MyHeritage adds enhanced NYC immigration records

MyHeritage has indexed the names and addresses
of immigrants' families 'back home' as well as those
of the relatives/family they were joining in the USA.
These details from the passenger manifests have not
been indexed before.

MyHeritage has added the Ellis Island and Other New York Passenger Lists 1820-1957 collection to its database.

Holding more than 94 million records, this collection contains details of immigrants arriving at the port of New York between 1820 and 1957. While the Ellis Island database (1892-1957) is best known, the 'Other' of the new collection's title refers to two earlier immigrant processing stations in the city: Castle Garden (1855-1890) and the Barge Office (1890-1892).

Early passenger lists were single-page manifests and recorded minimal information about passengers,but  forms were standardised over time and additional questions added. Depending on the year of immigration, information recorded about a passenger may include name, age, gender, occupation, dates, destination, physical descriptions, and information regarding place of origin, e.g. native country, citizenship status, race, nationality or birthplace.

From 1897, immigration officials began asking passengers for the name and address of the relative/friend whom they are joining in the USA, and in 1907 they began asking for the name and address of their closest relative or friend in their home country.

The responses to these questions were filled in on the passenger manifests, but they have now been indexed by MyHeritage for the very first time, yielding an additional 26.6 million names in this collection. In addition, many of the passenger manifests span two pages, and a common omission for genealogists has been to locate the first page and miss the existence of the second. MyHeritage has solved this problem by stitching the double pages into single document images, ensuring that users do not miss information.

The new collection can be found under the Research tab on the MyHeritage.com Startup page. Searching the Ellis Island and Other New York Passenger Lists collection is free but a subscription is required to view records and scanned images.

MilitaryArchives.ie launches Oral History Project

The restyled MilitaryArchives.ie website

From a freshly redesigned website (see right), MilitaryArchives.ie has launched a new project which aims to collect first hand testimonies of men and women who have worked for Ireland's Defence Forces.

The Military Archives Oral History Project was established in 2015 with the aim of digitally recording memory, oral history and tradition associated with the Defence Forces since its inception. Over the last two years, more than 120 interviews and 164 hours of testimony have been gathered and some of these are now available on the website to illustrate the type of material the project will hold.

So far, 16 interviews have been recorded and digitised, and samples have been extracted and filed according to their content under three subject headings:

• Joining the Defence Forces
  
• The Emergency (WW2)
  
• Overseas.

Some 38 interviews, most of them between one-and-a-half and four minutes long, are available.

For more information, see the introductory video below or click the link above.

Bumper US delivery from Ancestry is full of Irish

During the course of the last week, Ancestry has added a number of new databases that will be of interest to Irish family historians.

First up is the Boston, Massachusetts, Catholic Sacramental Records, 1789-1900 Index.

The records are being digitised by the NEHGS

This is an index to the records collected by the Boston Archdiocese which historically included the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The index includes records of Marriage, Baptism, Confirmation, Birth, Burial, Death, Eucharist, Church Admission, Ordination, Intention, and Reconciliation. While no images are currently available on Ancestry, a link from each index entry takes the researcher to the image on American Ancestors, the website of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS); a subscription ($34.95, or $29.95 in an exclusive offer for Ancestry.com members) is required to view it.

With Massachusetts having been such an important destination for so many Irish emigrants over the years, the American Ancestors' collection will undoubtedly become an essential database for Irish genealogists. It is still very much a work in progress while the NEHGS digitises the 937 volumes of registers, which are estimated to hold about 10million names. The first upload to the Ancestry index comprises 415,182 records, a good first instalment. And to set out its Irish credentials, a quick sample of names shows there are 1,556 Donovan entries, 1,495 Quinns and 2,441 McCarthys.

Search the Boston, Massachusetts, Catholic Sacramental Records, 1789-1900 database.

Identifying details are pretty good. The baptism index typically include the child's name, date and place of birth, date and place of baptism and the names of both parents. Marriage index details include name of spouse, date and place of marriage.

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New Jersey State Censuses, 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1905 & 1915

Six new collections from the New Jersey State Archive have been added, complete with images. The later two are likely to be the most useful for Irish researchers as they hold the largest numbers of Ireland-born individuals, and both the indexing and survival rate of the original returns are more complete.

