Saturday 12 June 2010

World Cup bonus to Irish genealogy!

If some of your Irish ancestors emigrated to England or Wales, this amusing short-term offer could save you a packet! Be quick, though, as it will only last as long as the English football team remains in the World Cup competition.

Whenever England are playing a match, all records on www.findmypast.co.uk will be free. This free access starts 30 minutes before kick-off and continues for three hours. With the England team certain to play in at least three matches, this offer could allow you a minimum of nine hours of free genealogy research.

The findmypast site includes birth, marriage and death records 1538-2006, census records including 1911, and the Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records 1760-1913 (see my post of 3 June).

Normally you would need a subscription or PayAsYouGo credits to view these records, some of which normally cost 30 credits each, so to be able to see them for free is a rare opportunity.

You'll need to register.

In the initial phase of the World Cup competition, England matches are due to kick-off at the following times, so the free access will begin half an hour earlier:

19.30hrs Saturday 12 June
19.30hrs Friday 18 June
15.00hrs Wednesday 23 June

Should the England team proceed further in the competition, I'll post the times of free access accordingly.