Today's FindMyPast Friday is a bumper three-part package for Irish researchers. For those of us with ancestors on the lower rungs of the social ladder, the most exciting element of the bundle may be the updating and upgrading of FindMyPast's 1911 Irish census. There are also two brand-new collections for those whose family history is sprinkled with posh dudes who had money to protect.
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| No Results for Glendalough on the NAI site |
Ireland: Census 1911
During the transcription phase of the National Archives of Ireland's Census 1911 digitisation project*, the imaged census returns of some individuals were overlooked.
The result was that although the images of their returns are online at the NAI's free genealogy site, their names and other details have not been transcribed and therefore not indexed, leading to great frustration when researchers can't find their ancestors from, say, Vicarstown in County Offaly, despite knowing the exact spot where they were living in 1911.
In this new, updated collection, FindMyPast has transcribed the details of some 5,843 of the 'missing' individuals from the NAI's online images and added them to their database.
For an example, take a look (right) at the 'No Results?' screen returned for a search for a census return from the Glendalough DED.
Then look (below) at the first page of search results for Glendalough in FindMyPast's enhanced collection. Hurrah! A link to the image held on the NAI's site is included with each transcription.
FindMyPast say they have also improved the searchability of their 1911 Census collection, which is now the most complete Irish census record-set available online.
For a list of locations imaged but not transcribed/indexed in the original NAI census project, see John Grenham's 2017 blogpost 'The strange afterlife of the census microfilms'. Whether all of these 'missing' batches appear in FindMyPast's updated collection, I haven't had time to check.
*It went live in August 2009.
Ireland, Genealogical Office Manuscripts, Marriages
This new collection holds records of just over 9,000 marriages (18,000 indexed names) spanning 1732–1800. It includes marriage licences from the Dublin diocese as well as marriage notices that appeared in Exshaw's Magazine and Hibernian Magazine between 1771 and 1800. Such licences and anouncements were usually the preserve of the well-heeled.
The materials were compiled by Irish genealogist Denis O'Callaghan Fisher (1809-1869), and have been transcribed for the first time by Findmypast. While an image of the original record is not included in this online collection, an image of it can be viewed by selecting the 'Original Source' subheading within each transcription.
Ireland, Genealogical Office Manuscripts, Wills
This set of Irish Wills contains some 10,501 rare records compiled by Sir William Betham and Denis O'Callaghan Fisher in the 18th and 19th centuries. They span 1596–1866.
FindMyPast's description: 'Over the course of his life, William Betham transcribed thousands of Prerogative Wills into notebooks. Held in the National Archives of Ireland, they are also available on Findmypast. From these notes, he compiled pedigrees - which is what this fascinating new collection is made up of. 'O'Callaghan Fisher built on Betham's work, transcribing Diocesan wills (mostly from Dublin, Cork, and Cloyne), which were also compiled into pedigrees. We have brought these two men's contributions together into one handy collection, allowing you to explore Irish wills in richer detail than ever before.'
Links to the original records are included with each transcription.
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| Sample of the first page of 249 results from a search for Glendalough in FindMyPast's enhanced 1911 census collection. You won't find these online anywhere else. |
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