Autumn edition of Irish Roots magazine has been published

The latest edition of Irish Roots magazine, Ireland's only independent magazine dedicated to Irish genealogy, has been published.

It is, as always, filled with helpful guidance, informative features and all the latest news and developments to help researchers discover more about their ancestral heritage, whether their family remained on the island or emigrated to near or distant new homes.

You'll find the following articles in the new issue:

Click to find out more and to download a sample.

• Discover Local Resources For Tracing Your County Sligo Ancestors
• Discovering A ‘Not Parent Expected’ Shock In Your Dna Research
• Ancestral Research Tips From The Irish Genealogical Research Society
• Making The Most Of Your Trip To The Representative Church Body Library
• Discover The History And Origins Of Surnames From Co. Sligo
• New Resource for Deaths: MemsDead.com
• Australian Irish Connection: Melbourne In The Early Days
• What’s New? Review - The Latest Irish Genealogy Record Releases

In addition, you'll find genealogical comment and observation from Stephen Smyrl MAGI; Letters to the Editor; a Reader's Research Experience; Dates for your diary; the Editor's Book Selections, and much more.

The magazine is available in both paper and digital formats on subscription, or by one-off single edition purchase or as part of a 'bundle'. If you click the front cover image, above, you'll find all the details to place your order. You can also download a free sample to whet your appetite!

National Library of Ireland: Saturday openings to end of year

The National Library of Ireland has announced the Saturday dates when both the main Reading Room and the Ticket Office will be open to researchers with a Reader's ticket. Opening hours are 9:30am–13:00pm and the dates are as follows:

• 9 September
• 23 September
• 7 October
• 21 October
• 4 November
• 18 November
• 2 December
• 16 December

Full instructions for obtaining a Reader's Ticket are at NLI.ie.

Irish News Archives marks new titles from the 1700s with discounts

The Dublin-based Irish Newspaper Archives has had a very busy summer. Over the last month, several new titles from the 1700s have been added to the database. While they are short runs of publication, they hold excellent historical content and are sure to be of great value to Irish family history researchers.

These latest additions, with years of publication in parenthesese, are as follows:

• Waterford Today 1995-2005
• General Evening Post 1783
• Hibernian Chronicle 1783
• Hibernian Journal / Chronicle of Liberty 1776-1792
• St James Chronicle / British Evening Press 1794
• Madras Courier 1789
• Morning Post or Dublin Courant
• Oracle 1796-1797
• The Dublin Chronicle 1787-1792
• The English Chronicle

The mark this upload of such historical papers, Irish Newspaper Archives is offering savings on its subscriptions, with a 25% discount (use promotional code AUG25) on a Silver package, and a 30% discount (use promotional code AUG30) on the Gold package. The latter gives you access to all the historical newspapers in the Silver package, plus the full Radical archive.

For more savings on genealogical and dna products, click on the Current Special Offers tab above.

National Archives of Ireland catalogues personal Injuries claims, 1919-55

Following archival and conservation work, the first tranche of a new collection – Compensation (Personal Injuries) Committee Claims, 1919–1955 – is available for consultation at the National Archives of Ireland. The files were transferred to the NAI from the Department of Finance in November last year and a hard copy catalogue is available in the Reading Room in Bishop Street.

Sample Personal Injuries claim. Photo courtesy of NAI.
Click for enlarged view.

As its name suggests, the collection of compensation claims contains first-hand accounts by claimants, including medical and personal data, and provides an insight into a turbulent period in the island's history.

While the hardcopy catalogue provides access to all 700 files, the online catalogue currently includes details of only 500; the remaining 200 will be added soon.

The NAI reference is Reference Code is FIN/COMP/4/2022/28/. (In the Advanced Search field, just type 2022/28/1 and so on up to 2022/28/500.)

At the present time there are no plans to digitise the collection.

