German (15.48%) and African (13.47%). Massuchusetts, where 1.52million people claim Irish or Irish-Scots ancestry, is the state with the highest percentage (23.96%), followed by New Hampshire (21.47%). But California has the highest Irish-American population in pure numerical terms, with 2.8million. More.

The Irish in Newfoundland: Here's an interesting film about the Irish in Newfoundland, most of whom set sail from Passage East in Waterford on the long journey to St Johns. While the work was originally seasonal, permanent settlers from Ireland began arriving from the middle of the 18th century, and have left a distinct legacy on the area.

Gold panning in the Chief Secretary's Office

2012-01-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

The second of last week's announcements about new records came from the National Archives with the release of the Registered Papers of the Chief Secretary's Office.

Having now had the chance to spend some time mooching around the new website – www.csorp.nationalarchives.ie – I can see that this is another valuable addition to the online family history mix and every researcher should take time to see whether a gem is hidden within.

The first tranche of the Collection covers just five years (1818-1822 inclusive) and the 'Context' page is worth reading for an overview of the role and political position of the Chief Secretary. While the Registered Papers include material relating to all aspects of the administration of Ireland, a large proportion is made up of letters and petitions from individuals and organisations on a wide variety of topics; some topics are of national importance but there are lots of personal stories and plights concerning employment, health, unfair incarceration or other punishment, smuggling, religious intolerance, neighbour disputes.

The collection doesn't have the size or the scope to promise a find for everyone, however. And due to the nature of the beast, it can sometimes seem a bit Dublin-centric. But if you find a reference to an ancestor within the collection, you'll likely be delighted with the colour it adds to your research.

For those who, like me, panned for gold and came out empty-handed, there is still potential within the papers. Perhaps neighbours are mentioned, or local schools, employers or bigwigs, or events that affected the communities in which our ancestors lived. These papers are very much of their time, and tell us a lot about the social scene of the day.

Here are some examples:

In a three-page letter dated 21 December 1819, Marcus Tierney of Dublin, who was staying at Gosson's Hotel, Bolton Street, requested Earl Talbot, the Lord Lieutenant, to consider him for a government appointment. He states he was disowned by his parents following his refusal 'from remorse of conscience' to take holy orders as a Roman Catholic priest, and his joining the Established Church.

Thomas Halpenny of Leaklodge, Co Leitrim, wrote to the Lord Lieutenant for an advance of £500 for public works to alleviate the local peasantry. The public works he had in mind were the erection of cottages, the draining of bogs, and the building of roads. His detailed request was made in a three-page letter dated 5 June 1822.

A petition was sent to the Chief Secretary's Office by John and Ester Hill of 7 Eden Quay, Dublin, requesting the discharge from Richmond General Penitentiary of fourteen-year-old Garrett Doyle, their employee. The letter, dated May 1822, claims he had no previous convictions and had thrown a stone in self defence at a 'servant man'. The petition includes a character reference from Reverend Henry Murray, the Chaplain of the Foundling Hospital, Dublin.

A letter dated 29 October 1821 from Thomas Taylor, Earl of Bectire MP, recommended the case of Arthur Murphy of Navan, Co Meath, and requested patronage for his plight. He details his loyalty during the 1798 rebellion and his family's poverty, and requests the Chief Secretary's assistance to secure him government employment. The letter was signed by 14 individuals.

Five items (nine pages) of correspondence dating from 28 November 1820 to 13 January 1921 tell the story of Tohn Teevan, a farmer from County Cavan, who was requesting release from Cavan Gaol and redress. He asked for bail to avoid being 'brought to a state of beggary and ruination' after being charged wtih killing and feloniously taking seven geese in August 1820 which were owned by Mrs Ann Nesbitt of Derrcadis, Cavan. He claimed the charges were maliciously raised by Hugh Tierney, who he describes as a 'most infamous character'.

The registered papers for 1823 and 1824 will be added to the site in due course.

What goodies might the Military Archives hold?

2012-01-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

Last week, MilitaryArchives.ie announced that its second online database will be from the Bureau of Military History 1913-1921 Collection and will be live
by March.

Because I was preoccupied with family responsibilities at the time, I wasn't able to delve much further into the announcement other than to learn that the collection includes over 36,000 pages of witness statements relating to key military events between the stated dates. It was also clear that the release will not include any personnel or service records.

I've now had a chance to dig about in the website and, while we obviously have to wait some weeks for the actual statements to become available, I found an index to the collection, which consists of 1773 witness statements. Here are a few pickings from the list of witnesses:

James Doyle, Manager of the Gresham Hotel. 1920. Witness to the Execution of British Agents on 21 November 1920.
Mrs Nellie Donnelly, nee Gifford, sister of Grace, the widow of Joseph Plunkett, executed in 1916.
Albert Desborough, a Lewis Gun instructor in the British Army, Dublin 1916.
Timothy Tierney, Captain IRA Tipperary 1921.

Reading the personal accounts of people involved in this turbulent period of Ireland's history is sure to be fascinating. This collection will also be of huge interest to genealogists and others whose family lore tells of involvement in battles and skirmishes and other acts of daring-do (no matter what the uniform).

MilitaryArchives.ie is the website of the State's Defence Forces. The archives are held in Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines and include the personnel records of those who served in the military of the Irish state from 1922 to the late 1970s, as well as material relating to the Irish Volunteers and the Independence movement 1913-1921. It does not hold records of Irish people who served in other armed forces ie the British Army. The Reading Room is open by appointment only.

There are no plans to upload personnel files to the website either now or in the future. These can be viewed in person by next of kin only.

Now's the time to enrol for a genealogy course.

2012-01-10T07:01:00.000-08:00

Judging by the number of new courses starting this term, it seems family history research is maintaining its popularity.

Here's a collection of courses due to begin in the next week or so. If you want to sign up, make contact with the institutions quickly, not least because the classes may be over-subscribed. The enrolment and payment process usually need to have been completed in advance of the first class.

Dublin

Family History for Advanced Beginners, with Tom Coughlin at Newpark Comp School, Blackrock. Tuesdays, 7.30-9.45pm. 8-week course. €105. Starts 31 January. This is a follow on to the Autumn term course ndash; some knowledge and experience of genealogy research would be a definite advantage. Details: tomcoughlan@tomcoughlan.net.

Irish Genealogy - How to research your family history, with Claire Bradley at Malahide Community School. Mondays, 7-9pm. 10-week course. How to start, where to go, and how to record what you find. Topics covered include the Census, bmd records, church records, wills and newspapers. No prior knowledge required but familiarity with a computer is desirable. €110. Enrolment 24 January or at www.feepay.ie. Starts 30 January. Details: adulted@malahidecs.ie.

Diploma in Family History, in conjunction with the Association of Professional Genealogists of Ireland (APGI). Independent Colleges, Dawson Street. Tuesdays, 6.30-9.30pm. 12-week course. Provides an introduction to the records, research skills and record keeping involved in genealogy. All lecturers are members of APGI. Course co-ordinator, Paul Gorry MAPGI. Starts 7 February. €895. Details: 01 672 5058.

Family History, with Margaret Bonar at Donahies Community School. Mondays, 7.30-9.30pm. 6-week course. Explore your family history using accessible and reasonable sources. Basic computer skills essential. Starts 30 January. €80. Details: donahiesadulted@gmail.com or 01 848 2217.

Genealogy - an Introduction to Researching your Family Tree, with Catherine Delaney. People's College, 31 Parnell Square. Tuesdays, 7-8.30pm. 10-week course. A new course for beginners. Provides a background to the resources available including census and church records. How to use the National Library, National Archives, Gilbert Library and GRO, and Internet Resources. Starts 24 January. €70. Details: 01-8735879 or info@peoplescollege.ie.

Irish Genealogy, in conjunction with the Genealogical Society of Ireland. Lecturer: John Hamrock of Ancestors Network. Saturday mornings. 2.5 hours each class. 6-week course. Topics covered include the principles of genealogy, computers and the Internet, place names and surnames, the census, civil registration, valuation and church records. Includes guided tours to important centres of research. Held at the GSI's Archive and Research Centre, Carlisle Pier, Dun Laoghaire. Starts 14 January. €300. Details: 087 050 5296.

Cork

Irish Genealogy, with Tony McCarthy at UCC. Tuesdays, 7-9pm. 10-week course. Three stranded course examining 12 important genealogical sources and how to use them; approaching research in methodical way; and developing an understanding of the historical and social context of our ancestors' lives. Starts 24 January. €230. Details: 021 490 4717, shortcourses@ucc.ie.

Belfast

Investigating your Family History, at Belfast Metropolitan College. Thursdays, 7-9pm, at Ashfield Girls School starting 26 January, ends 22 April; or Mondays, 7-9pm at BMC, Chicester Avenue, starting 23 January, ending 13 May. How to start your research; explore how different types of documents and source materials may be approached and understood; Internet resources. £72. Details: 02890 265 265.

Post edited 14 Jan to include Tom Coughlin's course at Newpark School in Blackrock.

Discount January marches on: Ancestry war records

2012-01-06T13:54:00.000-08:00

The rush for database providers to offer New Year discount continues!

Ancestry.co.ukis introducing a Saturday Special throughout the month. On 7, 14, 21 and 28 January, all WW1 Service and Pension Records and Medical Index cards for British Army soldiers will be available for searching and viewing for free.

About 200,000 Irishmen are estimated to have served during the campaign.

Huge reductions to view Engand & Wales 1911 Census

2012-01-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

Find My Past is offering vastly reduced access to the 1911 census for England and Wales until the end of the month.

Instead of paying 30 credits to view an original image of a census return, or 10 credits for a transcript, the January costs will be 10 credits for an image and 5 credits for a transcript.

Such big reductions make this an offer worth taking up if you've got ancestors who crossed the Irish Sea to England or Wales.

The discount has been introduced to coincide with the availability of previously 'redacted' details. Under the 100-year rule, health information was not allowed to be made public. Nor was information about infants having been born in prison. Such details can now be seen by any researcher.

As announced in yesterday's post, the database provider is also running a 10% discount for its main collections. You can access both the dedicated 1911 census site (where the reduced prices will automatically apply until 31 January), and the main collections (where you need to use the promotion code NEWYEAR12 to receive the 10% discount) at Find My Past.co.uk.

Records from Clonfert diocese now online

2012-01-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

FindMyPast Ireland has released an online collection from Clonfert diocese relating to Wills, Administrations and Marriage Records from 1663 to 1857.

This will be of huge interest to those with ancestors from the east of Co.Galway, parts of Co.Roscommon and a small section of Co. Offaly on the east bank of the River Shannon (see list of the civil parishes below).

Details in the Marriage Licence Bonds Index include the name of the intended bride and bridegroom and the year of the bond. They refer to marriages celebrated in the Established Church (ie Church of Ireland) only, so if your ancestors were RC or Presbyterian, you won’t find their marriages in this collection.

Pre-1858, Wills were proved either in the Diocesan Court (if the deceased owned property in only one diocese) or in the Prerogative Court. This regulation applied to both Catholics and Protestants, so a large number of Catholics appear in the Indexes to Wills.

If a person died intestate prior to 1858, their affairs had to be settled by their next of kin or his principal creditor in the Diocesan or Prerogative Courts. Before the Bishop granted the administration, the administrator was required to enter into a bond of a specified sum as security that they would justly administer the effects.

Details in this index includes the name and address of the deceased and the year in which administration was granted.

The original marriage and wills/administration bonds were destroyed in the Public Record Office fire of 1922, so all that survives are indexes.

