Limerick Archives launches Sean Wall Family Archive and exhibition

A new online exhibition and digital archive highlighting Limerick’s role in the War of Independence has been launched by Limerick City and County Council Archives Service. The exhibition is based on the Sean Wall Family Archive, a valuable collection of material relating to Limerick East Brigade leader Sean Wall and his extended family.

The material has been held by the family since he was shot dead while on active duty in May 1921 and was donated last year to the Council for preservation as part of the Decade of Centenaries commemoration.

It is now fully listed and digitised, and several resources – essays, interview videos and more – have been created; details here.

Sean Wall led the East Limerick Brigade, one of the first Flying Columns during the War of Independence. Throughout his tenure as Chairman of Limerick County Council, he was on the run from British authorities, and proved an effective manager and organiser and fundraised thousands of pounds for the Dáil Loan Scheme.

His brother, Fr. Tom Wall, was also an influential figure in nationalist and republican circles in Limerick, having founded the first Irish Volunteer branch in Limerick, while another brother, Bill Wall, was another IRA activist and took part in key engagements with the East Limerick brigade.

The virtual exhibition will mark the centenary of Sean Wall’s death, but a public exhibition about him is planned when public health restrictions allow.

Irish genealogy and history events, 10 May to 23 May

Monday 10 May: Many libraries, archives and similar research centres begin to reopen in the Republic of Ireland, subject to safety restrictions.

Wednesday 12 May: Ireland 1900 - 1925: Crisis, War and Revolution, launch of a new resource exploring some of the most significant events in Ireland’s modern history, from the introduction of the Third Home Rule Bill to the First World War, Easter Rising, partition of Ireland and the creation of two new states. 2pm to 3:15pm. Host: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Speakers: Janet Hancock, Deputy Head of Public Services, PRONI; Dr Timothy Bowman, Reader in Military History, University of Kent; Jim McBride, secretary of HTANI. Zoom event, free. Need to book

Wednesday 12 May: Ireland in Flanders: Men from the island of Ireland during the First World, with Piet Chielens, director of the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres. Host: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. All welcome. Free. 8pm. Need to register.

Thursday 13 May: From Turmoil to Truce: Photographs of the War of Independence, an online tour. Host: National Library of Ireland Photographic Archive. 11am. Free. All welcome. Need to book.

Thursday 13 May: Recovering the Voices of West Cork in the American Civil War, with Dr Damien Shiels. Host: Dúchas Clonakilty Heritage. An online lecture, starting at 8:30pm. Free. All welcome. Need to register. Details.

Thursday 13 May: Online book launch: Shadows from the Trenches - Veterans of the Great War and the Irish Revolution by Emmanuel Destenay. In conversation with Professor William Murphy. Host: UCD Press. 7pm. All welcome. Need to register.

Friday 14 May: From Speed to the OS: Surveying the Streets through the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, with Sarah Gearty. Host: Carti Cymru 2021 symposium (12-14 May), National Library of Wales. Free but need tickets. 1pm. Online.

Saturday 15 May: Emigrants and Exiles, the East Galway Story, a day conference. A range of speakers composed of descendants and academics will gather virtually across the diaspora to share their stories and the stories of their communities. Host: Trasna na Tíre. On Zoom. 11am (Irish/GMT+1). Free. Download programme pdf. Registration.

Saturday 15 May: House History Show, an online day conference, 10am to 4:30pm (plus series of weekly lectures for four following weeks). Organised by Family Tree magazine (UK). £45. Details.

Saturday 15 May: Padraic Colum Gathering 2021, an online festival hosted by Longford Libraries. Four lectures and more, from 10am to 4pm, will be presented online via Microsoft Teams. Free. All welcome. To view programme and joining arrangements, see Library.

Sunday 16 May: Pat Walsh; The Life and Legacy of an Irish Revolutionary, an online documentary. Host: Pat Walsh Memorial, Dunamaggin, Co Kilkenny. 3pm. Details.

Sunday 16 May: National Famine Commemoration, Republic of Ireland. The ceremony, led by President Michael D. Higgins, takes place in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin at 12pm on Sunday 16 May and includes military honours and a wreath laying ceremony in remembrance of all those who suffered or perished during the Famine. Due to current health restrictions, the event will not be open to the public, but will be broadcast on RTÉ News and the DTCAGSM's YouTube channel.

Tuesday 18 May: Revolutionary Daughters: Nora and Ina Connolly, with Liz Gillis. Host: Áras Uí Chonghaile | James Connolly Visitor Centre, Virtual Spring Programme. 7pm. Free. All welcome. View on Facebook or YouTube.

Tuesday 18 May:: 'UNTOLD' Donegal Women - War of Independence & Irish Civil War, with Caroline Carr. Host: Donegal County Museum. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome. Talk will be via GoToMeeting. Book by email to museum@donegalcoco.ie or telephone 0749 124613.

Wednesday 19 May:: Elections and Propaganda in Ireland and Carlow 1917-1921: Votes, Violence and Victory, with Dr Elaine Callinan. Host: Carlow Historical and Archeological Society. 8pm. Free. On Zoom and Facebook. Details and links.

Thursday 20 May: Sources for house histories, with Nicola Morris MAGI and NAI archivist Natalie Milne. Host: National Archives of Ireland. Online. Free. 6pm. Need to register.