I've nosed around the online listing, which isn't arranged by either location or surname, but rather in the order in which the files were received by the NAI. Here are a few random samples:

• Personal injuries claim by Mary Jane Gaughran on behalf of Bernard Gaughran, 20 Hill Street, Dundalk, County Louth, deceased. Reference: 2022/28/15 Date: Sep 1922-Jun 1928. Bernard Gaughran was shot by National forces from an armoured train when he was mistaken to be an Irregular on 17 August 1922 while on the Dublin Road Railway Bridge, Dundalk. Award granted.
• Personal injuries claim by Mary Sisk on behalf of John Sisk, Dunkereen Upper Upton, County Cork, deceased.Reference: 2022/28/7 Date: Mar 1921-Feb 1924. John Sisk was shot by rifle fire while working as a signalman for Cork Bandon and South Coast Railway when a train was ambushed at Upton Station, Dunkereen on 15 February 1921. Award granted.
• Personal injuries claim by Ellen Dunlea, Ballycoe House, Dungarvan, County Waterford. Reference: 2022/28/8 Date: Mar 1922-Nov 1924. Ellen Dunlea suffered personal injuries when her home was raided by Crown forces resulting in the destruction of her home on 24 and 25 March 1921. No award granted.
• Personal injuries claim by Isabella Finlay on behalf of Dean Finlay, Bawnboy, County Cavan, deceased. Reference: 2022/28/19 Date: Nov 1922-Aug 1924. Dean Finlay was killed by a blow to the head by Irregular forces when trying to prevent the destruction of his house on 12 June 1921. Award granted.
• Personal injuries claim by Sarah Fergus, Cahir, Louisburgh, County Mayo. Reference: 2022/28/331 Date: Jul 1923-Nov 1924. Sarah Fergus's home was raided and members of her family assaulted by the RIC [Royal Irish Constabulary] on 3 March 1921. No award granted.

Late summer offers on Ancestry DNA test kits (IE and UK only)

Ancestry DNA tests are on offer in Ireland and the UK until 11:59pm (Irish/GB time) Friday 8 September.

Up for grabs is a 25% saving, so take advantage while you can... with competition still fierce in the consumer market, Ancestry's discounts don't come along as frequently as they once did. But Ancestry is still, in my opinion, the best autosomal dna test supplier for anyone who's serious about their genealogy research or is merely curious about their family heritage.

Select from the options below. The prices quoted are for the test kit; shipping is extra.

Please note, there may be similar discounts available for US, Canadian or Ozzie researchers but I haven't been advised of them.

	Ireland: AncestryDNA test kit €69, reduced from €95. Shipping extra.
	UK: AncestryDNA test kit £59, reduced from £79. Shipping extra.

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.

Four weeks of genealogy releases for England, Scotland & Wales

Below is a four-week summary of newly released and updated family history record collections for England, Scotland and Wales from the major genealogy databases. (Previous summary, 17 July.)

My regular summary of releases and updates 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 parentheses in the New Collections section are the numbers of records/images in the new record set.

Unless otherwise stated, the figures in parentheses 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 so the figure is the new total. Where two figures are given, the first is the number of additions, the second is the new total.

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

NEW COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

• Aberdeen, Scotland, Roll of Honour, 1914-1918, 1939-1945 (8,186)
• UK and Allies, WW2 Liberated PoW Questionnaires, 1945-46 (83,560)
• Scotland, Gravestones and Memorials, 1521-2020 (148,802)
• UK and Allies, WW2 Registers of PoWs and Civilians Held in Singapore, 1942-45 (453)
• Birmingham, England, Cemetery and Crematoria Records, 1836-2017 (1,394,768)
• Royal Victoria Hospital Register for soldiers, 1914-16 (704)

BritishNewspaperArchive (and shared with FindMyPast)

• Four new Titles: Penzance Gazette  |  Llais Y Wlad  |  Y Dydd  |  Y Gwladgarwr  |  Farnworth Chronicle

