Lisburn Standard joins BritishNewspaperArchive.com

The Lisburn Standard has joined the online British Newspaper Archive, with (so far) some 3,781 pages published in 1878 and 1884–1959.

This weekly paper was published in the Antrim town, and circulated in its wider neighbourhood, carrying local and district news and articles of general interest.

Also uploaded in recent days have been sizeable updates to the holdings of four newspapers from the Republic of Ireland: Midland Counties Advertiser, Westmeath Guardian & Longford Newsletter, Sligo Independent, and the Meath Herald & Cavan Advertiser.

The British Newspaper Archive shares its holding with sister company FindMyPast. All the latest additions to the holding are now available in FindMyPast's Irish Newspaper Collection.

Irish research facilities begin to reopen from 29 June

Many repositories, archives and other research facilities have spent the last week or so dusting their shelves and rearranging the furniture in preparation for opening their doors to researchers for the first time since the lockdown started. In this phase of the relaxation, caution seems to be the by-word, and most, but not all, facilities seem to be opting for an appointment-only system.

Here's a brief round-up that will give a flavour:

National Library of Ireland
From Monday 29 June, the NLI will open on an appointments basis from 10am–4pm, Monday to Friday. Appointments will be available for the following services of main interest to history and genealogy researchers:
• Reading Services for registered Readers in the Main Reading Room
• Reading Services for registered Readers in the Manuscripts Reading Room
Readers will be required to order the material they wish to access when making their booking.
The NLI cafe will also be open, 9:30am–4pm.
Detailed booking and visiting information here.

National Archives of Ireland
The NAI will also re-open to the public on Monday and will operate a limited, appointment-only system. As yet, there's no confirmation on how this system can be accessed, nor on how many researchers can be accommodated at one time in the Reading Room, but I'll bring details when they're made public later this week.*

Tipperary Studies
The local and family history department of the county's library services will also be appointment-only and will operate to slightly restricted hours of 10am–1pm and 2pm–5pm, Monday to Friday. You can book by email: studies@tipperarycoco.ie or phone: 0761 066123.

Dublin City Libraries will open six libraries (Cabra, Coolock, and Raheny, Pearse Street, Pembroke (Ballsbridge) and Rathmines) for browsing books and borrowing from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday. No bookings, but you may need to queue if the number of visitors goes beyond a safe threshold. There will not, initially, be any seating for reading or studying, which I guess rules out the Dublin City Library & Archive in Pearse Street opening just yet.

RCB Library & Archive: Still closed and no reopening details available yet.

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
No word yet as to when and how PRONI will reopen in Belfast. Again, I'll advise when details are announced.


*UPDATE Saturday 27 June: The NAI has not yet announced details of its appointment system. The website says the repository is operating a limited public service via e-mail only: query@nationalarchives.ie. I don't think this is intended for the new appointment system. Let's hope there is news about this as soon as they reopen on Monday.

*UPDATE Monday 29 June: The NAI's booking system is now ready and waiting along with information about what to expect when visiting.

2-week summary of updated British genealogy records

Below is a summary of new and updated family history record collections for England, Scotland and Wales released by major genealogy databases since 9 June (see last blogpost).

This regular summary of releases relating to British collections is designed to help family historians whose Irish ancestors migrated, temporarily or permanently, to England, Scotland or Wales. By default, it will also be useful to anyone carrying out research in those three nations, regardless of the origin of their ancestors.

The figures in parenthesis in the New Collections section are the numbers of records/images in the new record set.

Unless otherwise stated, the figures in parenthesis in the Updated Collections section reflect the number of records added to the collection in the recent update. In some instances, the supplier has not made this figure available. Updates of fewer than 1,000 records have not been included.


NEW COLLECTIONS

British Newspaper Archive

• Cornish Guardian
• Beeston Gazette and Echo
• Maidenhead Advertiser

FamilySearch

• Wales, Monmouthshire (Gwent), Electoral Registers 1839-1889 (455,348)

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

• UK, WWI Pension Ledgers & Index Cards, 1914-23 (Added Officers Survived and Officers' Widows. New total 4,288,702.)
• UK, Officer Service Records, 1764-1932 (Added 2,500+ images plus 3,200 indexed entries.)
• Somerset, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1531-1812 (Additional register for Babcary parish uploaded. New total 4,462,551.)

