Saturday, 29 June 2024

MyHeritage opens free access to 135m Canadian historical records

         Click image to search the Canada collection

To mark Canada Day, MyHeritage has opened up its Canadian historical records – all 135m of them – with free access until Tuesday 2 July.

This is a great opportunity for any genealogist whose Irish ancestors emigrated to Canada to explore their lives through all the country's censuses; identify births, marriages and deaths in a number of regional record-sets; find out if they served in the military; check out directories, obituaries, newspaper reports, local histories and more.

You'll need to have a registered account. If you don't already have one, this is quick and easy to set up and doesn't require you to provide financial details.


Wednesday, 26 June 2024

Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland: 1922 Fire - Anniversary gifts for genies: Part I

Over the last week and continuing this week, the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland (VRTI) team has been making daily releases of newly digitised material and resources available on its website. This feverish activity is to marks the 102nd anniversary (on 30 June) of the 1922 fire which destroyed the Public Record Office of Ireland, then housed at the Four Courts in Dublin. Much of the island's genealogical and other documentary heritage went up in flames that afternoon.

The VRTI or VirtualTreasury.ie is a digital representation of a lost archive. The team, and its partners around the world, are using digital technologies to reconstruct materials and release historical memories previously thought lost.

Below you'll find brief details of some of the newly added records and resources released so far during this exciting anniversary event. It is not comprehensive. I have included only those gifts that I think genealogists will want to dive into.

The releases will continue to roll out until next week, I think, so I'll do a Part II to this blogpost when all is online. In the meantime, I'll urge all you Irish family historians to keep an eye out on social media (#VirtualTreasury102).

Although I don't know the details, I can tell you there is definitely one release yet to come that has 'Census of Ireland' all over it.

Dublin Gazette: This publication was the official newspaper of Dublin Castle. It was published between 1705-1922 and while no complete run of all published issues survives, the VRTI is working to reassemble this unique source by combining the holdings of the team's archival partners. The curated collection now online highlights the mid-eighteenth century, reflecting not only elite politics but also daily life, from street-crime to food prices and shipping news. Find out more.

1798 Rebellion Papers: This curated collection comprises a searchable database to the Rebellion Papers, a key collection held by the National Archives of Ireland. The Rebellion Papers are a unique collection of letters, mostly relating to the years surrounding the 1798 Rebellion, and consists of letters sent to the Chief Secretary’s Office in Dublin Castle, written by a range of correspondents: from postmasters and magistrates, to military generals and police constables. The papers mostly date from 1790 to 1808. The curated collection gives a comprehensive overview of this complex set of documents, and provides item-level descriptions of their contents. Find out more.

Map Room: The 1922 Fire is not the only anniversary in town! The Ordnance Survey of Ireland (OSI) marked it 200th birthday yesterday. The VRTI's new curated collection – Map Room – has an outstanding collection of more than 6,000 beautiful historical maps and charts representing all parts of the island. It is divided into three elements: Pre the Down Survey of the 1650s; between the Down Survey and the first Ordnance Survey of the 1840s; from the 1840s to 1922. Visit the curated collection here and the newly launched full collection, including Letters, Memoir Drawings, Memoirs and Name Books, at DRI.ie.

Exploring the Age of Revolution, 1760-1830: A spanking-new image gallery resource highlighting some of the amazing material held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. The documents include reports covering a variety of types of unrest. These range from food riots and social protest, to revolutionary conspiracy and political agitation. Find out more.

Genealogy Resources on VTRI: This new and expanded Genealogy page provides guidance aimed specifically at family historians and is designed to help you when researching some of the name-rich records in the Virtual Treasury. Check it out here.

See blogpost Part II.

Tuesday, 25 June 2024

British Newspaper Archive's holding hits 80-million-pages milestone

The BritishNewspaperArchive has clocked up more than 80 million pages of historical newspapers in its database.

Within this impressive collection, the bulk of which holds local, regional and national newspapers published in England, Scotland and Wales, plus many titles from former British Empire colonies, is a fabulous holding of papers published on the island of Ireland. And there's gold inside it for researchers exploring their family history!

As of today, there are 328 titles in this holding, 254 titles published in towns and cities that are now in the Republic of Ireland, and 74 from across what is now Northern Ireland.

Sourced from The British Library, the BNA collection is available on subscription. Click the link above to find out more.

It is also available as part of some FindMyPast Pro/Ultimate and Premium subscriptions. (You might like to know there's a 30% saving on offer for researchers taking out a new 12-month Premium sub before 11:59pm (London/Dublin time) on Thursday 27 June - click one of the links below to find out more.)

General Register Office Ireland closes walk-in service for 6 weeks

The General Register Office of Ireland has announced that its Research Rooms in Dublin's Werburgh Street will be closed for six weeks, with immediate effect.