Fold3

• UK, WWI, 5th London General Hospital, 1917 (6,972)
• UK, Ireland British Army Census, 1911 (21,395)
• UK, Worldwide Army Census, 1911 (117,828)
• UK, Rolls of Honour, 1914-1920 (mostly in Scotland and Birmingham) (62,304)
• UK, Highland Light Infantry Chronicle – Index 1908-1920 (53,709)
• UK, The Times – Index of Casualties, 1914
• UK, Princess Mary’s Gift Box POW list, 1914 (21,000)
• UK, University Rolls of Honour, 1914-1918 (60,000+)

MyHeritage

• England, Lancashire, Manchester Burials (855,785)
• ScotlandsPeople Employment Records: Lightkeepers, 1837–1921
• England and Wales, Hearth Tax, 1662-1674 (13 counties) (284,675)

The Genealogist

• Lloyd George Domesday Survey: County Oxford property records and maps

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

• UK and Ireland, Find a Grave Index, 1300s-Current
• UK, Military Deserters, 1812-1927
• UK, Officer Service Records, 1764-1932
• UK, Household Cavalry Records of Service, 1799-1920
• UK, Royal Air Force Muster Roll, 1918
• UK, Military Records of Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Burials, 1813-1957 (40,319)
• UK, Royal Air Force Airmen Records, 1918-1940 Index (626,862)
• UK, British Jewry Roll of Honour, 1914-1918 (57,202)
• Scotland, Fife, Electoral Registers, 1914-197 (6,676,703)
• Scotland, Ireland and Wales, Militia Attestation Papers, 1800-1915 Index (185,298)
• Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989-2022 (897,449)
• England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2022 (3,739,524)
• England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2022 (6,947,083)
• Birmingham, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1922 (2,943,642)
• Birmingham, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1939 (1,740,297)
• Birmingham, Church of England Burials, 1813-1964 (536,245)

FamilySearch

• England, Agreements and Crew Lists, 1857 (75,693)
• England, London Electoral Registers, 1847-1913 Browse Images
• England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 (45,763,557)
• England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991 (14,518,428)
• England Marriages, 1538–1973 (11,805,479)
• England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988 (2,010,432)
• England, Surrey Marriages Bonds and Licenses, 1536-1992 (5,422)
• England, Surrey Parish Registers, 1536-1992 (1,834,524)

FindMyPast

• Scotland, Poor Law & Poor Lists Guardians' Minutes from Inverness (2,554 / 4,328)
• The Scotsman newspaper (400,000 pages dating 1951–2022 added)
• Scotland, Glasgow City Volunteers, Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 (1,019)
• Devon Baptisms (2,111 [year 1923] / 2.8m)
• Devon Marriage and Banns (2,609 [year 1923])
• Devon Burials (380 records from 1923)
• Derbyshire Baptisms (231,270 / 1,237,175)
• Derbyshire Marriages (114,294 / 776,313)
• Derbyshire Burials (108015 / 819,432)
• Leicestershire Baptisms (5,240 [year 1923])
• Leicestershire Marriages (1,546 [year 1938] /670,000)
• Leicestershire Banns (2,424 [year 1938] records)
• Leicestershire Burials (169 records [year 1998])
• Shoreditch Settlement Examinations 1758-1802 (10,782)
• Greater London Burial Index (236,204 /2,371,522)
• Herefordshire Baptisms (231,270/900,000)
• Herefordshire Marriages (86,782/584,267)
• Herefordshire Burials (300,517/337,974)

FreeBMD

• Civil birth, marriages and deaths - England and Wales (388,730,985)

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.

Ancestry adds Index to soldiers treated in Belfast hospital, 1914-16

Random sample search result from Ancestry

Ancestry has uploaded a newly created index and browse facility to another of the collections freely available via the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).

PRONI calls this collection the First World War Register of the Royal Victoria Hospital; it has been renamed the Belfast, Antrim, Ireland, Royal Victoria Hospital Register, 1914-1916 in the Ancestry database.

