Three early C19th Irish newspapers join BNA

The British Newspaper Archive has added three more Irish titles to its online database, and they're all pre-Famine. They are:

– Dublin Observer: 1832 January to May editions only
– Dublin Weekly Herald: November 1838 to May 1842
– Galway Patriot: January 1836 to October 1839

These titles have simultaneously been added to the FindMyPast Irish newspaper collection, available via the Ireland and World packages.

Tracing your Irish & Scots-Irish ancestors: 6–12 Sept

Click for full details and price

Tracing your Irish and Scots-Irish Ancestors is a brand-new family history conference programme from the Ulster Historical Foundation to be held 6–12 September.

The combination of assisted research in the archives, talks by experts and escorted tours is designed to create a memorable and intellectually stimulating experience.

The programme is intended to suit both those who wish to carry out ancestral research in the archives and those who would prefer to spend more time visiting the land of their ancestors.

Locations included in the conference

Both the novice and experienced researcher will find it useful, and especially those who have not previously visited Northern Ireland or the archives.

Assisted research sessions will be held at the National Archives of Ireland, the National Library of Ireland and the Registry of Deeds (all in Dublin) as well as at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast, where the conference is based, and the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies.

The excursion list is varied and includes Newgrange, the Giant's Causeway, Titanic Belfast, stately homes, the wonderful walled city of Derry and the Grainan of Aileach stone ring fort, once the seat of the O’Neills in County Donegal.

For full details of the daily programme, as well as costs, see the website.

First update of the New Year from IGP Archives

The volunteer team from Ireland Genealogy Projects have quickly got back to the important work of gathering records and making them freely available to other Irish family historians. Here are the records added to the online archive in the first two weeks of the year.

Donnelly headstone in Cappagh graveyard,
Co Limerick. Click for larger image.
Photo courtesy of Janice Hunt.

CAVAN Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Croghan, Presbyterian Church Cemetery
St Augustine's, Swanlinbar, Church of Ireland graveyard

CLARE Genealogy Archives – Memorial Cards
Additional memorial cards

CORK Genealogy Archives – Memorial Cards
Additional memorial cards

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Deansgrange Cem. St. Patrick's Section, pt 20
Deansgrange Cem. St. Brigids Section, pt 10

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives – Memorial Cards
Additional memorial cards

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Cappagh Graveyard (near Askeaton)

ROSCOMMON Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Kilteevan Cemetery Additions (McCANNS)

WEXFORD Genealogy Archives – Memorial Cards
Additional memorial cards

PRONI & WFA to host Ireland and Gallipoli conference

Here's one for the diary. The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the Antrim and Down Western Front Association branch are to host a day-conference on Ireland and Gallipoli on 30 April.

The Gallipoli Campaign, which is known to the Turks as the Battle of Çanakkale, still remains controversial. France, allied with Britain and its dominions, planned to eliminate Turkey from the Great War by landing on the northern bank of the Dardanelles and marching on the Ottoman capital Constantinople to open the Dardanelles sea channel to Russia.

A brilliant strategic plan was marred by tactical failure and poor execution. The initial naval attack was repelled and the subsequent land campaign also failed at a cost of 250,000 allied casualties. After eight months of fighting, the invasion frorce had to be evacuated in January 1916.

The conference will examine this campaign 100 years on with a special focus on the experience and role of Ireland and Irish people.

Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast.
When: 10am to 4pm on Thursday 30 April.
Cost: Admission is free.
Booking: Essential, by email to proni@dcalni.gov.uk or telephone 028 9053 4800.

'Lost' medieval town of Dunluce reveals its real age

Perched atop a rocky cliff on the Antrim Coast, Dunluce Castle
was the 15th-century fortress of the MacQuillans until they were
displaced by the MacDonalds in the mid-1500s.

A recent archaeological dig in the fields around Dunluce Castle has revealed that the area had been settled much earlier than expected. A previous excavation, carried out by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency between 2009 and 2012, uncovered the so-called 'lost' town of Dunluce and dated it to 1608, but these later discoveries move the settlement clock back to the late 15th to 16th century.