Family Search

• England, Cambridge Parish Registers, 1538-1983 (2,979)
• England, Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996 (1,412)
• England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988 (47,112)
• England, Yorkshire Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1613-1887 (9,717)
• England, Northumberland Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1920 (3,731)

FindMyPast

• England Billion Graves Index (106,000 records added. New total 884,714)
• Britain, Royal & Imperial Calendars 1767-1973 (1.2m entries added. New total 4,318,937)
• British WW1 Soldiers' Medical Records (2,000+ added. New total 1,331,647)
• Scotland RC Baptisms (69,000 added for 11 parishes. Total 923,358.)
• Scotland RC Congregational Records (55,000)
• Scotland RC Marriages (27,000 added for 11 parishes. Total 432,059)
• Scotland RC Burials (9,000 added for 8 parishes. Total 324,571.)
• Scotland, Linlithgowshire (West Lothian), Electoral Registers 1864-1931 (1,050,763)
• Scotland Billion Graves Cemetery Index(59,000 added. New total 354,742.)

Scottish Indexes

• Dumbarton Sheriff Court Decrees, 1896-1909, Paternity Cases

The Genealogist

• International Headstone Collection Records from 71 new cemeteries in England and Wales uploaded: Bucks, Cheshire, Conwy, Denbighshire, Devon, Dorset, Essex, Flintshire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Merionethshire, Merseyside, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.

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RootsIreland.ie uploads 67,000 North Mayo records

A lovely bundle of more than 67,000 records from North Mayo Family Heritage Centre has been added to RootsIreland.ie's Mayo database.

It includes gravestone inscriptions from 88 burial grounds: 63 Roman Catholic, 19 Church of Ireland, four Presbyterian and two Methodist.

In addition, the upload includes six sets of Roman Catholic burial registers and six sets of Church of Ireland burial registers, plus Tithe Applotment Books for 26 parishes.

Dates for the burial registers and Tithe Applotment Books are below, or you can view the entire menu of sources in the Mayo database here.

The RootsIreland Mayo database is shared by the North and South Mayo Heritage Centres. The centres themselves are based in Crossmolina and Ballinrobe. For more about the two centres, click the logo above.

Roman Catholic Burial Registers
Ardagh: 1919-1970
Ballycastle: 1918-31
Crossmolina: 1918-70
Kilcommon Erris: 1922-32
Kilfian: 1918-70
Kilmoremoy/Ballina: 1907-21

Church of Ireland Burial Registers
Binghamstown: 1802-23
Ballysakeary: 1882-92
Crossmolina: 1769-1900
Killala: 1758-1920
Kilmoremoy: 1770-1920
Mullafarry: 1849-53

Tithe Applotment Books: 1810-38
Achill
Addergoole
Ardagh
Attymas
Ballynahaglish
Ballysakerry
Bohola
Burrishoole
Crossmolina
Doonfeeny
Kilbelfad
Kilbride
Kilcommon
Kilconduff
Kilfian
Kilgarvan
Killala
Killasser
Kilmore erris
Lackem
Meelick
Moygownagh
Rathreagh
Templemore
Templemurry
Toomore

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: early June updates

The files noted below, all donated by volunteers, have been uploaded to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives in the first half of the month.

Arnold family, Kilbarrack graveyard, Sutton.
Photo courtesy of Eadaoin Breslin and
IGP Archives. Click image for full view.

With Covid-19 restrictions on movement now being relaxed in Ireland, it would be wonderful to have some more Ireland-based researchers out and about photographing memorial stones in burial grounds not too far from their homes.

It's a win-win activity. Other family historians benefit from your time and efforts, while you get some healthy exercise and. if you can dodge the showers over the next week, some essential vitamin-D!

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Mount Jerome Little Angels, Part 2

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Kilbarrack Graveyard, Sutton (Updated)

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives - Miscellaneous
Return of Outrages in Co Limerick, 1845-1846

MEATH Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Ballymaglassan Church Cem., Batterstown (T)
Immaculate Conception RC, Ashbourne (T)
St James New Cem., Athboy Pt 2 (T completed)
St Loman's, Trim, Part 4, L-Mc (T)

(T = Transcription)

IrishGenealogy.ie has technical problems

The state-managed IrishGenealogy.ie, which holds indexes and (most) register images of Ireland's historical civil birth, marriage and death records, plus a variety of church records for Dublin City, County Kerry, Southwest Cork and County Carlow, is having some technical problems.

