President Higgins unveils Famine Cross at Glasnevin

The Famine Cross at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin,
is a new national memorial to those who
perished in Ireland during An Gorta Mór

At a ceremony at Glasnevin Cemetery yesterday, President Michael D. Higgins, accompanied by Arts Minister Heather Humphreys, unveiled a striking Famine Cross as a memorial to those who perished during the years of An Gorta Mór.

The failure of the potato crop left an indelible mark on Ireland, with one million people dying of starvation or disease, and a further million forced to escape by emigration. In an emotional speech, President Higgins compared the World's current refugee crisis, which has seen millions of people displaced or drowned as they flee war and famine, to that of the Irish Famine, and said that we must learn from the mistakes of the past and not repeat them.

The National Famine Commemoration is a State ceremony; it included military honours and a wreath laying ceremony by Ambassadors to Ireland in remembrance of all those who suffered or died during the Famine, as well as music from local choirs and St James’s Brass and Reed Band, Ireland’s oldest band.

Donated by Glasnevin Trust, the Famine Cross was hand-crafted from Irish Blue Limestone by an unknown but skillful sculptor in the mid-19th-century. It has been elevated and fixed into a stone base of the same material by McKeon Stone of Stradbally with the inscription made by letter-cutter Aileen Ann Brannigan.

Irish genealogy, history & heritage events, 12–24 Sept

Monday 12 September: Tea, with Pamela Emerson. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Free. 1pm. Booking: T: 028 9053 4800, E: proni@communities-ni.gov.uk.

Monday 12 Sept:Rare ’Oul Tales from Derry Quay': stories from the history of the port, with Ken McCormack. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. Venue: Derry Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, Londonderry, BT48 6AL. 7pm. All welcome.

Monday 12 September: Back to School: Gaining Knowledge as an Amateur Genealogist, with Kathleen Morrison. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey Branch. Venue: Drama Theatre, Glengormley High School, 134 Ballyclare Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim BT36 5HP. 7pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 13 September: Making Sense of the Census, with Roddy Hegarty. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, BT28 1XP. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 13 September: Linking genealogy and social history, with Billy Saunderson. Host: Genealogical Society of Ireland. Venue: Dún Laoghaire Further Education Institute, Cumberland Street, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Donation €3. All welcome. 8pm.

Wednesday 14 September: Players or Patriots? The Gaelic Athletic Association and the 1916 Rising, with Dr Richard McElligott. Part of the Atlas of the Irish Revolution: Lecture Series. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Free. 1pm. All welcome. Booking not required.

Wednesday 14 September:  Knocknamuckly: the story of an Armagh townland, with Professor Raymond Gillespie. Part of the County Armagh Lecture Series. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Free. Booking recommended - email proni@communities-ni.gov.uk to secure your place.

Friday 16 September - Culture Night. 3,000 events in 1,400 venues, in 40+ venues. All events are free but some require advance booking. Download programmes.

Saturday 17 September: Irish records, with Jill Williams FIGRS, part of the U3A family history day-conference. Other speakers include Dr Nick Barrett, Nigel Lutt and Bill Taylor. Host: U3A Peak District Family History Network Events. Venue: Palace Hotel, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, UK. Fee £20. Details.

Saturday 17 September: One-Step Webpages: A Potpourri of Genealogical Search Tools, with Steve Morse. Host: Irish Family History Forum. Venue: Bethpage Library. Meeting starts 10am. 47 Powell Ave., Bethpage, New York, USA. Details.

Monday 19 September: My Great Grandfather, the Bigamist, with Su Topping. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Larne Branch. Venue: Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club, 112-120 Glenarm Road, Larne, BT40 1DZ. 7:30pm. All welcome. Find out more.

Monday 19 September: Genealogy information sessions, with Margaret Bonar and Elizabeth Craven. Morning and afternoon sessions. Morning venue: Raheny Library, Howth Rd, Dublin 5 from 10:30am to 11:45am. Afternoon venue: Donaghmede library, Donaghmede Shopping Centre, Dublin 13 from 2:30pm to 4pm. Free. Bookings to 085 1444883 or impossibleancestors@gmail.com.

Tuesday 20 September 20: The Story of the Scots and Irish in Missouri, with Rickey Pittman. Host and venue: Midwest Genealogy Center, 3440 S. Lee's Summit Road, Independence, Missouri, MO 64055, USA. 10am to 11am. Free, but need to register.