The closure is to facilitate urgent repair works.

Usual service (walk-in service operates only on Tuesdays) will be resumed on Tuesday 13 August. In the meantime, GRO staff will continue to offer a full Monday to Friday email service, allowing researchers to request searches of Ireland's civil registration records and/or photocopies of birth, marriage and death register entries.

Full details are on the Irish Government website.

Tuesday, 18 June 2024

Newspapers.com's Stories & Events Indexes cross the pond

Ancestry recently repurposed some material held in its sister database Newspapers.com into a number of geographically arranged collections tagged as Stories and Events Indexes. One is called Ireland and Northern Ireland, Newspapers.com Stories and Events Index, 1880s to current.

Each index holds brief details of published news items, features and advertisements loosely sorted into groups that include crime, arts and culture, military, politics, sport, accident/emergency, health and disaster. A full list is provided under the 'General collection information' heading on the search page. It is possible to search by topic or by individual but I had mixed success with narrowing down the index. I tested it with the place as Dublin, the topic as Accident, and used the keyword 'quarry'. I received 880 search results; all had the surname Quarry. Who knew Quarry was even/ever a surname?

On the other hand, a search for Ted Coakley, Waterford, Crime returned a Ted and an Edward who fitted the bill, but also several others that didn't.

The indexes have been created using artificial intelligence. The spelling of surnames and places is pretty dire.

In addition to the collection covering the island of Ireland (it holds 24,406,691 records), similar collections have been created for England, Scotland and Wales. I'm including these links for those with shared heritage.


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.

Monday, 17 June 2024

30% savings on 3- and 12-month Premium subs to FindMyPast

FindMyPast is offering a 30% discount offer on new quarterly and annual Premium subscriptions.

Premium is the sub that gives you access to all areas of the database, including the Irish and British historical newspaper collections, which will hit the 80-million-page milestone this week, the 1921 Census of England and Wales (it's not available anywhere else online), and everything held in the huge FindMyPast database.

The discount will expire at 11:59pm (Dublin/London time) on Sunday 23 June.

Select your preferred FindMyPast 'territory' below. The links will take you to the 12-month subscription offer. Just click the '3 months' button on that page to switch offer.

FindMyPast.ie
Annual Premium: 30% off – Access everything for 12 months – €165.19
Quarterly Premium: 30% off – Access everything for 3 months – €48.99


FindMyPast.co.uk
Annual Premium – 30% off – Access everything for 12 months – £139.99
Quarterly Premium – 30% off – Access everything for 3 months – £41.99


FindMyPast.com
Annual Premium – 30% off – Access everything for 12 months – $209.99
Quarterly Premium – 30% off – Access everything for 3 months – $62.99


FindMyPast.com.au
Annual Premium – 30% off – Access everything for 12 months – $258.99
Quarterly Premium – 30% off – Access everything for 3 months – $76.99


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

 

Thursday, 13 June 2024

Irish Railway Employment Records make online debut on Ancestry

If you have ancestors who worked for the Irish railways (or even a tram or bus company), your genealogy research may be about to get a little easier thanks to a partnership between the Irish Railway Records Society (IRRS) and Ancestry.

Some 306,000 personnel records, previously held in the IRRS HQ just behind Dublin's Heuston Station, have been digitised and indexed, making a search of the once un-catalogued archive of registers a breeze.

The collection is called the Ireland Railway Employment Records, 1870-1940.

The records have been indexed in several fields. You can search by your ancestor's names, the stations or depots where he or she worked or was based, or by occupation (stationmaster, telephonist, clerk, driver, porter, bus driver etc) or by employment start and end dates, or a mixture of these. Note that the records are not exclusively from the railway companies; a small proportion include personnel working on the tramways and bus network.

Not all of the original registers survive or are held in the IRRS archive. The transport companies who feature in the collection are:

  • Cavan, Leitrim and Roscommon Light Railway
  • Corus Iompair Eireann
  • Cork, Blackrock & Passage Railway
  • County Donegal Railways Joint Committee
  • Dublin & South Eastern Railway
  • Dublin United Tramways Companies
  • Great Northern Railway (Ireland)
  • Great Southern & Western Railways
  • Great Southern Great Southern Railways & Cora Iompair Eireann
  • Irish Omnibus Company
  • Midland Great Western Railway
  • Midland Great Western Railway and Cavan and Leitrim Railway
  • Waterford & Limerick Railway

Be sure to read through the description of this collection before you start searching.

As of now, this collection has not appeared in Ancestry's catalogue. During the afternoon, I've been merrily playing with the records, downloading images and checking up on my maternal grandad's colleagues when he was working as a Relief Officer in the 1930s. I've noticed a few search result links have returned 404 messages, so it may be that some of the records are still bedding down or something....  I dare say it'll quickly settle down.