The collection contains medical registers for more than 700 soldiers who were treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital between the years 1914 and 1916. Most of the records are in English.

Soldiers from various regiments were treated during this time, so this is not a collection of interest only to family historians with Northern Ireland connections.

While local regiments included the Irish Guards and the Royal Irish Rifles, some of the patients were from the Royal Berkshire Regiment, the Royal Scots Fusiliers and the Welsh Guards. Soldiers from New Zealand, Canada and Australia were also treated.

Records may include some or all of the following information:

• Name
• Rank
• Hospital Admission Date
• Hospital Discharge Date
• Military Regiment
• Battalion Number
• Attaché Regiment
• Service Number
• Register Page Number

PRONI's First World War Register of the Royal Victoria Hospital collection can be searched and viewed on PRONI's website via a downloadable spreadsheet and a pdf, respectively. The repository also offers a useful article containing context and an overview of the collection.

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.

Rootsireland adds RC records for three County Kerry parishes

RootsIreland.ie has added more than 25,600 Roman Catholic baptismal and marriages records to its County Kerry database.

Here's the breakdown, with the number of records shown in parentheses:

• Killorglin Marriages: 1798-1851 & 1884-1911 (7,986)
• Ballyheigue Marriages: 1858-1900 (1,142)
• Dingle Baptisms: 1823-1899 (16,521)

For an up to date list of Kerry sources available in the database, click the logo above.

To search the records, go to kerry.rootsireland.ie and login or subscribe as required.

The Ulster Covenant now searchable, free, at Ancestry

Ancestry has created another of its free-to-access 'Web' indexes to a database held on the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). This follows a move by PRONI in its centenary year to extend awareness of its online collections to more family historians with ancestral connections to the historical Irish counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, LondonDerry and Tyrone.

Click image for enlarged view of a
sample signature page from the Ulster Covenant 1912

The first two PRONI databases to receive the 'Ancestry Web' treatment were the Northern Ireland Valuation Revision Books and the Northern Ireland Freeholders records. These were uploaded in June (see blogpost) and, as with all the 'Web' collections, you don't need to subscribe or even be registered to view them.

The week's upload draws attention to the Ulster Covenant of 1912, a campaign by Ulster Unionists aimed at preventing Home Rule in Ireland. Mobilised at relatively short notice (and thereby sparking panic in Westminster), the campaign attracted nearly half a million signatures, and it is these, along with the address or townland of each signatory, that feature in this collection.

Ancestry's Ulster Covenant home page doesn't provide much of an introduction to the significance of this document. For a good overview, see PRONI's informative article here.

Several newly digitised collections have joined TipperaryStudies.ie

My recent ill-health (ongoing but improving, thank you) has meant I have failed to record the many recent additions to the Tipperary Studies digital archive. I shall now correct this situation, and point you towards the material posted below, all uploaded within the last two months by the knowledgeable and hard-working Local Studies team.

Thurles Workhouse Deaths Register 1869-1900.
For enlarged view of a 1871 deaths page, click image.

Killenaule National School records 1871-1954: This collection holds eleven volumes and register books recording daily school attendances, absences, and punishments, plus full registration information including student's date of entry, register number, full name, date of birth, religious affiliation, place of residence, parent's occupation, and last class and school attended. In addition there is an 'observation' book for school inspectors to offer up their opinions on classes, teachers and pupils, and a book of religious instruction certificates, which I'd not come across previously.

Thurles Workhouse Death Registers, 1869–1900: Two registers covering the time span have been digitised to a high quality and are presented in two pdf files which are free to download. The registers record the names and ages of the deceased, the cause and date of death of each individual, plus the length of each coffin and the number of yards of linen required for their shroud.

