1901 Irish Census

Following on from my last post – Findmypast has announced that it has added the 1901 Irish Census to their records. This is the earliest surviving complete Irish census. You are able to search all variations of a name and narrow your results by date of birth. You can also search for two members of the same household at the same time. Don't forget that you can access Findmypast free of charge at Manly Library and most public libraries.

Irish records at FindMyPast

There has been a real surge in the availability of Irish Family History Records. I have already listed many in previous posts. Findmypast has one of the largest collections of Irish family history records available online, containing Irish censuses, parish records, Irish newspapers and more. You can search at Findmypast - this is a subscription based database, but they frequently have free trials available, or you can access the website at Manly Library and other public libraries free of charge. Irish records on Findmypast include Ireland Censuses from 1821 to 1851 that survived the fire at the Four courts in 1922; Ireland Census Search Forms for 1841 & 1851, which were used to verify the ages of people applying for an old age pension in 1909 and contain extra information on Irish families; Griffith's Valuation 1847-1864, with details of who owned or rented land in Ireland; Landed Estates Court Rentals 1850-1885 lists those with bankrupt estates amongst over 500,000 tenants on more than 8,000 estates across Ireland; the Elliott collection contains parish registers from County Fermanagh and cemetery records fro Donegal, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Wicklow; Poverty Relief Fund records cover the micro credit scheme set up in 1824 to provide small loans to the 'industrious poor'. Local committees administered the scheme and kept copious records about people who received loans. Nearly 700,000 names are recorded in these files and they give a snapshot of life including age, occupation and fiscal history. occasionally more detail is given, including degree of destitution, family circumstances, emigration and death. These records also span the period of the Famine (1945-51). There is a range of National Irish Newspapers, including The Freeman's Journal, Ireland's longest running national publication which merged into The Irish Independent in 1924. The collection now stand at a total of over 7.2 million articles and 68 different titles from the 1740s onwards. The newspapers are easy to use as they have been digitised and indexed.
Happy searching!

National Library of Ireland Digitisation Project

Something I missed in the previous post is that National Library of Ireland is undertaking a massive digitisation of Irish Records. The NLI is in the process of digitising more than 400,000 images of Catholic parish registers which it will make available on-line free of charge. This project is already being described as “the most significant ever digitisation project for Irish genealogy” and the NLI is expecting records to be available as early as the middle of 2015. The digital images due to be published by the NLI will be searchable by parish location only. They will not be transcribed or indexed by the NLI, and the images will be of the microfilms of the original registers, which – in some cases – were in poor condition when the microfilming took place. The images will be in black and white. The information in the registers varies from parish to parish but, typically, includes the dates of the baptisms or marriages, and the names of the key people involved, including godparents or witnesses.

Irish Resources on-line

Irish On-line resources just keep expanding. One of the latest: -

Irish Archives Resource web portal http://www.iar.ie/index.shtml

This portal will link you to archival collections throughout Ireland. Archives are the documents and records that relate to people, places, organisations, and events. You can use this portal to locate archives relating to your area of interest or research topic. The site provides links to 34 archive collections. Essentially the Irish Archives Resource is an “… online database which contains searchable archival descriptions. It does not hold any archives or records but provides a means to search archival descriptions from various contributing institutions”.

But don’t forget: -

National Archives, Ireland http://www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie/

From the National Archives Genealogy Website you can access the Census Records for 1901 and 1911, Census survivals for 1821-51, Census Search forms for 1841-51, the Tithe Applotment Books from 1823 to 1837, the Soldiers’ Wills from 1914 to 1917, and the Calendars of Wills and Administrations from 1858 to 1922.

This site will have large numbers of other genealogical records added to it over the coming years, including Valuation Office House and Field Books, 1848 – 60

All of these records are free to access, through searchable databases and linked images of relevant pages. Eventually, the site will contain all of the important and easily accessible genealogical material in the custody of the National Archives

National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

Contains some excellent suggestions, methodology, descriptions and explanations of sources as well as links to tracing your Irish Family History.

