Wednesday 10 July 2013

Putting Clare surnames on the map

Prepare to turn green with envy (again) all ye who don't have Clare ancestors!

You may remember me raving about a new map overlay system developed by Clare County Library back in January last year. Well, they've not left it alone. The latest incarnation of this resource – to be known as GenMaps – has created THE MOST sensational maps resource that not only overlays modern maps onto historical maps, it can now map surnames into hotspots.

Searching by surname, the software creates heat maps where clusters or instances of the name appear in either the tithe applotment books 1820-40, Griffiths Valuation 1855 or the 1901 census.

Not content with that, you can then zoom into the 1842 6" ordnance survey map and overlay it with a modern road map and satellite view. Switching between the two is simple.

As and when you want to find out more about a particular townland, you simply click on the location and a host of additional information, from external sites as well as the Clare County Library site, can be checked out.

There's a very useful video tutorial to get you started on the Surname Finder.

It's great fun. Go play, whether or not you've got Clare ancestors!