Friday 28 November 2014

RootsIreland adds seven new databases for Derry City

RootsIreland.ie has uploaded seven new record sets from Derry Genealogy Centre. Mostly compiled from Derry City record sets, these databases date from 1628 to 1921 and most fall into the category of census substitutes.

They are:
  • The earliest census of the city, namely the rent roll of 1628
  • The names of 905 men from Derry and surrounding estates who defended Derry’s walls during the 1641 Rebellion
  • The names of 1,660 supporters of the 1689–91 Williamite campaign, many of whom fought at the Siege of Derry in 1689
  • The names of 226 citizens of the city who signed a petition condemning a Jacobite plot to assassinate King William III in 1696
  • The names of 110 leaseholders within the walled city in 1738
  • The names of 191 Derry men and women who were held in the County Jail on Bishop Street from 1839 to 1856 awaiting transportation to Australia
  • Reconstruction of census for Derry city during ‘the Troubles’ of 1920, extracted from Derry Almanac of 1921, which names 8,367 heads of households against their street address and house number.
You can check out the full range of records held on the RootsIreland database, here. Incidentally, the site has been updated since it switched to a subscription model at the end of September. It allows searches to be carried out across a ten-year period, rather than five years. A big improvement.  

UPDATE: On 4 March 2015, more than four months after the upload to RootsIreland, the Belfast Telegraph wrote a feature about the 'new' databases. It might have been somewhat behind the times in terms of news, but the feature includes some interesting additional information about these records. Read it here.

Thursday 27 November 2014

Nine new Irish titles join British Newspaper Archive

http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=5895&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk%2F
Since my mid-month update on Irish additions to the British Newspaper Archive (BNA), nine more titles have made their debut on the online database.

This brings to sixteen the number of newspaper to have joined the BNA during November.

The newest titles (with the number of editions in brackets) are:
  • The Advocate, or Irish Industrial Journal: 1856–Jan 1860 (406)
  • Athlone Sentinel: Nov & Dec1834 (6)
  • Dublin Medical Press: 1846, 1848, 1850–59; 1865 (676)
  • Enniskillen Chronicle and Erne Packet: May 1813, 1824–38; 1840–41 (with gaps) (751)
  • Farmer's Gazette & Journal of Practical Horticulture: Nov 1845; 1846; 1857–58; 1866; 1869–70 (317)
  • Southern Reporter and Cork Commercial Courier: Jan–Nov 1845; 1846; 1848–Nov 49 (122)
  • Tralee Chronicle: March 1843–47; Jan–Oct 1848; 1849 (588)
  • Ulster General Advertiser/Herald of Business and General Information: 1858 (52)
  • Wexford Independent: 1843–56 (1,171)
In addition, a good number of extra editions have been added to some of the holdings of individual titles. Among the most significant uploads are those to the Waterford Mail, Dublin Evening Mail, Limerick Reporter, The Northern Whig, Newry Examiner & Louth Advertiser, and Roscommon Messenger.

All the new titles and uploads have also joined the Irish newspaper collection in FindMyPast's Ireland and World packages.





Tuesday 25 November 2014

Winter issue of Irish Roots published

The latest issue of Irish Roots Magazine has been published and is now available in good newsagents and bookshops, as well as downloadable in digital format here.

http://www.irishrootsmedia.com/
Irish Roots magazine is available by post
or downloadable in digital format
Beyond the pretty picture on the cover of this issue, beginners and, indeed, many intermediate level researchers, will benefit from the first of a new Back To Basics feature series designed to place Irish records in their historical context and point family historians in the direction of the main repositories and their online records, as well as the best guide books.

Another article takes an in-depth look at government gazettes, especially the Dublin Gazette, and their value to genealogists, while those with ancestors from Limerick will want to follow up the advice and recommended resources in a spotlight feature focussing on that county.

A very unusual case study follows George Mitchell from County Monaghan who was killed in action as a soldier in the Indian Army; it'll be of great value as a methodology to follow in tracing the story of a WW1 ancestor, as well as highlighting a lesser-known battlefield of WW1: the advance into Iraq in 1917. Fascinating.

Other features look at the surnames of Leinster (I was surprised to learn that there are no big Norman-origin names among the top-20 in this province), and the famous Christmas Truce on the Western Front 100 years ago.

Irish-Australian politicians are also explored; there's my own regular review of new resources, developments and happenings in Irish genealogy; and, for Irish-American researchers, there's a helpful article about using Special Collections to discover more information about immigrant ancestors. There's also a rather sad tale of a family that made the journey to Manhatten and subsequently returned to County Cork.

As if that weren't enough, Nicola Morris, MAPGI, of Timeline Research, answers readers queries and provides readers with some great tips for their own research, and there's news from around the Irish genealogical groups. I spotted in the Society Notes section that the North of Ireland Family History Society will be expanding its excellent Research Centre in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, after a neighbouring unit in the complex became vacant. This means the society, the island's busiest and biggest, will be able to host genealogy classes for local groups. I look forward to following up this development.

Irish Roots magazine costs €4.50/£3.35 in the shops, €7 by mail (anywhere), or $3.99 for a digital copy. A one-year subcription costs $12 (digital) or, for hard copy, €25/US$37/CAN$40/AUS$42/UK£25 (approximately) including postage.

Monday 24 November 2014

Irish News Archive: reductions to hold to end of year

There's been a lot going on at the Irish Newspaper Archive in the last few weeks, what with the addition of the Leinster Express to the portfolio and then the launch of 108 years of the Irish (Cork) Examiner.

It seems, however, that recent talk of permanent price-cuts may have been a bit premature (see blogpost). Although prices have now been reduced – from €60 to €30 for the monthly sub, and €360 to €178 for the annual – these should be considered a 50% Christmas Special Offer only, rather than a fixed price for the longer term.

Once the festivities are over, if not before, the Irish Newspaper Archive will advise the New Year's pricing regime.

Diaries at the ready: PRONI dates until mid-January

From the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) comes a reminder that this time of year sees many changes to opening/closing hours as well as periods of limited service.

This Thursday (28 November) will be the last late-night at the Titanic Bouvlevard offices until the third week of the New Year, as PRONI will close at 4.45pm on the following Thursday evenings: 4, 11 & 18 December and 8 January 2015.

Over the festive period, PRONI will be closed on Wednesday 24, Thursday 25 and Friday 26 December and on Thursday 1 January 2015.

Late-night Thursdays will recommence on 15 January 2015.

The week after next, 8–12 December, will be Preservation Week at the repository. This will result in some service restrictions. There will be no Document Production, but the Public Search Room, including Self-Service Microfilm area, will be operating as normal. (During that week, the PRONI team will be posting articles about preservation, reprographics, preventative conservation, digital preservation and emergency planning as well as publishing photos recording what they get up to behind the scenes.)

Irish genealogy and history events, 24 Nov – 6 Dec

Tuesday 25 November: Dublin at war, 1914-18, a History Ireland ‘Hedge School’ debate. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare St, Dublin 2. Chaired by Tommy Graham, editor of History Ireland. Panelists Padraig Yeates, Brian Hanley, Ann Mathews, and David Fitzpatrick. 7pm. Admission free. No need to book.

