Monday 31 August 2020

New digital archive for County Tipperary launched

Tipperary Libraries Local Studies department has pressed the live switch on a brand new online home for its digital archive where anyone with family connections or local history interest to the county can search and view 29 collections of goodies.

And when I say goodies, I mean goodies!

http://www.tippstudiesdigital.ie/collections/browse
How about ready access to National School Registers and Roll Books. Or the Poor Law Union (PLU) Burial Rate Books for Nenagh PLU? Or the 90 record sets of transcribed gravestone inscriptions containing work by Ormond Historical Society, Killencule Historical Society, Clonmel Historical Society and Mr Con Ryan?

Or the Thurles Workhouse Registers? Or records from the Landed Estate Court containing maps and details of tenancies in several swathes of land across the county? That's before you even start thinking of digging into the photo collections and sport ephemera!

If you have ancestors from County Tipperary, you must check out this digital collection (click image). Even if you're checked it out before, dip in again! It's completely free and you can download the files in pdf format direct to your devlice.

New & updated US genealogy records: 2-week summary

Below is a summary of US family history collections that have been either newly released or updated by the major genealogy databases in the last two weeks. (The last summary list was published on 14 August, 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.

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. I do not include updates of fewer than 1,000 records.


NEW COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

FamilySearch


UPDATED COLLECTIONS

AmericanAncestors

          St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Mary, both in Charlestown. (4,000+ names to browse)
          Sacred Heart in the North End of Boston (16,700 new pages to browse)
          St. Anthony of Padua, (11,100 records = 42,300 names to search)

Ancestry

FamilySearch


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 IrishGenealogyNews online. See Advertising Disclosure tab above.

Autumn edition of Irish Roots magazine published

A new edition has been published of the quarterly Irish Roots magazine, Ireland's only publication dedicated to helping family historians find and celebrate their Irish heritage and ancestry.

It is, as always, crammed with useful 'how-to' advice and in-depth features focussed on genealogy collections, DNA research, news about records and other developments, personal ancestral stories, historical events, cultural issues and other topics likely to be of interest to anyone as they try to trace their ancestors in Ireland and around the world.

Click to find out more
Among the articles in this edition are:
  • Finding the Locality of your Ancestors in Ireland
  • The RMS Leinster: Ordinary Lives – An extraordinary story
  • Tracing your Co. Monaghan Ancestors
  • Patrick Kavanagh – One of Ireland's Greatest Poets
  • How to tell which side of the family your DNA matches relate to
  • Australian Irish Connections – What's in a name
  • What's New? Review of new record releases and updates
  • The story of Jane (Jenny Boyle)
In addition there's a news round-up from Irish genealogical societies, Letters to the Editor, a Q&A with Nicola Morris MAGI, a global family research tale, news from the archives, and much more.

Single copies of Irish Roots is available as a paper magazine (€7; UK£7; US$10; AUD$13; CAD$13) and as a digital publication (€3.99; UK£3.58; US$4.71; AUD$6.54; CAD$6.21). One- and two-years subscriptions can be purchased in your preferred medium and represent good savings.

If you haven't seen the magazine before, check out the free sample of the new edition here.

Two more Irish titles join BritishNewspaperArchive

Newspapers from the west and east coast have debuted on the online BritishNewspaperArchive.co.uk. That makes three new Irish additions in the last couple of weeks alone. Can't be bad! And it brings to 198 the number of historical Irish papers now available to search and view via the BNA database and that of sister company FindMyPast.

The new titles are:

The Clare Advertiser & Kilrush Gazette. When all planned editions are uploaded, the archive will run from 1869 to 1887.

The Dundalk Herald. When completed, the archive of this paper will run from 1868 to 1896.

Friday 28 August 2020

Tulla school registers transcribed and ready for upload

A project carried out by the Tulla Reaching Out Heritage group for National Heritage week saw the Glendree School Registers being transcribed and donated to Clare County Library's excellent Local Studies department.

http://clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/genealog.htm
Unfortunately, the knock-on effect of the library working on an appointment-only basis and with shorter opening hours has meant the upload to the library's free Genealogy website (click image) has been delayed. They're in the queue and will get to the front of it before too long.

More school registers for the Tulla parish area in east Clare are being transcribed and are expected to be online before the end of October.

Skibbereen Heritage continues graveyards work

Back in May Irish Genealogy News reported the upload of two graveyard video tours from the Skibbereen Heritage team (see blogpost). As the Lockdown continued, two more burial grounds were filmed and are now available to view on YouTube:

https://skibbheritage.com/
Video tour of Aughadown graveyard
Video tour of Abbeystrowry graveyard

Other work carried out by the team this summer has seen the installation of new permanent signs at Caheragh Old Graveyard and St Mary's Graveyard. These provide a brief history of the sites and list the names of those interred within, and have been erected with the support of Cork County Council. Follow the links to find out more about these historical burial grounds.