New Jersey State Census 1855 – 76,013 records*.
New Jersey State Census 1865 – 220,568 entries*. Surviving records cover only 13 counties.
New Jersey State Census 1875 – 18,660 entries, Sussex County only. 603 were born in Ireland.
New Jersey State Census 1885 – 1,286,556 entries*. Surviving records cover only 13 counties.
New Jersey State Census 1905 – 2,185,283 individuals recorded, of which 87,224 Irish-born.
New Jersey State Census 1915 – 2,845,576 entries, of which 75,619 are Ireland-born

* Index does not specify birthplace.

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Brooklyn Bethlehem Steel Shipyard Employment records

Cornelius O'Sullivan in 1942,
from the Brooklyn Bethlehem Steel Shipyard files

This is a wonderful collection. It's a shame there are only 28,000 individuals recorded, and even more of a shame only 120 of them are noted as having been born in Ireland. However, if you're one of the very lucky ones to find an ancestor in this material, you may well find some treasure.

To give you an idea of the detail this employer recorded, here is notes from the service card of 52-year-old Cornelius O'Sullivan, who went to work for the Brooklyn company in Brooklyn in 1942. Born 7 Oct 1889 in Kerry, Ireland, both of Cornelius's parents were born in Ireland. He's now married to Louise and has three children, one of them under the age of 16. He lives at 541 West 144th Street, NYC. He had immigrated in September 1908 and his naturalisation papers are referenced. He's a machinist with 18 months experience. His last employer was Sullivan Dry Dock Company. There is also a reference suggesting he has worked with the coastguard service. He is 5' 5" tall, with grey hair and blue eyes and weighs 138lb. A head and shoulders photograph is attached to the service card.

He appears to have worked regularly for the Shipyard until the week before Christmas 1946 when he went on strike for six months. For the next 18 months he seems to have been unable to get more work from the company - the service file records 'Lack of Work' as the reason.

Search the Brooklyn Bethlehem Steel Shipyard Employment Records.

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Free weekend access to FindMyPast military records

See links below

FindMyPast UK and FindMyPast USA are offering free access to military records from today until midnight on Sunday 12 November.

You need a registered account (free and simple to set up with no financial questions or commitments) to view the records.

Whether using the UK or USA site, you'll get free access  to transcriptions and images of original documents from the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada and Australia/NewZealand. Among the military records you can access are the following:

• British Army Service Records
  
• Medal Rolls & Honours
  
• British Red Cross Register of Overseas Volunteers, 1914-1918
  
• British WW1 ships lost at sea, 1914-1919
  
• Royal Navy Officers 1899-1919
  
• Britain, Enemy Aliens and Internees, WW1 & WW2
  
• British Army Casualty Lists, 1939-1945
  
• Napoleonic War Records, 1775-1817
  
• British Army Lists, 1839-1846
  
• Commenwealth War Graves Commission
  
• US WW1 Draft Registration Cards
  
• US WW1 Army Enlistments 1798-1914
  
• US WW2 Army Enlistments
  
• Prisoners of War, 1715-1945

FindMyPast UK Free access to military records

FindMyPast US Free access to military records

Irish genealogy, history & heritage events, 6 to 19 Nov

Monday 6 November: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. On-going Monday closures are to facilitate extensive redevelopment of the premises. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service, operating as normal. Details.

Tuesday 7 November: Understanding heraldry, with Michael McKeag. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society. Venue: NIFHS Research Centre, C4, Valley Business Park, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim. 11am–1pm and 2pm–4pm (lunch, not provided, 1–2pm). £12. Plus optional informal walk round Queen’s University to spot memorials and armorials. All welcome. Need to book. Details.

Wednesday 8 November: From Meath of the Pastures to Smithfield - a story of a cattle market and a family who lived there, with Mary O'Connell. Host: Old Dublin Society. Venue: Conference Room, Dublin City Library & Archive; 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. Starts at 6pm. No booking; seating allocated on first come basis. Free. All welcome.

Wednesday 8 November: Tracing your Family Tree: How to Start, Where to Start, with Tony Hennessy MAGI. Host and venue: Medieval Museum in Waterford's Viking Triangle, The Mall, Waterford City. All welcome. 1:15pm to 2pm. €5 admission on the door. No booking required.

Thursday 9 November: Dublin's great wars: Parallel stories from 1912-23, with Prof Richard Grayson. Hosts: Western Front Association and PRONI. Venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast, BT3 9HQ. All welcome. £4 donation requested. 6:30pm to 8:45pm. Details.