The civil parishes covered by this collection are:

• Abbeygormacan, Co.Galway
• Aughrim, Co.Roscommon
• Ballymacward, Co.Galway
• Ballynakill, Co.Galway
• Bullaun, Co.Galway
• Clonfert, Co.Galway
• Cloonkeen, Co.Galway
• Clontuskert, Co.Galway
• Creagh, Co.Roscommon
• Donanaghty, Co.Galway
• Duniry, Co.Galway
• Fahy, Co.Galway
• Fohanagh, Co.Galway
• Kilchreest, Co.Galway
• Kilcloony, Co.Galway
• Kilconickny, Co.Galway
• Kilconierin, Co.Galway
• Kilcloony, Co.Galway
• Kilconnell, Co.Galway
• Killaan, Co.Galway
• Killaghtan, Co.Galway
• Killeenadeema, Co.Galway
• Killimordaly, Co.Galway
• Killinan, Co.Galway
• Killora, Co.Galway
• Killoran, Co.Galway
• Kilmalinoge, Co.Galway
• Kilquain, Co.Galway
• Kilrickill, Co.Galway
• Kilteskill, Co.Galway
• Kiltormer, Co.Galway
• Kiltullagh, Co.Galway
• Lickmolassy, Co.Galway
• Loughrea, Co.Galway
• Lusmagh, Co.Offaly
• Meelick, Co.Galway
• Taghmaconnell, Co.Roscommon
• Tiranascragh, Co.Galway
• Tynagh, Co.Galway

Playing Catch Up

2012-01-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

With personal issues having dominated the final two weeks of the old year, I’m now playing catch up with recent Irish genealogy news. So, here’s one of my occasional ‘bits and bobs’ posts to help get both you and me back up to full speed.

I’ll launch in, in no particular order:

FindMyPast Ireland has added Thom’s Irish Who’s Who 1923 to its growing list of databases. The publishers, Alexander Thom & Co., were best known for their Dublin City and County Directories but they made this one side-step into a list of biographical notes of prominent Irish men and women.

Containing the names and life story of just 2,500 famous people (including WB Yeats, Eamonn De Valera and Micheal Collins), this addition will be of limited interest to the majority of family historians, but I’m never going to complain at additional resources being made available!

One teeny surprise I received when investigating this latest database was just how many directories (45) are now in the FMP Ireland stable. My own family name, which is quite rare and is historically found only in West Cork, makes 30 appearances in FMP Ireland’s directories between 1846 and 1899.
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A new website – militaryarchives.ie – was launched last month to deliver greater access to the state’s military archive. Unless you’re a great lover of maps and architectural drawings, the launch batch of online goodies about the construction of military barracks from 1830 to 1980 won’t have got your toes tingling but a radio interview on RTE’s News at One yesterday suggests this site is worth watching.

By March, the site intends to upload some 36,000 pages of witness statements relating to the key military events that took Ireland from 1913 to Independence in 1921.

I’ll delve into the site in greater detail when I’ve got full Internet access and see what else I can discover about what appears to be a tantalising new online collection.
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You may also have heard about the Registered Papers of the Chief Secretary’s Office going online on a dedicated section of the National Archives website. At first glance I can’t see that there’s much the genealogist will get excited about (although the papers are obviously of fabulous historical value), but I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve had a more leisurely browse. I’ll report later if it seems to warrant the interest of family historians.

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Eneclann has a Winter Sale on, offering almost everything in their online cd and book store at 50% off. I know many people wait for these kind of reductions to come around before they feel they can afford to buy, so it’s worth taking a browse.

A couple of examples: Brian J Cantwell’s Memorials of the Dead, Collected Works for €35.53 inc VAT, and WW1 Irish Soldiers – Their Final Testament at €15.20 inc VAT. The latter contains the service history of 9,000 wills of Irish soldiers who died during WW1, and the names and details of their beneficiaries.

The sale ends on Sunday 8 January.
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This week sees the launch of Titanic 100 Cobh 2012, a year-long centenary commemoration and tribute to the Titanic, the people of her time, and the town (then called Queenstown) where the ship made her last port of call.

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Find My Past.co.uk is offering a month-long subscription discount of 10%. Just enter the promotion code NEWYEAR12 when you sign up.

Just as an aside, you might like to know that the requirement for the providers of online access to the 1911 Census for England and Wales to redact ‘sensitive information’ (such as details of infirmities or data about very young children being in prison) ended yesterday. The full returns, with all redactions reinstated, can now be viewed at FindMyPast.co.uk, making that discount all the more attractive!

Founding members elected to APGI Fellowship

2012-01-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

The Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland (APGI) has announced the election of two of its members to the Association's Fellowship, the greatest honour APGI can bestow. Both new Fellows have been involved in professional genealogy since the 1960s and, as founder members of APGI they played a significant part in moulding the organisation in its early days. Together they represent the Belfast and Dublin roots of APGI. They are:

John McCabe, FAPGI, was involved in professional genealogical research in Belfast from the 1960s, originally working with the Ulster Scot Historical Society (later the Ulster Historical Foundation). Later he became a self-employed genealogist.

In 1986 he was one of the prime movers behind the establishment of APGI in Belfast, and he played a central role in encouraging the formation of the Dublin Section, speaking at its first meeting. Later he served for many years on the overall Council of APGI, and as Vice-President.

In 1988 he gave the Houston Memorial Lecture at the Ontario Genealogical Society’s annual Seminar. There, he presented information on a detailed list of some 700 mainly Irish families that had settled in the Ottawa Valley by 1829. He had uncovered the list at the Public Record Office (now The National Archives) in Kew, England. It was received at the time as ‘the most important genealogical document on the Ottawa Valley to surface in recent years’. With the permission of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, it was subsequently published in the Ontario Genealogical Society’s journal, Families, as ‘The McCabe List’.

Unearthing hidden genealogical sources such as that list has been the trademark of John McCabe’s career. Though he retired from genealogical work on behalf of clients some years ago, he continues to research the life and career of William Putnam McCabe, a leading United Irishman in 1790s Belfast.

Henry McDowell, FAPGI, FIGRS, worked in publishing in London before returning to Ireland in the 1960s to become a full-time genealogist. While in London, he spent many hours at the Society of Genealogists Library. In Ireland he settled in Celbridge, Co. Kildare.

He served on the editorial committee of the Irish Genealogist and contributed to the American edition of Burke's Irish Family Records. He spoke at the XIIIth International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences in London in 1976 and at the very first Australasian Genealogical Congress.

As well as being a founder member of APGI, he is a longstanding member of AGRA (the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives). He served on the Dublin steering committee of APGI and was President of APGI for 2001-2003.

In 1989 he was elected a Fellow of the Irish Genealogical Research Society, and he served as President of the Kildare Archaeological Society for five years, 2000-2004. Henry is a life member of the Society of Genealogists, and his interests also include the Irish Country Furniture Society.

APGI is the only accreditation body in Irish genealogy and is also a representative organisation open to those conducting genealogical research professionally throughout the island of Ireland. It was established in 1986 to set standards and protect the interests of both genealogists and their clients. Over the years its role has evolved and broadened. For the past quarter-century it has been at the forefront of developments in Irish ancestral research and heritage-related tourism.

APGI is an All-Ireland body. Back in 1986 most professional researchers were based, by necessity, within easy reach of the national record repositories in Dublin and Belfast. Today there are members in Clare, Cork, Derry, Kerry and Offaly, as well as the greater Dublin and Belfast areas.

Last IGP updates for 2011

2012-01-02T16:16:00.000-08:00

Although they say they have been taking it easy over the holidays, the folk at Ireland Genealogy Project Archives still found time in the last two weeks to add a few more items.

CLARE Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St Flannan's Cathedral, Graveyard (additional - Scanlan & Hare)

CORK Genealogy Archives - Royal Irish Constabulary
Patrick Ready (Riedy) 1848

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones:Glasnevin, Dublin
Glasnevin Cemetery Part 10 (partial)

GALWAY Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary Enlistees

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives - Obituaries
Assorted From Norwich Bulletin

MAYO Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary enlistees

MONAGHAN Genealogy Archives - Military
1842 & 1844 Royal Irish Constabulary enlistees

ROSCOMMON Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

WATERFORD Genealogy Archives
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary enlistees
Obituaries - Jeffrey Power & Mary Russell,1827

Irish Genealogy Toolkit is the Research Help partner of Irish Genealogy Projects Archives.

January diary of events

2012-01-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

Many 2012 programmes have yet to be published so the listing of January events below may well expand over the course of the month. I’ll post any extras as and when I hear of them. For now, the diary looks pretty good, with a nice mix of lectures covering local and national social and family history themes.

All month: Titanic Exhibition, Terenure Library, Dublin 6. Free. Open during normal library hours.

Tuesday 3 January: The Irish Navvy, with Joe Kelly. Ballinascreen Historical Society. Venue: The Rural College, Derrynoid, Draperstown, Co Derry. 8.30pm.

Monday 9 January: Recent excavations at Claregalway, with Brian Mac Domhnaill. Galway Archealogical & Historical Society. Harbour Hotel, The Docks, Galway. 8pm. Details: gahs@eircom.net.

Tuesday 10 January: Portadown Foundry, with Caldwell McClure. Craigavon Historical Society. Civic Centre, Craigavon, 7.45pm.

Wednesday 11 January: The War of Independence – Four glorious years or squalid sectarian conflict? Another History Ireland Hedge School, promising provocative and interactive debate, with David Fitzpatrick and Eve Morrison (both TCD), John M Regan (University of Dundee) and John Borgonova (UCC). Editor Tommy Graham in the chair. All welcome and no booking required. 7pm National Library of Ireland, Kildare St, Dublin.

Friday 13 January: Loyalist or Royalist? Identity in Loyalist Murals, with Bill Rolston, Director of Transitional Justice Institute. 1pm to 2pm. Free. No booking required. Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast. 0845 608 0000.

Wednesday 18 January: Ballyraggot in the newspapers, with Seamus Brennan. Kilkenny Archaeological Society. Rothe House, Parliament St, Kilkenny. 8pm. Details: 056 772 2893.

Monday 23 January: Obama’s Irish Relatives, with Professor Brian Walker. Donaghadee Historical Society. Donaghadee Sailing Club, 20 Shore Street. Co. Down. £2, including tea and biscuits. All welcome.Details: 028 9188 4790.

Wednesday 25 January: Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases - Medical and health records at PRONI, with David Huddleston. Linen Hall Library, Belfast. 1pm. Free. Booking essential.

Thursday 26 January: How the Titanic touched my family, with Martina Devlin. Titanic Lecture Series. Can visit Titanic Exhibition at the Transport Museum from 6pm, prior to the lecture. Rail Gallery in the Indoor Transport Museum, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. 7.30 to 8.30pm. Free, but must book: 028 9042 8428.

Thursday 26 January: Crime – Exploring Local History Lecture Series, with Dr Janice Holmes, Dr Olwen Purdue and Dr Barry Sheen from OUI and with PRONI staff presenting examples from collections. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Quarter, Belfast. 6.30pm to 8pm. Free but booking required at proni@dcalni.gov.uk.

Thursday 26 January: Local archives and memorabilia with special emphasis on war medals. Strabane Historical Society. Stabane Library. 7.30pm. Details: 028 7188 3686.

Friday 27 January: A nostalgic look at the Linen Industry, part of the Take 30 series of digital film presentations. Killyleagh Library, Killyleagh, Co Down. 1.15 to 1.45pm. Free. No booking necessary. Details: 028 4482 8407.

Saturday 28 January: The Planter and the Gael: Explorations in Irish Ethnic History. Lecture with Liam Kennedy, Professor of Economic and Social History at Queen’s University, Belfast, reflecting on the role of ethnicity and relations between native and newcomer in Irish history since the early 17th century. Venue: The Mellon Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster American Folk Park, Belfast, 11am to 2.30pm, £12 includes refreshments and finger buffet lunch.

Monday 30 January: Beginners Irish genealogy course starts at Malahide Community School, with Claire Bradley. €110 for ten weeks. Enrolment is on Tuesday 24 January for those who wish to discuss course in advance. Details.

Monday 30 January: Team Sports in East Tyrone 1884-1934, with Donal McAnallen. Stewartstown & District Local History Society. Crieve Centre, The Square, Stewartstown. 8pm. All welcome.

Best laid plans, and all that!

2012-01-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

The festive season didn’t quite go the way it was meant to, with my mam having to have an operation and now needing me to assume eldest daughter’s duties and play nurse while she recovers at her home.

So 2012 starts with me 120 miles from home, husband and broadband, and with a real stinker of a cold to boot (all sympathy gratefully received). Not the best state of mind to be preparing the promised Review of 2011 and a report of what the next 12 months might bring our way.

