FindMyPast has added two new record sets to its database that may be of interest to Irish family historians, and has an offer on Pay-To-View access to the 1921 Census of England and Wales, which may also be useful for locating ancestors who'd crossed the Irish Sea.
PTV the 1921 Census (E&W)
This was taken in England and Wales while Ireland was still in revolutionary turmoil and many Irish men and women, and families had already made the decision to leave the island in search of work or for the relative safety of post-WW1 Britain. In fact, there were 364,802 Irish born living in England and Wales when the census was taken – a figure equating to one-twelth of the total 1911 population of Ireland.
If you don't currently have a FindMyPast Premium subscription – the only package that includes access to this census – or a PRO subscription (see below) it may be worth taking advantage of a half price discount on the Pay-To-View (PTV) option.
PTV access via FindMyPast.ie: Seach the 1921 Census by person or address.
PTV access via FindMyPast.co.uk: Seach the 1921 Census by person or address.
PTV access via FindMyPast.com: Seach the 1921 Census by person or address.
If you have a PRO subscription, your 10% discount to view this census collection will be increased to 50% for the duration of the offer, which will expire at 11:59pm GMT on Tuesday 28 February 2023
New additions
Civil Service Commission Appointments, Promotions and Transfers 1871-1942 Added today to the FindMyPast database, this is a repackaged record set of historical material published in the free-to-view London Gazette. It contains more than 870,000 records detailing British Civil Service certification following examinations and appointments of postal workers, prison workers, the admiral and more. Irish men and women are particularly well represented among the Post Office entries as the postal service was a well-trodden career opportunity for bright, literate youngsters with few other career prospects. Among them are some of my paternal grandfather's siblings, who left rural Cork for posts in London in the 1890s-1900s and worked for the best part of 50 years for the GPO.
The Gazette has long been an overlooked collection for Irish records; perhaps its arrival on FindMyPast will help to elevate its perceived value.
Second World War Civilian Casualties In Britain 1940-1945: A second new addition to FindMyPast will not be high on the list of British records with good Irish resources, but it does have some potential for researchers whose ancestors or extended family moved to British cities to work in construction and other 'War Effort' jobs while British men were deployed in the military.
This collection comes from multiple sources and includes 64,339 records. You may find an exact address, standard biographical detail, and even the type of enemy action noted in them.