Thursday 9 November: Public tour of WWIreland exhibition, Exploring the Irish Experience at home and abroad. Host and Venue: National Library of Ireland, 2/3 Kildare Street (next door to main building), Dublin 2. Free. 2pm. No booking required.

Thursday 9 November: Female connections are the best road to research success, with Kevin Cassidy. Host: Greater Omaha Genealogical Society – Irish Interest Group. Venue: LDS Omaha Stake Center, 14680 California Street, Omaha, Nebraska, USA. 7pm. Free, but advance registration required by email to Rita Henry (rhenry416@cox.net).

Friday 10 November: Ireland and the Russian Revolution, with Maurice Casey. Host: Cahir Historical Society. Venue: Cahir House Hotel, The Square, Townparks, Cahir, Co Tipperary. €3 Members / €5 guests. 8pm. No booking required. All welcome.

Friday 10 November: Following the Footsteps of the Cork Fenians, with John Mulcahy marking the 150th Anniversary of the Rising. Host: Carrigtwohill & District Historical Society. Venue: St David’s Centre, the old Graveyard, Chapel Lane, Carrigtwohill, Co Cork. All welcome. 8pm. €5 at the door.

Saturday 11 November: 17th- and 18th-century research sources, with William Roulston. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Tyrone branch. Venue: Seminar Room, First Floor, Omagh Library, Dublin Road, Omagh, BT78 1HL. 10am to noon.

Saturday 11 November: Four brothers from Cork (topic: early Irish immigration), with Roz McCutcheon FIGRS. An interactive live presentation from the Irish Genealogical Research Society. Host: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Irish Study Group. Venue: NEHGS Museum, 99–101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02116, USA. Open to the public. 9:30am to Noon. Free. No registration necessary. Contact Mary Ellen Grogan at megrogan@ix.netcom.com for more information.

Saturday 11 November: Irish historical walking tour of The City of London, exploring inside the walls of the City of London to meet the Irish people who lived and worked there over the last 300 years Host: London Easter 1916-1924 Centenary Committee. Venue: Meet at Holborn tube station (London WC2B 6AA) at Noon. No charge, but donations accepted. Details.

Saturday 11 November: Irish Family History Society's Winter Meeting with two talks in the morning (at 10:15, Quakers of Baltboys, Co Wicklow, with John Hussey, and at 11:15, Culture, politics and local government in Fingal, 1891-1914, with Declan Brady) and two in the afternoon (at 2pm, Jacobs Biscuit Company and its archive, with Douglas Appleyard, and at 3pm, A Nobel scientist who lived in Dublin: Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961), with Niall McDevitt. Venue: Dublin City Library & Archive, 138 Pearse St, Dublin 2. Registration at 10am. Free. All welcome.

Monday 13 November: NLI Reading Room and Manuscript Room closed. Venue: National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. On-going Monday closures are to facilitate extensive redevelopment of the premises. All other services/exhibitons/cafe, including Genealogy Advisory Service operating as normal. Details.

Monday 13 November: Queen Victoria’s Gene, with Jenny Cummings. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey Branch. Venue: Drama Theatre, Glengormley High School, 134 Ballyclare Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 5HP. Free. 7pm. All welcome.

Monday 13 November: Sexuality in 18th-century Ireland:  Matchmaking, abductions, patterns, wake games and Merriman – a hidden Ireland revealed, with Dr David Fleming. Host: Venue: Scariff Public Library, Mountshannon Road, Scariff, Co. Clare. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 14 November: Emigration to Australia and New Zealand, a workshop with Michael McKeag. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society. Venue: NIFHS Research Centre, Unit C4, Valley Business Centre, 67 Church Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim. 2-4pm. All welcome. £7 – payable at the session. Need to book. See details.

Tuesday 14 November: IrishGenealogy.ie – a national treasure, with Tadhg O'Shea. Host: Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI). Venue: Dun Laoghaire Further Education Institute, Cumberland Street, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 8pm. €3 donation. All welcome.

Tuesday 14 November: Education records, with Valerie Adams. North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: The Bridge Community Centre, 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, BT28 1XP. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 14 November: The Advantages of Y-DNA, with Martin McDowell. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society. Venue: NIFHS Research Centre, Unit C4, Valley Business Centre, 67 Church Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim. 7-9pm. All welcome. £7 – payable at the session. Need to book. See details.

