Friday 20 October 2017

FindMyPast adds three collections of abstracts and pedigrees, and an early rural Cork census

FindMyPast has added four useful new collections to its database of Irish records. Three of them feature the work of renowned genealogists of yesteryear and include abstracts of wills dating as far back as the 16th or 17th centuries as well as transcripts from other miscellaneious records The fourth collection, though small, will be of interest to those with Cork ancestors. The four collections are held by the National Archives of Ireland.

From Betham Genealogical Abstracts
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Betham Genealogical Abstracts

Sir William Betham was appointed Ulster King of Arms in 1807 and set about creating abstracts of pre-1800 wills. He also reconstructed family trees and pedigrees. This collection holds nearly 490,000 records created by him. It includes abstracts of wills, reconstructed family trees and detailed pedigrees.

Crosslé Genealogical Abstracts

The Crosslé Genealogical abstracts were created in the 19th century by Dr Francis Crosslé and his son Philip (1875-1953). The miscelleneous collection of more than 657,000 detailed abstracts dates from 1620 to 1804, many of them transcribed from prerogative wills subsequently destroyed in the 1922 fire, as well as Army returns from 1767 to 1816. A good proportion of the material comes from the Northwest of Ireland.

Thrift Genealogical Abstracts

Created by the genealogist Gertrude Thrift (1872-1951), this collection of 150,000 abstracts contains transcripts and notes from military commission books, parish registers, exchequer bill books, prerogative grants, chancery bill books, freeman rolls, wills, and more. It also includes detailed family trees and pedigree charts for a number of well-heeled families. The original sources and lives recorded date back to 1505 and spans up to the 1930s, but more than 90% of the entries are from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Many of the wills copied by Thrift were subsequently lost during the fire at the PRO in Dublin in 1922.

NorthWest Cork/East Kerry, Pobble O'Keefe Census 1830-1852

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5-KQnqDiArgRUlQSjczVmNzbzQ/view?usp=sharing
An 1850 census from townland of Tooreenclassagh.
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This is a small-ish record set but for those whose ancestors are recorded, it will bring rich pickings. The rest of us with Cork connections can only look on with envy.

The townland of Pobble O'Keefe, aka Pobal O'Keefe or Pobal O'Keeffe, was originally owned by the O'Keefe family but was forfeited in 1641.

The area includes 9,000 acres on the banks of a tributary of the Blackwater, straddling the Cork and Kerry borders. In the 1830s it was managed by the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, who built many roads and a new rural town, known as KingWilliamstown. The name has since been changed to Ballydesmond.

This record set holds just over 4,500 records from seven local censuses – 1830, 1834, 1836, 1849, 1850, 1851, and 1852 – providing names, ages and occupations of household members. It also appears to be free to search and view (unlike the others above).