From what I can see, it's the static pages of the site that are not working, and the Home page of the site – https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/ – is responding with a 503 Internal error. However, the databases appear to be functioning fine. I'm able to reach both the civil records and the church records at the following links:

Civil Registration Records
Church Records

Update, 19 June: All working fine again.

€25m Bloomsday gift for cultural institutions and arts

The Irish government has today announced €25 million in extra supports to help the Arts and Culture sector recover from the Covid19 Emergency.

A total of €20 million will be allocated to the Arts Council, bringing its allocation this year to €100 million.  A further €5 million will be available for other measures, including securing the future of key cultural and museum spaces and facilities throughout Ireland, and the production of high-quality digital art and online performances. Among those to benefit will be local and regional museums, which are often of great educational value to their local communities but also to visitors to Ireland looking to understand the social and working lives of their Irish ancestors.

Speaking today, An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said: “Over the last few months we have had many days of sorrow and suffering. In times like this we see the true value of culture to society – the books, the films, the songs, the plays – all the different forms of culture that entertain as well as enlighten.

"The pandemic hasn’t been easy for our artists and cultural institutions, and I know their livelihoods have been hit hard. So today, on Bloomsday, we are announcing an additional €25m to help our arts and culture sector across our country, and show our thanks and our commitment to our artists and cultural institutions at this time."

The programme will be administered by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

GRO Research Room in Dublin reopens with restrictions

The General Register Office Research Room in Werburgh Street, Dublin, has reopened to the public, but don't go popping along there at your convenience for the foreseeable future.

Following Government guidance, the Search Room has opened on an appointment basis only, and to say that restrictions are in place is to understate the limitation of the regime. Only one appointment is available in the mornings, and one other in the afternoon. The lucky researcher who scores the appointment will be facilitated with their research while ensuring physical distancing and a safe environment for both themselves and staff.

To book an appointment, email GROResearchRoom@welfare.ie. A member of staff will contact you.

While the appointment service is in operation, GRO staff are also offering an e-mail service via the above email account. You will need to provide sufficient information to allow staff to identify a specific entry from the index. The e-mail address is the same as that above.

For more information , see the updated GRO page at gov.ie.

MyHeritage launches second photo enhancement tool

MyHeritage has launched Photo Enhancer, a tool that copies old photos and brings blurry faces into sharp focus.

The company press release says: "Perhaps you have old photos that look grainy or blurred, or photos of large family gatherings with many faces that are too small to recognize clearly. The MyHeritage Photo Enhancer aims to solve these age-old problems and produces phenomenal results that let you see your ancestors more clearly than ever before."

The technology behind this new feature, which enhances photos by increasing their resolution, has been licensed by MyHeritage and integrated into their platform. It complements the recently introduced MyHeritage In Color.

I've used both to improve a battered 85-year-old photo, below, which shows my mam and uncle eating apples one hot summer's day in the early 1930s. In a couple of areas the colouriser hasn't worked, but overall the picture is much improved.

Obviously, no photographs are damaged in the colourising or focussing processes. The original photos remain intact and are not changed by the enhancement process, which creates separate versions alongside the originals.

MyHeritage says their enhancement technology is particularly useful for historical photos where the faces are often small and blurry, but works equally well on new colour photos. On photos in which multiple people appear, enhanced faces can be viewed one-by-one.

The feature works best on photos in which multiple people appear, and enhanced faces can be viewed one-by-one. The original photos remain intact and are not changed by the enhancement technology, which creates separate versions alongside the originals.

I'm not sure yet how these tools handle wrinkles. If it brings them into sharp focus it may not be so welcome, but if it 'removes signs of visible ageing', as some cosmetic companies claim to do, it's a certain winner!

Book launch: A Further Shore - A memoir of Irish Roots and American Promise

That Further Shore - A Memoir of Irish Roots and American Promise, by John D Feerick, has been published by Fordham University Press.

The 456-page hardback is the memoir of a respected constitutional scholar, dedicated public servant, political reformer, and facilitator of peace in the land of his ancestors

456-pages with 25 illustrations

Beginning with Feerick’s ancestry and early-life experiences, including a detailed genealogical description of Feerick’s Irish ancestors in County Mayo and his quest to identify them and their relationship with one another, the book then presents an evocative survey of the now vanished world of a working-class Irish Catholic neighbourhood in the South Bronx.