Tuesday 14 November: The Sheriff's Tale, with Brian Coleman. Host: More Tales of Medieval Dublin lecture series. Venue: Wood Quay Venue, Dublin City Council, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8. 1:05–1:55pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 14 November: The characters & history of Shankill graveyard, with Jim Conway. Host: Craigavon Historical Society. Venue: Craigavon Civic Centre, 66 Lakeview Rd, Craigavon, Co Armagh BT64 1A. 7:45pm to 9pm. Free. All welcome.

Wednesday 15 November: Making sense of the censuses, Tony Hennessy MAGI. Host and venue: Medieval Museum in Waterford's Viking Triangle, The Mall, Waterford City. All welcome. 1:15pm to 2pm. €5 admission on the door. No booking required.

Wednesday 15 November: How to break down brick walls, with Martin McDowell. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, North Armagh branch. Venue: Bleary Community Centre, 1 Deans Road, Bleary, Craigavon, Co Armagh, BT66 7AS. 7:30pm. All welcome. Free.

Wednesday 15 November: Cattle plague in Ireland: An early medieval game-changer, with Patrick O’Reilly. Host: Carlow Historical Society. Venue: Tullow Community School, Templeowen, Tullow, Co. Carlow. 8pm. Free. All welcome. Details.

Friday 17 November: Atlas of the Irish Revolution - West Cork examined, with Donal Ó Drisceoil. Host: Michael Collins House. Venue: Clonakilty Parish Centre, Western Rd, Maulnaskehy, Clonakilty, Co. Cork. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Friday 17 November: Irish Parish records, with Rhona Murray, and Combining DNA & Traditional Research Methods, with Eamon Healy. Hosts: Liverpool & South West Lancashire Family History Society, Liverpool Central Library and Ancestry UK. Venue: Central Library, 4th Floor Meeting Room, William Brown St., Liverpool 3, UK. 2pm–5pm. Tickets £5.90, includes refreshments. Tickets.

Saturday 18 November: Genealogy workshop, with Lynn Brady. Host and venue: Glasnevin Cemetery Museum, Finglas Rd, Dublin 11. Tickets €5. 2pm. All welcome. SOLD OUT.

Saturday 18 November: Researching Irish ancestors on the Internet, with Ann Eccles. Host: Irish Genealogical Society International. Venue: Celtic Junction Arts Center, 836 Prior Ave N, St Paul, MN, USA. $15 for IGSI members, $20 for non-members. 10:30am. Details.

Ancestry adds three Canadian collections

Ancestry has added three Canadian record sets to its database, and they are full of Irish names. The collections are:

Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923

Click for enlarged view of partial 1857 burial
register for St Paul, Toronto.

This collection includes Roman Catholic church records from 1760-1923 from a number of parishes across Ontario. It includes records (some in English, others in French, but some names in Latin) of baptisms, marriages, and burials.

Other records, such as family lists, communions, and confirmations may appear, but do not have associated indices. Detailed transcriptions provide various elements recorded in the registers and link to images on FamilySearch.

Canada, Census Mortality Schedule, 1871

This is an index-only record set with entries gathered from mortality schedules for the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec from 1871. The records vary but typically each entry includes most of the following: name, age, marital status and religion of the deceased, the month and place of death and the year and place of birth.

Mortality schedules are registers of deaths recorded at national level, usually corresponding with a census. This collection covers deaths which occurred during the 12 months prior to the 1871 census enumeration. The original records are held by Library and Archives of Canada, Ontario.

Ontario, Canada, Toronto Trust Cemeteries, 1826-1989

This collection includes records of several Toronto cemeteries, including: York General Burying Ground (also called Potter’s Field) 1826-1855; Necropolis Cemetery, 1849-1989; Mount Pleasant Cemetery, 1876-1988; and Prospect Cemetery, 1890-1985.

Indexed records are available up to and including 1935, but there are volumes of image-only indexes available via the browse option that may contain years through 1989. All the images are provided via Family Search.

Something extra for those with Canadian connections
The 1921 Census of Canada, previously online only via Ancestry, is newly available (free) at the Library and Archives Canada website.

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: latest updates

The photos and items added to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives in the second half of October are below. They are all free to access.