In addition to this now digitised resource, the IRRS holds manuscripts, photographs, films, drawings, maps and memorabilia of Irish railways and the public are welcome to contact the society to learn more.


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.

Wednesday, 12 June 2024

Did you hear the groan? Data Protection concerns strike again

The 1899 and 1908-1915 Dublin Voters Lists remain
available to view. Only the lists from 1938-1964
have been removed.

Two weeks ago, on the fine morning of Tuesday 28 May, the Irish genealogy world woke to learn that five incredibly useful Dublin databases – all previously accessible Dublin City Council's website until unceremoniously taken offline in March – had found a new online home thanks to genealogist John Grenham. (Read my blogpost here.) Oooo. There was much happiness and skipping.

It didn't last. By the end of the day, one of those databases had again been taken offline. It holds the Dublin Voters’ Lists 1938–1957.

Seriously? Names of individuals with their residences back 90-odd years ago? These people had to be 21 to have half a chance of being recorded as a voter, so most of them would have appeared in at least one Irish census.

If there is such concern about database protection, so be it, but surely a partial removal – of those individuals born less than 100 years ago – would suffice.

Latest new and updated record collections for UK genealogy

Please find below a three-week summary of newly-released and updated family history collections for England, Scotland and Wales from the major genealogy databases. (Previous list 24 May blogpost.)

These regular listings are designed to help researchers whose Irish ancestors migrated, temporarily or permanently, to England, Scotland or Wales.

By default, they will also be useful to anyone carrying out research in those three nations, regardless of the origin of their ancestors.

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


NEW COLLECTIONS

Figures in parentheses are the numbers of records (or images, if browse-only) in each new collection.

Ancestry

BritishNewspaperArchive (BNA) and FindMyPast (FMP)
  • Hunts County News | Pudsey & Stanningley News | Ellon Times & East Gordon Advertiser |Spilsby Standard

FindMyPast

UPDATED COLLECTIONS


Ancestry

FindMyPast

FreeBMD

TheGenealogist

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, 7 June 2024

Bumper edition of Irish Genealogy Matters newsletter published

A new edition of the Irish Genealogy Matters newsletter has been published.

Produced by the Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF), the organisation behind RootsIreland.ie and an island-wide network of 34 genealogy/heritage centres, the publication provides an overview of recent uploads to the RootsIreland database and brings us news of activities from the centres.

Among the latter is news of a Symposium to be held at the Mellon Centre on 20-21 June which will explore how Irish migrants accomplished their journeys across the Atlantic Ocean; a helpful guide to the family history value found in national school records; an article about the Irish origins of Maggie Hinchey 'The Thrush of Suffrage', and a listing of OffalyHistory events (in person and online) until the end of the year.

There's plenty more... It's a bumper 11-page edition. Be sure to check it out.

The newsletter can be downloaded from the RootsIreland blog. Click the image above.

Thursday, 6 June 2024

Free access to all* records on FindMyPast this weekend

Marking D-Day's 80th Anniversary, FindMyPast has opened up nearly all* of its database to free access from now until 10am (GMT) on Monday 10 June.

The free access includes billions of historical records, huge numbers of more recent Electoral Registers, plus the entire British Newspaper Archive. The latter holds just under 80million pages of digitised newsprint including a collection of 266 titles from the island of Ireland.

*The only exclusions are the 1921 Census of England & Wales collection and FMP's Tree Search.

Click your preferred 'territory' below

Other than those two no-go areas, you can fill your boots! And you can use your choice of FindMyPast's geographical sites – just click your preference below.

Although you will need to log-in (or register, if you have not done so previously) you will NOT be required to provide payment information. If you don't have a FindMyPast account, all you'll be asked for is your email address, your choice of password and your name. That's it. It's a speedy process, and then you can get stuck into the database straightaway.

If you've not previously had a subscription or haven't had one for some time, this weekend provides you with a great opportunity to find out what FindMyPast can offer your family history research. Don't miss it!

Select your preferred FindMyPast territory:

FindMyPast.ie

FindMyPast.com


FindMyPast.co.uk
FindMyPast.com.au

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

 

June dates for your Irish genealogy research diary

Some dates to note if planning any Irish family history research visits in Dublin this month.

National Archives of Ireland
The NAI's Reading Room in Bishop Street will be closed to the public on Wednesday 12 June for staff training. It's a full day closure, reopening on the Thursday morning at 10am.

Lunchtime tours of the 'Society & State – Ireland Through its Records' exhibiton (Coach House Gallery, Dublin Castle) will be held on Wednesdays 12, 19 and 26 June from 1.15pm to 1:45pm. They are free but you need to book.