Skibbereen Heritage Centre's excellent Famine exhibition is now open for visitors. Genealogy visitors are also welcome, but in both cases, appointments are now necessary.
Click the image for full details and to book.



Wednesday 26 August 2020

3-month summary of Australia/NZ genealogy updates

Below you'll find my summary of the new and updated Australia and New Zealand records released by the major genealogy database suppliers since my last update on 25 May.

These regular listings of additional sources are designed primarily to help family historians whose Irish ancestors emigrated to Australia or New Zealand, but you don't have to have heritage from Ireland to use them!

They may prove useful to any researchers looking for a brief update of what's relatively recently been made available for the two countries.

Unless otherwise stated, the figures in parenthesis reflect the number of records uploaded to a new or updated collection. Where there is a second figure in parenthesis, it is the revised total number of records in an updated collection.


NEW COLLECTIONS


Ancestry

MyHeritage

NSW State Archives
TheGenealogist

    Various publications:
  • Walch's Tasmanian Almanac 1889
  • 1908 edition of Johns's Notable Austalians and Who is Who in Australasia.
  • South Australian Directory, 1904 and 1920; The Australasian Handbook, 1906; The Victorian Municipal Directory and Gazetteer, 1886; Australia (South) 1882-3 The Commercial and Trades Directory; South Australian Directory 1910 and 1936.
  • NAustralian Branch Enquiry List August 1, 1917 Wounded and Missing
  • Commonwealth of Australia Navy Lists 1919, 1921, 1922
  • The Victorian Municipal Directory and Gazetteer 1886
  • 1882-3 The Commercial and Trades Directory for the South of Australia

UPDATED COLLECTIONS


Ancestry

FamilySearch


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.

Dublin Festival of History moves online next month

Dublin Festival of History is to move online for the first time in 2020. The announcement came as the festival was officially launched at the Edward Worth Library in Dublin 8 by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Hazel Chu. The festival, an initiative of Dublin City Council, will take place from Friday 11 September to Sunday 4 October, with all events free to attend.

The festival, which is organised by Dublin City Libraries and is now in its eighth year, will take place largely online as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but will still play host to an international and domestic line up of speakers and panels.

Subjects covered will be as broad as ever and will include Irish and international historical topics.

In addition to online talks, there will be a number of socially-distanced walking tours of historical locations including St. Anne’s Park, Raheny, Croke Park, and Richmond Barracks, Inchicore.

Some of the highlights from the 2020 programme:
  • The Road to Black Lives Matter: The Construct of Race, from Juneteenth to George Floyd, with Cecelia Hartsell. This talk will examine the history of the construct of race in the United States, tracing it from slavery, including the protection of slavery in the U.S. Constitution; through blackface minstrelsy; Red Summer 1919; the Tulsa Massacre of 1921; the history and public memory surrounding Confederate monuments; and the legacy of that construct, which underpins the systemic racism that led to the death of George Floyd.
  • Twilight of Democracy: The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends, with Anne Applebaum. Anne will pose and explore the question of why so many of those who won the battles for democracy or have spent their lives proclaiming its values are now succumbing to liars, thugs and crooks on both sides of the Atlantic.
  • Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen, with Greg Jenner in conversation with Anna Carey. This discussion assembles a vibrant cast of over 125 actors, singers, dancers, sportspeople, freaks, demigods, ruffians, and more, in search of celebrity's historical roots.
  • Stacking the coffins: Influenza, war and revolution in Ireland, 1918–19, with Ida Milne in conversation with Sarah-Anne Buckley. The 1918-19 influenza epidemic killed more than 50 million people, and infected between one-fifth and half of the world’s population. Like COVID-19 there was no preventative vaccine for the virus. In this work, Ida Milne tells how it impacted on Ireland, during a time of war and revolution.

Speaking at today's launch, Dublin City Librarian Mairead Owens said: “This year marks a huge departure for the festival. We have always prioritised the ‘in person’ experience of attendees at the festival, bringing people together to hear stories from our shared and diverse history. This year, however, for reasons that we all know only too well, we are moving online. This also presents a whole new opportunity for the festival, opening it up to people across Ireland and the world.

“Previously, people from around Ireland might have had to travel to Dublin for one day, or two. Now they can join the festival from the comfort of their own home, for as many events as they wish. Our own home-grown historians can also share their incredible historical research with people from anywhere in the world. It’s a very exciting time for the festival and we look forward to sharing what we have created here with communities beyond our traditional reach.”

The full programme of events will be published on the Festival's website in the coming weeks.

UPDATE, 28 August:
Booking is now open. View the programme.

Sunday 23 August 2020

Waterford paper joins online British Newspaper Archive

The BritishNewspaperArchive.co.uk (BNA) has added the Waterford News Letter to its online database. Like all other titles in the database, it will automatically be shared with the BNA's sister company FindMyPast.

https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=2114&awinaffid=123532&clickref=&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk%2Ftitles%2Fwaterford-news-letterSo far, some 6,000+ pages of editions published from 1842 to 1878 (with gaps) are available to search and view. When all issues of the intended holding are digitised, the holding will run from 1838 to 1916.