Tuesday 25 November: Family history resources at Coleraine Library, with Sarah Carson. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Coleraine Branch. Venue: Guide Hall, Terrace Row, Coleraine, Co Derry-Londonderry. 8.00pm. Lecture followed by light refreshments. All welcome. €3 for non-members.

Tuesday 25 November: Recruitment in the First World War in Kilrush, Co Clare, with Paul O'Brien. Host: Kilrush and District Historical Society. Venue: Teach Ceoil, Grace Street, Kilrush, Co. Clare. 8pm. €5 for non-members. All welcome.

Wednesday 26 November: Irish Volunteers and National Volunteers in Meath, October 1914-April 1916, a Decade of Centenaries lecture, with Ruth Illingworth. Hosts: Meath Archaeological & Historical Society. Venue: St Mary's Church of Ireland Hall, Navan. 7.30pm.

Thursday 27 November: What really happened at the Battle of Clontarf, with Professor Seán Duffy. Host: The Friends of the Library – Trinity College Dublin. Venue: Thomas Davis Theatre, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin. 7:30pm. Admission €5/Members & Concessions €2.50. All welcome.

Thursday 27 November: Official opening of the Ulster-Scots Hub & Discover Ulster-Scots Centre at the Corn Exchange Building, 1-7 Victoria Street, Belfast. Formalities by the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure. 6pm to 7:30pm. All welcome but you need to reserve your space by email to ciara.shevlin@dcalni.gov.uk.

Thursday 27 November: A street through time, featuring Market Street, with Johnnie Kennedy. Host: Strabane History Society. Venue: Room 5, Strabane Library, 1 Railway Street, Strabane, Co Tyrone BT82 8EF. 7:30pm

Thursday 27 November: From Mons to Gallipoli – Irish soldiers at war in the first 9 months of WW1, with Lar Joye. Host: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Venue: 63 Merrion Square South, Dublin 2. 7:30pm. Free.

Thursday 27 November: Graveyard research in North Antrim, with Dorothy Arthur. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Ballymena branch. Venue: Michelin Arts Workshop, Braid Arts Centre 1-29 Bridge Street, Ballymena BT43 5EJ, Co Antrim. 7:15pm.

Friday 28 and Saturday 29 November:
A safe place for ships: Cork, Ireland, Europe and the Sea, a conference on the maritime history of Cork. Organised by the School of History, University College Cork. Venue: Main Campus, Electrical Building, L-1, UCC. Topics include the Vikings, piracy, the Spanish Armada, international trade, Emigration, the Napoleonic War at sea, island nations, port cities, WW1 submarine warfare, the Lusitania, and more. Admission is free and no registration is required. Details.

Saturday 29 November: Dublin in the rare auld rhymes, a night of song, story and recitations. Host: Stoneybatter and Smithfield People's History Project. Venue: The Cobblestone pub, 77 King St North, Dublin 7. Donation to Capuchin Day Centre at the door.  8pm.

Tuesday 2 December: The heritage sites of County Kildare, with Ger McCarthy. Host: Naas Local History Group. Venue: Community Library, Harbour View, Naas, Co Kildare. 7:45pm.

Tuesday 2 December: Women in Waterford History, with Andy Kelly. Venue: Town Hall Theatre, Friary Street, Dungarvan, Co Waterford. 8pm. €5. All welcome.

Wednesday 3 to Friday 5 December: Reading Room closed to public for annual media review. National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin. Details.

Wednesday 3 December: Ulster and the First World War, with Jonathan Bardon. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Free but need to reserve your place by email to proni@dcalni.gov.uk or telephone 02890 534800.

Friday 5 December: Ireland, Australia and the First World War, with Dr Jeff Kildea. Host: Military History Society of Ireland. Venue: Griffith College, South Circular Road, Dublin 8. Non-members welcome. 8pm.

Saturday 6 December: Survival and revival – Ireland's historic gardens and demesne landscapes, with Finola Reid. Venue: Tipperary County Museum, Mick Delahunty Square, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. 10am to Noon, with refreshments provided. €5 per session. Bookings: julia.walsh@tipperarycoco.ie or 076 106 5564.

Friday 21 November 2014

Yet more transcriptions from Clare County Library

Clare County Library has had a busy month of website uploads. Having added five new sets of transcriptions just over a week ago (see blogpost), three more have been added in the last few days.

They are headstone inscriptions from the graveyards of Kilmaleery, Kilconry and Clonloghan, and the dates recorded range from 1765 to 1996. The main family names from Kilmaleery are McMahon, Frawley, Fahy and McInerney; in Kilconry they are Donohue/O’Donoghue, Burke, McMahon and McNamara; while the prominent surnames in Clonloghan are Hannan/Hannon, Hastings, Hickey, Moroney and Corbett.

The transcriptions have been taken from surveys carried out by Pat Carrig for OBAIR Newmarket-on-Fergus in the late 1990s. His original survey notebooks were lent to the library by Canon Reuben Butler.






FindMyPast delivers Griffith's Valuation maps & plans

http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=5947&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.findmypast.ie%2Fsearch-world-Records%2Fgriffiths-survey-maps-and-plans-1847-1864
This week's FindMyPast Friday brings a highly regarded set of maps and town-plans to the database's Griffith's Valuation (GV) collection.

Since 2003, this GV collection has been available only on Irish Origins, now a sister company of FindMyPast.ie in the DC Thompson Family History stable.

It was developed by the National Library of Ireland, Eneclann and OMS Services and brought together 300 of the 301 GV publications dispersed across the National Library, the National Archives, the Valuation Office, the Genealogical Office, the Gilbert Library, the private collection of George Handran and other archives.

The information was then digitised and made fully searchable (by person and placename) to create what is widely accepted as the most comprehensive version of Griffith's Valuation online.

The Ordnance Survey (OS) maps and town plans used by the team working on Griffith's Primary Valuation during 1847-1864 still exist, marked up and annotated by those working on the Primary Valuation and subsequently by Valuation Office personnel. For many places there are multiple plans, usually created at different times, and these are easily accessible when viewing the images. The majority are undated, but the one you retrieve when searching the FindMyPast collection will usually be the earliest ie the one first used in Griffith's Valuation.

Unfortunately, the FindMyPast collection does not have maps, only transcripts, for the six counties of Northern Ireland (Antrim, Armagh, LondonDerry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone).

National Library's new exhibition explores Ireland's complex responses to WW1

http://www.nli.ie/wwi/
The wartime experience of two of Ireland’s best-known families – the Leslies of Castle Leslie in Co. Monaghan, and the Plunketts of Dublin – are among the stories highlighted in a new exhibition at the National Library of Ireland (NLI).

The exhibition, World War Ireland: Exploring the Irish Experience, was officially launched by the Minster for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys TD, yesterday.

It features letters, diaries, newspapers, photographs, leaflets and posters from the NLI’s collections.

Nikki Ralston, exhibition curator for the NLI, said: “Irish people had very diverse and complex reactions to World War I. This exhibition captures those sentiments, and also recounts the tense domestic situation in the Ireland of 1914.

“We felt one of the best ways to illustrate how Ireland experienced the war was to explore a range of themes through real-life stories. We have chosen to focus on four people who had very different experiences, and we have featured their writings – including personal diaries and letters – in this exhibition. These primary sources are complemented by audio, video and touchscreen installations to create a multi-layered, multimedia experience for all visitors.”