Feerick’s account of how he financed his education from elementary school through law school is a moving tribute to the immigrant work ethic that he inherited from his parents and shared with many young Americans of his generation.

The book then traces Feerick’s career as a lawyer and how he gave up a lucrative partnership in a prestigious New York City law firm at an early age to accept the office of dean of the Fordham School of Law at a fraction of his previous income because he felt it was time to give back something to the world.

John Feerick has consistently shown his commitment to the law as a vocation as well as a profession by his efforts to protect the rights of the poor, to enable minorities to achieve their rightful place in American society, and to combat political corruption.

The book is now available from Fordham University Press/ Barnes and Noble/ and Foyles, and other good booksellers. ISBN: 978-0-8232-8735-2. US$34.95 | UK£27.99.

Westmeath Genealogy completes lockdown project

Westmeath Genealogy, the Irish Family History Foundation's genealogy centre at the Dún na Sí Heritage Park near Moate, has continued working on its 'lockdown project', adding additional data to its online marriage records for the Roman Catholic parish of Clara & Horseleap, which straddles the county's border with Offaly.

As reported her on IrishGenealogyNews at the time, two batches of additional data were uploaded to RootsIreland's Westmeath database in April. And now the final instalment has joined them.

The project involved adding the names of witnesses and the precise date of each marriage to the transcriptions already available via the site (these details were not included as part of the original transcription of the local registers).

Any annotations by the priest to individual entries have also been transcribed.

The fully detailed transcriptions of marriage records from this parish now span from November 1821 to April 1882

See the full menu of records from Westmeath Genealogy on RootsIreland here.

New & updated British genealogy records 28 May-9 Jun

Below is a summary of new and updated family history record collections for England, Scotland and Wales released by major genealogy databases since 28 May (see last blogpost).

This regular summary of releases relating to British collections is designed to help family historians whose Irish ancestors migrated, temporarily or permanently, to England, Scotland or Wales. By default, it will also be useful to anyone carrying out research in those three nations, regardless of the origin of their ancestors.

The figures in parenthesis in the New Collections section are the numbers of records/images in the new record set.

Unless otherwise stated, the figures in parenthesis in the Updated Collections section reflect the number of records added to the collection in the recent update. In some instances, the supplier has not made this figure available. Updates of fewer than 1,000 records have not been included.


NEW COLLECTIONS

British Newspaper Archive and also in FindMyPast Pro sub package

• Mexborough & Swinton Times
• Wakefield Free Press
• Wakefield Advertiser and Gazette 
• Wakefield and West Riding Herald
• The Link/Cupid's Messenger

FamilySearch

• Wales, Monmouthshire (Gwent) Electoral Registers 1839-1889 (455,348)

FindMyPast

• Royal Engineers Journals 1939-1945
• British Royal Air Force, Combat Reports 1939-1945 (30,000+)
• Royal Air Force, Operations Record Books 1939-1945 (65,000+)

The Genealogist

• Doctors, Midwives and Opticians pre-NHS

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

• Surrey, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1917 (2,504,849)
• Surrey, Church of England Burials, 1813-1997 (565,353)
• Surrey, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 (1,879,463)
• Surrey, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937 (1,206,228)

FamilySearch

• Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996 (45,719)
• Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988  (30,618)
• Yorkshire Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1613-1887  (21,690)
• Cambridge Parish Registers, 1538-1983 (2,979)

FindMyPast

• British Army Service Records Coldstream Guards  (89,000+)
• England & Wales Electoral Registers 1920-1932  (16,000+)
• Britain, Histories & Reference Guides A General & True History of the Lives & Actions of the Most Famous Highwaymen, Murderers, Street-Robbers, etc. added (link).

FreeBMD

• England & Wales: Civil births, marriages & deaths (3,224,579 added; total 278,278,050)

Some of the above content contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you buy via these links. This does not affect the price you pay as a consumer, but it does contribute to keeping Irish Genealogy News online. See Advertising Disclosure tab above.

MyHeritage offers 30% saving in Father's Day DNA Sale

MyHeritage is first out of the blocks for Father's Day 2020 with an attractive saving of more than 30% on the company's autosomal DNA test.

The discount reduces the cost of the kit from the regular price of US$79 / £79 to US$49 / £49. And when you buy two or more of them, the shipping costs are thrown in for free.

Father's Day is some way off yet - it falls on Sunday 21 June - so rather than scratch your head trying to come up with something novel for your dad, get your order in early for a gift you can be confident he'll enjoy for years.