Since the only Internet access I’ve got right now comes via a neighbour whose goodwill I don’t want to exhaust, I’m going to put those planned posts on the back burner. They may languish there for some time. They may even quietly disappear because I’m anxious to get the new year started and there’s already a good crop of activities – lectures, exhibitions etc – to look forward to. I’ll be posting a diary for January shortly and I’ll aim to post a ‘Bits and Bobs’ update tomorrow.

All being well, normal service should be resumed by next week.

And with that thought, I'll wish you all a very Happy New Year.

It's Christmas — and it's all good news!

2011-12-22T00:09:00.000-08:00

Just in time to play Santy, FindMyPast.ie has announced a discount of 10% on all subscription purchased at any point from today until the end of the festive celebrations.

The intention is to allow more researchers access to the nearly 10 million records held on the site and to launch Start Your Family Tree Week with a seasonal hurrah, even though it doesn't officially begin until the 26th.

Each day from St. Stephen's day to New Year's Day, FMP.ie will be giving out hints and tips to help new researchers make early progress with their Irish genealogy. They will be delivering charts, interview guides and plenty of advice to help you along the way. There will also be festive challenges and spot prizes via facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

The discount will be valid until 2nd January.

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Glasnevin Museum, which won the international THEA award for Themed Entertainment in March (the first cemetery to do so), has been nominated for the 2012 European Museum Award.

The Museum is run by Glasnevin Trust, which last month won CIGO's 2012 Award for Excellence in Genealogy (you can read the story here).

Here's wishing them good luck for a hat-trick.

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The long awaited free church records from Co Monaghan, which were due to appear on IrishGenealogy.ie in October, are still in the pipe, according to the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht.

After a couple of dashed hopes for upload earlier in the year, the Monaghan collection did not appear with the last batch of new records (for Dublin and Cork) two months ago. Ominously, there was no mention of them either.

When RootsIreland subsequently added Monaghan records to its pay-to-view site, many researchers were concerned that the project to deliver them free had been shelved. The deafening silence from IrishGenealogy.ie on the matter reinforced this opinion.

So, the news that the records will be online and free in 'early 2012' is very welcome. Even if the 'early' bit should probably be taken with a pinch of salt!

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As it's Christmas, I hope you'll forgive me a little indulgence. I wanted to announce that the first of a series of guest articles by yours truly is now live on the Certificate of Irish Heritage website.

This first one deals with locating the townland of your ancestors, something that often proves the greatest obstacle to the descendants of Irish emigrants. There are more articles waiting in the wings about the Irish census, Griffiths Valuation etc, and they'll be appearing in the New Year.

Okay, that's my personal promotion over with for the year, and this is probably the last you'll hear from me till after Christmas. Have a great time, all of you. I'll be back with a review of the year next week.

Mid-December update from IGP Archives

2011-12-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

The goose may be getting fat but the hardworking folk at Ireland Genealogy Project Archives haven't slackened in the month so far. Maybe they'll take a well-deserved little rest over the next couple of weeks.

DERRY, Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Glasnevin - Part 9

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Church
Derryvullan (CoI) Births 1878-1916 (Tirkennedy, Enniskillen)

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives - Obituaries, Military & Constabulary
Assorted Obituaries
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

LONGFORD Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

LOUTH Genealogy Archives
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

MAYO Genealogy Archives - Land Records
Encumbered Estate property of CHARLES BLAKE, Esq.(Coolcon and Garrymore) 1852
Encumbered Estate property of CHARLES BLAKE, Esq.(Carraskeane) 1852
Encumbered Estate property of CHARLES BLAKE, Esq.1852.(Clonkeen, Curramore, Ballyglass, Knockanroe, Ballinphuil & Gortnanning)

OFFALY (Kings) Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

It's Christmas shopping time

2011-12-13T00:06:00.000-08:00

I've finally given in and accepted that Christmas is coming. Can't say I'm yet in full festive mood — that will come when I get the decorations up this weekend — but with December ticking away, it is time to start considering some genealogy-focussed gifts.

There are definitely some goodies out there. Here's my selection:

Subscription to FindMyPast.ie: Why not treat your much loved family historian to a subscription to Ireland's very own specialist database provider? Come to that, why not treat yourself?! The website carries hundreds of thousands of records that you won't find on any other online service.

There's a wide spread of options to suit your bank balance. An annual subscription comes in at €59.95 while the 6-month alternative costs €37.95. There are also two Pay-as-you-go options: 300 credits for €24.95 or 100 credits for €9.95.

Eneclann has some great stocking filler cd-roms and books for under €15. Those that caught my eye were The Agricultural Labourer, which comes in four parts (1894), each costing €9.86, William Carleton's Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, 1853, at the same price, and Deserted Children (Dublin) (1854) for €4.48.

The company also has some superb selections of specialist publications arranged by county of interest. Take a look here.

Or what about a gift subscription to History Ireland? I may have mentioned how much I love this magazine once or twice before. I ought to be on commission (I'm not, by the way.) It's a great read, with authoritative but readable features, news, reviews and lots more. I relish its arrival every two months. A one-year sub to an address in Ireland or Northern Ireland is €33.50, a bit more for overseas.

Pure Cork: This wonderful book of 350 images will be enthusiastically received by anyone with Cork heritage. The author, Michael Lenihan, has been collecting old photos and postcards for several decades and he's brought the best together in this collection of streetscapes, people, shawlies, ships, trams, horse-drawn carts, churches and even advertising boards and theatre tickets.

Launched last month, Pure Cork is available from good bookshops but there's probably still time (just!) to get a signed copy by contacting the author. €25 Hardback. ISBN 978 1 85635 882 8. Published by Mercier Press.

Dublin 1911: For those outside the Republic of Cork, perhaps Catriona Crowe's Dublin 1911 is a more suitable book choice. Actually, it would sit very comfortably on any coffee table or bookcase anywhere — in Ireland, or overseas — not just because it's about the capital city, but because it reflects the society of all Ireland at that time.

At €40, it's hardly a stocking filler, but it's a quality publication, through and through. Launched by Jimmy Deenihan, TD., Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, no less, the Irish Times described it as a 'triumph of book production'. Published by the Royal Irish Academy, this is a book that will earn its keep over and over.

Ancestry's Family Tree Maker 2012: I've been using Family Tree Maker for more years than I care to remember. My year-dot version does what it says on the tin and plenty more, and I didn't particularly feel that I needed an upgrade. Until I visited my genealogy pal, Marla, that is.

With a significant birthday just last month, her caring husband bought her the 2012 Platinum version, and she wanted to show it off to me (or make me green with envy... she's a bit like that sometimes).

It's fantastic. Plain and simple. And it does things you just never knew you wanted to do! Like the improved editing options, which they call Smart Stories. And the new Tree Sync feature, which automatically updates your tree on Ancestry when you update the one on your desktop. (I don't have a tree on ancestry, but Marla does and this facility is going to save her hours.) It's also got lots of new good-looking charts, new ways of presenting trees and, at last, this software recognises the 'modern' family, complete with step-children, adoptions etc.

The Platinum version comes with a 6-month Premium membership (UK and Ireland collections) of Ancestry while the World version comes with a 6-month World membership.

And finally, two little gems to bring a smile to the face of your best loved genealogist. The Family and Local History Quiz Book and Dead End Hobby have been compiled by Mick Southwick of Bi-Gen Blog fame.

The Quiz book includes around 700 facts organised into 39 individual quizzes. The questions mainly relate to family and social history in the UK but there are also some specialised options that relate to Irish genealogy, Latin, Heraldry, Occupations etc. Quite apart from testing one's own brilliance and mastery of the hobby, I can see this being extremely useful to family history societies for fundraising events. At just £4.90 (UK), £5.90 (ROI), inc p&p, even the most parsimonious santa will be happy to pop this into a stocking.

Same goes for Dead End Hobby, a 72-pager that describes itself as a collection of oddments from the world of family history. Mick has gathered together quotes, illustrations, newspaper stories, obituaries, last wishes, strange deaths, parish register annotatations and all manner of curious, amusing and poignant tales from the UK and Ireland. It's quirky. It's charming. And it's only £5/£6.

You can order the books here.

Happy shopping.

Seasonal Christmas and New Year hours

2011-12-12T08:10:00.000-08:00

A round up of seasonal opening and closing times at some of the major repositories:

National Library of Ireland:

Early Closing Wednesday 14 December. A carol concert will be held at the National Library at 8pm (everyone welcome!) so the Main Reading Room will close earlier than normal at 7pm. The Manuscripts Reading Room will remain open until 7.45pm as usual.

The Reading Room and Genealogy Service will close at 4.45pm on Friday 23 December and re-open at 9.30am on Tuesday 3 January.

National Archives of Ireland:

The Reading Room will close at 12.30pm on Friday 23 December until 10.00am on Wednesday 28 December. It will then operate normal hours until 4pm on Friday 30 December. It will be closed on Monday 2 January 2012, re-opening at 10am on Tuesday 3 January.

PRONI:

PRONI will close at 4.45pm on Friday 23 December and remain closed until 9am on Thursday 29 December (late night until 8.45pm). It will also be open on Friday for normal hours of 9am to 4.45pm. Closed on Monday 2 January, it will re-open at 9am on Tuesday 3 January.

RCB Library:

Early closing on Friday 16 December. The Library will close at 1pm.

The Library will close for the Christmas break at 5pm on Friday 23 December and remain closed until 9.30am on Tuesday 3 January.

The story of an Irish Quaker family 1630-1950

2011-12-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

Relatively little has been written about the Quakers’ industrial activities in Ireland, yet they were instrumental in creating some of the country’s largest manufacturing businesses, including many with their origins in the Midlands. Now Michael Goodbody, a member of one of those well-known and long-established Quaker families, has written a book that examines their role.

His book, The Goodbodys – Millers, Merchants and Manufacturers – The Story of an Irish Quaker Family 1630-1950, is more than just a family history. It also looks at the role the Quakers played in the Irish economy. It includes photographs dating back to the late 1800s and paintings and illustrations from even earlier.

The book follows the fortunes of the family from the time of their arrival in Ireland and conversion to Quakerism, through the ‘quiet’ years, when they were farmers, merchants and tanners, until 1825, when Robert Goodbody moved to Clara to start milling flour. He and his five sons, who were connected by marriage to some of the leading merchants and manufacturers of the day, used their increasing wealth to alleviate distress during the Famine years and then developed their business interests in Tullamore and Clara.

The Goodbodys were among the first Quaker families to settle in Mountmellick, one of the principal Quaker communities in Ireland at the time, and they remained there for eight generations.

The book is available through Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society (info@offalyhistory.com), www.ashfieldpress.ie, and good local bookshops. 539 pages. €40.

More about the Quakers in Ireland.

Find My Past offers 10% discount on subs

2011-12-05T04:30:00.000-08:00

Three snips of news from Find My Past.co.uk today.

First up, the database provider is offering a 10% discount on all co.uk subscriptions. Although the company's blurb refers to this as a Christmas discount, I can't find an end date for the promotion, so I'd suggest you just get on with it if you intend to take advantage of the offer.

To claim the discount, you simply type in the promotional code SUB10 when you subscribe.

Worth noting also that the 1861 Scottish census, which contains more than 3 million records, has just joined those for 1841 and 1851 on the site. Images of the original Scottish census returns are not available (due to licensing regulations) but the transcriptions have been overhauled to ensure they are of the highest quality.

And finally, a couple of Christmas gift voucher ideas. Choose from a stocking filler £5 voucher (40 credits, valid for 90 days) to a very worthwhile £35 voucher (full subscription for three months). The 3-month option is available only via a voucher. Full details on FindMyPast's News pages.

Recent additions to IGP Archives

2011-12-02T01:54:00.000-08:00

IGP Archives has been updated with the following records in the last two weeks.