The content of the paper is announced below its Gothic font masthead: 'Import and Export List and Prices Current'. As such, it carries 'shopping' lists of prices of commodities, foods and other items, as well as details of ships arriving and departing, railway timetables to and from Waterford and other items of interest to merchants and traders.

The Waterford News Letter is the sixth paper for the county in the BNA. The others are Waterford Chronicle; Waterford Mail; Waterford Mirror and Tramore Visitor; Waterford News; and Waterford Standard.

Its addition brings to 196 the number of Irish newspapers available via both the BNA and FindMyPast databases. This number includes 56 from Northern Ireland.


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.


Friday 21 August 2020

Ancestors from Donegal? You're in for some treats!

Donegal County Archives has been busy, really busy! Now available to view on their website are two wonderful new record collections. They're free to view and download in pdf format.


Lifford Gaol Turnkey Report 1829 - 1831

This is a handwritten register detailing life for ordinary prisoners in Lifford Gaol. The distribution and collection of hammers to prisoners for yard breaking work is reported daily as are inspections of all cells and 'apartments' in the gaol. The duties of turnkeys and wardsmen are outlined in detail.

Reports include punishments meted out to prisoners for infractions including: disruptive behaviour, fighting with other prisoners, having dirty clothing, threatening officers or disobeying orders, cells not being kept clean or tidy, even for speaking Irish. Punishments included time spent in solitary confinement and deprivation of certain supplies especially milk.

Here are some examples from two days in 1830:

  • Samuel Hamilton and Thomas Carbrey had not properly cleaned the passages in the Debtors Apartments
  • Thomas McIntire and Michl (?) McColgan had not properly made their beds
  • John Thorpe and Samuel McGonigal had tobacco and pipes
  • ... 'Singing an inproper song in presence of the Wardsman of No 5'.
Who wouldn't want to go looking for ancestors in this collection?

On Wednesday evening, RTE's Nationwide programme included a visit to Lifford Gaol following its recent restoration. It is now a community hub and restaurant, but the cells remain and can be visited on a guided tour. The 19 August broadcast is available for 30 days here and the Lifford Gaol feature starts at 11:32 minutes.


Donegal Grand Jury 1753 - 1899

After several uploads since the end of July,  all surviving Donegal Grand Jury assizes and minutes dating from 1753 to 1898 are availabale to view from Donegal Archives' web pages. These were digitised from microfilms of the originals, so the quality can vary from page to page, but there's plenty that are easily legible. There are also some gaps in years. None the less, presentments from every decade in the 19th century are included.

The Grand Jury was made up of local landowners who considered proposals for work to be done in the six baronies of Donegal. These included repair of roads and bridges, and the construction of courthouses, the support of district hospitals, schools and prisons. They can be very useful to family historians, especially when looking for tradesmen and suppliers of goods and services.

Also uploaded is the set of correspondence between the outgoing Grand Jury and the incoming Donegal Co. Council, mainly from 1898 (with some letters from members of the Grand Jury earlier also.)

Have fun!

Thursday 20 August 2020

BackToOurPast, Ireland's genealogy show, goes virtual

The organisers of BackToOurPast, the all-Ireland Irish genealogy show held in both Dublin and Belfast, have announced that this autumn's event – to be virtual in view of Covid-19 restrictions and concerns – will be sponsored by Ancestry and hosted in partnership with the National Archives of Ireland.


It will take place online from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th September. Access to the full three-day schedule will cost €10. Click the logo, right, to purchase your ticket.

While the full programme is not yet confirmed, some details of what is planned are beginning to emerge.


1. The National Archives of Ireland will be presenting two lectures, as follows:

Tracing the history of the workhouse system in Ireland using sources in the NAI
, with Brian Donnelly, NAI Senior Archivist. He will outline the history of the workhouse system in Ireland from its inception in the late 1830s to its abolition in the 20th century. He will also explain what records relating to workhouses are available in the National Archives and his talk will be illustrated with documents from the rich holdings of the NAI.

Tracing convict ancestors using sources in the NAI, with Tom Quinlan, NAI Keeper. The presentation will describe the collections used to trace convict ancestors from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. These sources relate to those who served their sentences either in Ireland or further afield in Australia, among other countries and this talk will be illustrated with images drawn from a variety of record series held in the NAI.


2. Glasgow City Archives will be hosting The Irish and Scottish connection, a series of three presentations by Dr Irene O'Brien:

Discover your ancestors in Glasgow and Scotland, an introduction to resources to trace your Irish ancestors in Glasgow and Scotland. With particular focus on the Irish and tracing their migration, the records and sources of ScotlandsPeople and Glasgow City Archives will be explored.

