'Tis the season: free genealogy services at NAI & NLI

Now that we're comfortably into December, it's time for my annual reminder that the free Genealogy Advisory Services at the National Library and the National Archives are not at their busiest, so this could be a perfect opportunity to drop by for some specialist help with your brickwall or to ask for guidance on 'where to go next'.

Both services operate full-time, five days a week, year round, as follows:

National Archives of Ireland
Reading Room, Bishops St, Dublin 8
Mon–Fri: 9:30am–5pm
Readers Ticket required. (Reading Room closed this week only.)
More details.

National Library of Ireland
Genealogy Room, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
Mon–Wed: 9:30am–5pm; Thurs & Fri: 9:30am–4.45pm.
More details.

There is no appointment system. You just turn up and wait your turn, but queues are a lot less likely in December than during the busy summer season.

Book launch – Seven Signatories: Tracing the Family Histories of the Men who signed the Proclamation

Seven Signatories: Tracing the Family Histories of the Men Who Signed the Proclamation has been published in paperback.

Available from the publisher at just €7.99
and from good bookshops

Written by professional genealogist Paul Gorry MAGI FIGRS, the book was originally produced in digital format as a special Easter issue of Clann, the magazine of the Irish Family History Foundation / Roots Ireland, as the IFHF's contribution to the 1916 Rising commemorations. Since then it was decided to give the project permanency and greater exposure by producing it in book form.

Kildare County Council and Merrion Press/Irish Academic Press took on the task of publication.

The Family Histories of the Seven Signatories is an indispensable genealogical history that uncovers the disparate lives that came together through the will for Irish independence. The backgrounds and experiences of their families were essential components in the determination of their ideas – each firmly their own – of an Irish republic. Told individually, their extended histories collectively explore many of the complexities that defined 19th-century Ireland.

The book would make a lovely Christmas present for the genealogist or historian in your life, and at just €9.99 (or €7.99 via the publisher), you don't even have to feel guilty if you buy it for yourself! It's available from Merrion Press and bookshops.

ISBN:9781785370991

PRONI launches free online historical maps viewer

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has launched a free online historical maps viewer for the six counties of present-day Northern Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone.

Zooming in on the Whiterock linen production area in
Belfast, now under a housing estate.

It allows you to search and browse seven historical Ordnance Survey maps and four contemporary basemaps (including aerial imagery), and displays county, parish and townland boundaries as well as information on sites, buildings and landmarks of historical interest.

The historical maps available are from the 6-inch County Series mapping and, for more recent options, the Irish Grid, as follows:

Edition 1 (1832 – 1846)
Edition 2 (1846 – 1862)
Edition 3 (1900 - 1907)
Edition 4 (1905 - 1957)
Edition 5 (1919 – 1963)
6” Irish Grid (1952-1969)
1:10,000 metric Irish Grid (1957-1986)

The functioning of the viewer and its ability to layer and compare the maps is pretty straightforward. I didn't encounter any difficulties with it when I had a trial run last night, but I'd recommend reading the clear instructions on the viewer home page linked above (or from the right-hand drop down menu) to get you up to speed without delay.

NEHGS to digitise RC Archdiocese of Boston records

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) has announced a historic collaboration with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts, to create a database of 10 million Catholic records dating from 1789 to 1900.

The collection will include baptisms, marriages and burials, plus first communions, confirmations, sick calls and deaths.

It will be jam-packed with Irish emigrants, as well as a huge number of Italians and Germans who collectively made Boston such a major immigration port during the 19th century.

The Archdiocese of Boston is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in the United States, encompassing more than 130 communities in Massachusetts. According to the 2010 Religion Census, 45% of the state's residents consider themselves Catholic — a statistic that would shock the original, overwhelmingly Protestant, colonists. Catholicism was illegal in Massachusetts until 1780, and violent hostility still reigned in Boston decades later.

The arrival of thousands of Irish Catholics fleeing the Famine horrified the resident population in the 1840s and early 1850s. In 1854, when it was estimated that one in three people living in the city was Irish-born, the Know Nothing party of bigots gained a landslide electoral victory with their slogan 'Americans must rule America' and sought to strip the new arrivals of jobs and workers' and voters' rights. Fortunately, the Know Nothings were roundly defeated two years later.

But back to today's news...

On completion of this significant digitisation project, the resulting NEHGS database on AmericanAncestors.org will contain more than 10 million searchable names, making it the largest genealogical collection of American Catholic records online.

The timescale for the digitisation project hasn't been revealed.

UPDATE 9 January 2017: Details will be released tomorrow at 11am EST (4pm Dublin/London) at a press conference which will be streamed live through the NEHGS website at AmericanAncestors.org.

Irish genealogy & history events, 5-17 December

Monday 5 to Friday 9 December:  Reading Room closed to the public for annual media preview. National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. Free Genealogy Service will not operate on these dates. Reopens Monday 12 December.