Environment Minister Mark Durkan described the recent find as "a tremendously exciting historical development".

"Traces of buildings were unearthed close to the cliffs upon which the castle was built," he said. "These buildings most likely formed a small settlement, just outside the original castle gate. They pre-date the later expansion of the castle complex and development of 17th-century Dunluce Town. We are extremely lucky to make this exciting discovery.

"Very few 15th century buildings, other than those built entirely from stone, have survived in Ulster and normally there would be few traces, if any, for archaeologists to investigate.”

A further important discovery was made in a field to the east of the castle. This area was targeted for excavation as it was expected that remains of the 17th century town survived there. The archaeologists found the remains of a stone-built structure that had a doorway at the corner, which is quite different to the 17th-century buildings revealed to date. A fireplace in the building has been scientifically dated to the late 15th century. This leads archaeologists to suspect an earlier phase of settlement.

The radiocarbon date, obtained from a fireplace on the clay floor of the structure, suggests a construction date in the late 15th century, around the time the MacQuillans were building the castle. Pottery that dates from the late medieval period was also recovered from the structure. This has significant implications for current understanding of the settlement history at Dunluce and provides new avenues for research to explore as part of future investigations at Dunluce.

The upstanding remains of Dunluce Castle are believed to have been originally built and occupied by the Irish MacQuillan family in the last decades of the 15th century. From this strong fortress they controlled a territory on the north Antrim coast known as The Route which stretched along the coast between the rivers Bann and Bush. Their Scottish neighbours in the Glens of Antrim, the MacDonnells, gradually displaced them from the Route and took over Dunluce Castle in the 1550s.

During the era of the Ulster Plantation at the beginning of the 17th century the MacDonnells embarked on their own ambitious plantation enterprise, founding the small town of Dunluce in the process. Randal MacDonnell went on to become the first earl of Antrim in 1620. The town flourished until January 1642 when it was burnt, following the outbreak of conflict in 1641. The town never successfully recovered and was effectively abandoned by the 1680s.

Plans are currently in preparation for a major project to reveal the buried remains of the town and the castle gardens to the public with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Good News Week for the Irish Newspaper Archive

It's good news all round from the Irish Newspaper Archive!

First up, the Leinster Express and Wicklow Newsletter have joined the line up of titles available. The Leinster Express editions now searchable date from 1950 to 2007, while the Wicklow Newsletter can be searched from 1900 to 1926.

As I write, the site is still displaying its Christmas promotion, but Irish Newspaper Archive have confirmed to me this morning that these 50% festive reductions will now become permanent. This means the annual fee is €178 and the monthly fee is €30. No doubt the site will be updated in due course to reflect the permanent change in costs.

The day rate of €10 remains unchanged.

And finally, here's a rather good-looking list of the newspaper scheduled for upload to the site this year (or early next):

• Carlow/Kildare/Laois Nationalist (Carlow/Kildare/Laois)
• Clare Champion (Clare)
• Donegal Democrat (Donegal)
• Munster Express 1860-1907 (Waterford)
• Northern Standard (Monaghan)
• Sligo Champion (Sligo)
• Strabane Chronicle (Tyrone)
• Waterford News & Star (Waterford)
• Western People (Mayo)
• Wexford Echo (Wexford)

RCBL updates list of Church of Ireland registers

Click for larger view of sample page

The Representative Church Body Library (RCBL) has updated its Table of Parochial Registers Throughout Ireland. This downloadable pdf document lists all historical Church of Ireland parish registers (and copies of them) – whether the originals survive or not – from both the Republic and Northern Ireland. It also provides details of where the surviving registers can be accessed either on microfilm, by hard copy or via local custodian arrangements.

This 98-page document is indispensable to researchers with Church of Ireland ancestors and was gifted to the public last July following collaboration between the RCBL and the National Archives of Ireland.

The amended and up-to-date Table is accessible via the Library's Archive of the Month archive.