Poor Law Records in Glasgow City Archives. This talk will present Glasgow City Archives' stand-out poor law records for Glasgow and the west of Scotland from 1845 to 1930. A large numbers of Irish applied for poor relief and the applications are rich with essential genealogical data and with details of the lives of applicants.

Church Records in Glasgow City Archives and Beyond. This talk will explore the City Archives's religious collections, which include Presbyterian, Episcopalian and other denominations, and Roman Catholic records held elsewhere.


3. Accredited Genealogists Ireland will present a series of short introductory talks for beginners:

These talks will be aimed those just starting their family history research in Irish records. They will focus primarily on free online resources and explain how to use them to their full potential. The topics to be covered include census returns, civil records of birth, death and marriage, church records and Griffith’s Valuation. There will also be presentations on How to prepare for doing research in Irish sources and on Irish land divisions.


That's where the arrangements are, at present. They give a good flavour of what's being put together, and I'll bring details of additions to the programme when I know them.

In the meantime, the only other thing I can tell you is that Genetic Genealogy Ireland, the specialist DNA conference usually held alongside BackToOurPast and sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA, will not be part of the BTOP Virtual event.



Wednesday 19 August 2020

National Archives of Ireland releases "Teachers' Census"

As part of National Heritage Week, the National Archives of Ireland has released a full list of working National School teachers as recorded at 31 March 1905.

https://www.nationalarchives.ie/article/list-of-teachers-employed-by-the-commissioners-of-national-education-on-31-march-1905/The list, List of Teachers Employed by the Commissioners of National Education, comes from the Privy Council Office and records the names and ages of teachers, where they themselves went to school, their place of teacher training, their length of service and where they were currently posted and in what capacity.

This release is presented in an alphabetically arranged series of 35 pdf downloads.

If you have ancestors who were teachers in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, this legible 'teachers' census' is definitely worth checking out. It's island-wide, and it's unique... no later such lists were created.

Click the image to find out more at the NAI's website.

Co. Tyrone title joins online British Newspaper Archive

The BritishNewspaperArchive.co.uk (BNA) has added the Strabane Weekly News to its online database. Like all other titles in the database, it will automatically be shared with the BNA's sister company FindMyPast.

Early 20th-century editions now searchable 
Still published in its County Tyrone hometown, the Strabane Weekly News's holding in the online archive will run only from 1908–1916.

As of this morning, only 52 issues (all from 1912) are available to search and view. I'd expect such a small holding to be fully digitised and online fairly quickly.

This addition brings to 195 the number of Irish newspapers available in both the BNA and FindMyPast databases. This number includes 56 from Northern Ireland.

Apart from this one new Northern Ireland title, the last week has seen the BNA concentrating on adding new titles from Wales and northwest England. Among them are the Manchester Guardian, Manchester Daily Examiner & Times, Port Talbot Guardian, Radnor Express, Caernarvon & Denbigh Herald, Pontypridd Observer, Carmarthen Journal, and Glamorgan Gazette.


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.


Tuesday 18 August 2020

RootsIreland's Genealogy Matters: new issue published

The Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF), which runs the island-wide network of heritage and genealogy centres and their online databases at RootsIreland.ie, has published a new edition of its newsletter, Genealogy Matters.

https://www.rootsireland.ie/2020/08/new-issue-of-irish-genealogy-matters-newsletter-published-4/
Among the details, it includes a listing of all the many packages of new records uploaded to RootsIreland.ie this year. They cover North Mayo, Wicklow, Armagh, Westmeath, South Dublin, Kerry, Cork, Kilkenny, Dublin and they tot up to 467,000 additions. (All these releases have been covered by IrishGenealogyNews.)

What's more, there are more transcriptions to be released as the year progresses. Among them will be records from Limerick, Kilkenny, South Tipperary and elsewhere. I wonder if the tally will hit the half-a-million milestone? That'd be a impressive total for any year, let alone this one.

In addition to the records round-up, the newsletter brings new that some of the IFHF centres have now opened, others are preparing to do so, while others are manned but not open to the public. Genealogy Matters advise those planning to visit to check the individual centre's status before travelling.

The newsletter also brings other news and information from the network – book releases, events, and developments – so it's worth a read. You can download it in pdf format from RootsIreland site. Click the image above.

RIA publishes the free Digital Atlas of Dungarvan

The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) has published the Digital Atlas of Dungarvan as part of National Heritage Week.

It is an interactive map that allows users to explore the urban heritage of the town of Dungarvan in County Waterford and is based on research and cartography carried out for the forthcoming RIA release Irish Historic Towns Atlas, no 30, Dungarvan/Dún Garbhán by John Martin (publication due in October).

https://twitter.com/IHTA_RIA/status/1295704263314866180/photo/1
Click image for larger view, theme and layer list
Dungarvan has a fascinating built heritage, which includes its fine Anglo-Norman castle and Augustinian abbey in Abbeyside, but, as the digital atlas reveals, the coastal town also has invisible heritage. Examples include the walls that defended Dungarvan in medieval and early modern times now lying beneath the surface, and the former street layout replaced in the early 19th-century by Grattan Square.