Tuesday 20 September: From Ireland to Canada in the 1950s, with Philip Donnelly. Host: Bailieborough Heritage Society. Venue: Bailieborough Library, Market House, Bailieborough, Co Cavan. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 20 September:The Irish Volunteers and 1916: Oral history accounts of Lisburn and County Antrim, with Dr Donall McAnallen. Host and venue: Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum (Assembly Room), Market Square, Lisburn BT28 1AG. 7pm. Free but booking essential: T: 028 9266 3377, E: ilc.reception@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk.

Wednesday 21 September:  Bogs, Battles and Barges: The Newry Canal, Oldest in the British Isles, with Geraldine Foley. Part of the County Armagh Lecture Series. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Free. Booking recommended - email proni@communities-ni.gov.uk to secure your place.

Wednesday 21 September:  Thomas Francis Meagher and the Meaghers of Ballycanvan, with James Andrew Doherty. Venue: Jack Meades, Passage E Rd, Halfway House, Faithlegg, Co Waterford. 8pm.

Wednesday 21 September: Who Do You Think You Are: Starting Family History Research. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh Branch. Venue: Bleary Community Centre, 1 Deans Road, Bleary, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT66 8TD. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Saturday 24 September: Guided tour of Long Tower Church and Graveyard, with Ivor Doherty. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. Venue: Long Tower Church, Derry. 7pm. All welcome.

Friday 23 to Saturday 24 September: Diaspora of the Wild Atlantic Way, an international conference exploring migration from the west of Ireland. Host: Clare Roots Society. Treacy's West County Hotel, Ennis, Co Clare. Details.

Ireland's historical registers of births, marriages and deaths are now online

The General Register Office of Ireland's historical civil registers of birth, marriage and death have been uploaded to the free state-run IrishGenealogy.ie.

As anticipated, they follow the 100-75-50 years access rule and they are free. If the index entry gives you the option of an image, you download a pdf of the full register page in which that birth, marriage or death certificate appears.

While this seems to be working fine for all indexed entries that had been assigned the GRO's Group Registration ID (GRID), I'm not getting access to any images for those without a GRID. As far as I can see from my early kick-around, all the births from 1864 have a GRID, so this collection should be complete with images. However, marriages before 1886 do not seem to have GRIDs so are not accompanied by an image, and the same goes for deaths from about 1880.

Whether these will appear later, I don't know. Hopefully the site's Help pages will be updated without too much delay so that we can be sure what we've got.

I'll update this page as things clarify. In the meantime, have fun and try not to break it.

UPDATE 1:45pm: Didn't I say to play nicely?! The site 'broke' about 15 minutes ago. Since it has reverted to yesterday's site, I'm going to keep positive and believe it is not really broken. Probably this morning was just a trial run. Keep your fingers crossed for its quick return either later today or tomorrow, in time for the evening launch.

UPDATE 2:05pm: Okay, the new site is back again but throwing up as many Internal Error notices as records. Such fluctations usually suggests a capacity problem so don't be surprised if you find it bouncing around for the best part of the day+. If I become aware of any other problems I'll flag them here.

UPDATE 7:30pm: I've just spent a happy hour of research on the IrishGenealogy site, and it seems to be working just fine. There are, however, 'gaps' in the availability of images, as mentioned above, plus a few records that 'should', by time frame, have an image attached, but don't. I've also received emails from researchers who have found indexed entries that link to the wrong images. There seem to be more instances of this than I'd have expected. I've even found my own example: Bessie Santry, born 1896 in Kinsale; she doesn't appear on the linked page of the register.

I've emailed some questions regarding the issues raised today. I'll let you know the response in due course.

UPDATE: 8 September, 11:45am: I've heard back from the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs who manage the site. The website now holds 12.5million Index records linked to 2.5million images from the historic registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths. Images are available as follows:

• Births: 1864 to 1915
  
• Marriages: 1882 to 1940
  
• Deaths: 1891 to 1965

Apparently, the images of the pre-1882 registers of Marriage and pre-1891 registers of Deaths are being updated by the General Register Office and will be added to the website in due course. I have also been advised that the website may fluctuate a bit today while some last-minute checks are run before this evening's official launch.

UPDATE 3:30pm: Two new pages have appeared in the Civil Records Help section of the site. They both relate to the redaction of records. Those over the age of 100 years old who don't want an image of their birth certificate to be available online are provided with instructions for applying for its redaction. Same goes for those who've been married for more than 75 years who don't want their marriage certificate to appear online. There's also a note about cancelled entries.