Baptisms, headstones & school rolls from Clare Library

More useful family history additions to the Clare County Library website!

• Roman Catholic Baptism Records for Kilmaley Parish: Transcribed from an LDS microfilm of the register pages and donated by Beryl Meehan, these records date from September 1828 to March 1882. The record set is not complete ie it doesn't include every entry in the register. Nonetheless, the transcription includes about 650 records.
  
• Miltown Malbary National School Roll Books: The roll books for girl pupils dates from 1895 to 1925, while the book for boys dates from 1896 to 1925. Both are searchable by surname and date. The records were transcribed by Brian Doyle and Peter Beirne from the Library's Local Studies Centre.
• Lissycasey Graveyard: These 801 records, gathered and donated by Anne Hayes, includes inscriptions and locations of all the headstones in Lissycasey Graveyard as at 1 January 2015. They date from 1862 to 2014.

These records are free to access.

UPDATE, 25 Feb: All Kilmaley baptisms 1828–1845 transcribed.

Irish Genealogy Talks at the NLI, 23–27 Feb

The Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland (APGI) will be presenting a series of lectures at the National Library of Ireland in Dublin to mark Aontas Adult Learners’ Festival 23–27 February.

Five lunchtime lectures will be held, each starting at 1:05pm, as well as one evening lecture (time to be confirmed). Designed as introductions to Irish family history research, the topics of the lectures will include state and church records, census returns, land records, tracing 20th century military ancestors, and online genealogical records.

The Friday lunchtime lecture will be followed by an open forum session in which attendees can discuss their research with professional genealogists.

No booking is necessary and all are welcome.

Irish genealogy and history events: 12–25 January

Monday 12 January: Emigration from Ulster, with John Bradley. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. Venue: Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, LondonDerry. 7pm. Details: foyle@nifhs.org.

Monday 12 January: St Catherine's Priory at Aughrim, with Patrick Larkin. Host: Galway Archaeological and Historical Society. Venue: Harbour Hotel, Dock Road, Galway. 8pm.

Tuesday 13 January: Matchmaking and marriage customs in 19th-century Ireland, with Seán Ó Duill. Host: Genealogical Society of Ireland. Venue: Dún Laoghaire FE Institute, Cumberland Street, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 8pm. Admission: €3.

Tuesday 13 January: The Huguenots, with Elizabeth Bicker. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street, Lisburn. 7:30pm – 9:30pm. Details.

Tuesday 13 January: The Road to Blessington, with John Hussey. Host: Tallaght Historical Society. Venue: County Library, Tallaght, Co Dublin. 7pm.

Wednesday 14 January: The Irish Language and the Foundation of the Northern Ireland State, by Liam Andrews. Host and Venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Belfast, BT3 9HQ (Lecture Theatre). Free. 1pm. Need to reserve your place; email or telephone 028 90 534800.

Wednesday 14 January:  Joining up for what? Irish recruitment in WW1, with Professor Keith Jeffery. Host and Venue: Newry & Mourne Museum, Bagenal's Castle , Castle Street, 1A Bank Parade, Newry BT34 2BY. 7:30pm. Light refreshments served. Free but need to book by phone to 028 3031 3173 or email.

Friday 15 January: Bearing all kinds of witness to war: finding violence in revolutionary Ireland, with Dr Anne Dolan. Host: Department of History, TCD. Venue: Neill Hoey Seminar Room, Trinity Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute, Trinity College Dublin. 4pm–4:45pm. Free and open to all.

Friday 16 January: Irish policing, 1814–2014, a HistoryIreland Hedge School. The panel will include Jim Herlihy, Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley, John Cunningham and Dr Conor McNamara. Venue: National Museum of Ireland, Country Life, Turlough, Castlebar, Co Mayo. 7–9pm. Free. Those attending will also be able to visit the Museum's Irish policing exhibition, Preserving the Peace. Need to book.