Irish Genealogy http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/

This website is operated by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht & provides users with the opportunity to search a wide range of record sources in their search of their Irish Ancestry. It is home to the on-line Indexes of the Civil Registers (GRO) of Births, Marriages, Civil Partnerships and Deaths and to Church Records of Baptism, Marriage and Burial from a number of counties. The website also operates as a search portal that allows users to search the following record sources as well:

• 1901/1911 Census records and pre-1901 survivals
• Census Search forms from 1841/1851
• Tithe Applotments
• Soldiers' Wills
• Griffith's Valuations
• Ireland - Australia Transportation database
• Military Archives
• Ellis Island
• National Photographic Archive from the National Library of Ireland

Family Search https://familysearch.org/search

The Family Search database provides free access to 19 collections of Irish records covering the years 1619 -2013. They are made up of 38,696,281 indexed records and 19,553,476 record images. 

Irish Genealogy website closes access to records

The Irish government closed part of its genealogy website last month, after the country's data protection commissioner warned that potentially sensitive personal details were available to all.
Irish Genealogy, a website created by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, offered people born or married in Ireland the ability to search for civil records such as birth certificates as part of their research into their heritage. But those records contain data such as dates of birth and mothers' maiden names, information which is frequently used as security questions for accounts such as online banking. That information is not legally defined as "sensitive" under Irish data protection law, but the commission stepped in to prevent the data anyway.
Billy Hawkes, the Irish data protection commissioner, said his office had been consulted on the site, but that it had not been made clear that the information available would be contemporary as well as historical.
The information contained on the website has always been publicly available, but before online access to civil records was turned on, it had required payment of a fee to get a copy of an individual record. But online, free searches offered the potential of malicious actors bulk downloading data in an effort to match up information with records from other sources.
The site, which only launched the search on Thursday 3 July, now notes that "Civil Records Search [is] temporarily unavailable … Further update will be provided."
In March 2013, when the Irish Genealogy site launched, it focused on historical records, offering users the ability to search the 1901 and 1911 censuses.

Irish Census Records

Thousands of Irish census documents, many dating back to the early 19th Century, have been made available to the public online for the first time. The vast majority of pre-1922 records were destroyed in the Irish Civil War by a fire at the Public Record Office, but some of the documents that survived the fire, and others held elsewhere, have now been collated and put online. They include partial census records from 1821 to 1851, a substantial amount from counties now in Northern Ireland. Surviving documents from the 1821 census include household returns from large parts of County Fermanagh. Many of the 1831 census records for County Londonderry have survived, and a substantial amount of 1851 census documents from County Antrim also remain intact. Most of them are not the original documents, but are contemporaneous copies of census forms archived in offices in what later became Northern Ireland. The surviving documents had previously been available to order from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) but they have now been published online, to access free of charge, by the National Archives of Ireland, which undertook the project in partnership with genealogical companies, FindMyPast and FamilySearch. In total, the newly available documentation relates to more than 600,000 individuals on the island of Ireland. Many of the records are from the years leading up to the Irish famine, which is reckoned to have killed nearly one-eighth of the entire population.

For people of Irish descent, tracing their family roots is notoriously difficult because of a series of documentation disasters. Full government censuses for the whole island of Ireland began in 1821 and continued at ten-year intervals until 1911. No census was taken in 1921, because of the Irish War of Independence. However, many of the records were completely destroyed prior to 1922, by order of the British government, on grounds of confidentiality. The original census returns for 1861 and 1871 were destroyed shortly after they were taken. Documents from the 1881 and 1891 censuses were pulped during the First World War. The majority of the returns for the four censuses carried out between 1821 and 1851 were destroyed by a major fire at the Public Record Office of Ireland. When the Irish Civil War began in June 1922, the government-owned building based at Dublin's Four Courts was among the first casualties. Almost all of the records it held, some dating back to medieval times, were destroyed in bomb explosions that set fire to the office on 30 June of that year.

As a result, the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses are the only pre-partition censuses to survive in comprehensive form. Census records are normally kept confidential and only released 100 years after the original surveys were completed. However, because so many Irish census documents have been destroyed, the 100-year rule was suspended and the public were given early access to the 1901 and 1911 censuses. Further information and other related stories can be found at http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-27205043

Ireland - Derryloran Parish

Derryloran Parish County Tyrone Baptisms and Confirmations Transcribed
Continuing with the Irish theme, the Church of Ireland has announced Derryloran in County Tyrone, which is centred on the town of Cookstown, now has parish registers of baptism, marriage and burial transcribed and indexed. The original volumes from which the information was transcribed remain in local custody, and microfilm copies are also available at the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland. This is part of the work conducted by Mark Williams for the Anglican Record Project, for which parish records are being transcribed and indexed. To view the transcripts and index to the baptismal and confirmation entries 1796-1896, see www.ireland.anglican.org/library/archive