The four real-life stories featured in the new exhibition focus on:
  • Norman Leslie, second son of the well-known Leslie family from Castle Leslie in Co. Monaghan. He had become heir to the family estate when his elder brother, Shane, converted to Catholicism and became a supporter of Irish Home Rule. An experienced soldier when the war broke out, Norman was shot and killed in October 1914, while charging a German machine gun armed only with a sword (it was considered ungentlemanly for officers to carry guns).
  • Joseph Mary Plunkett, the poet, journalist and revolutionary, best known as a leader of the 1916 Rising and a signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. In April 1915, he accompanied Roger Casement to Germany to seek German support for an uprising in Ireland. He subsequently fought alongside Pearse and Connolly in the GPO in 1916. Imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol, he married Grace Gifford just hours before his execution in May 1916.
  • Mary Martin, a widow and mother of 12 from Monkstown, Co. Dublin. Three of her children served overseas during the war, including her son, Charlie, who was reported wounded and missing in late 1915. Believing he had been taken prisoner, Mary began keeping a diary in the form of a letter to Charlie. She subsequently discovered he had died of his wounds soon after his capture. Her other children survived the war. Mary’s wartime diary is included in the NLI exhibition.
  • Michael O’Leary, a farmer’s son from Co. Cork, served with the Irish Guards on the Western Front. In February 1915, he single-handedly charged two German barricades in France, killing eight men and taking two prisoner. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, and became internationally famous, with journalists even thronging to the family farm in Cork. The story of his wartime exploits was put to very different uses, inspiring both a recruiting campaign and a satirical play by George Bernard Shaw. He retired from the army in 1921, but re-joined during World War Two. He died in 1961.
World War Ireland: Exploring the Irish Experience will run at the NLI at 2/3 Kildare Street, Dublin 2, for the next four years, as part of the NLI’s work for the Decade of Commemorations. The exhibition is open to the public every day, free of charge. See a taster of the exhibition on the NLI website at www.nli.ie/wwi

Thursday 20 November 2014

TIGS transcribes NY burial records with place of origin

A unique and valuable new resource has resulted from a project managed by Troy Irish Genealogy Society (TIGS): transcriptions of 12,731 records from the recently rediscovered interment book for St John's Cemetery in Albany, NY.

Just under one third (3,895) of the records relate to Irish-born individuals and, remarkably, all but 500 entries identify the county from which they originate.

This collection, which contains records from 1841 to the late 1880s, could throw open the research doors to many Americans descended from Irish immigrants who fled the famine.

Here's a breakdown of the Irish identified in the interment records with their home county in Ireland:

Antrim
10
Kerry
76
Queens
114
Armagh
35
Kildare
38
Roscommon
159
Carlow
80
Kilkenny
195
Sligo
47
Cavan
307
Kings
114
Tipperary
458
Clare
62
Leitrim
28
Tyrone
91
Cork
376
Limerick
160
Waterford
83
Derry
22
Londonderry
5
Westmeath
138
Donegal
28
Longford
143
Wexford
131
Down
39
Louth
93
Wicklow
43
Dublin
52
Mayo
36
Ireland-No
County 500
Fermangh
30
Meath
116
Galway
39
Monaghan
47
TOTAL
IRISH 3,895

The records, along with further details of the cemetery and how the book was rediscovered, are freely searchable on the Troy Irish Genealogy Society website. Take a look, too, at their other transcription projects, while you're at it.

Hearty congratulations to the Society and its members for making these priceless records available.

(Thanks to the Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland (APGI) for letting me know about this brand-new collection.)

Wednesday 19 November 2014

RootsIreland adds more North Tipperary records

Baptism and marriage records for the Roman Catholic parish of Loughmore-Castleiney have been added to the RootsIreland.ie database.

This parish's baptims registers range from 1798-1899, while the marriage register spans 1798-1897. There are no gaps across the timeline.

The records were computerised by the North Tipperary Genealogy Centre, The Governor's House, Kickham Street, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.

Ireland's 1st military history title – Reveille – launches

http://www.reveille.ie/subscribe
Click to subscribe
A new magazine launches today to commemorate Ireland's military past.

Reveille magazine is a 64-page quarterly publication that intends to tell the story through the eyes of Ireland’s military veterans, Ireland’s military heritage, and living historians dedicated to preserving Ireland’s military past.

Each issue will showcase Ireland’s military heritage sites such as battlefields where Ireland’s men and women fought and died and museums where Ireland’s military story is preserved as far back as the Iron Age. Bringing alive Ireland’s military heritage are the various branches of the serving military and preservation groups who together magnificently restore and bring back to life the aircraft, weapons and vehicles that Ireland’s soldiers used or came up against over the centuries.

In the run up to today's launch, Reveille's team has been publishing samples of the first issue's articles. These can be found on the magazine's facebook page. Take a look. With a neat presentation, they seem to convey a lot of useful information that will help family historians to understand more of their ancestors' lives in the armed forces.

The official launch will be announced today at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin, at Noon, by Brigadier General Paul Pakenham (Retd) of the Military Heritage Ireland Trust Ltd.

Initially the magazine will be available only by subscription (to subscribe, click image) but it may become available via newsagents and booksellers in the future.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Irish News Archive cuts prices and adds Irish Examiner

http://www.irishnewspaperarchives.comThe Irish Newspaper Archive (INA) has, as expected (see last month's blogpost), dramatically reduced its monthly and annual subscription fees. It has also uploaded all editions of the Irish Examiner (previously the Cork Examiner) from 1841 to 1949.

The new subscription costs are confirmed as:

One Day : €10 (no change)
One Month : €30 (down from €60)
One Year : €178 (down from €350)

Weekly- and 48-hour-access options have been discontinued.

A subscription allows unlimited access to all the publications held in the database. You can see the full list of titles here. No doubt the Irish Examiner will be added to the list shortly.

The launch of 108 years' worth of Irish Examiner editions marks the completion of Stage One of the project to digitise the newspaper's entire archive. Stage Two will see the editions published since 1950 brought online and, on a rolling basis, all editions to be published in the future.



FIBIS to host day workshop on British in India

The Families in British India Society (FIBIS) is to host a day-long workshop investigating the long period of British involvement in India on Saturday 6 December.

It is estimated that by the early 19th century almost half the soldiers in the East India Company Army were from Ireland, so Indian research is clearly a very relevant area of research for Irish genealogists.

The day will include a visit to the photographic exhibition "People of India" accompanied by its creator, Jason Scott Tilley, as well as a lecture and workshops covering topics of general interest and hints on progressing your own research. Participants can enjoy swapping stories over coffee and lunch, and take advantage of time to “ask the expert” to help solve their Indian research queries.

Lunch is not included but there's a cafe at the venue and you might like to join other delegates at an optional meal at an Indian restaurant in the evening.

Although the workshop is free, booking through the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum is essential.

Venue: Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Jordan Well, Coventry, CV1 5QP.
Times: 10.00am – 4.00pm.

More PRONI lecture recordings available via YouTube

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has added recordings of some of its recent lectures to its YouTube channel.

