Wednesday 24 September 2014

RootsIreland introduces subscription-only access

The website of the Irish Family History Foundation, RootsIreland.ie, has introduced subscription options. The site is the largest online database of Irish family records, and is best known for its extensive holdings of parish registers (see individual genealogy centres for details).

Under the new regime, a one-month subscription costs €25/£20/$32; a six-month sub costs €125/£98/$161; and a one-year sub costs €225/£177/$289.

Subscribers must be individuals working on their own family history and a 'fair usage' policy has been established: 1,000 views in 1 month; 7,000 views in 6 months; 15,000 views in 12 months. These limits seem pretty generous from where I'm sitting.

The old Pay Per View service is being closed down and no further purchases of credits can be made from today. If you have unexpired credits, you should read the Terms & Conditions page to find out how RootsIreland will convert them against a new subscription.

New search restrictions also appear to have been introduced, and reaction to these changes appears mixed. See Boards.ie for chat on the subject. However, RootsIreland has told Irish Genealogy News that the new site is a work in progress and the Search facility will see some small changes in due course.