Freely available and accessible online, the Digital Atlas of Dungarvan provides layers of historical Ordnance Survey maps that show how the town has changed over time. A specially digitised base map shows the town in 1841, where detailed historical information on some 650 individual sites has been incorporated.

If you have ancestors from the town, you'll be among those wanting to check out these details. Start with the Story Map, which is published alongside the atlas, and shows you how to investigate and enjoy the Digital Atlas of Dungarvan.


Monday 17 August 2020

Heritage Week events: a selection to whet your appetite

Gosh, it's been a long time since IrishGenealogyNews saw a full week's Events listing. But when National Heritage Week in Ireland, even when so many of its events are virtually formatted, can rustle up 730 heritage projects across the island, I couldn't resist the opportunity to browse them and offer researchers a snapshot of the work so many organisations, groups and individuals have created.

https://www.heritageweek.ie/projects
My mini-listing is not intended to be a 'best of' listicle... I haven't even gone through all 730 on offer, so I'm sure I've missed some that I'd find fascinating! It's an in-no-particular-order taste of the cultural heritage projects you might like to explore. The selection probably reflects my own interest to some extent and definitely favours family, social and local history.

I hope it whets your appetite to 'attend' a virtual event, to download or buy a new publication, to support those events presented in socially distanced 'live' time, or to type in your own filters and keywords on the full listing via the image above right.

Unlike my regular events listings please note, this listing is not in date order.


* Podcasts: Stories from a Living Graveyard
, is a 7-episode series by Fin Dwyer of the Irish History podcast and Damian Shiels, of the Forgotten Irish Podcast. The first of the daily episodes is now available at IrishHistoryPodcast.

* Virtual tour: 100 Years of Women in Politics and Public Life, 1918 – 2018 a narrated tour of a pop-up museum. Launched today on the Decade of Centenaries.com/ website.

* Three lectures hosted by the Irish Architectural Archive (IAA) and Buildings of Ireland Trust will be available online at 1:15pm on the day stated below at the IAA website:
  • Tuesday 18th: Buildings of Cork County, with Frank Keohane. 
  • Wednesday 19th: Buildings of Cork City, with Frank Keohane
  • Thursday 20th:Craftsmanship in the architecture of Central Leinster, with Dr Andrew Tierney

* Online exhibition: Glasnevin Museum's Ireland and the Great Flu 1918-19 exhibition, previously on display to personal visitors, is now available to explore online, here.

* Virtual tour: The Cork Jewish Culture Virtual Walk is a video and a webpage exploring some of the history and culture of Cork's Jewish community. It focuses on seven sites, and includes stories, poems, history, songs and music past and present.

* Video tutorials: Researching your Galway family history is a series of videos presented by accredited genealogist Clare Doyle and hosted by Galway Community Heritage. The tutorials focus on the census; church records; the Tithe Applotment Books; The Primary Valuation and graveyard sources; and aim to help family history researchers get the most out of available records and advance their own research. Find out more.

* Video lectures, discussion and film: West Cork History Festival has uploaded free digital content, including talks, discussions and a film. Some relate to the Decade of Centenaries, specifically in the Cork context, but History Ireland has also recorded a special Hedge School on the theme of Ireland, Empire & the Sea. Find out more.

* Video: exploring the Old Rath Church and graveyard situated in the lakelands town of Killeshandra, Co Cavan. Video set to Evocation to a Friend, performed by Canterbury Cathedral's youth choir. Find out more.

* New booklet: Westmeath Field Names Recording Project update has been produced by project coordinator Aengus Finnegan, to provide an update on this multi-community project. The field names are uploaded to Logainm.ie. Printed copies from Heritage Office. PDF download here.

* Videos: The Craft of Traveller Tinsmithing: Two videos, one from 2017, the other from 1965, document the craft of Traveller tinsmithing, traditionally carried out by Irish Travellers and suited to the nomadic lifestyle. View here.

* New limited edition booklets have been published for 2020 Heritage Week by Steve Dolan. They relate to topics covering Counties Galway, Offaly and Roscommon. All proceeds go to local charities. Booklets can be collected locally or posted at cost. Further details from Steve at sakdolan@hotmail.com. These are the titles:
  • All Out: The birth, growth and decline of cricket in County Galway, 1825-1925 €10
  • Cumberland’s Eyrecourt, 1781: The fair and post town of Eyrecourt €5
  • Friends and Forebears: A record of the burials in Kilconieron parish, Co Galway €10
  • Headford 1775: A snapshot of the town of Headford and its people €5
  • Newspaper articles from County Roscommon, 1750-1799 €5
  • Oughterard Survivors: 100 Soldiers from the chief pass into lawless Connemara €5
  • Rural Athenry Parish, 1821: Marking 200 years since the 1821 census €10
  • The Match Report: Newspaper reports and articles on club hurling in Co Galway €10
  • The Workhouses of County Offaly €5
  • United by Impressment? 100 suspected United Irishmen in the 13th regiment of foot €5

* Video: 21 Archival Treasures from Donegal County Archives is an indepth presentation by archivist Niamh Brennan focusing on specific collections & documents acquired or listed over 21 years. It will highlight archives for family and local history and for educators and students of history and related subjects. Find out more.