This latest upload includes videos of a workshop and two series of talks:

Irish Language and Culture – These four talks explore Irish language and culture, including shared traditions, identities and heritage. They were presented in collaboration with Foras na Gaeilge,

The Road to War – Hosted by PRONI in conjunction with National Museums Northern Ireland, this joint lecture series explores the impact and legacy of WW1 in Ireland and marked the anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict.

By Air, Sea and Land: Transport & Mobility Through the Archives – This workshop brought practitioners and volunteers together to encourage dialogue and learning about business archives, and to enhance understanding of current and future events and initiatives.

All PRONI's videos can be accessed via this menu of recordings and themes. As you can see from the list, PRONI's YouTube channel is growing into a substantial and very useful collection of recorded lectures.

More new Irish titles join BNA database

http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=5895&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk%2F
As promised by the British Newspaper Archive, yet more new titles have been added to the database's quickly growing Irish collection. With the number of editions available in brackets, the newest titles are:
  • Catholic Telegraph – 1862 (34)
  • Clonmel Herald – 1830 (101)
  • Drogheda Conservative Journal – 1837–46 (445)
  • Dublin Packet & Correspondent – 1850 (144)
  • Dublin Weekly Register – 1839 (50)
  • Roscommon Messanger – May–Dec 1848 (31)
  • Tipperary Free Press – (202)
  • Waterford Mail – 1834, 1838, 1841 (1223)
In addition, many extra editions have been uploaded for some of the titles already available online. The collection of Newry Examiner and Louth Advertiser has grown to nearly three times its previous size with 1,440 editions now searchable, while the Northern Whig has more than doubled to 5,059 editions. The Limerick Reporter holding has jumped from 617 editions to 1,107 and the Limerick Evening Post from just 17 to 452.

Smaller-sized top-ups have joined the collections for the Belfast Mercantile Register & Weekly Advertiser, the Galway Vindicator & Connaught Advertiser, and the Irish Racing Book.

The entire collection is now available to subscribers of British Newspaper Archive and to those with a World or Ireland package from FindMyPast.


Monday 17 November 2014

Leinster Express joins Irish Newspaper Archives

http://www.irishnewspaperarchives.comThe Irish Newspaper Archive has added the Leinster Express, 1831–1949, to its database.

The weekly title will be of particular interest to those with ancestors from County Laois (Queen's County). It was first published in 1831 in Maryborough (now Portlaoise), and is still going strong.

More editions are expected to be added shortly.



Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: latest updates

Spain family memorial,
Cloghprior, Co Tipperary
The latest additions to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives – all submitted by volunteers – are listed below.

ARMAGH, Genealogy Archives – Headstones
St. Mark's, Armagh City

DONEGAL, Genealogy Archives – Headstones
St Mary's Church Headstones, Cockhill, (Partial)

FERMANAGH, Genealogy Archives – Church Records
Lisnaskea, Baptisms from Holy Trinity C.of I. 1804-1899

TIPPERARY, Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Cloghprior Graveyard

WICKLOW, Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Askanagap Graveyard: Church and Memorials

Irish genealogy & history events 18–27 November

Tuesday 18 November: Trapped by the Border: Northern Nationalists and Southern unionists 1910-1925, with Dr Eamon Phoenix. Part of the Lisburn Museum Lecture Series: Ireland during the Great War. Venue: Lisburn Museum, Market Square, Lisburn, BT28 1AG. 7pm. Free but must be booked in advance – tickets available from museum reception or, for more information call 028 9266 3377.

Tuesday 18 November: The Viking Origins of Limerick City, with John Elliott. Venue: Granary Library, Michael Street, Limerick. Free. 8pm.

Tuesday 18 November: Galway Women and World War One, with Mary Clancy. Host: Galway's Great Read, Galway Libraries. Venue: Ballinasloe Library, Fairgreen, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway. 6pm. Free.

Wednesday 19 November: Galway Women and World War One, with Mary Clancy. Host: Galway's Great Read, Galway Libraries. Venue: Clifden Library, Main Street, Clifden, Co. Galway. 6pm. Free.

Tuesday 18 November: Irish Research: the ins and outs, with Lisa Dougherty. Venue: Irish American Heritage Museum, 370 Broadway, Albany, New York 12207. 6:30pm–7:30pm. Free. Need to register.

Wednesday 19 November: Book launch: Strokestown and the Great Irish Famine by Ciarán Reilly. To be launched by former Minster and TD Mary O'Rourke. This important new study (see blogpost from earlier this month) contains more than 150 documents from the Strokestown archive of interest to genealogists. Venue: The Library, Strokestown House, Co Roscommon. 8pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 19 November: Robert Tressell, Dubliner: author of ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’, with Bryan MacMahon. (Not genealogy, but included here because it's my all-time favourite book. Ought to be on school curriculum.) Venue: Conference Room, Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. 6:30pm. Free.

Wednesday 19 November: The Ordnance Survey now and in the future, with Colin Bray. Part of the Mapping City, Town and Country lecture series. Venue: Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. 1-2pm. Free. All welcome. No need to book.

Wednesday 19 November: Tracing your Northern Irish ancestors, with Ian Maxwell. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh branch. Venue: Town Hall, Edward Street, Portadown, Co Armagh. 7:30pm.

Wednesday 19 November: Changed Utterly: the birth of independent Ireland, 1912-1922, with Daniel Mulhall, Irish Ambassador to Great Britain, presenting the inaugural Irish Studies Centre Autumn lecture. Reception follows. Venue: Henry Thomas Room, London Metropolitan University, 166-220 Holloway Road, London N7 8DB. 6pm–8pm. Free, but need to reserve place.

Wednesday 19 November: The Battle of Clontarf in Irish history and legend, with Colm Lennon. Host: Dún Laoghaire Borough Historical Society. Venue: Kingston Hotel, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 8pm. Admission €3.50 non-members.

Wednesday 19 November: The Ordnance Survey in Ireland – the early years, with Richard Kirwan. Host: Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society. Venue: Talbot Hotel Carlow. 8:00 pm. Free. All welcome.

Thursday 20 November: Belfast Newspaper Library, with Catherine Morrow. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Down & Ards Branch. Venue: 1st Presbyterian Church Hall, Upper Main Street, Bangor. 7:30–9:30pm.

Thursday 20 November: The History of Asgard, from Launch to Gun Running to Conservation, with Pat Murphy. Venue: National Maritime Museum, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 8pm. €10 tickets at the door.

Thursday 20 November: How to trace WW1 military records, with John Goodman. Venue: Bunclody Library, Millwood, Carrigduff, Bunclody, Co Wexford. 7pm.

Thursday 20 November: Presbyterian Chaplaincy in the First World War, with Rev Dr Victor Dobbin. Host: Presbyterian History Society of Ireland. Venue: Malone Presbyterian Church, 462 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 6GT. 8pm, followed by refreshments. Also exhbition looking at the church during WW1. Free. All welcome.

Saturday 22 November: Poland and Ireland in WW1 – a history conference and exhibition. Four 45-minute lectures, plus lunch (Polish dish). Host: Discover Poland. Venue: Ballroom, Wynn's Hotel, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1. 10am–3:20pm. Free.

Saturday 22 November: Building Welfare: Building a nation? The case of Richmond Asylum, with Dr Pauline Conroy. Host: Stoneybatter & Smithfield People's History Project. Venue: Carmichael Centre, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7 (next to Richmond Hospital). 4pm. Free, but reserve place by email.