Fine stonemasonry for the Skerrit headstone,
in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Parish of
Meevagh, Carrigart, Co. Donegal.
Photo courtesy IGPArchives and Angela Gallagher,

CAVAN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Kill New Graveyard

DONEGAL Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Holy Trinity Church Graveyard, Carrigart

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Deansgrange Cemetery, St. Anne's Section, Pt. 7
Mt. Jerome Cemetery, Pts 179 & 180 (w/ vaults & input from Cem. Office)

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Magheracross Parish Churchyard, Ballinamallard

GALWAY Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Rahoon Cemetery

LEITRIM Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Carrigallen R.C. Graveyard

MONAGHAN & FERMANAGH - Church Records
Clones Parish Burial Registers, 1819-1821 (W. Div.)

ROSCOMMON Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Ballinlough Graveyard (CoI)
Elphin Cathedral

SLIGO Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Court Abbey - Section C
Kilmorgan Burial Ground

WESTMEATH Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Moate, St. Mary's (CoI)

WEXFORD Genealogy Archives - Newspapers
Workhouse Entries & Deaths 31 Aug 1867 & Feb 1862

WICKLOW Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Greenane, Main Cemetery, Part 2

IrishGenealogy.ie appears offline, but isn't

The state-managed IrishGenealogy.ie website appears to be having some issues today.

If you try to enter via the home page or any of the text-based pages, you get a big fat blank screen.

Both the civil registration records and the church records databases are functioning normally, however. You just need to use the direct-to-database links to reach them. They are:

Civil Registration Records

Church Records

I'll update here when the site sorts itself out.

Update: 3:45PM: The text pages have been reunited with the site. All appears back to normal.

TNA in London to remove self-service printing facilities

The National Archives (TNA) in Kew, London, will cease to provide self-service printing facilities or camera stations to visiting researchers from 11 December.

Researchers intending to view original documents are welcome to bring in their own camera, phone or other device to take images, provided such devices don't illuminate or physically touch a document. Digitial documents can be downloaded onsite and emailed without charge.

For those that require high-quality paper copies of original records, the TNA's record copying service will be available at standard advertised rates.

Researchers will be able to obtain a refund after 11 December of any unused funds remaining on their copying card or reader's ticket.

This decision has been made in response to a significant decrease in the demand for copying services over the past four years as researchers increasingly bring their own digital equipment.

Looking a bit further forward, the TNA has also announced that it is to change its document ordering times with effect from 1 January 2018. From that date, ordering times will be 9:30am to 4pm. Details.

Tony Hennessy appointed Resident Genealogist at Waterford's Medieval Museum

Tony Hennessy MAGI has been appointed Resident Genealogist at the Medieval Museum in Waterford's Viking Triangle. His arrival is being marked by a series of six lunchtime genealogy talks which start today (see below).

Tony Hennessy MAGI outside his new office

In his new role, Tony will be based at the Museum on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

As well as presenting his free lecture series, he will be available for one to one consultations (€30 for half an hour; €50 for an hour) and he'll be responding to the general genealogical queries that land on the desks of the local Council and Waterford Central Library.

He will also be involved in the development of public presentations of genealogy at the Museum; there are already plans for a visual heraldic display and a photographic display, both designed to encourage engagement with locals and visiting tourists.

Tony will also be happy to discuss commissions for genealogical research and for specialist family tree chart projects. He usually creates these attractive display charts for regular families in Ireland, the UK and the USA, but his work has also been presented to the mayors of Boston and Chicago and, more recently, US politician Bernie Sanders. You can find out more about these services and view examples of his charts at WaterfordOrigins.com.

The lunchtime lecture series will get underway today at the Medieval Museum (The Mall, Waterford City) at 1:15pm. There's a €5 admission fee for each 45-minute talk, and there's no need to book. You can just turn up. Here is the schedule of topics:

Wednesday 1 Nov.  Welcome to the Golden Age of Irish Genealogy

Wednesday 8 Nov.  Tracing your Family Tree: How to Start, Where to Start

Wednesday 15 Nov.  Making Sense of the Censuses

Wednesday 22 Nov.  Birth, Baptism, Marriage & Death

Wednesday 29 Nov.  Land Records - Walk in your Ancestor's Footsteps

Wednesday 6 Dec.  How to draw a Family Tree without using up four rolls of wallpaper