* Video tutorial: How to Start, Where to Start - First Steps in Tracing your Ancestors. Hosted by the National Archives of Ireland and presented live by accredited genealogist Tony Hennessy, this Culture Club event will be held Thursday 20 August at 2:30pm. Free. Details.

* New information leaflet: Quaker Trail; A journey of discovery. The Waterford Cultural Quarter Quaker Trail will be launched by Mayor of Waterford City and County Council on Thursday 20 August. It's invitation-only event due to social distancing requirements. The printed leaflet will be available in Waterford Gallery of Art, 32/33 O'Connell Street on its reopening, and a digital trail leaflet is available at WaterfordCulturalQuarter.ie.

* Powerpoint presentation: Your Donegal Family - Resources in Central Library. The Donegal Studies Collection that holds information on all aspects of Donegal’s history, heritage and culture, not least a comprehensive family history collection. Some of the more important resources that will get the family historian started on their quest are highlighted in this presentation. Details.

* Talk: The Great Famine in County Offaly, with Dr. Ciaran Reilly, who will discuss all aspects of the famine, including murder, crime and lawlessness. Hosted by Offaly Libraries on Facebook. 6pm, Tuesday 18 August. Details.

* Online tutorial on Wexford Libraries Digital Local Collection, which presents 19th-century texts, local history journals, photographs and other historical material relating to County Wexford and its people. It aims to make Wexford-related local studies material available for research, study and enjoyment to a wide audience in Wexford, nationally and internationally. Find out more.

* Video lecture: The Anglo-Normans in County Longford. Archaeologist Dr. Kieran O'Conor of NUI Galway explores the lives of the Normans in the frontier county and investigates the motte-and-bailey castles they left behind, especially the impressive 'Moat of Granard'. Find out more.

* A Video Tour of the Old Burial Ground Delgany, with Lailli DeBuitlear, the curator of the burial ground for many years. She delivers a detailed history on all aspects of the burial ground, plus some fascinating insights into local history. Find out more.

* Video tour of the new Offaly Archives, which opened last year in Tullamore, with archivist Lisa Shortall presenting the purpose built site, its holdings and the importance of the history of the county. View here.

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: Mid-August update

http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/donegal/photos/tombstones/glencolumbkille-coi/target31.html
Lichen attracting headstone to Bess, John and
Eliza OSBORNE who died 1878, 1879 and 1889
respectively. Glencolumbkille (aka Glencolmcille)
CoI Graveyard, Straid, Co. Donegal. Photo
courtesy of Angela Gallagher and IGPArchives.
The first half of August has been quiet – understandably during holiday time – for the volunteers at Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives but there are still two useful additions to the free database, as follows:

CAVAN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Mullaghboy Cemetery (R.C.) (additional)

DONEGAL Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Glencolumbkille CoI Graveyard, Straid


Friday 14 August 2020

British genealogy records: new/updated in early August

Below is a summary of new and updated family history record collections for England, Scotland and Wales released by the major genealogy databases in the past 10 days (see last summary, 3 August).

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. I don't usually include updates of fewer than 1,000 records.

NEW COLLECTIONS

BritishNewspaperArchive (shared with FindMyPast)

     Scotland

     England

FamilySearch

FindMyPast


UPDATED COLLECTIONS

FamilySearch

FindMyPast
  • Hampshire Baptisms (21,000 additions from parishes of Crondall, All Saints; Ewshott, St Mary; Farnborough, St Peter; Fleet, All Saints; Headley, All Saints; and Rowledge, St James.)
  • Hampshire Marriages (15,000 records from parishes of Cove, St John; Crondall, All Saints; Crookham, Christ Church; Ewshott, St Mary; Farnborough, St Peter; Fleet, All Saints; Grayshott, St Luke; Hawley, Holy Trinity; Headley, All Saints; Minley, St Andrew; Rowledge, St James; and South Farnborough, St Mark.)
  • Hampshire Burials (16,000 records from parishes of Crondall, All Saints; Crookham, Christ Church; Farnborough, St Peter; Fleet, All Saints; Headley, All Saints; and Rowledge, St James.)

National Library of Scotland

TheGenealogist


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Dublin Gazette and Belfast Gazette join FindMyPast

FindMyPast has added the Dublin Gazette, 1750-1800 and the Belfast Gazette, 1922-2018 to its Irish genealogy collection.