UPDATE 5:20pm: Official launch press release from the DAHG and DSP here.

UPDATE: 9 September, 12:30pm: The site has been offline for over an hour. So, too, the National Archives of Ireland's Genealogy website (or, at least, its databases). Not sure what the problem is, but I'll advise when they're up and running again.

UPDATE: 3:30pm: And the site is back online. (So is the NAI's website.)

National Library of Ireland's autumn Genealogy course is fully booked

You may remember reading here on Irish Genealogy News about the National Library of Ireland's new 8-week Genealogy course to be run by the well-respected tutor Sean Murphy (see blogpost). The course starts on 5 October.

Booking opened on Thursday 1 September and all 30 places were allocated within two-and-a-half hours! Ten people are on the waiting list.

Irish genealogy & history events, 5 – 17 September

All of September: Railway Street (Lisburn) through the ages - Exhibition exploring local family history resources and how to start researching. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society Lisburn Branch. Venue: Lisburn City Library, Linenhall St, Lisburn BT28 1FJ. Free. Members available for free consultations during library hours, 5–9 September. Details.

Monday 5 September: Researching Ancestors in the Army in India, workshop, with FIBIS. Host & venue: British Library, Euston Rd, London UK. 2pm–5pm. Free but you need to book. Details.

Tuesday 6 September: Women and the Legacy of the First World War, with Kate Adie. Host and venue: Ulster Museum (Lecture Theatre, ground floor), Botanic Gardens, Belfast BT9 5AB. 1–2pm. Free but booking is essential.

Tuesday 6 September: Ten free websites for US genealogical research, with Joe Buggy. Part of the NLI Genealogy at lunchtime lecture series. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Free. 1pm. All welcome. Booking not required.

Wednesday 7 September:  Tracing your ancestors, with Ann Robinson. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society Lisburn Branch. Venue: Lisburn City Library, Linenhall St, Lisburn BT28 1FJ. 1-2pm. Free. Details.

Wednesday 7 September:  The City of Armagh and Christianity since St Patrick: Ireland’s Jerusalem? with Roddy Hegarty. First of the County Armagh Lecture Series. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Free. Booking recommended - email proni@communities-ni.gov.uk to secure your place.

Thursday 8 September: Adventures in DNA: Who were the first Irish?, with Professor Dan Bradley. Part of the NLI Genealogy at lunchtime lecture series. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Free. 1pm. All welcome. Booking not required.

Thursday 8 September: Emigration and our Galway diaspora, conference. Venue: Clarenbridge Oyster Festival Marquee, Clarinbridge, Co. Galway. Full day conference featuring a lineup of genealogy specialists. Free. Programme and details (4Mb pdf).

Thursday 8 September: WWI Ireland: Exploring the Irish Experience, an exhibition tour. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, 2/3 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Booking is not required. All welcome. 2pm.

Friday 9 September: Finding the Stories of Your Ancestors, with Pamela Guye Holland. Host: TIARA. Venue: Brandeis University, Mandel Center for the Humanities, Room G3, 415 South St., Waltham, Massachusetts 02453 USA. Doors open at 7pm. Lecture at 7:30pm.

Friday 9 September to Sunday 11 September: BIFHSGO Family History Conference, focussing mainly (but not exclusively) on Irish genealogy and DNA. Irish topic speakers include Kyle Betit, Maurice Gleeson, Gloria Tubman and Lucille Campey. Host: British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa 2016 Conference. Venue: Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa, Canada. $40. Programme and details.

Saturday 10 September: School of Irish Genealogy, with the Friends of Irish Research Genealogy Team. Venue: The Irish Cultural Centre Library, 200 New Boston Drive, Canton, MA, USA. Using free research tools online, with Joe Petrie, and DNA – How to get the most of the available services, with Richard Reid. 1pm–4pm. Register by email: friendsofirishresearch@gmail.com.

Saturday 10 September: The National Library's History & Heritage, an introduction to the Library's rich architectural history and the Signatories exhibition, plus a guided tour of the Reading Room.  Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Admission free. All welcome. 1pm. No need to book.

Saturday 10 September: Genealogy drop-in, with Mayo Genealogy Group. Host and venue: National Museum of Ireland, Country Life, Turlough Park, Co Mayo. Free practical tips. No booking required. New researchers welcome. 11:30am to 1pm.