Thurles Town Football Club match programmes: This collection has just been extended with the addition of another dozen match-day programmes from Thurles Town FC from their time in the League of Ireland. Some programmes consist of only a few pages, containing names of the home team and those of their opponents, plus a few adverts from local sponsors. Other programmes run to 36/42 pages, filled with all kinds of local and general football chat, history, jokes, statistics and even a Meet the Player slot.

Local Government records: Recent additions are the Cashel Town commissioners registry of persons entitled to vote in elections, 1843-49 (these includes names and occupations); an account of expenditure at Lord Caher's election for the county in 1818; receipts and vouchers from Mr Massy relating to the Tipperary Election of July 1852; and Templemore Urban District Council Rate books for 1901-1910. This collection, which contains the names of occupiers/tenants, owners, street names, rates and land valuation, may be particularly useful to researchers in view of the loss of UDC material in the Town Hall fire of 1920.

Stanwix Trust Minute Books for the Widows' Homes in Thurles, 1890–1930: This material is a genealogical gem for those researching the stories of the widows, the members of the Board of Trustees, and the tenants who lived on the Stanwix Estate. The trust was set up by Emma Stanwix to build and run a hospital and alms-houses for poor old widows from the revenue of the Stanwix estate in Moycarkey, Co. Tipperary. Some 19 houses were built in 1889 in red brick Arts & Crafts style. The minute book, which refers to the widows admitted to the Stanwix Almshouses as “inmates”, helps paint a picture of life in this institution. The trustees took turns selecting widows as candidates for residency in the almshouses, with all nominations meticulously documented in the minute book. It lists the name of each nominated widow, along with her age and address, and on rare occasions, her deceased husband’s name and profession.

It's National Heritage Week across Ireland: 1,800+ events on offer

With National Heritage Week already underway (it runs to Sunday 19th August), there's absolutely no excuse for not finding something interesting to do, learn and enjoy, either on your own or with a group, indoors or out. More than 1,840 events on the theme of Living Heritage are on offer, every one free.

Living Heritage is defined as the practices, knowledge and skills that have been passed from one generation to the next, and are still part and parcel of Irish life and society.

Given the number of events across the island, there's plenty to choose from no matter your particular areas of curiosity.

You'll find guided walks learning about foraging, local history, bats and whales; guided tours of heritage buildings; lectures, exhibitions and one-to-one family history consultations; launches of books, exhibitions, archive collections and websites; and all manner of cultural traditions and history being presentated, demonstrated and brought to life.

The National Heritage Week website holds details of all events (click logo above). They can be searched by keyword and county to help you narrow down your favourites. If you can't attend in person, there are a number of Digital Projects' to explore, all within the theme but presented online.

Last month's updates to Ireland Genealogy Project Archives

A little late (mea culpa), here's the list of materials added to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives in July. It was a nicely varied package, and the Pub Ledger from Larkins Cross is a charming oddity. I'm sure there must be a few researchers out there wanting to make some sense of it and marry the names to the tipples! The entries start in December 1897, so maybe the individuals can be identified in the 1901 census...?

CLARE Genealogy Archives - Miscellaneous
Larkins Pub Ledger, Larkins Cross

CORK Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Holy Rosary Cemetery (RC) Part 13

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Kilbarrack Graveyard, Sutton - 6a

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Kilfergus Graveyard, Glin, Part 4

TYRONE Genealogy Archives - Church
Barons Court CoI Marriages 1858-1921

Ancestry adds indexes to two online Irish burial record collections

Ancestry has added new indexes to two Irish burial register collections. Together, some 236,000 records have been indexed. These are not brand-new records making their debut online. They are indexes, created by Ancestry, to burial registers already online at two well-established, free to access, standalone websites: DiscoverEverAfter.com and EnfieldGraveyards.com.

While the indexes won't be free on Ancestry, their presence in such a major database will probably drive more researchers to the source material and enable more family historians to locate their deceased ancestors and extended family.