DONEGAL Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary Enlistees

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Military Records
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary Enlistees

KERRY Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary Records
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary Enlistees

KILKENNY Genealogy Archives - Military
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary Enlistees

KILDARE Genealogy Archives - Military
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary Enlistees

TIPPERARY Genealogy Archives - Headstones and Photos
Aglish & Gortnahoe Headstones
Twomileborris Cemetery Photo

WESTMEATH Genealogy Archives
William Hankinson's Ledger Fearmore Townland, 1852-1884
John & Bridge Coughlin Bible (from Moat)

WICKLOW Headstone Index
Glenealy Parish Church Cemetery (additional headstones)

Glasnevin Trust receives Excellence in Genealogy Award

2011-11-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

Glasnevin Trust has received CIGO's 2011 Award for Excellence in Genealogy. At a ceremony earlier this evening, the award was presented by Jimmy Deenihan, T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Affairs, to the Trust's chairman John Green.

The honour recognises the Trust's contribution to the study of Irish genealogy through the creation and development of its database of all 1.5 million burials in the Glasnevin Trust cemeteries: Glasnevin (Prospect), Dardistown, Goldenbridge, Newlands Cross and Palmerstown, plus two crematoria.

These burial records date from as early as 1828 and, with access to the scanned images of the original burial registers also now online, access to this vital genealogical information is unparalleled in Ireland. The project has taken almost 20 years of development.

The result of the Trust’s commitment to this mammoth project has set an extremely high standard for data provision and one which will no doubt be an active encouragement for other cemetery authorities to emulate worldwide.

In presenting the Award, the Minister said: 'It's often stated that interest in Genealogy has never been as great as it is now. The work of the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO), and the Glasnevin Trust in digitising and transcribing its burial register, help play an enormous part in this enhanced interest. I would like to take this opportunity now to salute both CIGO and Glasnevin Trust for the part they help play in ensuring that this vital part of our cultural heritage is not just maintained but allowed to bloom.'

Steven Smyrl, chairman of CIGO’s Award Committee, commended Glasnevin Trust for its commitment to creating the burials database and for making their 1.5 million entries available to millions worldwide through the Internet.

He said: “For Dublin families, the lack of 19th century census records is more than made up for with the data now made available through the Trust’s website. The burial registers note people born as early as the middle of the 18th century.”

The Council for Irish Genealogical Organisations is an umbrella group, formed in 1992, representing the genealogical community within Ireland and worldwide. It represents almost all of Ireland’s societies and organisations involved in genealogical research as well as a number of others based across the English-speaking world.

Previous recipients of the Award include Dublin City Library & Archives in 2007 for its database of Dublin City electoral rolls and The National Archives of Ireland in 2010 for its digitisation of the 1901 and 1911 Irish Census.

Image of the first registered burial in Glasnevin Cemetery: 11-year-old Michael Carey of Francis Street, Dubliln, who died on 22 February 1832.

Find out more about Glasnevin Cemetery.

Genealogy events in December

2011-11-30T00:15:00.000-08:00

All month: Exploring Your Roots Exhibition looking at how museums provide unique resources for genealogy research. Mid-Antrim Museum, The Braid, Ballymena. Free.

Thursday 1 December: Introducing DIPPAM, with Dr Paddy Fitzgerald, a workshop to discover this online resource for Irish history and emigration research. Ballymena Central Library, Pat's Brae. 6.30pm-8.30pm. Free.

Thursday 1 December: Genealogy workshop. Aimed at beginners. 12:50-14:15. Irish Ancestry Research Centre (IARC), Tierney Building, University of Limerick. €20. Booking essential at genealogyworkshops@gmail.com.

Tuesday 6 December: Family history for beginners, with North of Ireland Family History Society. Downpatrick library. 6.45-7.45pm. Free. Booking essential at 028 4461 1448 or the Heritage Gallery.

Tuesday 6 December: Ballymena Family History Society, presentation and workshop with Brian O'Hara. Mid-Antrim Museum, The Braid, Ballymena. 7-8pm. Free.

Wednesday 7 to Friday 9 December: National Archives of Ireland Reading Room closed for annual media preview. Reopens on Monday 12th at 10am.

Wednesday 7 December: Kilmainham Jail, with Theresa Buckley. Rathmichael Historical Society. Rathmichael School, Stonebridge Road, Shankill. 8pm.

Thursday 8 December: Genealogy workshop. Aimed at beginners. Irish Ancestry Research Centre (IARC), Tierney Building, University of Limerick. 12:50-14:15pm and 18:30-20:30pm. €20. Booking essential at genealogyworkshops@gmail.com.

Thursday 8 December: The Belfast Natural History & Philosophical Society. Launch of Portrait of an Industrial City, Clanging Belfast 1750-1914, by Prof. Stephen A Royle. The Old Museum Art Centre, 7 College Square North, Belfast. 7pm. Details: enquiry@uhf.org.uk

Monday 12 December: Medieval Clonfert: the genesis, development and decline of a Gaelic cathedral settlement, with Christy Cunniffe. Galway Archaeological & Historical Society. Harbour Hotel, the Docks, Galway. 8pm.

Tuesday 13th December: National Library of Ireland, Recent Developments and Future Plans, with Katherine McSherry. Genealogical Society of Ireland. Dún Laoghaire College of Further Education, Cumberland Street. €3 admission.

Tuesday 13 December: The Man of Law’s Tale, with lecturer Colm Lennon in the Friends of Medieval Dublin series. James Stanihurst served as both Recorder of Dublin and parliamentary Speaker. Hear the tale of this scholarly lawyer who assisted in Queen Mary's Catholic restoration and Queen Elizabeth's Protestant Reformation. Civic Offices, Wood Quay. 1.05-1.45pm, Free. www.fmd.ie

Wednesday 14 December: Nora Connolly thoroughly researches female characters, fictional and actual, and tells their stories, dressed in the appropriate costume. Literally a step back in history to the times of her characters presented with humour and sensitivity. Malahide Historical Society Presbyterian Church Hall on Dublin Road at 8 pm. A €4 admission charge applies. Non members most welcome. Limited parking available.

Wednesday 14 December: The 1901 & 1911 census - what can I learn from them? with Paul Haslam. Newbuildings and District Archaeological and Historical Society. Community Centre, Newbuildings. 7.30pm.

Wednesday 14 December: Industrial Heritage of Meath 1730-1930, with Antoine Giacometti. Meath Archaeological and Historical Society. Columbanus Hall, Canon Row, Navan at 8pm. Details: 046-9052236.

British Newspaper Archive launches

2011-11-28T23:45:00.000-08:00

The British Newspaper Archive has launched today with more than 3million pages available to view.

Subscription packages include a 2-day pass for £6.95 and a 30-day pass at £29.95. Unlimited annual access is £79.95.

In this initial tranche of searchable papers, there are three from Ireland: the Cork Examiner (1841-1846), Freeman's Journal (1820-1900), and Belfast Ndwsletter (1828-1900). But Irish News, and reports of Irish people living in England, Scotland and Wales, also appeared in many other British papers.

Today's launch marks the first phase of a 10-year project to digitise 40million pages of newspapers.

Edited 11:00am.

Strike disruption on 30th November

2011-11-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

Industrial action by members of NIPSA is scheduled for Wednesday 30 November in Northern Ireland.

PRONI has announced that there will be no document production on that day and there may be other disruption to services.

The lunchtime lecture programme at the Linenhall Library has also been hit. The talk 'Conflict Archive on the Internet' by Dr Brendan Lynn, University of Ulster, has been pulled forward to tomorrow (29th). All other details remain unchanged.

CIGO Award for Excellence in Genealogy

2011-11-27T23:32:00.000-08:00

The 5th Annual CIGO Award for Excellence in Genealogy will be presented by Jimmy Deenihan, T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, in the Ascot Suite, Alexander Hotel, Fenian Street, Dublin 2 on Wednesday evening at 6pm.

The presentation will be followed by the CIGO AGM and a lecture entitled 'Glasnevin Trust - Preserving the past for future generations' by Mervyn Colville.

With a raffle and bar, and free admission, everyone's welcome!

The Council for Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) is an umbrella group representing the genealogical community within Ireland and worldwide. It was formed in 1992. It represents almost all of Ireland’s societies and organisations involved in genealogical research as well as a number of others based across the English-speaking world.

1926 census possibly online in 2016

2011-11-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

It's always good to hear that plans to provide new resources have not been quietly shelved while we weren't looking, even if that provision is still some way off in practice. So, it was pleasing to read this week that the digitisation of the 1926 census, the first undertaken by the Irish Government, is still on the Government's 'wish list'.

In a written response to questions from TDs Denis Naughten and Aengus Ó Snodaigh last week, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Deputy Jimmy Deenihan said that, 'subject to resources and the resolution of legal and other issues', it was his intention to have the 1926 census returns digistised and made available online as a 1916 centenary project.

Okay, that's not exactly imminent, but I'm sure we can live with the delay. What concerns me more is that the plan seems to be stuck in the 'wish list' basket. Surely such a project needs to get underway much sooner than later if the returns are to be fully digitised and made available with images and any redactions demanded by the lawyers within little more than four years. The digitisation of the 1911 census took from December 2005 to August 2009.

Let's hope the 1926 project gets the green light soon.

Origins discount by 20% for Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

Origins.net has introduced a special offer to celebrate Thanksgiving with a very cool 20% discount on new subscriptions!

The Irish Origins collection includes some real gems: The Dublin City Census of 1851, Tithe Defaulters, Electoral Registers, Indexes of wills, Memorials of the Dead, Military records, Direcotries and maps. There is also Griffiths Valuation; although available free on other sites, this version is widely held to be the best.

Another plus of the Origins subscription model is that you don't have to sign up for lengthy periods. Access can be booked for as little as 72-hours.

To take advantage of this offer, just enter the code TG2011 in the Promotional box at registration or checkout.

The 20% discount is available for just one week – from today until 1 December. It is valid only on the first subscription payment and cannot be used to renew existing subscriptions.

Bits and bobs

2011-11-22T02:15:00.000-08:00

Pure Cork book launch: Anyone with Cork ancestors will want this newly launched book on their Christmas list. Pure Cork is a 350-image collection of advertisements, maps, sketches, postcards and photographs which tell the story of Cork's evolution over the last few hundred years. Michael Lenihan, author of the popular Hidden Cork, compiled the photos and memorabilia over many years and believes that about 95% of the photos have never been published before. It's on sale at Liam O’Shea’s Bookshop on Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork, where a display of some of the original photos are now on show, but also through Easons and several online booksellers. €25/hardback. 286 pages.

National Archives of Ireland: Due to a formal occasion, the Reading Room of the National Archives will be closed on the afternoon of Wednesday 30 November. However, it will be open in the morning, starting half an hour earlier than normal, at 9:30am, before closing at 12:00 midday. It will reopen, at the more usual time of 10:00, on Thursday 1 December.

Children in Irish workhouses: Here's an RTE podcast I chanced upon recently that you might be interested to download and listen to. Joseph Robbins tells the tale of young inmates of the workhouse in the 19th century, of the regulations they lived under, of their inefficient and ineffective education, and the difficult life they had to endure. It also tells of the forced emigration of many young workhouse girls.

Spanish Inquisition records reveal 500 Irish people: At the Irish Genealogical Research Society's symposium last month, Dr Thomas O'Connor of NUI Maynooth made a fascinating presentation about his work in Madrid where he found that hundreds of Irish men and women had been brought before the Spanish Inquisition (1478 to 1834). A news story in today's Irish Times gives more details of his discoveries but adds that copies of the records he discovered will soon be made available to the public.

Find My Past.ie adds a family tree builder

2011-11-21T00:32:00.000-08:00

FindMyPast.ie has added a family tree builder on its site.

I've just tried out the new software, and it's very easy to use, so even if you've struggled with tree builders on other sites, you might like to give this one a go.

As you'd expect, the software allows you to add, edit, update and delete relations, and to add partners, parents and children. You can view your immediate family, ancestors, descendants or whole family tree (see the picture below) at the click of the mouse.

In addition, you can upload photos and link them to your relations.

The software allows you to search other member's family trees. But it also does some of the research work for you by automatically searching other members' trees AND the FindMyPast.ie historical records collections.