There may be offers from MyHeritage DNA in other geographical areas. The USA and the UK & Ireland are the only two I know of, so far. So if you're based elsewhere, click the image to see if your local MyHeritage 'territory' has a similar offer.

Summer edition of Irish Roots Magazine published

The Summer edition of Irish Roots, Ireland's longest established and independent genealogy magazine has arrived. As always, it's full of reviews, comment, tips and news about Irish family history resources, and articles to help you better understand the available records and develop successful strategies to use in your ancestral research.

The main feature articles are:

Click for more details

• Helpful ways to analyse your DNA results using the online cM tool
  
• Tracing your County Laois ancestors.
• Useful sources to help date your old family photographs
• Tracing Irish Ancestry: A personal view from Brian Mitchell MAGI
• The mysterious world of early handwriting, 1500-1700
• Raising Holy Hell: The genealogical sources that uncovered the story behind a roadside cross
• What's New? A review of recent updates and releases of Irish family history records
• Reader Jim Waldron shares his genealogical resarch journey
• And Another Thing: Genealogical comment and observations with Steven Smyrl FIGRS MAGI
•  Q & A: Nicola Morris MAGI answers readers research queries

There are also letters to the editor; a Books Ireland selection; Irish Australian connections, loads of news and plenty more.

If you're new to Irish genealogy and Irish Roots, check out a free sample of the magazine here.

The publication is available in digital and printed format, and you can either buy individual issues or treat yourself to a subscription of one or two years. You'll find all the details by clicking on the magazine cover above.

PRONI's 'Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times' programme seeks a third group of participants

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) had such an exceptional response to its online programme/experiment called 'Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times' that it has opened up a third group of participants.

It was fully booked within hours of its launch in mid-April and two groups of participants have gone on to complete it. 

It is run by PRONI's Making the Future team, and aims to help you discover more about your history and the people in your life. It is designed to encourage conversations and help you to document how we have experienced the extraordinary times we are living through, and offers six fun activities including letter writing, family history, scrapbooking, cooking and music.

A newly-formed third group will start the programme on Monday morning, 8 June, when the first of three scheduled live meet-ups online will be held.

All participants much be based in Northern Ireland or border counties.

You can find out more and register at Eventbrite (there are still places available as of this morning) or seek more information from Laura Aguiar at l.aguiar@nervecentre.org.

MyHeritage: A free-to-access collection every day in June

MyHeritage has come up with a novel way of allowing researchers a free, quick dip into specific historical record collections in its subscription-based database.

Each day this month, MyHeritage will open one of its historical record collections to the public. Some of them are exclusive to MyHeritage. On a couple of days, there will be two or three related collections. In total, 2,043,456,361 records will be made accessible for free.

The day-long window for each collection will cover all time zones, so as long as you visit the collection on the correct day, you should be able to search and view that day's free records to your heart’s content.

I'm not going to list all of the included collections in this post (you'll find them on MyHeritage's blogpost here if you want on to check them out).

Instead, I'm noting below only those I consider of most relevance to family historians with Irish connections. The exclusive collections are in bold type.

Since the promotion started on Monday, the free collections have been Scandinavian records. But starting from tomorrow, we have:

Friday 5 June: U.S. City Directories United States
Saturday 6 June: U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007
Sunday 7 June: Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, 1836-1922
Monday 8 June: Ellis Island and Other New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957
Tuesday 9 June: 1940 United States Federal Census United States
Wednesday 10 June: Massachusetts Newspapers, 1704-1974
Thursday 11 June: Historical Books: Index of Authors/People Mentioned, 1811-2003
Friday 12 June: Compilation of Published Sources
Saturday 13 June: Canada Newspapers, 1752-2007
Sunday 14 June: 1921 Canada Census
Sunday 21 June: England & Wales, Death Index, 1837-2005
Sunday 21 June: England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1837-2005
Monday 22 June: 1939 Register of England & Wales
Wednesday 24 June: Australia Electoral Rolls, 1893-1949

Access to these collections on the specified days will be completely free, but free registration to MyHeritage (it's a quick and simple process) will be required for non-MyHeritage users.

NOTE: I got my days of the week muddled when I first published this post. I've now corrected them. Apologies for any confusion caused.