Tuesday 25 November: Dublin at war, 1914-18, a History Ireland ‘Hedge School’ debate. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare St, Dublin 2. Chaired by Tommy Graham, editor of History Ireland. Panelists Padraig Yeates, Brian Hanley, Ann Mathews, and David Fitzpatrick. 7pm. Admission free. No need to book.

Tuesday 25 November: Family history resources at Coleraine Library, with Sarah Carson. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Coleraine Branch. Venue: Guide Hall, Terrace Row, Coleraine, Co Derry-Londonderry. 8.00pm. Lecture followed by light refreshments. All welcome. €3 for non-members.

Tuesday 25 November: Recruitment in the First World War in Kilrush, Co Clare, with Paul O'Brien. Host: Kilrush and District Historical Society. Venue: Teach Ceoil, Grace Street, Kilrush, Co. Clare. 8pm.

Wednesday 26 November: Irish Volunteers and National Volunteers in Meath, October 1914-April 1916, a Decade of Centenaries lecture, with Ruth Illingworth. Hosts: Meath Archaeological & Historical Society. Venue: St Mary's Church of Ireland Hall, Navan. 7.30pm.

Thursday 27 November: What really happened at the Battle of Clontarf, with Professor Seán Duffy. Host: The Friends of the Library – Trinity College Dublin. Venue: Thomas Davis Theatre, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin. 7:30pm. Admission €5/Members & Concessions €2.50. All welcome.

Thursday 27 November: A street through time, featuring Market Street, with Johnnie Kennedy. Host: Strabane History Society. Venue: Room 5, Strabane Library, 1 Railway Street, Strabane, Co Tyrone BT82 8EF. 7:30pm

Thursday 27 November: From Mons to Gallipoli – Irish soldiers at war in the first 9 months of WW1, with Lar Joye. Host: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Venue: 63 Merrion Square South, Dublin 2. 7:30pm. Free.

Thursday 27 November: Graveyard research in North Antrim, with Dorothy Arthur. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Ballymena branch. Venue: Michelin Arts Workshop, Braid Arts Centre 1-29 Bridge Street, Ballymena BT43 5EJ, Co Antrim. 7:15pm.

Saturday 29 November: Dublin in the rare auld rhymes, a night of song, story and recitations. Host: Stoneybatter and Smithfield People's History Project. Venue: The Cobblestone pub, 77 King St North, Dublin 7. Donation to Capuchin Day Centre at the door.  8pm.

Friday 14 November 2014

FindMyPast: 90% discount on one-month subscription

Offer expired 19 November
November has been a terrific month for back-to-back promotions from FindMyPast. No sooner had a 50% subscription offer ended than we were treated to a four-day weekend of free access to the entire database. Just when you thought the generosity had to stop, here comes another discount!

Until 23:59 (GMT) on 19 November, you can get a month's access to one of the 'local' collections for just €1/£1/$1. That's almost free, in my book!

The local collections are: Ireland, Britain, USA & Canada, and Australia & New Zealand.

All you have to do is choose which package best suits the needs of your continuing research, follow the appropriate link below, and sign up for a month's subscription at the discounted rate.
At the end of the month's membership, your subscription will automatically renew at the standard monthly charge of €9.95/£9.95/$9.95. If you do not wish that to happen, be sure to cancel the subscription (just turn off 'continuous membership' in the My Account section) five days before the 30-day period expires.

PLEASE BE AWARE: You can have only ONE FindMyPast subscription at any one time.
If you already have a subscription... for argument's sake, let's say it's an annual sub to the Ireland collection... and you decide to try out a month's sub to the Britain collection, your Ireland subscription will automatically expire, regardless of how much time it had left to run.

This offer has now expired.

More Irish directories added to FindMyPast database

http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=5947&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.findmypast.ie%2Fsearch-world-Records%2Fpettigrew-and-oultons-dublin-almanack-and-general-register-of-ireland-1835-1845
This week's FindMyPast Friday upload includes eight editions (published in 1835-37, 1839, 1841, 1843–45) of Pettigrew & Oulton’s Dublin Almanack & General Register of Ireland. The collection comprises more than 6,000 records.

First published in 1834, Pettigrew and Oulton’s was the first annual publication to include a street by street directory of Dublin. It also included an alphabetical list of inhabitants, grouped by profession.



Thursday 13 November 2014

Family history still No 1 reason for visiting PRONI

PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast
Family history research is by far the most popular reason for visiting the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).

The annual Digest of Statistics for the institution shows that 89% of all first-time visitors to the Titanic Boulevard offices in 2013/14 were seeking genealogical information (the year before it was 77%).

It's a huge proportion, up 21 percentage points since 2009/10, and the highest ever recorded by PRONI. See the pie-chart below for details of the other principal reasons for visits.

From April 2013 to March 2014, some 20,000 visitors walked through the doors into PRONI's modern and bright atrium. Just over a quarter were first-timers. Of these first-time visitors, a small majority (52%) were residents of Northern Ireland while the number of new researchers from the USA more than doubled from 7% in 2012/13 to 15%. New visitors from the rest of the UK were down a little to 12%, while visitors from Australia and New Zealand made up a healthy 7% and researchers from Ireland and Canada made up 6% each.

Three-quarters of all visitors used the Search Room/Reading Room, while the remainder was split equally between those attending an event or as part of a group.

The document production team did well with an average retrieval time of under 15 minutes. Some 96% of all documents were produced within 30 minutes (the target figures is 94%).

PRONI's excellent website, which holds several Northern Irish family history collections, was also incredibly busy. More than 623,000 visits were recorded, along with more than 13millon page views. The Will Calendars collection just pipped the Valuation Revision Books to the top position in the popularity stakes, with 3.7million and 3.6million page downloads respectively. The E-catalogue came in third place, followed by Name Search, Ulster Covenant, Freeholders and Street Directories.

New high-tech equipment allowed more digitisation (17,900 frames) to be carried out by PRONI's preservation team during 2013/14. Of these, more than 10,000 frames from church records were generated and just under 5,400 frames from Griffith's Valuation Revision Books. The remainder were mostly from photographic collections.

In addition, some 32,764 items (almost double in the previous year) were created in the PRONI catalogue and 23,573 items (up from 15,039 the previous year) made accessible to the public via the electronic catalogue (e-CATNI), which is available both at the PRONI building and via the website.

I'd say PRONI's staff (75 full-time equivalent) have good reason to be pleased with their performance.

You can see more by downloading the Digest of Statistics here.


Reasons for visits (first-timers only) to PRONI 2013/14

1916 centenary initiative – Ireland 1916 – launched

Garden of Remembrance, Dublin
A national initiative to mark the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising was launched last night at the GPO in Dublin. It is to be led by the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which will develop, coordinate and deliver a programme of activity to honour and remember those who fought and those who died in the 1916 Rising, to reflect on the legacy of that period and to look towards Ireland's future.

A number of formal State events will be held over Easter weekend 2016, including a military ceremony to be led by 1916 relatives on Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016. Other key events will include a special State Reception for relatives on Saturday, 26 March, and a commemoration at Arbour Hill on Sunday 24 April 24, to mark the date of the Rising.