I've tried similar sites in the past, but I particularly like this one because the interface is so uncluttered. Looks good to me.

To try it out, go to FindMyPast.ie and select the Tree button. You need to register with the site (which requires only some basic personal details and a valid email) but can then start building.

Government's reform plans worry IGRS

2011-11-18T05:41:00.000-08:00

The Irish Genealogical Research Society (IGRS) is concerned that a so-called merger of the National Archives “into” the National Library could diminish these vital heritage services.

Steven Smyrl, IGRS chairman, says that while the IGRS recognises the need for savings across the board in Irish public services, it is concerned that with two bodies under one director, competition for resources could be fierce.

“The proposed area of control is simply too vast, whether or not, as the Government proposes, both institutions are to retain their separate identities. The Government’s plan is further complicated by reference to the possible sharing of services between the National Library and the National Museum which could dilute the services still further.”

Smyrl acknowledges that there are savings to be made through the pooling of public services resources. “Conservation and administration are just two such areas that immediately spring to mind, but while libraries and museums might appear to be similar they are actually very different service providers.

“Staff trained in the care and control of archive materials require quite different skills to those working in a library and economies of scale will not be found by requiring flexibility from staff to work across borders in the proposed new set-up. It is crucial that specialist knowledge and training be recognised as essential in service delivery at national institutions. The historians, academics, researchers and genealogists using them rely heavily upon the staff’s expertise and knowledge.

“The IGRS welcomes the Government’s initiative to see where savings can be made but advises caution if irreparable damage to public service is to be avoided.“

More searchable Monaghan records released

2011-11-17T06:16:00.000-08:00

RootsIreland.ie has released more County Monaghan church records to its online pay-to-view database today.

An extra 18,455 baptisms have been added, bringing the total to 50,368. Aghabog, Kileevan (Newbliss) and Tullycorbet (Ballybay) parishes are the newcomers to the RC options while Church of Ireland are represented by the parishes of Clones, Donagh and Ematris (St John's and Kilcrow).

In addition, 15,293 marriage records are now available. These are all from RC parishes.

Death/burial records for three parishes have also been added: Currin and Errigal Shanco (both C of I) and Tydavnet (RC).

IrishGenealogy.ie, a rival site that makes church records available for free searching and viewing, was supposed to be releasing a set of Monaghan records earlier this year and has continued to promise these were 'in the pipe'. Alas, the free pipe appears to be blocked. Whether it's worth waiting for it to clear, or getting out the plastic on the RootsIreland site now, is a decision for the individual researcher.

Latest updates from IGP Archives

2011-11-17T00:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of additions uploaded to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives in the first half of November:

Antrim Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

Armagh Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

Carlow Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

Cavan Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

Clare Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

Cork Genealogy Archives
Cork 1842 Royal Irish Constabulary

Dublin Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Glasnevin Part 8

Galway Genealogy Archives - Land
Encumbered Estate property of CHARLES BLAKE, Esq. (Tonroe) 1852

Mayo Genealogy Archives - Land
Encumbered Estate property of CHARLES BLAKE, Esq. (Tourard, Killeenrevagh, Gortskehy) 1852

Monaghan Genealogy Archives - Headstones.
First Presbyterian Church, Ballybay

Roscommon Genealogy Archives - Cemetery Records
Old churchyard, Drum, Athlone Walsh Family

Tipperary Genealogy Archives - Miscellaneous Records, Photos, Headstones
Pawnbrokers 1827- 1837
Monsea Cemetery & Church Ruins - Photos
Moycarkey Graveyard (5 images)
Patrick Collins, Davy Thomas, Jeremiah Gleeson - (single headstones)

Wexford Genealogy Archives - Headstones, Directories, Military & Constabulary
Gorey; Christ Church Graveyard (Church of Ireland) - Headstones
New Ross & Wexford 1820-1822 - Directories
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary

Wicklow Genealogy Archives - Military
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary

Irish Genealogy Toolkit is the Research Help partner of Ireland Genealogy Projects Archive.

Cork Passport passes first barrier

2011-11-15T00:28:00.000-08:00

A proposal to introduce a Cork Passport was put to Cork City Council last night by Fine Gael councillor Laura McGonigle. According to her tweeted announcement immediately after the meeting, the proposal is to be progressed with a new genealogy centre in Shandon as part of the plan.

The idea of the Passport, says Ms McGonigle, is to celebrate Corkonians' well-known and unique attachment and devotion to their county, and she tips her hat to the Certificate of Irish Heritage (see previous news post) as a great initiative; a Certificate of Cork Heritage would, she suggests, take this bonding a stage further.

"For those of us born in Cork or with Cork heritage we know that this is something that should be celebrated. Cork people are known for coming home from other counties to buy their C reg cars, wearing their GAA jerseys on casual Fridays and logging into the People’s Republic Website daily."

Throughout the day, reactions to her proposals were filling up Twitter and forums and blog comment boxes, and you could be forgiven for thinking that Ireland was suffering from a humour by-pass judging by some of the comments.

By mid-evening, before the post-meeting announcement was made, a poll on breakingnews.ie had generated just under 900 votes, with 46% saying it was 'an arrogant and ill-conceived idea and should be dismissed.' Some 36% felt the idea was 'creative and light-hearted', while 17% were ready to sign up!

I admit it. I was one of the latter!

I can't honestly see this going anywhere (a formal decision is expected in a few weeks), but it gave me a good laugh on an otherwise dismal Monday.

Certificate of Irish Heritage has struck a chord

2011-11-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

It's just six weeks since the first Certificate of Irish Heritage was issued, and it seems the Government-approved project has struck a chord with the descendents of emigrants form Ireland.

"It's been going really well," Karl Elliston, product manager, Certificate of Irish Heritage, told Irish Genealogy News. "Most of the applicants have been from North America, Argentina, and Australia and New Zealand – in that order."

I was somewhat surprised that there had been more initial applications from South America than Australasia, but Karl says this was anticipated.

"The Irish-Argentinian community is very active, but it's often overlooked as a significant element of the diaspora because their first language is Spanish rather than English. We made sure there was a Spanish certificate option available from the start, as we expected them to be quick off the mark."

Mainland Europe has also generated some applications. One of the first received via the website came from Austria!

The project is administered by Fexco from offices in Killorglin, Co. Kerry. A small team has been trained in the types of documentation that applicants from different parts of the world are likely to present, and can validate the information provided. Once approved, a Certificate of Irish Heritage is issued, according to the style chosen by the purchaser.

In addition to a choice of document style, applicants also have the option of purchasing their Certificate ready-framed. Obviously, there's a premium attached to this service and Karl says this was carefully researched to ensure the offer represented good quality and value. So far, about one-third of all Certificate orders have included the full framing service.

Eligibility for a Certificate of Irish Heritage is open to those not born on the island of Ireland who can show an ancestral connection to a specific Irish ancestor. There is no genealogy service connected with the scheme; applicants have to research and produce their own documentation. Full details of accepted documents, and costs, can be found at www.heritagecertificate.ie.

More November events

2011-11-13T16:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some more events on Irish genealogy and local/social history subjects taking place in the second half of this month.

All month: Plantation of Ulster Exhibition, examining this turbulent period of the 17th century, when many Scots and English moved into Ulster. Linen Hall Library, Belfast. Free.

All month: Exploring Your Roots Exhibition, looking at the resources available through museums to help your genealogy research. Until January. Mid-Antrim Museum, The Braid, Ballymena. Free.

Tuesday 15 November:Researching farming families, with Dr William Roulston. Mid-Antrim Museum, The Braid, Ballymena. 7-8pm. Free.

Wednesday 16 November: The Jewish Community in Londonderry, with Phillipa Robinson. Newbuildings and District Archaeological and Historical Society. Community Centre, Newbuildings. 7.30pm.

Wednesday 16 November: Dublin in the Rare Oul' times. Raheny Heritage Society. Photographic memories of the city from the collections of Dublin City Public Libraries. Raheny Library, Howth Rd, Dublin 5. 6.30pm. Admission free. Booking essential. rahenylibrary@dublincity.ie

Wednesday 16 November: From Red Cow Lane to Bull Alley Street - Dublin street and place names, with Liam Clare. Dún Laoghaire Borough Historical Society. Kingston Hotel, Adelaide Street, 8pm.

Thursday 17 November: Snapshots of Presbyterianism in Cork, with Rev Dr John Faris of the Presbyterian Historical Society. Windsor Presbyterian Church, Belfast, 8pm. Details.

Thursday 17 November: Cregagh, by Aidan Campbell. Local author takes a walk down memory lane. Talk, Linen Hall Library, 6pm. Free. Proceeds of the book to be donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Friday 18 November: Pictorial Past V, the latest in this popular softback series produced by Dunmanway Historical Society, to be launched by Michael McCarthy, TD, at the GAA Pavilion at 8pm. More about this committed group from West Cork.

Tuesday 22 November: The Notary’s Tale, lecture by Caoimhe Whelan, part of the Tales of Medieval Dublin lunchtime lecture series. 1.05pm to 1.45pm. Details.

Wednesday 23rd November: Family Tree workshop for beginners, with Gerry Kennedy APGI. Crusheen Community Centre,co Clare. 8.30pm. Details 065-6827172.

Thursday 24 November: Industrialisation: the third theme of the Exploring Local History series presented by PRONI and the OU Ireland (OUI). Lecture Hall, PRONI, Belfast. 6.30pm. Free, but booking essential at proni@dcalni.gov.uk.

Thursday 24 November: Family history on the web, with Mary Bradley. Ballymena Central Library, Pat's Brae. 6.30pm-8.30pm. Free.

Tuesday 29 November: Townlands & Placenames, a talk by Dr Kay Muhr. Mid-Antrim Museum, The Braid, Ballymena. 7pm. Free.

Tuesday 29 November: PRONI and Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), with Brendan Lynn, Research Associate with CAIN, a web resource (based at the University of Ulster) providing information and source material on the ‘troubles’ and politics in Northern Ireland from 1968 to the present day. Linen Hall, Belfast. 1pm. Places limited. Booking recommended. Free. This talk was originally scheduled for the 30th, but was moved to the 29th to avoid potential strike action.

Wednesday 30 November: Policing in 19th-century Tallaght, with Seán Bagnall. Old Dublin Society. Tallaght Library, 6.30pm.

Community archive network launches

2011-11-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

A new site, officially launched today by Tommy Graham, the editor of the excellent HistoryIreland magazine, is looking for contributions that showcase local Irish heritage, traditions, beauty and history.

Our Irish Heritage is the main gateway to a network that will, in time, archive the observations, memories, photographs, research and opinions of communities across the island. Its network so far consists of just three communities: Historical Ballinrobe, Louisburgh and Killeen Heritage (both from Mayo) and Oughterard Heritage, from Galway.

'These communities are, in effect, writing their own histories by tapping into local collections, family photographs, reminiscence, local newspapers and publications, church records abd so much more,' explains the site.

Some of the articles already published:

A rural childhood in the 1950s.
Lace Making in Oughterard
Sticks for the Reek (Pathé News footage)
Máméan Pilgrimage

It's a well-presented site, with some lovely photos, and well worth bookmarking as it grows.

WW1 records free on Ancestry till Sunday

2011-11-10T04:27:00.000-08:00

To mark Armistice Weekend, Ancestryis giving free access to its First World War military records databases from today until Sunday 13 November.

These records include Attestation Forms, medical and casualty details, conduct, awards and disability statements. The kind of information you are likely to find in them includes name, address, next of kin, age, physical description and occupation.

The collections included in this offer are:

British Army Service Records 1914-1920: This database contains the surviving records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks who served in WWi and did not re-enlist before WW2. These are the records known as the Burnt Documents, which survived a bomb explosion in 1940. Unfortunately, not all descendents of WW1 soldiers will find records; about 60% of the original 6.5million service records were destroyed.
British Army Pension Records 1914-1920: This database contains service records for non-commissioned officers and other ranks who were discharged from the Army and claimed disability pernsions.
Medal Rolls Index Cards 1914-1920: This collection contains records for about 4.8million soldiers, about 90% of those who fought. They were created towards the end of the First World War and make up the most complete listing of soldiers involved. Nearly all soldiers who fought outside the British Isles were entitled to receive at least one medal.