A sample page from The Dublin Gazette, which comes complete
with shadowed and distorted text on a large proportion of pages.
Dublin Gazette 1750-1800
The Gazette includes corporate and personal insolvency notices, personal legal notices relating to deceased estates, company notices and profiles such as the incorporation of a company, and state notices, for example, Bills receiving Royal Assent. It also contains birth, marriage and death notices, similar to newspaper Announcements, and advertisements, often of the snake-oil variety.

The same Dublin Gazette collection is available free but downloadable only as large, slow pdfs on the Oireachtas Library site.

While the FindMyPast version offers easier searching and a quicker route to the page you want to view, it uses the exact same images as those on the Oireachtas site, complete with 'spine problem' of shaded and distorted text where the bound volumes open (see image, above). Since this is not a free version, you'd think FindMyPast might have reimaged the volumes and worked a bit harder to produce clearer content.

Belfast Gazette 1922-2018
Following partition, a new Gazette was published in Northern Ireland containing a similar range of news to the Dublin, London and Edinburgh versions. The Belfast Gazette is available free at the official The Gazette site, which has an efficient search engine.

The London Gazette and Edinburgh Gazette have also joined FindMyPast. Like the Belfast Gazette, they are also available free at the official Gazette site (see link above).



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IrishGenealogyNews online. See Advertising Disclosure tab above.

GRONI's Public Search Room to reopen on 2 September

The Public Search Room of the General Register Office for Northern Ireland (GRONI) will reopen with a limited service on Wednesday 2 September. The following restrictions will be place:
  • Visitors must book their appointment in advance – appointments will be between 9:30am and 12:30pm or 1pm and 4pm.
  • Access will be limited to one person per booking.
  • Booking will be limited to a maximum of three visits per week per person or company.
  • No visitors will be allowed to enter the building without an appointment.
  • A number of changes to GRONI services will be in place to make sure of the health and safety of staff and the public.
  • All visitors must agree to follow the guidance contained in the public search room protocol document they will receive at the time of booking
Until the reopening, the Public Search Room remains closed. However, you can apply for life event certificates either by phone on 0300 200 7890 or by ordering via GRONI's online facility.

GRONI's Public Search Room is located within the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency at Colby House, Stranmillis Court, Belfast, BT9 5RR.

Thursday 13 August 2020

New & updated US genealogy records: 2-week summary

Below is a summary of US family history collections that have been either newly released or updated by the major genealogy databases in the last two weeks. (The last summary list was published on 30 July, 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.

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. I do not include updates of fewer than 1,000 records.


NEW COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

FamilySearch

MyHeritage


UPDATED COLLECTIONS

AmericanAncestors

Ancestry

FamilySearch

MyHeritage


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
IrishGenealogyNews online. See Advertising Disclosure tab above.



Wednesday 12 August 2020

Beyond 2022 enters digitisation procurement process

It's good to see the Beyond 2022: Ireland's Virtual Record Treasure Research Project moving forward. This ambitious all-island and international collaborative research project, which is led by Trinity College Dublin, aims to create a virtual reality version of the Public Record Office of Ireland building and all its archival collections prior to their destruction during the War of Independence.

A Request for Tender (RFT) was posted last week on the Irish government's public procurement platform for a contract to digitise records currently held by the National Archives of Ireland (NAI).

As far as I'm aware, this RFT is the first for the Beyond 2022 project.

The RFT does not identify the records involved. It says: "Beyond 2022, working with the National Archives, has identified a large body of archival documents which contain valuable historical information relating to Ireland prior to 1922. These archives are in various formats, but the scope of this phase is primarily bound volumes."

Unfortunately, I've been unable to establish what this 'large body' of documents contains because the details are being kept quiet until the tendering process has completed. They may be of value to genealogists; they may not. I can't think of any really important collection of family history importance that hasn't already been made available on the NAI's Genealogy website or shared with database suppliers such as Ancestry and FindMyPast. But you never know.

All will be revealed in due course, I guess. And I'll let you know when I find out.

Any service provider wanting to formally express an interest can follow this link. The deadline is 1 September.






Tuesday 11 August 2020

MyHeritage photographic tools free for one month

In the last six months, both MyHeritage In Color and it's sister tool, MyHeritage Photo Enhancer have been introduced by the database and DNA supplier, and they've proved very popular. They can transform faded, blurry black and white photos into full colour and sharper focus. They really do help you to view your ancestors more clearly.

MyHeritage has decided to make both these tools free for one whole month so that more people, especially those currently confined to their home during the Covid-19 pandemic, can have some fun and enjoy genealogy research.

The free access will run until Thursday 10 September, and you can colour and enhance as many photos as you like. You need only to set up a free account with the website.

Outside of this free access period, researchers can use the tools free of charge to upgrade a maximum of ten photos. Thereafter, they need a Complete Subscription.