Ireland 2016 is based on five intersecting themes:
  • Remember: recalling shared history on the island of Ireland;
  • Reconcile: honouring all who have built peace and brought people together;
  • Imagine:  releasing the creativity of Irish people, in particular, young people;
  • Present: creatively showing the nation's achievements to the world;
  • Celebrate:  family, community and friendship and the renewal of a commitment to the Proclamation's ideals of liberty and equality. 
Ireland 2016 will encompass a range of initiatives including:
  • Permanent Reminders: €22 million in 2015 for seven flagship capital projects to be developed by Easter 2016
  • State Events: national ceremonies, parades and events will take place to remember those who participated in the Rising and will involve the relatives
  • Culture Programme: A rich cultural programme will be developed in co-operation with Ireland's National Cultural Institutions, the Arts Council and Culture Ireland
  • Young People: A special Education Commemorative Programme will be prepared with the Department of Education and Skills
  • Community: The Department of Arts will lead an extensive consultation programme with local government and community groups to facilitate ground-up initiatives across the country
  • Diaspora: Through the Embassy network, talks, exhibitions, seminars and cultural events will be held to present Ireland 2016 to the world
  • Language: a number of projects are being progressed to reflect the esteem with which the Irish language was held by the 1916 Leaders
  • Commemorative Stamps: A special set of commemorative stamps and a series of coins will be issued.
Further details on Ireland 2016 are available on a new website – Ireland.ie – and there's also a downloadable pdf format brochure.

At the formal launch, An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, said: '2016 presents us with a once-in-a-century opportunity to create events of celebration and remembrance that are of value in themselves but that also contribute to a greater sense of who we are, what we want to be as a people, what achievements we aspire to for ourselves and for our children.

'The formal State events of the Easter weekend and the centenary itself are the focal points of our commemoration programme. But we need 2016 to be much more than that. 2016 can be a year when we remember our shared history on these islands, reflect on our achievements and our failings and re-imagine our future.

'Remembrance on its own is insufficient to honour the ideals and achievements of the men and women who proclaimed our Republic. We can best honour the past by reflecting deeply and seriously on the present, by exploring and celebrating our achievements, and by creatively re-imagining how we should aspire to the ideal of the Republic as proclaimed in 1916.'

http://www.ireland.ie

Wednesday 12 November 2014

More free online resources from Clare County Library

Clare County Library has received a flurry of record donations recently, and they've been uploaded to the website for all to enjoy. Here's the list:

In due course, there may be another interesting addition to the Library's online portfolio. This past weekend, Clare Museum acquired at auction a journal and autograph book that provides a unique insight into life and conditions at Frongoch prisoner of war camp, where an estimated 1,800 Irish participants of the Easter Rising were interned between June and December 1916.

It belonged to IRA Volunteer and a future important politican figure Patrick Brennan, from Meelick, and features accounts and illustrations of life in the North Wales camp and the autographs of many of the camp’s prisoners including Michael Collins and Richard Mulcahy.

While it is planned to put this on display in the Museum before Christmas, it is also hoped to create a digital copy that can be uploaded to the Library site for a wider audience.

There's more information about this important acquisition here.

The Birth of Independent Ireland: Lecture in London

The inaugural Irish Studies Centre Autumn Lecture is to be held at the London Metropolitan University on Wednesday 19 November, from 6–8pm.

Daniel Mulhall, Irish Ambassador to Great Britain, will present Changed Utterly: the Birth of Independent Ireland, 1912-1922, and a reception will follow.

The free event is open to the public. You can reserve your place here.

Venue:
Henry Thomas Room
London Metropolitan University
166-220
N78DB



Nov/Dec issue of Irish Lives Remembered published

https://flipflashpages.uniflip.com/3/71043/341250/pub/html5.html
Click to view
The last 2014 edition of the free bi-monthly magazine Irish Lives Remembered has been published and can be viewed or downloaded by clicking the front cover image, right.

This issue's highlighted area of research is Fermanagh in Northern Ireland with features covering the history, attractions and record sources of the county as well as details of the free genealogy service available in Enniskillen and the activities of the local North of Ireland Family History Society.

Irish connections to Conneticut are explored in two articles, the first spotlighting the best resources in the state, the other telling the story of The Irish Regiment – the 9th Connecticut Volunteers through the experiences of two Ireland-born soldiers.

Princess Charlene of Monaco and Seattle's mayor, Ed Murray, are the subjects of two family history features, and there's a very useful feature about emigration to Australia from NorthWest Ireland 1830–1850.

Tuesday 11 November 2014

WW1 Centenary Quilt may come to Ireland

Philippa McCray's gt uncle, Richard
Stringer, was her inspiration
As it's Armistice Day today, I thought I'd write about a WW1 centenary project that has a strong family history theme. It's the First World War Centenary Quilt, which was launched back in January by Philippa McCray, the Administrator for the Federation of Family History Societies.

She came up with the Centenary Quilt idea as a way to commemorate in fabric and thread those who served in the British or Commonwealth forces during WW1 and did not return. She thought it would appeal to family historians and others who would like to commemorate a member of their family or someone in their local community, and raise funds for two very worthy causes: Help for Heroes and Quilts for Injured Servicemen (Q4IS).

I heard about the project from Anne Robinson, Chair of the North of Ireland Family History Society, when we were chatting at WDYTYA? in London back in April. Anne had already worked her squares at that point.

Those taking part make a donation to the project and receive a square of fabric and red thread with which they can record the details of the soldier who died. You don't need to be related to the soldier.

I don't have any close ancestors who died in WW1, so I chose to commemorate a young man, Daniel Santry, who lived in Bandon, not far from where my paternal granddad was raised. I had carried out some research on his family some years ago – there's just a faint possibility our two lines meet in the very early 1800s, but I haven't been able to prove it – and knew that, with both parents dead, there was only his brother, Daniel, to mourn him when he was killed in 1918. Daniel subsequently emigrated to the USA.

And then I decided, what the heck, and chose another Santry – Patrick – as well.

With humility (and the hope that the joyless Sr Mary Lawrence isn't still on a mission to criticise my stitching skills) I present photos of my two embroidered squares which are now on their way back to Philippa.

She says that she will continue to send out the fabric/thread packs until the end of the year, so there's still time to make your contribution to it. See the WW1 Centenary Quilt website for details of how to take part and for some design inspiration.

When all the stitched squares have been sent back, there's just the small (ha ha) matter of stitching them together. Philippa told Irish Genealogy News that Brenda Lincoln, who is one of the team behind Q4IS, will be masterminding the construction of the hangings.

"I use the word 'hangings' because the project is proving so successful there will be far too many squares for one quilt!", she said. "We have lots of ideas for final design but will not make any firm decision until we have all the squares back. We plan to display in a variety of locations and I'm hoping to bring it to Ireland."

As you can see from my efforts, you don't need to be an expert with the needle. It doesn't take a lot of time, and you can adjust the level of detail or embellishment as you prefer. And the minimum donation is just £3.50. Don't delay if you want to take part!

You can follow the progress of the Quilt on facebook.



Fifty directories ready for Limerick research

Limerick County Library's Local Studies department has just completed a project to upload its entire collection of local Trades & Streets Directories to its website – all 50 of them! Where the Directory covered a wider area than Limerick (ie Francis Guy's Directory of Munster), only the Limerick pages have been uploaded. The earliest dates from 1769, the most recent to 1976, and they are now freely available for download in pdf format.