Free access to these three collections will end at 23:59 on Sunday. You will need to register with Ancestry (just email and name) in order to search the collections.

While rooting about on Ancestry you might also like to take a look at the newest military collection: Silver War Badges 1914-1920, which contains more than 800,000 records.

The Silver War Badge was introduced in September 1916 to anyone who had been honourably discharged from the Forces on the grounds of ill health. Recipients wore it on civilian clothes, as a clear sign that they had done their duty and were not cowards. This collection is a comprehensive database of men who were injured or ill during the Great War.

Details include the soldier's dates of enlistment and discharge, information about why they were discharged, as well as their rank, unit and regimental number.

Poverty lecture is online

2011-11-10T02:39:00.000-08:00

The second Exploring Local History lecture, from PRONI/OU, is now available to view on YouTube. Delivered by Olwen Purdue, the lecture was entitled 'Poverty', and will be of particular interest to those researchers interested in exploring the Board of Guardian sources.

The lecture is available in five parts: Part 1. Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

South Dublin talks set in stone

2011-11-10T02:36:00.000-08:00

Details just received (having missed my first-half round-up of November events) of an interesting evening of talks next Tuesday (15th) that may be of interest to those with a Dublin connection.

The Foxrock Local History Club will be presenting two talks, as follows:

Public Sculpture on O’Connell Street, a short talk with Tony Suttle
Half a century at the Stone (Stoneworking in South County Dublin), main lecture with Nicholas Ryan and Philip O’ Neill.

The talks will get underway at 8pm at Foxrock Pastoral Centre, behind Foxrock Church, at the junction of Kill Lane & Bray Rd. All welcome. Admission € 4.00.

Monaghan records imminent from RootsIreland

2011-11-10T02:22:00.000-08:00

RootsIreland, the online database operated by the Irish Family History Foundation, says it hopes to be releasing more records from County Monaghan early next week.

Baptism records for nine Roman Catholic Monaghan parishes (Carrickmacross, Donaghmore, Dummully-Currin, Ematris, Errigal Truagh, Inishkeen, Magheross, Monaghan and Tydavnet) are already available on the site. Whether the 'new' records being added next week will be baptisms from the remaining 20-odd RC parishes in the county, or Church of Ireland records of marriage records, I don't know.

IrishGenealogy.ie, the free site funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, has been threatening to upload Monaghan church records for most of this year but they've never materialised, so it'll be interesting to see what RootsIreland are offering for a fee.

Evocative exhibition of homes abandoned by emigrants launches in Cork

2011-11-10T01:36:00.000-08:00

An exhibition of poignant photographs launches at Library HQ, Cork County Hall at 1pm today.

Shot by internationally-acclaimed photographer David Creedon, a native of Cork, the photos depict the homes abandoned by emigrants in the 1950s and evoke a bygone age. Left to the ravages of time, these interiors, with their clumsy big furniture, brightly decorated walls and ubiquitous religious icons, create scenes that stir memories of granny's house, and tell of the everyday existence, hopes and dreams of those that once lived within.

There's a taster of the exhibition in this slideshow:

Ghosts of the Faithful Departed from David Creedon Photography on Vimeo.

A 168-page book Ghosts of the Faithful Departed, published by The Collins Press, accompanies the exhibition. It's on sale at Eason for €24.99.

The exhibition at Cork Library HQ runs until 25 November.

Discover the 1641 Depositions

2011-11-08T23:11:00.000-08:00

If you've been paying attention – either to this blog's news events, to the NLI's blog or to Twitter – you’ll know there's a History Ireland Hedge School tonight at the National Library of Ireland in Kildare Street.

The subject 'Where does the truth lie about the 1641 Depositions?' is to be discussed with Mícheál Ó Siochrú, Jane Ohlmeyer and Eamon Darcy of Trinity College and Patrick Fitzgerald of the Ulster American Folk Park.

School starts at 7pm and you don't need to register, so just turn up. It's free, and is sure to be an interesting debate about this unique historical resource, which is made up of 8,000 witness statements.

If you can't make it, you might like to listen to this 10-minute HistoryJournal podcast of an interview with Micheál Ó Siochrú. It was recorded two years into the three-year project to transcribe and digitise this enormous collection and provides a good overview of its value and content.

You'll then want to learn more about the 1641 Depositions and to start searching the collection. There's a ton of information and full access to the database at Trinity College's dedicated website. You need to register with your email address but you're then free to search by name, by county or by free text.

Disruption at National Archives until 24 Dec.

2011-11-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

Internal works to extend shelving capacity at the National Archives of Ireland in Bishop Street started today. The disruption will cause some archives to be unavailable until 24 December.

The following archives will not be available for inspection throughout the period:

All District Court archives
High Court cause books and Indexes 1922-1971
High Court files 1963-70
Circuit Court (excepting those stored at Four Courts)

Additionally, archives transferred in 2010 will become unavailable for inspection from next Monday until 24 December. A schedule can be consulted in the Reading Room.

Mad about magnificent mansions

2011-11-06T23:56:00.000-08:00

Here's an unusual story in today's Irish Times about Nicholas Quirke, a man who has documented some 1,750 parochial houses and presbyteries – many of them magnificent mansions – built by the Catholic Church between 1850 and 1920.

Brewing or publican ancestors from Cork?

2011-11-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

If you've got ancestors who worked in the brewing or pub trade in Cork you'll want to get along to University College Cork Library Archives to delve into the Murphy's Brewery Collection.

This collectioon, which officially dates from 1742, is described as an unparalleled source for the social and economic history of Cork from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th. It is made up of legal, administrative and brewing records.

The strongest genealogical research potential lies in its records of Tied Houses connected with Murphy's. It also includes publicans' licences, leases and agreements and registers of employees.

Access to this sizable collection is available, by appointment only, with the Archives Service to holders of UCC Readers tickets. Non-students can apply for a ticket here.

Heineken Ireland, the company which acquired Murphy's Brewery in 1983, donated the collection.

More about this collection.

Yet more November events

2011-11-04T05:12:00.000-07:00

It's a really busy month in the family/local history department! Here's news of some events to add to those already posted here.

Until 3 December: Exhibition of photographs by D James Galbraith, taken from the NLI collection, capturing aspects of Irish life over a 30-year period. Scariff Public Library, co Clare. Open library hours. Free.

Tuesday 8 November: Belfast Central Library and its collections, with Catherine Morrow. Ballyclare & District Historical Society. Schoolroom of the Old Presbyterian Church, Ballyclare. 7.30pm. All welcome. €2 for non-members. Details 028 933 22784.

Tuesday 8 November: Tracing your family history, with John Grenham. Fingal Local Studies and Archives, Clonmel House, Forster Way, just off Swords Main Street, co Dublin. Free but booking essential on 8704495.

Wednesday 9th November: Family tree research, beginners workshop, with Gerry Kennedy APGI. Crusheen Community Centre, co Clare, at 8.30pm. Detailes: 065-6827172.

Wednesday 9 November: Ireland's Armada Heritage, with Cormac Lowth, telling the story of the Spanish armada, its wrecks and recovery of artefacts. Malahide Historical Society. Presbyterian Church Hall, Dublin Road. 8pm. €4. All welcome.

Wednesday 9 November: Relaunch of Men of Iron, by the late Michael Enright. Wexdford Foundry Disputes 1890-1911. Wexford Town Library. 7.30pm. Free.

Thursday 10 November: Official launch of Dublin City Council Photographic Collection, with exhibition. Rathmines Library, 157, Lower Rathmines Rd, Dublin 6. 3-4.30pm. Free. Booking essential.

Friday 11 November: Family history for beginners, with J Magee. Donaghadee Library 2-3pm. Free. Booking advisable. 028 9188 2507.

Early 20th century maps available from NIFHS

2011-11-04T04:42:00.000-07:00

A wonderful selection of historical maps of town and districts in northern counties is now on offer through the North of Ireland Family History Society website.

These Alan Godfrey maps are reprints of Old Ordnance Survey Maps and are based on either 25-inch (or 1:2,500) plans, reduced to '15-inch to the Mile', or “Inch to the Mile” maps.

Each one predates WW2 (some are considerably older) and show the configuration of streets before bomb damage, after which many streets in Belfast were lost. Each map includes a history of the area, and some include extracts from contemporary directories.

Here's an example description, from the Lisburn 1902 map:

The very detailed map covers the busy town (now a city) of Lisburn, with coverage stretching from Longstone Street and Longstone Lane eastwards to Grove Street and Grove House; and from North Circular Road southwards to the Workhouse and Cemetery. Note that the Co Down part of the map is left blank but the map does include the Largymore area east of the Lagan, which was part of Lisburn Urban District Council.

The many features include Christ Church Cathedral, Market Square, town centre with all the buildings neatly delineated, Castle Gardens, Millbrook and Beetling Mill, cattle market, Smithfield, St Patrick's RC Church, flax spinning mill, railway with station, Christ Church, handkerchief works, Union Workhouse, Manor House, River Lagan and Lagan Navigation, Largymore, Largymore Factory, Ballymullan area, Lagan Factory, The Island, Roseville etc. On the reverse is a list of private residents taken from a contemporary directory.

Is there anyone with ancestors from Lisburn who wouldn't want such a map?

There's a wide range of towns included in the 15-inch series – among them are Downpatrick 1901, Larne 1903, North Belfast 1920, Cavan Town 1909, Limvady 1904, Monaghan 1907, etc – and in the Inch to the Mile selection. Among the latter are Coalisland, Dungannon & District 1899 and Belfast & Hillsborough 1901.

Most of the maps are priced at just £3.50 (a couple are cheaper, one is slightly more expensive), which strikes me as a bargain. You should also take a look at the other publications offered by the NIFHS; you won't find such detailed, locally-researched books and cds on Amazon, that's for sure.

Study of the first Gaeltacht colony published

2011-11-04T04:40:00.000-07:00

A study of the first Gaeltacht colony was launched last night at Ráth Cairn Library, Baile Átha Buí, Co. Meath, alongside a presentation and slide show of rare photographs of the project's early years.

The book, The Land Commission and the making of Ráth Cairn - The first Gaeltacht colony by Suzanne M Pegley tells the story of how, in 1935, the fertile grasslands of the Midlands townland were chosen as the new home for Irish-speaking families from Connemara.

In the wake of the immediate post-independent period, the newly formed Irish state was anxious to establish an identity separate from the previous colonial power. Language was deemed one of the ways to achieve this end, and migration the most effective approach.

This ground-breaking social engineering project met some opposition but it went ahead anyway.

Suzanne Pegley is the co-author of two local histories, Aspects of Leixlip (2001) and Aspects of Lucan (2009) and is presently undertaking her PhD in Geography at NUI Mayoooth.

The 72-page book is published by Four Courts Press in paperback format and available through that website for €8.95

Latest additions to IGP Archives

2011-11-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

Just received a list of all the new files added to Ireland Genealogy Project Archives in the second half of October.

GENERAL IRELAND Genealogy Archives
Assorted Indentures: Crawford & Rowley, Peacock & Lloyd, Taylor & Nixon

CAVAN Genealogy Archives
Drumgoon Cemetery (partial only)

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives
1861-1862 Banns from St. Thomas

GALWAY Genealogy Archives - Land
Encumbered Estate Property of James CUFF (Ballinamana) 1851
Encumbered Estate Property of James CUFF (Escar) 1851

GALWAY Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
Galway 1845 17K Oct 2011 Richard Leonard Royal Irish Constabulary

LAOIS Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
Queens - 1845Royal Irish Constabulary

LEITRIM Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary

LONGFORD Genealogy Archives - Church Records
Granard Baptisms 1881 (1 page only)

LONGFORD Genealogy Archives - Headstone Photos
Newtowncashel R.C. Headstones (partial)

LOUTH Genealogy Archives - Headstone Photos
Melifont Abbey (views)

LOUTH Genealogy Archives
Louth 1845 4K Oct 2011 Richard Leonard Royal Irish Constabulary

MAYO Genealogy Archives
Ballina, Ardnaree Friary (5 images)

MAYO Genealogy Archives - Land
Encumbered Estate of James CUFF, Esq. (Crowhill, Castlepark, Oldcastle, Upper & Lower Shanwar) 1851

MAYO Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
Mayo 1845 Leonard Royal Irish Constabulary

MEATH Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary

MONAGHAN Genealogy Archives - Military
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary

MONAGHAN Genealogy Archives - Headstones.
Ballybay, 2nd Presbyterian

ROSCOMMON Genealogy Archives - Headstones.
Killeenan Headstones

ROSCOMMON Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary

SLIGO Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary

TIPPERARY Genealogy Archives - Military
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary

TYRONE Genealogy Archives - Military
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary

WESTMEATH Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary Records
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary

Irish Genealogy Toolkit is the Research Help partner of IGPArchives.