Friday 16 January: Giant's Causeway: Frederick Douglass's Irish Odyssey and the Making of an American Visionary, with Professor Tom Chaffin. Host: Glasnevin Trust. Venue: Milestone Gallery, Glasnevin Cemetery Museum, Finglas Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 11. 7:15pm, following refreshments from 6:45pm. Free but places restricted to 30 general public tickets. First come, first served allocation via booking@glasnevintrust.ie.

Saturday 17 January: Pinpointing Your Irish Origins Using Commercial Ancestral DNA Testing, with Dr Tyrone Bowes. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Fermanagh Branch. Venue: Enniskillen Library in the Seminar Room upstairs. 2:15pm–4:15pm. Details.

Saturday 17 January: Irish Genealogy help session, with Kathleen McGee, at 10am; Researching at the Registry of Deeds, with Nora Galvin, at 11am. Host: Irish Family History Forum. Venue: Bethpage Public Library, 47 Powell Avenue, Bethpage, NY, 11714, USA. Details.

Saturday 17 January: The Emigrant’s Song: the impact of Irish music on American culture, a History Ireland Hedge School. Plus music. Venue: Cineplex, Bundoran, Co. Donegal. Join History Ireland editor Tommy Graham and a panel of experts at 3pm. Free. No booking required.

Monday 19 January: WW1, with David McNeill. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Larne Branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112 Glenarm Road, Larne BT40 1DZ. 7:30pm. More details: larne@nifhs.org.

Wednesday 21 January: Explore Archives Online. Practical workshops and behind the scenes tours. Host and Venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 2—4:30pm. Free. You need to book by email at proni@dcalni.gov.uk or telephone to 028 90 534800.

Wednesday 21 January: 1914 – Sleepwalking into war, with Julian Walton. Host: Waterford County Museum. Venue: Town Hall Theatre, Friary St, Dungarvan, Co Waterford. 8pm. €5 at the door.

Wednesday 21 January: The Sinking of the RMS Lusitania – Grief for a Galway Family, with Michael Martin. Also AGM. Host: Western Family History Association. Venue: Lackagh Parish Centre, Lackagh, Co Galway. 8:15pm. Details.

Wednesday 21 January: Dublin and the Crimean War, with Paul Huddie. Host: Ballsbridge, Donnybrook and Sandymount Historical Society. Venue: Pembroke Library, Anglesea Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. 1pm. Book via Library on (01)668 9575 or pembrokelibrary@dublincity.ie.

Wednesday 21 January: Irish soldiers in the battles of the First World War, with Philip Orr. Host and Venue: Newry & Mourne Museum, Bagenal's Castle , Castle Street/1A Bank Parade, Newry BT34 2BY. 7:30pm. Light refreshments served. Free but need to book by phone to 028 3031 3173 or email. 

Wednesday 21 January: War and enlistment in Carlow, 1914, with Paul McGuire. Host: Carlow Historical and Archaeological Society. Venue: Seven Oaks Hotel, Carlow. 8pm. Free. All welcome.

Thursday 22 January: Living Legacies 1914-18: WW1 and You. Venue: Belfast Central Library. 12.30-4.30 pm. Free. Workshops and scanning/recording of WW1 memorabilia (bring your own family treasures).

Thursday 22 January: Peter Galligan 1793-1860: Schoolmaster, Collector and Scribe, with Declan Cooney. Hosts: Cavan County Museum and Cumann Seanchais Bhreifne. Vanue: Cavan County Museum, Virginia Road, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan. 8pm. Phone: 049 854 4070.

Friday 23 January: Irish Family History Day, via FindMyPast. Details to follow.

Saturday 24 January:  Getting Started with Irish Genealogy Research, with Miles Davenport, 10am–Noon, followed by 19th Century Irish Genealogy Research: What’s Available and How to Use It, also with Miles Davenport, from 1–3 pm. Host and Venue: Irish Cultural Center/McClelland Irish Library, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Fee $15 for Irish Library/ICC members and $20 for non-members. Details. To register, call 602-864-2351.

Sunday 25 January: Dublin City Book Fair. Venue: Tara Towers Hotel, Merrion Road, Dublin 4. 11am-5.00pm.