Monday 5 December:  Agnes Jones – Pioneering Nurse, with Gerald McGill. Plus Members' Research Meeting. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. Venue: Derry Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, Londonderry, BT48 6AL. 7pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 6 December: Frongoch & 1916, a series of new 1916 exhibitions – Official Launch by Catriona Crowe. Host: Digital Repository Venue: National Museum of Ireland, Decorative Arts, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7. Noon. All welcome. No need to book.

Wednesday 7 December: Family History Online, a workshop for beginners. Host: Libraries NI. Venue: Lisburn City Library, Linenhall St, Lisburn BT28 1FJ. 10:30am to 12:30pm and 2pm to 4pm. Free. Booking essential – T: 028 9266 9345, E: lisburncity.library@librariesni.org.uk.

Thursday 8 December: 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.

Thursday 8 December: Derry City Cemetery and its burial registers (newly transcribed), with the Council's Archive team. Host: Derry City and Strabane District Council. Venue: Tower Museum, Union Hall Place, Derry~Londonderry, BT48 6LU. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome. Details.

Friday 9 December: Women of the Rising, with Dr Margaret Ward. Host: Enniskillen Library, Halls Lane, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh BT74 7DR. 12:30pm. Free. All welcome.Booking advised: T 028 6632 2886 or enniskillen.library@librariesni.org.uk.

Saturday 10 December: Ower the Sheugh – considering the Irish and Scottish migrations across the Narrow Sea in historical prespective, with Dr Paddy Fitzgerald. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Tyrone Branch. Venue: Omagh Library, Dublin Road, Omagh, BT78 1HL. 10am. All welcome.

Saturday 10 December: 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 December: Finding the Source: A Survey of Irish Genealogical Websites and Databases, an intermediate level workshop with Miles Davenport. Host and venue: McClelland Irish Centre (Norton Room), 1106 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85004, USA. 10:30am to 1pm. Non-Members: $20/Members: $15. Need to register. Details.

Sunday 11 December: Family History Fair. Venue: Great National Abbey Court Hotel, Dublin Road, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, 11am- 4:30pm. Admission free.

Monday 12 to Friday 16 December: Preservation Week at PRONI. There will be no document ordering service. Search Room and self-service microfilms will operate to normal hours. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast.

Thursday 15 December: School and Education Records, with Valerie Adams. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Down and Ards Branch. Venue: 1st Bangor Presbyterian Church Hall, Main Street, Bangor BT20 4AG. 7:30pm. All welcome.

RIC Service Records 1816–1922 join FindMyPast

FindMyPast has added a collection of some 486,000 Royal Irish Constabulary Service Records dating from 1816-1922. Released in association with the National Archives, the collection includes a wide range of registers and returns including disbandment records of both British and Irish recruits, service number allocation for ranks and officers, details of the force's clerical staff, nominal rolls by county, and much more.

Joining a separate collection called Royal Irish Constabulary History and Directories is a selection of publications dating from 1840 to 1925. If you have an RIC ancestor, this is where you can learn more about the day to day administration, organisation, salaries and regulations of the force.

Regular readers of Irish Genealogy News will know that Ancestry recently added the Royal Irish Constabulary Pensions, 1873-1925, collection to its database, which would seem to be a good additional record set to search. Details.

Seems to be a good time to have RIC ancestors!

Latest updates from IGP-Archives cover ten counties

Gowna (CoI) Graveyard, County Cavan. Photo courtesy
Dave Hall and IGP. Click image for larger view.

The team of volunteers at Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives (IGP-web) has been very busy in the second half of November, as you can see from the number of headstone collections photographed and transcribed in the list below.

Some of these packages have been completed by new transcribers who heeded the call from IGP Archives for help earlier this month. (Round of applause, to each of you!)


ARMAGH Genealogy Archives – Cemetery Records
Tandragee Church - list of rectors

CAVAN Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Arvagh (CoI) Graveyard
Gowna (CoI) Graveyard
Ballyconnell (CoI) Headstones (Updated)

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Mt Jerome Headstones, Parts 141-145 (750 new)

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Cavanaleck Presbyterian Graveyard

LEITRIM Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Kiltoghert Graveyard (R.C.) (Updated)

LONGFORD Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Moyne (R.C.) Graveyard
Kilglass (CoI) Cemetery
St. Columb's Cem., Mullinaghta
Ballinamuck (R.C.) Cemetery

MAYO Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Turlough Abbey Cem. (Updated)
Meelick Cemetery, Swinford (Updated)
Ballinrobe Cemetery
St. Martin's Cem., Foxford

SLIGO Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Sligo Cem. Middle Part, Section D (A-H)

WEXFORD Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Adamstown Graveyard
Selskar Abbey including Headstones
Mayglass Graveyard & Church (partial)

WESTMEATH Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Rathowen (CoI) Graveyard

National Library's Introduction to Family History course starts January

The National Library of Ireland will be hosting its 8-week Introduction to Family History course from 18 January.