Special November reductions from RootsIreland

2011-11-01T03:41:00.000-07:00

RootsIreland.ie, the Irish Family History Foundation's online research service is reducing its prices during November.

For one month only, the cost to view an individual record will be discounted to €3.50

The price structure for the Advanced Search System (which operates when there is more than one relevant result to your search) is as follows:

1 record €3.50
2 records – €6.50
3-4 records – €11.00
5–10 records €20.00
11–15 records €30.00

Additional new records are promised by RootsIreland 'soon'. These are expected to include a first tranche of records from Wexford.

Events for early November

2011-11-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

You can tell the clocks have changed - there's a long list of events talking place indoors this month. Here's the line-up for the first half of the month.

All month: Plantation of Ulster Exhibition, examining this turbulent period of the 17th century, when many Scots and English moved into Ulster. Linen Hall Library, Belfast. Free.

Tuesday 1 November: Kerry Surnames, with Paul McCotter. Kerry Archaeological & History Society. Tralee Library, 7.30pm.

Wednesday 2 November: Plantation of Ulster, an in-depth talk with expert Gordon Lucy. Linen Hall Library. 1pm. Free.

Friday 4 November: Recent Excavations at Carrickfergus Castle, a talk by Emily Murray. MBR, Public Reading Room, Waterman House, 5-33 Hill Street, Belfast BT1 2LA. 1-2pm. Free. All welcome.

Saturday 5 November: Irish Family History Society's Autumn Meeting, with Noelle Dowling discussing Dublin Diocesan Archives, and George Stewart presenting 'Researching my Stewart Family'. Also IFHS bookstall. Dublin City Library and Archive, 138/144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. 10am to 1pm. All welcome. ifhs@eircom.net.

Monday 7 November: Church and community in the diocese of Elphin, with Brian Shanahan. Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 63, Merrion Sq South, Dublin. 7.30pm.

Tuesday 8 November: Barrack Obama's Benn & Donovan ancestors, with Fiona Fitzsimons. Genealogical Society of Ireland. Dún Laoghaire College of Further Education, Cumberland Street, Dún Laoghaire. 8pm. €3 admission.

Wednesday 9 November: History Ireland Hedge School. Where does the truth lie about the 1641 Depositions? Discussion with Mícheál Ó Siochrú, Jane Ohlmeyer, Eamon Darcy and Patrick Fitzgerald. National Library of Ireland, 7pm. All welcome. Booking not required.

Thursday 10 November: The Plantation of Ulster: The British Colonisation of the North of Ireland, by Jonathan Bardon. Book launch and talk. Linen Hall Library. 6pm. Free.

Thursday 10 November: County Wicklow in 1911, with James Scannell. Enniskerry History Society, Powerscourt Arms Hotel, 8.30pm. €4 admission.

Friday 11 November: Rededication of two war memorials, plus ecumenical and military ceremonies, at the O’Connell Tower, Glasnevin Cemetery at 3pm.

Saturday 12 November: Dublin Maritime Morning. Three talks: Dublin Port, Past and Present, with Niall Dardis, Dublin's Dockers, with Francis Devine, and A Dublin Shipbuilder/Shipyard, with Pat Sweeney. Dublin City Library and Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin, 10am to 1 p.m Admission free. All welcome.

Saturday 12 November: Trace your relatives who fought in World War One. Help with tracing military ancestors, followed by talks, enactments and displays National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin. 10.30-4pm. Free.

Sunday 13 November: Annual Service of Remembrance held at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, commemmorating all those who have died in war. 3.00pm.

Monday 14 November: History of the diocese of Galway, with Peadar O'Dowd. Galway Archaeological & Historical Society. Harbour Hotel, the Docks, Galway. 8pm.

A quiet job - gravedigging at Glasnevin

2011-10-31T02:30:00.000-07:00

Since it's Halloween, here's a treat podcast about gravedigging at Glasnevin. It records a recent interview with Marie-Louise O'Donnell on the Today with Pat Kenny show.

Lovely detail about collapsing graves, maggots, the skill of lowering the coffin, and strange behaviour at the graveside. Would have loved more about the priest who stepped backwards and fell in with the recently departed!

Glasnevin launches fresh appeal for veteran's families

2011-10-28T02:21:00.000-07:00

Some 39 new headstones have been erected at Glasnevin Cemetery on the previously unmarked graves of Irish men and women who served in the Commonwealth forces in World Wars One and Two. Their military and burial records were released yesterday for the first time.

This group of headstones brings to 85 the number erected as part of a special project run by Glasnevin Trust and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), which started two years ago.

A further 104 graves of servicemen and women have been identified and Glasnevin Trust has launched an appeal for their family members to make contact.

Those who are unsure about their family's links to the deceased servicemen are advised to contact the Trust's historian, Shane MacThomais, or use the online genealogical search facility (which contains full burial records of every grave, unmarked or otherwise, at Glasnevin) at www.glasnevintrust.ie/genealogy.

This year's commemmoration service at Glasnevin (at 3pm on 11 November) will see the rededication of two war memorials which have been moved near to the cemetery’s main Finglas Road entrance. These memorials record the names of all 208 men and women who died and are buried in Glasnevin as a result of the two wars.

Ancestral connections: Titanic

2011-10-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight's Find My Past programme on the Yesterday TV channel features three people with connections to the Titanic.

They are all connected to the story via Lifeboat 14 which went back to rescue people from the sea as the great ship sank. There is a relative of a lady who was lucky enough to be in a lifeboat to begin with and the relative of a steward who was rescued from the freezing water. The third contributor is related to a Marconi wireless operator who stayed on board doing his job until the water entered the cabin; without the tireless wireless signalling that continued long after the ship hit the iceberg there would have been no survivors at all.

Here's a teaser clip for tonight's show:

The show will be broadcast on Yesterday at 9pm. This channel is on Sky (537), TalkTalk TV (115) and Virgin Media (203) and Freeview (12).

Dublin 100 years ago

2011-10-27T05:21:00.000-07:00

Just published by the Royal Irish Academy is Dublin 1911, a lavishly illustrated book edited by Catriona Crowe, who spearheaded the National Archives of Ireland's project to digitise the 1901 and 1911 census.

The book begins in January 1911 and works through the year's headline events, month by month. This was a Dublin still unaware of the dramatic decade that lay ahead: the First World War, the Easter Rising, Independence, Civil War.

But some of its major news stories were not dissimilar to those we have witnessed in 2011: emigration, traffic problems, a rubbish summer, overpaid officials, a royal visit...

Each chapter starts with contemporary newspaper cuttings before exploring themes such as law and order, education, religion, transport, literary life and migration, among others, in a series of essays (Paul Rouse, Mark Duncan and William Murphy were contributors).

Dublin 1911 is available in all good bookshops or online from www.ria.ie.

Trace your ancestors in World War One

2011-10-26T03:11:00.000-07:00

There's a very special day of talks and events planned for next month that will be of particular interest to anyone who has ancestors who fought in World War One.

It's to be held on 12 November at the National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7.

There will be help available to help trace Great War relatives, as well as an interesting line-up of sessions in the Lecture Theatre, including:

Snow and mosquitoes – the Connaught Rangers on the Salonika Front 1915-1917
Letters from the Front – a soldier writes home about his experiences during World War One

There will also be a re-enactment depicting how soldiers joined up, demonstrations of the equipment carried and used by them after enlistment, and an advice desk manned by members of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association.

While there are no certain statistics, it is thought that about 210,000 Irish men fought in World War 1; some 49,400 of them were killed in action and are commemmorated at the Irish National War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin.

For more information, contact the National Museum Education Section: Tel +353 1 6777444 of see www.museum.ie.

The truth of the stereotype within the Irish prison registers

2011-10-26T02:45:00.000-07:00

FindMyPast.ie's CEO Brian Donovan was interviewed today on Australian's 4BC Brisbane Morning Show about the launch of the Irish prison registers.

He discussed the prevalence of arrest and punishment for drunkeness, which rather suggests the stereotype of the inebriated Irish has some foundation, but adds that tax evasion was also a very commonplace crime in Ireland.

It's a brief (4-minutes) interview, and worth listening to here.

Science and genealogy unite in the Irish DNA Atlas

2011-10-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and the Irish Genealogy Society have come together to find the Irish DNA code.

Officially launched this weekend as the Irish DNA Atlas project, the aim is to analyse genetic variation in the island's population and pick out the genetic differences between people whose ancestors lived in, say, Dungarvan and those who lived in Letterkenny.

Inevitably, the selection criterion is tight. Participants have to be able to trace all of their eight great-grandparents to one localised area, preferably to within a clearly defined community of about 30km radius. They will then contribute a DNA sample (taken by a mouth swab – nothing complicated), which will be sequenced and added to the database. As the latter grows, the project team will develop a picture for what constitutes a 'typical' Irish person.

The project has two main aims: to further our knowledge of the population history of Ireland and its connections with others in Europe, and to learn more about how genes influence health in Ireland, particularly in relation to heart disease, diabetes and cancer. The scientific aspects of the Irish DNA Atlas project will be directed by Dr Gianpiero Cavalleri of the RCSI.

If you wish to take part in the project, and meet the qualification that your 8 great grandparents were born in one locality (even if this straddles a county boundary), you should be aware that participation is on a pro bono basis providing information for the analysis of the samples by the RCSI. There is no payment and there are no costs, other than the return postage of the DNA sample and accompanying questionnaires.

You can request an Irish DNA Atlas project pack from IrishDNA@familyhistory.ie.

Back To Our Past - Round Two!

2011-10-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

Despite having had a full and busy Friday at the Back To Our Past show, there were still plenty of exhibitors that I hadn't been able to chat to – mainly because their stands were surrounded by visitors most of the day. So I was back again this morning for Round Two.

First stop was Ask About Ireland, where Anne-Marie Dwyer ran me through recent developments on the site. Most Irish family historians know this Library Council site for its searchable access to Griffiths Valuation, but it also holds a huge volume of material on Irish social history and heritage in the Reading Room section.

It's seen some widening out recently, with videos on traditional crafts (under History and Heritage) and traditional cooking (under Life and Society), and Irish Talking Books which tell stories and legends in both Irish and English, and in simple and advanced learning styles.

The most recent development is the addition of O'Donovan Name Books and Letters which will be uploaded, county by county, over the coming months, to build into an extremely useful resource for those seeking placenames guidance and historical observation at a county level.

Developers are also working on the recording of old songs, half in Irish, half in English, and a major indepth article on the island's traditions and customs.

Over on the Irish Genealogical Research Society's stand, I had a brief chat with Chairman Steven Smyrl about how visitors to this year's show differed to those who attended in 2010.

"I've recognised some of the people I've spoken to from last year when they were asking quite 'innocent' questions," he said. "You can tell they've done their research in the intervening 12 months. Now, they're coming with much more incisive questions, and it's obvious they've learned how to search the records."

Alan Robertson of PRONI was witnessing the same phenomenon. "At the first show visitors had a name and a rough location and were asking what information we might have that could be useful.

"This time round, they want much more specific information. They've traced their family back further, too. They're not after bmds. They've shifted back almost a whole century, into the 18th century and early 19th."

Sticking with the North, I called in on the Northern Ireland Family History Society where Rosemary Sibbett showed me new publications in the Researching your ancestors in the North of Ireland series. In 2010 the NIFHS published two booklets: A Research Guide and A List of Websites.