'Our Wicklow Heritage' website continues to expand

If RootsIreland.ie's big bundle of newly transcribed records from County Wicklow got you worked up into a lather last week – it had that effect on me – you'll be interested in these two additional items of news from genealogist Catherine Wright, Wicklow County Council's archivist and manager of the Wicklow Family History Centre.

First up is Our Wicklow Heritage, an online initiative to share and promote the collections and activities of Wicklow County Council's heritage office, archives and library services. Since its launch five or so years ago, it has not only proved popular, it's also grown enormously. It now includes five more community based heritage recording groups. They are:

• Delgany Heritage Village
• Donard Imaal History
• Glendalough Heritage Forum
• Glens of Lead
• The Medieval Bray Project

The topics covered are wide, from the mining heritage of the county to natural heritage and biodiversity, from historical events and personalities to folklore and customs. There are online copies of journals produced by some of the local historical societies, heritage maps, book reviews, genealogy guides & links, and much more. For anyone with County Wicklow connections, I wholeheartedly recommend bookmarking the site and dipping in regularly. You might like to contribute to it, too!

You'll also want to listen to a History Ireland Hedge School podcast that's being made available from Saturday 6 June to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Henry Grattan. The leader of the Independent Irish Parliament of 1783-1800 lived near Enniskerry, Co Wicklow for most of his life and the Hedge School panel of historians will explore his often misunderstood legacy.

The Hedge School is presented by Wicklow County Archives, Bray Cualann Historical Society and History Ireland magazine. Find out more here.

Summary of recent new and updated US collections

Below is a summary of US family history collections that have been either newly released or updated by the major genealogy databases since the middle of May. (The last summary list was published on 17 May, see blogpost).

My regular summaries are designed to help family historians whose Irish ancestors emigrated, temporarily or permanently, to the United States. By default, they should also be useful to anyone carrying out research in the US, regardless of the origin of their ancestors.

The figures in parenthesis in the New Collections section are the numbers of records/images in each new record set. Please note that I have omitted updates of fewer than 1,000 records to any one record-set.

Unless otherwise stated, the figures in parenthesis in the Updated Collections section reflect the number of records added to the collection in the recent update, if a number has been clearly noted by the supplier.


NEW COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

Hawaii, Birth Certificates and Indexes, 1841-1944 (608,305)
• Hawaii, Divorce Records, 1848-1892 (6,833)
• Hawaii, Marriage Certificates & Indexes, 1841-1944 (537,121)
• Hawaii, Death Certificates & Indexes, 1841-1942 (376,942)
• Hawaii Voter Records, 1864-1910 Census & Voter Lists (183,210)
• Hawaii, Births, Marriages, and Death Cards, 1850-1950 (43,726)
• Hawaii, Passport Records, 1849-1900 (2,888)
• New Hampshire, Civil War Service and Pension Records, 1861-1866 (250,442)
• Wyoming, Military Service and Veterans Records, 1914-1946 (43,521)
• North Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Asst Commissioner Records, 1862-1870 (127,316)
• North Carolina, Discharge and Statement of Service Records, 1940-1948 (196,216)
• South Carolina, Confederate Home Records, 1909-1958 (2,902)
• Michigan, Honor Roll of Kalamazoo County, 1917-1919 (7,661)
• Rhode Island and Pawtucket, Massachusetts Birth Index, 1800-1855 (75,137)
• U.S., Family Book Project (3,440,893)

FamilySearch

• California, Geographical & Name Index, Californians in WWI, 1914-1918 (27,306)
• Maine, Alien Arrivals, 1906-1953 (199,010)
• New Mexico Alien Arrivals, 1917-1954 (17,240)
• Oregon Divorce Index, 1991-2008(340,289)
• Minnesota, Waseca County Historical Society, Burial Cards, ca.1860-1992 (9,776)
• Idaho, Nez Perce County, Brower Wann Funeral Home Records, 1925-1986 (2,836)

FindMyPast

• US National Veterans Cemetery Index (1.1m records spanning Civil War to Afghanistan)
• Georgia World War II Draft Registration Cards 1940-1942 (839,000)

Newspapers.com

• The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas 1902-2020

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

AmericanAncestors

• Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920  New volumes from the parishes of Immaculate Conception in Lowell, St. Brigid in Maynard, Immaculate Conception in Weymouth, Sacred Heart in Natick, St. Anne in Lawrence, St. John the Evangelist in Wellesley, St. Lawrence in Brookline,  St. Bernard in Concord and St. Catherine of Siena in Norwood, and the Boston Harbor Island Mission.