Thursday 6 August 2020

Irish COVID-19 Oral History Project launched

Dublin City University's Business School has launched a project that may interest family historians. It's called the Irish COVID-19 Oral History Project and it aims to create a repository of oral and written histories about COVID-19. These stories will then be made available to researchers, historians and the public as an open source digital archive.

https://covid19oralhistory.ie/The project team hopes to collect stories that reflect as many aspects of Irish life as possible, explains David Kenny. "We have made it easy to get involved. All the information people need to record their experiences is on the website. Sample questions provide a guide but people can record any aspect of living and working through this pandemic by using their phone, tablet, pc or dictaphone. The file can then be simply uploaded to the website.

"Should they wish, people can request to be interviewed and share their story that way."

In addition to collecting stories, the project invites people to apply to be 'theme leaders' (who co-ordinate the collection of stories in their home area), interviewers and, at a later stage, researchers.

If you'd like to get involved, check out the website via the link above.

40% saving in AncestryDNA Summer Sale, USA-only

AncestryDNA is offering USA-based researchers a discount on its autosomal DNA test kit.

It's a big saving – 40% – so don't miss it.

The discount reduces the price from US$99 to $59, with tax and shipping extra.

To take advantage of the offer, place your order (Click/tap 'Get Started') before 11:59pm EST on Monday, 17 August.


Ireland and UK Summer Sale here
.

Certificates in Local Studies and Oral History 2020-21

The Lord Mayor’s Certificates in Local Studies and Oral History will once again be offered by Dublin City Library and Archive from September. In view of Covid-19 restrictions, the courses will be taught online until Christmas using Zoom. If the situation permits, the courses will be taught to the class in person at DCLA (138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2), from January-April 2021.

Click each brochure image below to download more details about each Certificate course. They provide comprehensive information, but should you still have queries, contact the DCLA at cityarchives@dublincity.ie.

Lord Mayor's Certificate in Local Studies

Classes will be held on Tuesday evenings from September 2020 until April 2021.

The course consists of 70 hours part-time and will equip participants with skills in researching local history and in the preparation of a dissertation.

The closing date for course applications is 5pm on Friday 28 August 2020.

(Dublin City Council offers two Bursaries for candidates taking the Certificate. The deadline for bursary applications is 5pm on Friday 21 August.)


Lord Mayor's Certificate in Oral History

 https://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/RecreationandCulture/libraries/blog-images-2020/Oral%20History%20Bursaries%202020-2021.pdf
Classes will be held on Monday evenings from September 2020 until April 2021.

The course consists of 70 hours part-time and will equip participants with skills in the preparation and conduct of oral history projects, including best practice in the collection and archiving of oral history interviews.

The closing date for course applications is 5pm on Friday 4 September.

(Dublin City Council offers two Bursaries for candidates taking the Certificate in Oral History. The deadline for bursary applications is 5pm on Friday 28 August.)

Ancestry.com acquired by private equity firm for $4.7b

It's pretty unusual to find family history news in the pages of the Financial Times, but Ancestry made a splash yesterday when the Blackstone Group agreed to buy a 75% stake in the company. The deal is worth US$4.7billion, and allows the private equity firm to satisfy investors' growing appetite for health and technology stocks.

Ancestry's brands
Ancestry has been busy of late. Last November it launched AncestryHealth; this new health dna test – physician-ordered and not diagnostic – gives consumers the opportunity to address potential health risks identified in their genes and family health history. Last month, the company claimed their genealogy database held 24 billion records, while their ancestry + health dna database contained 18 million completed DNA kits bought by customers.

Just a couple of days before the Blackstone deal was concluded, Ancestry launched 'AncestryHealth® powered by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)' (the company seems determined to use the full phrase). This new health test, which explores more places in an individual's DNA than microarray-based testing technology, promises a more comprehensive genetic screening of an expanded set of health conditions ie. heart disease, breast cancer, colon cancer and blood disorders.

'AncestryHealth powered by NGS' is currently available only to adults (ages 18+) in the United States, with the exception of New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, for $179. Existing AncestryDNA® customers can upgrade for $99.

The corporate-speak official announcement from Ancestry is below:

"Blackstone today announced that the private equity fund it manages has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Ancestry®.

"Blackstone’s acquisition will further accelerate Ancestry’s global leadership in Family History and consumer genomics, helping us achieve our mission to empower journeys of personal discovery to enrich lives. The Blackstone team is deeply inspired by our mission, aligned with our strategy and is confident in our prospects for the future.

"They share our purpose and passion for delivering great experiences for our customers. That includes upholding our commitment to protecting our customers’ privacy and being good stewards of their data. Our robust consumer privacy and data protections remain unchanged under our new ownership.

"Looking ahead, in collaboration with Blackstone, we will continue to leverage our unique content and technology platform to expand our global Family History business while bringing to life our long-term vision of personalized, preventive health.

"We are grateful to our valued members and vibrant community for their continued trust and support.

"We are thrilled to partner with Blackstone and believe that together we can continue to inspire millions more people to discover their family story and gain actionable insights about their health and wellness."