Ancestry has named the bigger of the two collections the Ireland Cemetery Collection 1865–2023. The index holds 225,711 entries to the burial registers held on DiscoverEverAfter.com after that team had carried out PlotBox surveys in a number of graveyards. The index does not include ALL the burial grounds included on the source website. Among those included in the Ancestry Index are Deansgrange and Shanganagh, both in Dublin, St Peter's RC cemetery in Drogheda, Co Louth, and several burial grounds in County Carlow. The records relate to burials between the years 1865 and 2023

The smaller collection – the Meath and Kildare, Ireland, Graveyard Collection, 1554-2014 – is an index of records transcribed from burial registers held on the Enfield & District Graveyards website at EnfieldGraveyards.com. There are 11,961 entries in the index from registers from Counties Meath and Kildare.

Third upload from RootsIreland this month is from Co Clare

Here's the third county database upload to RootsIreland this month! This time, it's the County Clare database that's in the limelight, with a mixed bag of some 6,500 records, as follows:

Click image for menu of sources for County Clare

• Bridgetown civil births: 1881–1941 (2500 records)
• New Quay RC baptisms, 1846–1900 (2102 records)
• Bodyke RC marriages, 1832–1900 (858 records)
• Carriagholt RC marriage, 1832–1900 (1075 records)

To search these records, go to https://rootsireland.ie/clare/ and login or subscribe as required.

FindMyPast adds 15,600 CoI parish register records for Fermanagh.

FindMyPast adds more than 15,000 Co Fermanagh parish records: More than 15,629 records from the registers of Magheraculmoney have been added to the Fermanagh Parish Registers collection.

They include 7,731 baptism records from St Mary's Church of Ireland church, 2,864 marriage records dating from 1767 to 1918 from the same church; and just over 1,000 burials from the same dates but over a wider area of the county. Some of the latter provide information about cause of death or occupations.

Additionally, the collection has been joined by a new set of 3,948 congregational records for Magheraculmoney parish. They cover the years 1763 to 1887, providing a worthwhile glimpse into the world of our Anglican ancestors during this era.

Save the date! Accredited Genealogists Ireland to hold Open Day

If you're seeking credentials in Ireland as a professional genealogist be sure to get this event in your diary. Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI) will be hosting an Open Day and Workshopin Wynn’s Hotel, 35-39 Abbey Street Lower, North City, Dublin 1 on Saturday 7 October.

Whether you're already practising as a professional genealogist or just thinking about a future career in genealogical research, this event will be of interest to you. It will provide information on credentials for professional genealogists, on the AGI Affiliate programme and on the process of seeking accreditation as a Member of AGI.

AGI is the accrediting and representative body for professional genealogists in Ireland and was founded in 1986. Admission to membership is based on the recommendations of an independent Board of Assessors.

The credential for membership of AGI is open to professional genealogists based anywhere on the island of Ireland who primarily research in Irish sources and who are not engaged in full-time work outside of genealogy.

At the Open Day, all attendees will receive an AGI Welcome Pack on arrival. The Itinerary will include talks by AGI members in the morning, with particular emphasis on the importance of report writing in professional genealogy. Following a light unch, the Workshop will take place in the afternoon followed by a Fun Table Quiz with prizes.

The cost to attend the day-long event, which will start at 10am and end at 5:30pm, is €35 per head and includes tea and coffee and lunch. Payment must be made at time of registration. Please note that places are limited so please book as soon as possible at https://shorturl.at/ceoL6.

If you have queries, please email them to openday @ accreditedgenealogists.ie.

Donegal Co Archive's digitisation of RDC records nears completion

As part of its Decade of Centenaries programme and funding, Donegal County Archives has for some time been busy on a project to digitise its collection of Rural District Council (RDC) Minute Books.

The RDCs were established in 1898 and functioned from the following year, taking over a number of functions from the Boards of Guardians, including roads, housing and sanitary services. They were abolished in 1925.