These have now been joined by Locating Church Records and A Beginners Guide, all of which can be purchased at www.nifhs.org.

So, too, can a wonderful series of historic maps, most of them dating from the first decade of the 20th century, and not restricted to Northern Ireland. I love maps rather more than is considered healthy and these black and white, beautifully drawn and detailed maps do nothing to bring my passion within the 'normal' scale. I'm already looking forward to spending (too) many hours learning every inch of my new map collection.

Old newspapers come a pretty close second on my list of obsessive interests so I was delighted to hear from Jonathan of www.irishnewsarchive.com of imminent developments.

November will see the Donegal News going under the scanner (in a five-month project), followed by the Belfast Newsletter. This will be a mammoth task (the Newsletter is the world's oldest English language general daily paper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737) but Jonathan says it should be digitised and available online by the end of 2012. The Donegal Democrat will then go through the same process.

I managed to collar Brian Donovan, CEO of Eneclann and Director of FindMyPast.ie, again to ask him why the Prison Registers collection released yesterday doesn't include records from gaols in the North.

It's a simple explanation. "The collection we've released is from the National Archives of Ireland so it covers only the prisons of the Republic. Records for the North are in the care of PRONI and we're in discussion with that institution to see if we can get their records digitised, too."

During the course of the day I also had a natter with Julie Phibbs of Irish Roots magazine, had a quick hello with Bob Blatchford whose Irish Family and Local History Handbook was selling like hot cakes, and called in on another family business, www.irishgathering.ie, where the Whelans (Joe, Margaret and son Damien) have established a new site where family historians can upload their trees, and much more besides, all for free.

It's been a great couple of days. Highly informative, for sure, but also very satisfying to see just how far Irish genealogy has come in the last few years. What is clear from the success of BTOP is the strength of energy behind the current momentum, which can only mean continued progress.

See also my report from Day One for news of more developments.

Back To Our Past - what an opening!

2011-10-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

The 3-day Back To Our Past show got off to a lively start at noon when it opened its doors to a good humoured queue waiting outside Hall 4 of the RDS. Within no time at all, the atmosphere inside was buzzing and exhibitors were doing brisk business.

Among the busiest were those with a dual offer of immediate access to records and professional know-how. Both Helen Kelly on the Association of Professional Genealogists of Ireland's stand, and Aideen Ireland of the National Archives of Ireland must be hoarse tonight after many hours providing one-to-one advice and direction.

RootsIreland and FindMyPast also seemed swamped throughout most of the day. At the latter, I got a chance to speak to the ever cheerful and enthusiastic Amy Sell, Find My Past's marketing executive, about the imminent launch of 19th- and 20th-century newspapers from the UK and Ireland.

'Some 4million pages of the British Library's newspaper collection will be searchable when the new site launches later this year,' she explained. 'It's possible to register now and take part in a survey giving you a say in which newspapers get digitised after the launch. The partnership agreement will see the digitisation of 400million pages over the next ten years, so we'll be scanning and uploading every day and we need to know which papers our customers want most.'

Across the aisle was Eneclann, FMP's joint venture partner in the Irish version of FindMyPast. The .ie company officially launched the Irish Prison Registers collection this morning. Drawing on details contained in the collection's 3.5million records, Eneclann's CEO Brian Donovan gave a fascinating presentation on the subject of Murderers, Rebels and Drunkards: Your ancestors and the Law.

He also mentioned that some 15million Petty Sessions Court records would be released by June 2012.

Without mentioning any deadlines, Steven Smyrl, Chairman of the Irish Genealogical Research Society (IGRS) also suggested more outstanding records could soon be available online. 'A society such as the IGRS, being a fairly academic society, has a lot of material that other newer societies wouldn't have – in particular we have the terrific contents of our library in London,' he said.

'We're hoping to start putting some of this outstanding collection on the Internet quite soon.'

These records will be available only to members of the Society so the canniest visitors were taking up the special show membership offers. They could choose from a discounted traditional membership package (Library access, Journal and newsletters) for 20Euros or a special membership package of 60Euros which additionally includes a subscription to Irish Roots Magazine (an independent newsstand publication) and a cd containing all the IGRS Journals back to 1937. Excellent value.

There were, of course, many special show offers and promos available today. Among the best was one from History Ireland, a magazine that I criticise only for being bi-monthly rather than monthly. I love this publication. And today I eagerly signed up for a subscription that carried the added bonus of free access to JSTOR's Ireland Collection of 75 journals and 200 monographs. Oh Happiness!

While the Prison Registers took the 'launch of the day' crown, there were others of note. These included the first Irish Family and Local History Handbook (224 pages containing 60 articles and a huge listing section of libraries, genealogical centres, family history societies, cemetaries, professional genealogists and more) from Robert Blatchford Publishing, and the Irish DNA Atlas project by the Genealogical Society of Ireland.

Another exhibitor that I'll be following up after the show is the Irish Ancestry Research Centre, a company based on the University of Limerick campus and sponsored by American interests. It is already running family history workshops and online certificate courses but also has a walk-in research centre. Me thinks a visit will be in order very soon.

It was an excellent opening day. Informative talks, plenty to learn, plenty to discuss, and still more to discover. Which is why I'll be returning tomorrow morning!

Best print off another of my vouchers!

See also my report from Day Two.

Prison registers are online

2011-10-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

For the first time, Ireland's surviving prison registers are online. They're going to be officially launched by FindMyPast.ie at the Back To Our Past show tomorrow, but they are already available for searching.

And what fun they are, too! I've just spent more than two hours happily lost in them and I've already found important detail about some of my ancestors. How about this:

Daniel Santry, aged 19, was taken into custody at Cork prison on 6 March 1867. No minor crime, for Daniel. He was charged with attacking and burning the police barracks and open insurrection against HM The Queen. His home address is recorded and so are some personal details – height 5ft 7½, fresh complexion, grey eyes, brown hair, and two vaccination marks on his left arm. Surprisingly, given the crime, he was bailed after 14 days incarceration and ordered to appear at the Spring Assizes.

Or this: Jerry Santry, aged 20. Held in gaol from 2 August 1849 for stealing clothes from Skibbereen Workhouse, for which he received 1 month's hard labour after nearly one month in prison custody.

In fact there are many, many cases of 'stealing clothes from Workhouse'. And quite a few 'stealing dishes from Workhouse' or 'stealing potatoes' or 'stealing apples' in the 1849 registers. As the notes to the collection explain, the numbers of cases before the courts was very high this year when those worst affected by the famine sought refuge within the prison system. At least there was food and shelter there, no matter how hard the regime.

Perhaps it was this 'refuge' that some other young Santrys were after when they were accused of stealing sheep that summer. Margaret (7), Mary (9) and John (5) were held in custody from 17 July 1849 until 3 August when they were found not guilty and discharged. I can't help wondering if they were pleased with this verdict. I don't know who these kids 'belonged to', nor if they survived the Great Hunger.

I'm going to enjoy pouring over old newspapers to see if I can find any more details in reports of the trials in which my ancestors were involved in. And there's still plenty more to search out.

It's a fascinating collection. It dates from 1790 to 1924 and covers most of the surviving records of the 26 counties of the Republic. A total of 2.7million records are included, with information on over 3.5million names. The latter figure is higher because the collection is searchable not only for the name of prisoners but also victims.

I found one of my maternal ancestors, James Doolittle, recorded as a victim of assault by Peter Reilly, a 35-year-old bachelor labourer from Wicklow who was ordered to pay a fine or be imprisoned for seven days in January 1878.

When searching the registers by county, bear in mind that the registers are indexed according to the county where the prison was located, not where the accused resided. This tip, together with full details of the register dates for each county register, plus a summary of the prison system over the years, can be found on the notes page. It's worth reading before you get stuck in!

Excavated burial site yields more secrets about famine years

2011-10-20T01:47:00.000-07:00

An informative piece in today's Irish Times tells of a study carried out on the remains of nearly 1,000 famine victims at a Kilkenny workhouse.

Seems there was a little more dignity shown to the dead than you might have expected. Darn sight more than was shown while they were alive, anyway.

There's no point my summarising it here. Type this link into your browser: www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sciencetoday/2011/1020/1224306123786.html

Prison releases this week

2011-10-18T03:17:00.000-07:00

Find My Past Ireland will be adding a very exciting new collection to their website at the Back To Our Past show.

It's the prison registers, which date from 1790 to 1924. I don't know yet exactly which collection they have digitised, but if it's the one held by the National Archives, it contains details of name, age, crime, sentence, location of conviction, marital status, literacy level, trade or occupation and number of previous convictions.

This is pretty meaty stuff, and I, for one, can't wait to get stuck in. There's a particular story concerning one of my grandmother's brothers that I'd like to follow up. Family lore says he was put on a fast boat to America in the early 1920s to escape a second long spell of porridge, but I don't know what his earlier incarceration had been about.

I'll report here when I have more details about this new release. This may not be until the official launch at the Back To Our Past show (see voucher in right hand column for half-price entry).

News & snippets

2011-10-17T23:45:00.000-07:00

Records in the pipe
The half million or so Waterford baptism records recently uploaded to RootsIreland.ie are the first batch of that county's church register collection on the site. Coming along shortly will be a collection of some 250,000 marriages. These will be followed by more records for county Mongahan, adding to the 32,000 RC baptisms already available, a first collection from Wexford, and some memorial inscriptions from Ulster.

Calendars at the ready
Archives, libraries and heritage centres in the Republic will be closed on Monday 31st October (a public holiday). In Northern Ireland, where there is no October Holiday, such venues should be open. Looking further ahead, the Reading Room of the National Archives of Ireland in Dublin will be closed on Wednesday 7th, Thursday 8th and Friday 9th December for the annual press preview of state documents that will become open (after the expiry of the 30-year closure rules) for public scrutiny in the new year.

Worth bookmarking
I came across a site today that I haven't visited for some years: www.irelandoldnews.com. To be honest, I'd forgotten about it, but I've now bookmarked it because, while it doesn't have any newspaper transcriptions for some counties and some years, it's got plenty enough to entice me back for a good regular rummage around.

Halloween's a-coming
Glasnevin Cemetery is gearing up for a busy Samhain. Until 7th November, the Ghastly Glasnevin exhibition will be available in the Prospect Gallery of the Museum, with pictures and stories about death and burial in 19th-century Dublin. From 26th to 31st October, the Glasnevin Gravedigger Cemetery Tour, which I'm told is suitable for all ages, will be held at 11am and 5pm. And for the truly fearless, there's a Samhain Supper & Storytelling evening on Friday 28th and Saturday 29th at a cost of 45Euros pp, which includes a meal, ghost stories from Jack Lynch, traditional harp entertainment and a torch-lit tour with Glasnevin Trust's resident historian Shane MacThomas. Bookings 01 882 6550 or email booking@glasnevintrust.ie.
Find out more about the origin of Halloween.

Back To Our Past
Just a reminder that Ireland's very own family history show, Back To Our Past, takes place this coming weekend in Dublin. Held at the RDS, it starts on Friday (Midday to 7pm) and continues over Saturday and Sunday (both days 11am to 7pm). Don't forget to download and print a discount voucher to save yourself 50% of the entrance charge.

Mid-month update from IGP

2011-10-17T01:51:00.000-07:00

Updates from Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives so far this month:

DERRY/LONDONDERRY Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary

1845 Royal Irish Constabulary records

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Glasnevin Part 7

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Church
Births at Irvinestown & Pettigoe Presbyterian Church

KERRY Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary Records
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary records

KILDARE Genealogy Archives - Military
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary records

KILKENNY Genealogy Archives - Military
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary records

LEITRIM Genealogy Archives
Dromahaire, St. Patrick's Church of Ireland Cemetery

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary records

LONGFORD Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary records

MONAGHAN Genealogy Archives - Headstones.
Ballybay, 2nd Presbyterian

OFFALY (Kings) Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
1845 Royal Irish Constabulary records

Irish Genealogy Toolkit is the Research Help partner of IGP Archives.