The Limerick City data from the 1769–1925 directories is additionally searchable in a Trades Register database. This database holds nearly 60,000 records and is searchable by trades, directory or by surname (the latter by Advanced Search).

A screenshot below shows how useful this index will be for those researching Limerick City ancestors.


The Boys from East Belfast film now online

Following its first public screening last night in Dundela (see blogpost), the film 'The Boys from East Belfast' can now be viewed online as the Archive of the Month from the Representative Church Body Library (RCBL).

It's an interesting tale, just 10 minutes-long, weaving the tale of the ten soldiers who were serving at the Western Front and the story of the letters' discovery. The RCBL's Archive of the Month page includes additional details about the two soldiers who survived the war.

You can also view the film direct on YouTube here.


Monday 10 November 2014

Irish genealogy and history events, 10–22 November

Monday 10 November: WW1 Ancestors. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey branch. Venue: Drama Theatre of Glengormley High School, Ballyclare Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim. 7pm–9:15pm.

Monday 10 November: A day in the life – PRONI's Flickr portraits, with Joy Carey and Heather Stanley. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Free.

Monday 10 November: The Boys from East Belfast, the first public screening of a new WW1 documentary (see blogpost). Host: RCBLibrary and the Church of Ireland Historical Centenaries Working Group. Venue: St Marks, Holywood Road, Dundela, Co Down. Free. 6pm.

Tuesday 11 November: The workers and the war: The Home Front in county Armagh, with Dr Colin Cousins. . Hosts: Craighavon Museum Services and Craighavon Historical Society. Venue: Craighavon Civic Centre, Lakeview Road, Craighavon, Co Armagh BT64 1AL. 7:30-9pm. Free. Details: 028 3832 2205.

Tuesday 11 November: Guns and hoses – Dublin Fire Brigade during the Irish Revolution, with Las Fallon. Host: Tallaght Historical Society. Venue: County Library, Library Square, Tallaght, Dublin 24. 7pm.

Tuesday 11 November: Art in 11th-century Dublin, with Ruth Johnson. Part of the Living and Dying in a medieval city – Dublin in the Age of Clontarf lunchtime lecture series. Host: Friends of Medieval Dublin. Venue: Wood Quay Venue, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8. Time: 1:05pm to 1:45pm. Free.

Tuesday 11 November: Women and WW1 conference and launch of The First World War Diaries of Emma Duffin, Belfast Voluntary Aid Detachment Nurse, by Trevor Parkhil. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 2–5pm. Admission is FREE, but you need to secure your place by email to proni@dcalni.gov.uk or telephone 028 90534800.

Tuesday 11 November: What Estate Papers Reveal, with Valerie Adams. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: Bridge Community Centre, Railway Street, Lisburn, Co Antrim. 7:30pm–9:30pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 11 November: Loughlinstown Workhouse, with Liam Clare. Host: The Genealogical Society of Ireland. Venue: Dún Laoghaire College of Further Education, Cumberland Street, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 8pm. €3. All welcome.

Wednesday 12 November: Dublin in 1847: city of the Ordnance Survey, with Dr Frank Cullen. Part of the Mapping City, Town and Country lecture series. Venue: Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. 1-2pm. Free. All welcome. No need to book.

Wednesday 12 November: The Land War in County Galway, with Pat Finnegan. Host: Western Family History Association. Venue: Lackagh Parish Centre, Co Galway. 8:15pm. All welcome. Details.

Wednesday 12 November: Our shared musical heritage, with Brian Mullen.  Part of the Irish language and culture lecture series. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. All welcome. 1pm to 2pm. Free, but booking required. Email proni@dcalni.gov.uk or telephone 028 90  534800 to reserve your place.

Wednesday 12 November and Thursday 12 November: Explore Your Archive, morning and afternoon workshops to help researchers learn more about the archive, what it holds, how to use it, etc. Venue: PRONI, Titanic Bouvlevard, Belfast. Free. Need to book. Details of sessions.

Thursday 13 to Saturday 15 September: Drop-in genealogy and research sessions. Host: Derry City Council's Archive & Genealogy Service. Venue: Tower Museum, Union Hall Place, Derry-Londonderry BT48 6LU. Part of the Explore Your Archive campaign. Staff will be available from 10-12 and 2-4 pm to answer queries and to profile some of the archive collections available.

Friday 14 November: Aughadown during World War I, with William Casey. Host: ICA Aughadown. Venue: Aughadown Community Hall (GAA Grounds), Co Cork. 8pm. Donations towards Fastnet Walks Project welcome at door. All welcome.

Saturday 15 November: Veterans in a Virgin State: Irish Ex-Service Men and Women of the Great War, with Patrick Lynch. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Fermanagh Branch. Venue: Large Hall in Enniskillen Library. 2:15pm–4:15pm.

Sunday 16 November: The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930, with Margaret Lynch Brennan. Irish American Heritage Museum, 370 Broadway, Albany, New York 12207. 2pm–3:30pm. Free. Need to register.

Tuesday 18 November: Trapped by the Border: Northern Nationalists and Southern unionists 1910-1925, with Dr Eamon Phoenix. Part of the Lisburn Museum Lecture Series: Ireland during the Great War. Venue: Lisburn Museum, Market Square, Lisburn, BT28 1AG. 7pm. Free but must be booked in advance – tickets available from museum reception or, for more information call 028 9266 3377.

Tuesday 19 November: Irish Research: the ins and outs, with Lisa Dougherty. Venue: Irish American Heritage Museum, 370 Broadway, Albany, New York 12207. 6:30pm–7:30pm. Free. Need to register.

Wednesday 19 November: The Ordnance Survey now and in the future, with Colin Bray. Part of the Mapping City, Town and Country lecture series. Venue: Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. 1-2pm. Free. All welcome. No need to book.

Wednesday 19 November: The Battle of Clontarf in Irish history and legend, with Colm Lennon. Host: Dún Laoghaire Borough Historical Society. Venue: Kingston Hotel, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 8pm. Admission €3.50 non-members.

Thursday 20 November: Belfast Newspaper Library, with Catherine Morrow. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Down & Ards Branch. Venue: 1st Presbyterian Church Hall, Upper Main Street, Bangor. 7:30–9:30pm.

Thursday 20 November: How to trace WW1 military records, with John Goodman. Venue: Bunclody Library, Millwood, Carrigduff, Bunclody, Co Wexford. 7pm.


10-week genealogy workshop series starts in Limerick

A new series of Irish genealogy workshops will start this Thursday at the Irish Ancestry Research Centre in Limerick.

The workshops are presented in partnership with University of Limerick (UL) and researchers can choose to go to a single lecture or any number of lectures. Those who attend all the sessions and complete the course assessment will be awarded a 'CPE – Certificate in Family History' from UL.

Lectures are held from 10.30am to 1pm on Thursdays.

Lecture Topics:

Session 1.    Introduction to Genealogy and Irish Genealogical Sources.
Session 2.    Census 1901 and 1911.
Session 3.    Primary (Griffith’s) Valuation and Tithe Applotment.
Session 4.    Software for Genealogy.
Session 5.    Irish Mapping from a Genealogical Perspective.
Session 6.    Building your Family Tree.
Session 7.    Introduction to 17th and 18th Century Sources.
Session 8.    The Registry of Deeds and Parliamentary Papers.
Session 9.    Using Newspapers for Genealogical Research.
Session 10.  Codes and Ethics in Genealogy.