Most of the collection has now been digitised and can be freely downloaded here. The remaining material, which includes the 1899 to 1915 Books for the RDCs of Ballyshannon, Donegal, Milford and Strabane, should be available in the Digital Archive by the end of this year.

RootsIreland adds church records from two South Mayo parishes

RootsIreland.ie has added another batch of transcriptions from the registers of two parishes in South Mayo. They are:

• Baptisms Ballyovey CoI, 1829-1918 (101 records)
• Baptisms Kilvine RC, 1908-1923 (720 records)
• Marriages Ballyovey CoI, 1854-1954 (32 records)
• Deaths Ballyovey CoI, 1880-1966 (65 records)

Click the link above to login or subscribe to the site.

The Mayo database holds more than 1.5million records. To view an up-to-date list of their sources, click the logo.

RootsIreland expands its CoI collection from County Armagh

RootsIreland has added some 9,700 Church of Ireland records from County Armagh to its database.

They are:

• Seagoe CoI baptism, marriage, and deaths, 1672-1821 (9050 records, see breakdown, right);
• Seagoe CoI Hearth Rolls, 1662 (149 records);
• Seagoe CoI Landholders, 1709 (128 records);
• Montiaghs CoI baptism records Register 4, 1851-1867 (385 records).

For an up-to-date list of sources for Armagh and to search these new records, click the image.

Eight short and sweet items of Irish genealogy news

General Register Office of Ireland: The Research Room in Werburgh Street, Dublin will not be operating for the next five weeks. It will re-open on Tuesday 5 September. The email service for copies of bmd certificates will function as normal from its base in Roscommon. Details.

The Genealogist database has added a sizeable bundle of WW1 editions of The Jewish Chronicle and, from the years during the build up to WW2, The Jewish Echo. The latter was the only Jewish paper circulating in Ireland and Scotland during this period. Details.

General Register Office of England and Wales: A new service makes digital images of birth registrations (1837 to 100 years ago) and death registrations (1837-1887) available online. Each digital image of an entry costs £2.50. As previously, pdf copies of registrations and copies of original birth certificates are also available; they cost £7 and £11 respectively. More.

Were any of your ancestors German Palatines who settled in Ireland? Ancestry has added the Palatine German Immigration to Ireland and USA, Hank Z Jones collection, 1654-1878. The Palatine were German refugees who fled religious persecution to England and then moved on to the USA. Nearly 3,000 decided to settle in Ireland (mainly in counties Cork, Limerick and Wicklow). Index holds 76,437 entries.

PRONI's Transcribathon events are fully booked: As PRONI is marking its 100th birthday, the repository compiled a list of 100 documents from its holdings for this year's CollabArchive programme and organised three morning events for volunteers to take part in a mass transcription project. The materials include diaries, registers and lists, minute books, court files, letters and much more. The first Transcribathon was held last week, and all spaces have been booked for the August and September events.

Summer Sale announced by FTDNA. FamilyTreeDNA is offering discounts across its range of Autosomal (FamilyFinder)DNA, Mitochondrial DNA and YDNA test kits, with savings of up to US$30, US$30 and US$50 respectably. If you purchase a 'bundle' – two or more types of product – the savings may be even bigger. Details.

Accredited Genealogists Ireland Open Day and Workshop: AGI will be hosting an Open Day and Workshop in Dublin on Saturday 7 October. It's aimed at those who are already practising as a professional genealogist or thinking about a future career as such. It will provide information on credentials for professional genies, on the AGI Affiliate programme, and on the process of seeking accreditation as a Member of AGI. Spaces are limited and likely to be book up early. Details.

It's busy, busy, busy at Dublin-based IrishNewsArchive: Thefamily owned firm has advised that it will soon be starting digitisation of two papers published in Belfast: The Irish News from 1891-to-current, and Andersonstown News 1972-to-current. Before then, no less than nine new titles will be joining the INA database during August. Details will be published on IrishGenealogyNews in the next few days.