Saturday 10 September: European Heritage Open Day at PRONI. Tours of the building will be available and the Search Room will be open for access to self-service microfilm and other reference material.  There will no access to original records. Venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 10am–4pm.

Sunday 11 September: The impact of WW1 on the domestic, economic, social and political life of Ulster, including the effect on women and children, industry and agriculture. Part of European Heritage Open Day series at Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast BT9 5AB. (Lecture Theatre, ground floor). 3-4pm. No need to book.

Monday 12 September: Tea, with Pamela Emerson. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Free. 1pm. Booking: T: 028 9053 4800, E: proni@communities-ni.gov.uk.

Monday 12 Sept:Rare ’Oul Tales from Derry Quay: stories from the history of the port, with Ken McCormack. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. Venue: Derry Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, Londonderry, BT48 6AL. 7pm. All welcome.

Monday 12 September: Back to School: Gaining Knowledge as an Amateur Genealogist, with Kathleen Morrison. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey Branch. Venue: Drama Theatre, Glengormley High School, 134 Ballyclare Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim BT36 5HP. 7pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 13 September: Making Sense of the Census, with Roddy Hegarty. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, BT28 1XP. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 13 September: Linking genealogy and social history, with Billy Saunderson. Host: Genealogical Society of Ireland. Venue: Dún Laoghaire Further Education Institute, Cumberland Street, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Donation €3. All welcome. 8pm.

Wednesday 14 September: Players or Patriots? The Gaelic Athletic Association and the 1916 Rising, with Dr Richard McElligott. Part of the Atlas of the Irish Revolution: Lecture Series. Host and venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Free. 1pm. All welcome. Booking not required.

Wednesday 14 September:  Knocknamuckly: the story of an Armagh townland, with Professor Raymond Gillespie. Part of the County Armagh Lecture Series. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Free. Booking recommended - email proni@communities-ni.gov.uk to secure your place.

Friday 16 September - Culture Night. 3,000 events in 1,400 venues, in 40+ venues. All events are free but some require advance booking. Download programmes.

Saturday 17 September: Irish records, with Jill Williams FIGRS, part of the U3A family history day-conference. Other speakers include Dr Nick Barrett, Nigel Lutt and Bill Taylor. Host: U3A Peak District Family History Network Events. Venue: Palace Hotel, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, UK. Fee £20. Details.

Saturday 17 September: One-Step Webpages: A Potpourri of Genealogical Search Tools, with Steve Morse. Host: Irish Family History Forum. Venue: Bethpage Library. Meeting starts 10am. 47 Powell Ave., Bethpage, New York, USA. Details.

FindMyPast.com launches Starter sub with 70% off

A new 'Starter' subscription has been launched by FindMyPast.com aimed primarily at family historians in the United States just starting their research.

The launch offer comes with a whopping 70% discount for those that take out the 12-month option, reducing its cost from $114.50 to just $34.95. (The monthly option does not attract a discount; it costs $9.95 a month.)

As well as access to FindMyPast's online family tree builder, the Starter subscription includes more than 2.9 billion records including:

• US immigration & travel records: This collection includes records of people leaving the UK between 1890 and 1960, and passenger lists from states including Florida and California
  
• US birth, marriage and death records: Notable record sets in our Starter Package are CA births and marriages, NY marriages and SC deaths. FindMyPast's comprehensive marriage collection, spanning 360 years, is not included (see Premium)
  
• US Newspapers: Historic newspapers are a valuable – and often underutilized – resource for family history researchers. They contain family announcements, details about criminal cases, military commendations and much more.
  
• UK & Irish Censuses: Essential for Americans with Irish or British heritage.
  
• Access to FMP's free collections of US census records and Irish Parish Catholic Registers.

For comparison, the regular 'full' package, now known as Premium, costs $239.40 for a year or $19.95 for a month, and gives access to more than 8 billion records.

Offaly ancestors? Check out this new online archive

A new online catalogue has been launched at Offaly History Archives to bring together an online catalogue of archival collections currently held in various repositories in County Offaly and elsewhere.

In addition, the site will feature free digitised resources. The first collection to be released comes from the Digby Irish Estates Papers (the originals are in Dorset, England), which is a vital resource for those researching the county in the 19th and 20th centuries. More than 1,000 images of the annual reports dating from 1857 to 1872 for the Geashill Estate are ready for viewing.