Cost of each session is €35. Full 10 lecture series is €290. Group discounts available.

Contact IARC at +353 61 207114 or email:info@irisharc.org.

Friday 7 November 2014

The Boys from East Belfast: RCBL's November Archive

A short WW1 film, The Boys from East Belfast, will be screened for the first time at St Mark’s, Holywood Road, Dundela, Co Down on Monday 10 November at 6pm. This is a public event and there is no need to book.

The specially commissioned documentary focuses on the discovery of letters written by ten soldiers from East Belfast who served at the Western Front. It is a collaboration between the Representative Church Body Library (RCBL) in Dublin and the Church of Ireland Historical Centenaries Working Group who have produced it to coincide with this year's Remembrance commemorations.

Filmed and directed by Tim Hood, The Boys from East Belfast re-enacts the full story of how a small collection of letters written by ten soldiers who were also parishioners of the Church of Ireland parish of Dundela ended up in an old tea chest in Kilmore See House, and their subsequent transfer for permanent safekeeping in the RCBL in Churchtown, Dublin. There, in 2014, a group of local historians from East Belfast, who have traced the lives of the letter writers, viewed them for the first time, almost 100 years after they had been written.

The public screening on Monday evening will also be an opportunity to hear from Dr Susan Hood of the RCBL, who discovered the letters, and from the East Belfast historians. The event will be part of a range of Remembrance events taking place over several days at St Mark’s, Dundela, and the letters themselves will be on display there during that period.

From Tuesday 11 November, the film will be available for free viewing via the Church of Ireland website as the RCBL’s November ‘Archive of the Month’.

PRONI to host events for Explore Your Archives Week

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is to run a series of free events during Explore Your Archives Week (10–14 November).

The programme is based around daily themes to enable visitors to find out how to use PRONI and also serves as an introduction to the records held at the Belfast repository.

All the events are free but booking is required by email to proni@dcalni.gov.uk or by telephone to 028 90534800.

Monday 10 November 

A lunchtime talk (starts 1pm) about Flickr portraits which capture 'a day in the life', with Joy Carey and Heather Stanley. #Dayinthelife

Tuesday 11 November

To mark Armistice Day, PRONI will be playing host to a half-day conference on Women and the First World War as well as Trevor Parkhill's book launch of the Emma Duffin Diaries. A voluntary Aid Detatchment Nurse during the First World War. 2–5pm.   #WW1Archive

Wednesday 12th November and Thursday 13th November

Practical Workshops at PRONI

Session One
10am (1hr) – Using the documents workshop
11am (1hr) – Using the online resources workshop
12am (30mins) – Tour of stores

Session Two
2pm (1hr) – Using the documents workshop
3pm (1hr) – Using the online resources workshop
4pm (30mins) – Tour of stores

Participants will be encouraged to post photographs of themselves working in PRONI on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtags #AskArchivists and #Archiveselfie

Friday 14 November

A rolling loop of animal imates from the archives will be presented on the AV systems in the PRONI building.  #Archiveanimals.

Irish Historic Towns Atlas: Dublin 1756-1847 published

http://www.ria.ie/Publications/Books/Research-Series/Irish-Historic-Towns-Atlas/IHTA-26--Irish-Historic-Towns-Atlas--no--26-DublinThe latest in the Dublin series of Irish Historic Towns Atlas (IHTA) was launched last night in Dublin by Roddy Doyle. Dublin, part III, 1756 to 1847 comes complete with twenty-five historic and reconstruction maps along with text detailing an era when the capital experienced key growth phases that included dockland development and Georgian building.

Published by the Royal Irish Academy in association with Dublin City Council, this atlas traces the history and development of Dublin through the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century when many of the city’s modern streets were laid out. The south eastern area of the city was drained and Merrion Square was constructed, blocking the sea view that Leinster House enjoyed.

Author Rob Goodbody brought his expertise to the project as a former senior executive planner at Dublin City Council and a historic buildings consultant to this atlas, which contains histories of over 11,000 urban sites along with the maps and views of Dublin.

The book spans seminal events in Irish history including the 1798 Rebellion, Act of Union, Catholic Emancipation, free national school education and industrialisation of the city, right up to the eve of the Famine in 1847. It has large-scale colour maps that depict the city in 1847 at two different scales, which can be compared with a modern town plan of 2012. A CD-ROM of maps and images comes with the publication. Cost €35 (or €30, if you're very quick to the following link!). It is available to buy online from the Royal Irish Academy and book shops nationwide. ISBN: 978-1-908996-34-3.

The IHTA project was established in 1981 and set out to record the topographical development of a selection of Irish towns both large and small in the wake of the Wood Quay portests of the 1970s. To date Limerick, Ennis and Belfast are among the twenty-six town atlases published.

FindMyPast adds Thom's Directory 1844-1900

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Thom's Directory is a useful census-substitute for
those with Dublin ancestors
The latest bundle of goodies launched under the FindMyPast Friday banner includes a 56-year spread, from 1844–1900, of Thom's Directory, one of the most useful census-substitutes for tracing family in 19th-century Dublin.

Thom's is a street directory and almanac that lists the merchants, clergy, lawyers, gentlemen, masons, blacksmiths and more who were working and living in the capital during the edition year.

While it doesn't include details of other household members, it includes most heads of households and businesses, street by steet. The only people are excluded, as ever, are the poor and those who subsisted on a small holding without a specific trade or specialism.

This latest addition from FindMyPast consists of more than 86,000 pages. They can be searched by name (bear in mind that people often appear in twice in any one publication – once in the street listing and once in the profession listing), by year of publication, and by section of a specific edition ie the Ecclesiastical Directory, Colleges: Medicine & Surgery, Trades Directory, County Directory etc.

(See details of this weekend's free access offer from FindMyPast here.)


Thursday 6 November 2014

Ancestry adds WW1 Service Medal & Awards Books

As promised at Back To Our Past last month (see show report), Ancestry has added the
British WW1 Service Medal and Award Roll Books 1914–1920 to its database.

This collection of 6,256,145 entries contains records of people who served in WWI and were entitled to medals and awards. Most of the records relate to the Army but there are also some referring to the Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force (RFC/RAF), to civilians such as medical staff working in military bases, to people mobilized for other war service, e.g. in colonial labour corps, and to allied personnel who assisted British soldiers behind enemy lines.

The Roll Books give the date the issue was approved and record the issue, or cross-refer to another issuing body, e.g. the Air Ministry for some members of the RFC/RAF receiving the British War and Allied Victory Medals.

An important feature of this collection is the inclusion of the battalion's name. This may allow researchers to discover more about the military history, battles, postings and events their ancestor lived through. First port of call should be the Battalion's War Diary, if it has survived.

Records include details such as name, rank, unit, and possibly other service details.

The medals and awards concerned are:
  • The British War Medal;
  • The Allied Victory Medal;
  • The 1914 Star (the Mons Star) and bar added in 1919;
  • The 1914–15 Star;
  • The Territorial Force War Medal;
  • The Allied Subjects Medal.

You'll find more information about each of the medals and what they represent by following the link above.