National Library of Ireland
The NLI's Main, Microfilm and Manuscript Reading Rooms, and the NLI Ticket Office will be open on two Saturdays: 8 and 22 June from 9:30am to 1pm. These are in addition to their regular Monday to Friday openings.

Dr Audrey Whitty, the Director of the NLI, will give a Tour of the Library's Victorian building at 7/8 Kildare Street, Dublin on Thursday 6 June (6pm to 7pm). It is free, but you need to book.

Wednesday, 5 June 2024

Another bundle of RC records from Co. Kerrry joins RootsIreland

RootsIreland.ie has added 6,225 baptismal and marriage records for Sneem parish in County Kerry.  They breakdown as follows:

  • Baptisms  – 5,497 records (1813—1899);
  • Marriages –    729 records (1858—1900).

The records link to images of the relevant registers held on the National Library of Ireland's website. Note that these records run later than the images on that site, which stop at 1880/1.

For an up to date list of sources for Kerry and to search these records, go to kerry.rootsireland.ie and login or subscribe as required.

Tuesday, 4 June 2024

Father's Day 2024: Save 30% on Ancestry DNA kits (UK & IE only)

Father's Day is approaching (it's on Sunday 16 June) so if you're looking for a rather less obvious gift than socks, booze, or a laugh-a-minute book, why not consider an Ancestry DNA test kit to encourage his natural curiosity about his (and your) heritage?

This year, Ancestry is offering a 30% saving on the regular test kit price to researchers in the UK and in Ireland. 

Find out more by choosing from the options below. 

Be sure to place your order before 11:59pm on Father's Day itself. After that time, the discount disappears.


Ireland: AncestryDNA test kit €64, reduced from €95. Shipping extra.
UK: AncestryDNA test kit £54, 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.

Summer edition of Irish Roots Magazine published

The summer edition of Irish Roots – Ireland's only independent magazine designed to help family historians research and explore their Irish heritage – is now available to purchase.

Published in County Wicklow, each quarterly issue of Irish Roots delivers a wide range of advice, guidance and tips from experienced genealogists, historians, dna experts and columnists, as well as news of recently released record collections, activities by genealogical societies, letters to the editor, selections of new books, events and dates for your diary, readers' experiences and a Q&A.

Among the articles in this edition are:
  • Local resources for tracing County Waterford ancestors
  • Shared genes; the role of siblings in genetic genealogy research
  • Irish naming conventions strategies using Catholic Church records
  • Accessing Irish ancestral records at the National Archives, Kew, UK
  • Discover the history and origins of many surnames from Waterford
  • Helpful ancestral research tips from the IGRS
  • Australian Irish Connections; establishing settlement
  • A review of the latest Irish genealogical record releases
  • And another thing - genealogical observations and commentary by Steven Smyrl

Digital format:
Individual editions: €6 | US$6.48 | £5.09 | CAN$8.86 | NZ$10.58 | AUD$9.77
1-year subscription (4 editions): €19.99 | US$21.63 | £17 | CAN$29.59 | NZ$21.63 | AUD$32.59

Paper format including p&p:
Individual editions: €12 | US$14 | £12
1-year subscription (4 editions) €35 | US$49 | £35 |CAN$54 | AUD$54.

NOTE: Currency figures quoted relate to today's exchange rates.

Monday, 3 June 2024

May 2024 updates to ireland Genealogy Projects Archives

During May, volunteers donated records sourced from eight burial grounds across the island, each from a different county. While one of these files includes only basic genealogical information transcribed from the gravestones, the other files have photos of the headstones plus full transcriptions of the inscriptions.

As always, these donations are provided free of charge by researchers for the benefit of other researchers. If you'd like to help this huge online archive continue to grow, please consider donating records or photos or other material useful to Irish family historians. See these two pages of the IGP website: headstones project and submission forms.

   Headstone in Kilbride graveyard, Co Offaly
   Gloria In Excelsis Deo | Erected by MARGARET BRACKEN |
in memory of her Husband |IOHN BRACKEN
    Who Deptd This | Life 10th April 1854 aged 66 years.
   Photo courtesy of the photographer Bernard M Doheny
   and IGPArchives.
  

CARLOW Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Lismaconly Cemetery Part 1, Myshall

CAVAN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St Mary's RC Graveyard Part 3, Crosserlough (Updated)

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Cemeteries
St Patrick's CoI, Castle Archdale

KERRY Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Murhur Burial Ground Part 1, Newtown Sandes

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St Michaels Graveyard (CoI), Limerick City

MAYO Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Castlebar Old Cemetery (Partial)

OFFALY (KINGS), Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Kilbride aka Killiskea Graveyard

WEXFORD Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Rathspick Graveyard, Murntown (Update)