Ancestry

• American Protective League Correspondence, 1917-1919
• Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1951 (8,758,855)
• Iowa, Death Records, 1920-1967 (2,674,617)
• U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 (15,293,445)
• U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 (54,293,029)
• U.S. Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2019 (6,402,238)
• U.S. Navy Muster Rolls, 1949-1971 (6,429,932)
• U.S. Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current (153,292,381)
• U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 (133,418,578)

FamilySearch

• Alaska, Pribilof Islands (esp. St. Paul Is.) Censuses, 1881-1910 (13,764)
• Arizona Deaths, 1870-1951 (10,345)
• Arizona, Birth Certificates and Indexes, 1855-1930 (12,687)
• California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994 (61,143)
• California, LA, Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery/Crem., 1884-2002 (3,055)
• California, San Mateo Co., Colma, Italian Cem Records, 1899-2011 (24,576)
• Georgia, Columbus, Linwood/Porterdale Cem., Interments, 1866-2000 (2,564)
• Hawaii, Hawaiian Islands Newspaper Obits, 1900-ca.2010 (7,585)
• Hawaii, Collector of Customs, Ships' Passenger Manifests, 1843-1900 (70,010)
• Idaho, Jefferson Star, County Cem. Records, 1800-2000 (4,733)
• Iowa, Buchanan County Obits and Cem. Records, ca.1796-1988 (109,029)
• Kansas, Grant County, Census Records, 1895-1982 (157,151)
• Louisiana, Orleans Parish Death Records & Certs, 1835-1954 (90,299)
• Michigan, Detroit Manifests of Arrivals at Port of Detroit, 1906-1954 (323,121)
• Michigan, Saginaw County, Biographical Card File, ca. 1830-2000 (1,895)
• Mississippi, County Marriages, 1858-1979 (67,993)
• Mississippi, Death Certificate Index, 1912-1943 (7,619)
• Missouri State and Territorial Census Records, 1732-1933 (34,501)
• Montana, Silver Bow County, Cem. Indexes, 1880-2003 (5,954)
• Nebraska, Lancaster Co., Wyuka Cem. Burial Permits, 1883-1999 (1,754)
• New York, Southern District Court Naturalization Records, 1824-1946 (103,000)
• New York, Lackawanna, Holy Cross Cemetery Records, 1855-1965 (133,609)
• New York Land Records, 1630-1975 (6,549,048)
• North Carolina, CHS, Vital Records, County Births, 1913-1922 (47,674)
• North Carolina, Wilmington, Cemetery Records, 1852-2005 (5,836)
• Ohio, Toledo, Historic Woodlawn Cemetery Burials, 1877-1955 (45,570)
• Oklahoma, Tulsa Co., Rose Hill Memorial Park Interments, ca.1915 - ca.1982 (1,204)
• Oregon Death Index, 1971-2008 (1,063,054)
• Pennsylvania Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880 (1,205)
• Pennsylvania Cemetery Records, ca. 1700-ca. 1950 (24,852)
• Utah, Brigham City FHC, Obituary Collection, 1930-2015 (17,197)
• Virginia, Bureau of Vital Stats, County Marriage Registers, 1853-1935 (7,026)
• Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Holy Cross Cemetery, Interments, 1909-1979 (12,887)
• Wisconsin, County Naturalization Records, 1807-1992 (150,768)
• GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011 (1,827,447)

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• Louisiana Draft Cards (39,000 added. New total 637,708)

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PRONI launches Stay Home Memories project: Three ways to leave a genealogical gift to your descendents

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has launched a new project that is sure to be of interest to family historians who'd love to leave a genealogical gift to their descendents.

Called Stay Home Memories (after the Stay Home Directive of 23 March that imposed social restrictions on the population of Northern Ireland), the project aims to gather information about how the Covid-19 pandemic effected everything from work and education to shopping and family and social life.

There are three ways to participate in the Stay Home Memories project:

Stay Home Census : A 'census' form has been created with a number of questions (none of them compulsory). You can note who you shared lockdown with, how the restrictions impacted your work, education or living arrangements, and so on.

The form can be filled in online and returned by email. All returned census will be archived in the new Stay Home Census archive at PRONI (reference D4771), which will be closed to the public to protect personal information relating to living individuals. Any data used publicly will be anonymised.