Ireland XO: Reaching Out

The Irish Government has created a reverse genealogy program to reconnect people of Irish Ancestry with family and local history. It hopes to bring 70 million Irish Diaspora back to their place of origin in Ireland. Working with volunteers at town, village and parish level in Ireland, they identify who left those areas, and trace them and their descendants worldwide. This reverse genealogy entails tracing and recording all the people who left Ireland and seeking out their living descendants worldwide. Those identified or recognised as persons of Irish heritage or affiliation are invited to become part of a new extended Irish society. Ireland XO is a not for profit organisation and offers this service free of charge. If you know you are of Irish descent, then this may be a website for you. http://www.irelandxo.com/  

Irish Ancestry

Irish ancestry is often hard to trace reliably, but there has been a real push to get Irish genealogy resources online.
Irish Newspaper archive 1820-1926
FindMyPast Ireland has added over 100 years of old Irish newspapers to its online collection. The overall coverage is:
The Belfast Morning News (1857-1882)
The Belfast Newsletter (1828-1900)
The Cork Examiner (1841-1926)
The Dublin Evening Mail (1849-1871)
The Freeman’s Journal (1820-1900)
The Sligo Champion (1836-1926)
This collection is accessible on all Findmypast international sites (UK, Aus, or US) available at Manly Library. You can read the full announcement of it here.

The Irish Genealogical Research Society has launched an online index to its annual journal The Irish Genealogist. The journal was first published in 1937 and contains hundreds of thousands of family names with reference to a variety of different sources.

Censuses and Guiness Employee Records
Ancestry.com has added to their Irish records with three new databases:
Ireland Guinness Archive Index, 1824-2002
Ireland Census 1901 Census
Ireland Census 1911 Census
The census records are an index only but they link to the National Archive of Ireland, which then allows you to view the images.
The Guinness Archive is employee records and include details such as name, date of birth, date of death, date they joined the company, spouse name etc.

Tithe Applotment Books 1814-1855

These are available on FamilySearch and determine the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings over one acre should pay in tithes to the Church of Ireland. Urban areas are not included.  FamilySearch has all of these Tithe Applotment Books indexed, as well as links to the original images.

Irish Marriage Finder

The Irish Genealogical Research Society's Marriage Finder has now reached 50,000 names. It features information gathered from an array of sources, including Chancery bills, diaries, deeds, marriage settlements, memorial inscriptions, wills, family letters and newspaper cuttings. The database is online and free to use on the website of the IGRS at http://www.irishancestors.ie/?page_id=1926 and a "how to use it" introduction is available at http://www.irishancestors.ie/?page_id=1921.

 

Irish Genealogy

The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in Ireland has just relaunched a portal to Irish genealogy with IrishGenealogy.ie. It has recently introduced a new search facility to assist in searching Irish family history. The site also provides information for people just starting their search and provides links to potential sources of information available online. The aim is to make it quicker, easier, and less complicated for members of public - from home or abroad - to find information about their ancestors. From here you can access 1901 and 1911 census information, Griffiths Valuations, Tithe Applotment Records, Soldiers Wills, Military Archives, National Photographic Archive from the National Library of Ireland, Ellis Island records, and Ireland - Australia Transportation database.

Origins.net

I recently came across Origins.net (http://www.origins.net/ ), which claims to be ‘the premier resource for tracing your British and Irish ancestors’. You can pay a subscription or search and then pay for documents, but it is supposed to have access to wills and probate records, key Irish records and specialist British and London records, which is not very specific, and makes you wonder if you can get the same information from other sources. The site has recently made available Greater London Burials 1545 – 1909. These indexes cover the City of London, Middlesex and South London (metropolitan Surrey) parishes and include well over half a million burials. This index brings together hundreds of individual registers. The project was commenced in 1978 by Cliff Webb and continues on to cover to end of the burial registers rather than 1837, where a lot of other databases cease. Certainly worth a look if this could apply to your ancestors.

Irish Birth Death & Marriage Records

FindMyPast has announced the launch of 21 million new irish Birth, Death & Marriage records covering the period 1845 to 1958.

They also pointed out that they carry the most detailed and thorough collection of Irish records ever seen in one place, providing a fascinating insight into Ireland's history which is sure to make Irish research easier and more accessible than ever. (Their words, not mine)

They claim 'these records are crucial in your family history research as they allow you to quickly search multiple entries and match them against what you already know'.