The course, led by the well-respected tutor Sean J Murphy, will be held on Wednesday afternoons (2–4:30pm). Places will be limited to 30 participants and the course fee is €100. Participants should have some experience of using computers.

Booking by email only to Ciara Kerrigan – ckerrigan@nli.ie – will open on 12 December. Do not send your booking request before that date.

Here's the course schedule:

18 January 2017: Lecture 1, First Steps
Preview of course; principles of history and of genealogy, recommended texts, preparing draft pedigrees; advice on completing a personal genealogical project; research methods, National Library, National Archives, General Register Office and other record repositories. Please bring available laptops, tablets, etc, for practical classwork.

25 January: Lecture 2, Computers and the Internet
Computers and online resources; websites of National Library and other repositories; the e-library; Ancestral Quest and other genealogy programs, online family trees; photographs, videos and digital images. Online workshop I.

1 February: Lecture 3, Placenames, Forenames and Surnames
Origins and forms of Irish placenames, administrative divisions; forenames or first names; origins of surnames internationally and in Ireland, surnames of Gaelic and settler origin, septs and chiefs, the question of Irish ‘clans’.

8 February: Lecture 4, Census Records
Census returns of 1901 and 1911 and pre-1901 fragments, census records online; review of progress in personal genealogical projects.

15 February: Lecture 5, Vital Records and Property Valuation Records
Civil records of births, marriages and deaths commencing in 1864 (and non-Catholic marriages commencing in 1845); Tithe Applotment Books (1820s-30s), Griffith’s Valuation (1848-64), Valuation Office records. Online workshop II.

22 February: Lecture 6, Church Records, Wills and Deeds
Parish and church registers (baptism, marriage and burial) of Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and other denominations; National Library and other online church register resources; wills pre- and post-1858, National Archives and online; the holdings of the Registry of Deeds

1 March: Lecture 7, Memorial Inscriptions and Miscellaneous Sources
Memorial inscriptions in graveyards, churches and commercial cemeteries; an introduction to estate papers, newspapers, directories, occupational records, and other miscellaneous sources. Online workshop III.

8 March: Lecture 8, Conclusion and Recapitulation
Recapitulation of main points of course, review of students’ progress, comparing portfolios, selected student case studies, planning further work.

Kerry Evening Post joins British Newspaper Archive

The British Newspaper Archive has added The Kerry Evening Post to its line up of Irish titles (this addition brings the total to 129).

Politically conservative and pro-Union, the paper was published in Tralee twice a week from 1813. Like many other newspapers, it could not continue printing during WW1 due to paper rationing and ceased publication in 1917.

So far, a selection of 902 editons published in the 1850s, 1860s and early 1870s is available in the British Newspaper Archive database, but the planned holding will eventually include the full 104 years of publication.

The paper has also joined the Irish Newspaper Collection at FindMyPast.

Please Be Seated: RCB Library's Archive of the Month

‘Please Be Seated: The Content of Church of Ireland Pew Registers’ is the working title of the December Archive of the Month presentation from the Representative Church Body Library (RCBL). The online exhibit focuses on the relatively rare church record called the pew register, one of an array of record types produced by the parish vestry – the committee that dealt with the parish's administration and management.

Opening entry in the St Werburgh’s parish, Dublin, pew register, commencing
on 25th September 1719; RCB Library P326.28.3.

The practice of purchasing, renting or being assigned with a pew was primarily found in wealthier parishes, particularly in urban areas, where parishioners were more likely to be able to afford the cost. Pews were considered as property and, as with all property, it was necessary to record the rights and transactions involving them. In many cases, the record of such transactions was simply kept in the regular vestry minute books of the parish but occasionally, particularly in well-endowed parishes with revenue to spend on dedicated volumes, a separate pew register might be kept.

The new archive presentation, which has been researched and created by the RCBL's Robert Gallagher, examines the content of the pew register of St Werburgh’s in Dublin, a volume spanning the period from 1719 up to 1839 (although after 1764 entries are very cursory indeed, reflecting how the process of owning or renting a pew began to die out in the late 18th and early 19th centuries). As one of the earliest Anglo-Norman churches established within the city walls and as the parish serving Dublin Castle, St Werburgh’s enjoyed high status in the city. Its pew register gives an unusual insight into the parish’s social structure, providing glimpses of the wealth and status enjoyed by the parishioners.

Owning a pew in St Werburgh’s, Dublin, was a lucrative privilege especially for a person who was able to afford one of the more expensive or well-positioned pews, in a parish whose members included the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and some of the leading businessmen in the city such as David La Touche. The volume reveals the resolutions that the vestry agreed about pew-related transactions, the income realised from the same, and the parish’s wider social structure – indicated by such details as who was sitting where – with the most sought-after pews being located either in the gallery or near the front of the church.

While pew registers may be relatively rare, those that survive provide a colourful asset for researching parish history, the stories of individual parishioners, and the communities in which they lived.

View the online exhibiton.