I've just been looking at the Annual Report for 1861 and reading about an on-going project of refurbishment to tenants' cottages, and (unconnected) the eviction of eight men identified as 'Ribbonmen'. The men are named as Loughlin Kelly of Ballina, Henry Bryan of Cross Keys (public house), John Clibborn of Clonmore, John Helion of Killurin, Darby Flanagan of Pigeonhouse, John Whelaghan of Colehill and William Grumby of Dalgan. They were, according to the land agent writing the report, conspiring to kill the landlord's son.

The new online archive is described as a work in progress and we can expect more finding aids and images and descriptive lists to be added to the database on a regular basis.

FindMyPast delivers big package of British, US and New Zealand record collections

FindMyPast has added a mixed bunch of new collections and updates to its database over the last week. None of them is specifically Irish, but all will hold details of Irish emigrants and their descendants.

Here are brief details and links to the new record sets:

British Army Casualty Lists 1939-1945
Over 1.1 million War Office records covering Officers and Nurses and Other Ranks are held in this collection. The lists cover individuals reported as killed in action, wounded, prisoner of war, missing, died of wounds, missing believed killed, dangerously ill, and involved in accidents.

United States Marriages
More than 4million marriage records have been uploaded to the dataabase in the latest instalment of updates to this collection, which spans 1650 to 2010 and includes entries from nearly every state. This particular tranche of new records includes significant additions from Arkansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania. The records include marriage date, bride and groom names, birthplace, birth date, age, and residence as well as father’s and mother’s names.

United States, Transatlantic Migration
Consisting of 127 publications, this record set holds information about more than 30,000 migrants from Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Germany and the Netherlands who cross the Atlantic between the late 1500s to the early 1900s. Details may include birth countries, place and date of embarkation, ages, occupations, and information about spouses and children.

United States, Early American Families
This collection is made up of 140 publications containing over 86,000 records of the early settlers of America and their descendants. You may be able to learn the birth and death years of your ancestors, as well as other family names and significant locations.

United States, Early American Vital Records
With more than 14,000 records spanning the 1600s to the early 1900s, this collection holds birth, marriage, and death register entries, as well as publications detailing gravestone inscriptions, wills, and the military dead of the American Revolutionary War.

United States, Connecticut Town Vitals, The Barbour Collection
This collection is made up of 55 volumes holding more than 18,000 birth and death dates, children's names, and other personal details.

New Zealand Birth Index
The Index has been updated with an additional 19,000 records of people born at least 120 years ago.

New Zealand Marriage Index
More than 8,000 records have been added.

New Zealand Death Index
Over 21,000 records have been added to this Index.

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: latest updates

The volunteer team of Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives has uploaded the following records during the second half of August:

ANTRIM/WICKLOW Genealogy Archives - Military & Constabulary
Badge Of Merit 1852 - Robt HAMILTON

1870 Burial Receipt. Click for full image.
Photo courtesy of Joyce Tunstead and IGP-web.

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Burial Records
Assorted Burial Records/Receipts

KILKENNY Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Canice, Kilkenny (part)

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives - Newspapers
Assorted Articles from Clonmel Gazette 1785/6

MAYO Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Aghamore New Cemetery (part)
Cong Abbey (part)

SLIGO Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Sligo Cem. Middle Part, Section F (M-W)

WICKLOW, Genealogy Archives
Photos – Sub Constable Robt. Hamilton
Headstones – Greenane, Main Cemetery

New: 2016 Maynooth Studies in Local History series

The 2016 titles in the highly acclaimed Maynooth Studies in Local History series have been published by Four Courts Press.

The five volumes feature studies relating to Antrim, Cork, Derry, Waterford and Westmeath, as follows:

• The Nugents of Westmeath and Queen Elizabeth's Irish primer, by Denis Casey
  
• The world of Thomas Ward: sex and scandal in late-17th-century Co. Antrim, by Eamon Darcy
  
• The committal of two Mallow children to an industrial school in 1893, by Martin McCarthy
  
• Sir John Keane and Cappoquin House in time of war and revolution, by Glascott Symes
  
• Derry Labour in the age of agitation, 1889–1923: vol. 2, Larkinism and syndicalism, 1907–23, by Emmet O'Connor
  

Presented in paperback and with around 60 pages, each of the books is on sale via Four Courts Press at €8.95 (incl. discount). Click the book covers below to learn more about each volume.