There is only one way to check this claim  - use the database and see if they are right!

FindMyPast is available to use within Manly Library and many other public libraries free of charge. So check it out first before you subscribe!

 

Irish American Weekly

Did you know that Irish deaths and marriages were routinely published in the pages of the Irish American Weekly (published in New York)?  The paper was published from 1849 to 1911 and this historical Irish newspaper is a great genealogical resource to find obituaries and marriages that occurred in Ireland and around the world during the time of its publication. The Irish American weekly made a diligent effort to find, document and publish these family records in Ireland and printed them in the pages of their New York city newspaper. It is now available online for searching.

Researching your Irish Ancestors is getting easier!

There are some very useful sites available now to research your Irish Ancestors -
http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/
This site is hosted by the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport. At present there are 1,334,000 Church records of Baptism, Marriage and Death available to view free of charge on this website. These Church records were computerised with funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport and through the work of the Dublin Heritage Group and Kerry Genealogical Research Centre. This Department continues to work with Dublin City Public Library to bring about the completion of the computerisation of the Church records for Dublin City up to 1900. This Department is also collaborating with Carlow County Library and Cork County Library in the completion of their Church records and these records will be available to view free of charge through this site in the near future.

http://www.genealogyireland.ie/
This site provides informative Assessment Reports, detailing all findings and where relevant the best way to proceed. It is an independent genealogical research company, Genealogy Ireland, and uses all available genealogy sources for Ireland. They have an excellent working relationship with the many family history centres and local historians.

http://www.irishfaminerecords.com/
A commercial website with links and advertising. Can be frustrating to use.

http://www.irishorigins.com/
This is an Origins Network site and offers subscription access to key Irish genealogy records online featuring:
· the definitive version of Griffith's Valuation
· Censuses, Wills, Militia and Burial records, Passenger lists, Electoral registers etc.
· the Irish Origins Image Library
· Irish genealogy guide
It does also have an extensive list of accessible collections .

National Archives of Ireland

The National Archives of Ireland have digitised the household returns and ancillary records for the censuses of Ireland of 1901 and 1911, which are in the custody of the National Archives of Ireland and represent an extremely valuable part of the Irish national heritage.
All thirty-two counties for 1901 and 1911, are now available. Corrections and improvements will be ongoing. A small amount of material is still missing, and will be placed online as soon as possible.

National Archives of Ireland

Researching your Irish Ancestry can be notoriously difficult, but the National Archives of Ireland holds a wealth of information, searchable on-line.
Unfortunately almost all the records acquired by the Public Record Office of Ireland before 1922 were destroyed by fire and explosion at the beginning of the Civil War in June 1922 and as a result, the material now held by the National Archives dates mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries, although there are a few surviving court and exchequer rolls dating to the early 14th century.
However they are still well worth visiting, as they also provide excellent guides to searching the archives and researching Irish family history
Some of the most frequently consulted archives:
Archives acquired from private sources
Census 1901
Census 1911
Chancery pleadings
Chief Secretary's Office Registered Papers
Church of Ireland parish registers
Convict Reference Files
Coroners' inquests
Dáil Éireann records
Departmental records
Famine Relief Commission records relating to the Famine
Ferguson manuscripts
Genealogical abstracts (Betham, Crosslé, Tenison Groves, Grove-White and Thrift)
General Prisons Board
Incumbered and Landed Estates Court rentals
Irish Record Commission calendars
Lodge's manuscripts
National School applications, registers and files (pre-1922)
Office of Public Works
Official Papers
Ordnance Survey
Outrage Reports
Probate records
Quit Rent Office
Rebellion Papers
Society of Friends Famine Papers
State of the Country Papers
Trade Union archives
Valuation Office and Boundary Survey records
Will books and grant books

Griffiths Valuation

Ever tried to find out anything about Irish Ancestors? If the answer is ‘YES’, then you will probably know about Griffiths Valuation. The Primary Valuation was the first full-scale valuation of property in Ireland. It was overseen by Richard Griffith and published between 1847 and 1864. It is one of the most important surviving 19th century genealogical sources. The Library holds the index to Griffiths Valuation of Ireland 1848 – 1864 on CD-ROM, but there is now a website to make searching easier.
http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/gv_start.php?version=text_only