Stay Home Diaries: Have you been keeping a diary during the coronavirus outbreak? If so, would you consider depositing it with PRONI? They can accept both paper and digital diaries, as gifts or loans and you can decide when the public gets access to it.

Stay Home Web Archive: PRONI already archives Government and local authority websites but so much key information is held on private and community based websites. You can help by nominating websites containing information on community activity and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information, click the Stay Home Memories logo above.

Think of a project for National Heritage Week 2020

With restrictions on social gatherings due to COVID-19 likely to continue into August, it will be no suprise that this year's National Heritage Week will not be held in its usual format. The Heritage Council has confirmed today that it will not focus on the delivery of events in 2020 but instead invite individuals, families, communities and organisations to undertake projects that will culminate during Heritage Week. Topics to explore are those associated with this year's theme of 'Heritage and Education: Learning from our Heritage’.

2020 theme: 'Heritage and Education:
Learning from our Heritage'

Projects could involve researching an aspect of heritage on your doorstep, sharing or re-learning a skill from our heritage, or exploring an aspect of Ireland’s educational heritage, so there's plenty of scope here for family/local historians to show off their research skills.

The Heritage Council announcement gives further details: 'The results of your projects should be presented in a format that can be shared widely, for example through a video; podcast or oral history recording; a PowerPoint presentation or blog; through your community’s or organisation’s newsletter; via an online talk, demonstration or exhibition; or via an interview with your local radio or newspaper. A newly opened – and moderated – social media account could also be used to tell others about your project.

We encourage heritage newcomers, who have recently become curious about aspects of our heritage, previous Heritage Week event organisers, and those with a track record in championing aspects of our heritage to participate in Heritage Week 2020.

Projects can involve developing something new, or revisiting a heritage project or research into an aspect of our heritage that you have already worked on.'

A national call for Heritage Week projects will be launched later this month, and registration for project ideas will open on a new-style Heritage Week website at that time.

In the meantime, the organisers invite you to:

• Think about a project that is linked to this year’s theme, and that you, your family, community or organisation can develop or revisit for Heritage Week.
• Consider how you can engage with the community around you in building your project, and how to involve people across different generations.
• Mark Heritage Week in your diary: it takes place from 15th – 23rd August and is the time when projects from around the country will be shared on the Heritage Week website.

The new website will go live shortly and will be full of ideas for projects, advice on ways to construct them, and information about what resources will be available to you to develop them.

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: end of May updates

Hamill family headstone in St Patrick Cemetery,
Dundalk, County Louth. Photo courtesy of
IGPArchives and Tom McCaffrey.

Files uploaded to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives in the second half of May are noted below.

As always, the photos, headstone and register transcriptions have been provided, free of charge, by volunteers in order to help other researchers.

You'll find a county-by-county breakdown of the all-Ireland archive at www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives.

LOUTH Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Patrick Cemetery, Dundalk Part 2 (Updated)

MEATH Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Athlumney Old Graveyard, Navan (M-W)
St. Columbanus - Right Side, Ballivor (Transcription)

MEATH Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St Loman's, Trim part 3 G-K. (Transcription)

TIPPERARY Genealogy Archives - Church Records
Fethard RC Parish. Marriages, 1820 and 1824

Tuam, Killala & Achonry Diocesan Archive catalogued

The RCB Library has announced that the historical diocesan archive for Tuam, Killala & Achonry has been arranged and listed, and the detailed 66-page catalogue is available online from today.

‘A map of the glebe land at Belcarra, surveyed for
Revd R W Maxwell’, Surveyed by John Vousdan,
June 1856, RCB Library D5/17/5/

When the Library reopens to the public, the collection will become available for researchers.

In the meantime, you can start searching via the RCBL's June Archive of the Month.

The project to gather, organise, list and make accessible the collection as a whole has taken 35-years!

Going back to mid-1980s, papers and volumes from the united diocese were gradually transferred from local diocesan custody into the RCB Library, which is the Church of Ireland’s record repository. As Irish genealogists know only too well, most of the records of the Church of Ireland dioceses up to and including the 1860s – the bulk of the collection transferred to the Public Record Office of Ireland – were destroyed by fire during the Civil War in 1922.

What survives is largely from the middle of the 19th century onwards, but with important pre-1860s survivals that provide a new and valuable body of evidence about how diocesan registries and their registrars conducted their business during the 18th and 19th centuries.