New Irish title for BritishNewspaperArchive.com: The Ballina Herald

The Ballina Herald and Mayo and Sligo Advertiser has joined the online BritishNewspaperArchive (BNA). This database is shared with some FindMyPast subscriptions.

The paper was founded in 1844 as a weekly and carried local news and advertisements, as well as some national and international news. It continued publication until 1962 when it was merged with The Western People, a title still dominent in the region.

When fully digitised, the BNA's holding of the paper will span 1891 to 1927.

Click the image for information about the editions now available to search.

With this addition to the BNA/FindMyPast databases, the collection holds 211 Irish titles.

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.

English, Scottish & Welsh genealogy: 2-week summary of updates

Below is a summary of new and updated family history record collections for England, Scotland and Wales released by the major genealogy databases over the last week (for the previous summary, see 25 April blogpost).

This regular summary of releases and updates relating to British collections is designed to help family historians whose Irish ancestors migrated, temporarily or permanently, to England, Scotland or Wales.

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

The figures in parenthesis in the New Collections section are the numbers of records/images in the new record set.

Unless otherwise stated, the figures in parenthesis in the Updated Collections section reflect the number of records added to the collection in the recent update. In some instances, the supplier has not made this figure available. Where two figures are given, the first is the number of additions, the second is the new total.

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

NEW COLLECTIONS

BritishNewspaperArchive (shared with some FindMyPast subscriptions)

• Pierce Egan's Life in London, and Sporting Guide
• The Age
• Cycling
• British Emancipator
• Argus, or Broadsheet of the Empire
• Albion and the Star
• British Luminary
• The British Liberator
• Pictorial Times
• Mirror of the Times
• Beacon Edinburgh
• Weekly Journal Hartlepool
• Beacon London
• Midland Mail
• Glasgow Courier

FindMyPast

• Middlesex Poor Law Records (Parishes of Chelsea, St Luke; Ealing, St Mary; Feltham, St Dunstan; Fulham, All Saints; Hammersmith, St Paul; New Brentford, St Laurence; Shepperton, St Nicholas; Staines, St Mary; Stanwell, St Mary; Uxbridge, St Margaret. (16,058 records)

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

• London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936

FamilySearch

• Essex Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1971 (1,363) (104,215)
• Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996 (1,547) (132,893)
• Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-1898 (13,904)(1,405,121)
• Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988 (41,719) (1,875,744)
• Northumberland Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1920 (3,308) (94,100)
• Northumberland, Parish Registers, 1538-1950 (254,181) (2,771,114)

FindMyPast

• Monmouthshire Parishes (8,300 baptisms in 1921; 5,600 marriages/banns in 1936. Parish list)
• Glamorganshire Parises (Baptisms in 1921; marriages/banns in 1936. Parish list.)
• Devon Parish Records (122,000 Baptisms | 20,000 Marriages | 104,000 Burials)

National Library of Scotland

• Ordnance Survey Quarter-Inch Administrative Maps, Scotland, 1930s-1960 (85 maps)

Scottish Indexes

• Scottish Poor Relief (selected records from Wigtownshire, Roxburghshire and Peeblesshire)

The Genealogist

• Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858 (100,000+ names)

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.

New website for Cork Archives as it prepares to re-open on 11 May

Cork Archives has unveiled a new-look website. It was time. The old one was much in need of a re-fresh, at least, but this facelift is more than just a redesign.

The navigation has been reorganised and simplied, and users will find it much easier to find the sections they are interested in viewing and then digging deep into them. The online catalogue seems to be functioning a lot more smoothly and quickly than I remember, too, which is always welcome.

Coinciding with the launch of the revamped site, the Archives has confirmed that the building will reopen for research appointments on Tuesday 11 May. A smaller number of people will be allowed into the building at any one time, so there will be a restricted number of reader appointmens on offer than previously. They will be available Tuesday to Friday only, from 10:30am–12:30pm and from 2pm–4pm.

Researchers are advised to book their space well in advance.

Click the image to visit the new site.

May-June edition of History Ireland magazine published

The latest edition of History Ireland magazine is now available in the shops and online.

As always, its features and columns cover a wide span of Irish history. In this issue, topics include: The Carthusians in Ireland, The Templars and the mysterious Holy Rood of Ballinrobe; Ireland and the ‘£20 million swindle’; The ‘poor scholar’ in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century writing; Pantomime; The burning of the Custom House, 25 May 1921; Arguements for the parliament of Southern Ireland, 1921; The Beyond 2022 project to recreate a digital Public Record Office of Ireland; and a look at when neutral Ireland's emergency services went to war in the early 1940s.

In addition, the regular columns and opinion pieces explore Ireland's architectural heritage, artefacts, museums, and tv and book reviews, as well as letters from readers, and the latest news of interest to historians.

To check out this edition and find out more about subscriptions (postal or digital), click the image, right.

Three-week summary of new & updated USA genealogy collections

Below is a summary of US family history collections that have been released or updated by the major genealogy databases in the last three weeks. (The previous summary list was published on 12 April, see blogpost).

My regular summaries are designed to help family historians whose Irish ancestors emigrated, temporarily or permanently, to the United States.

By default, they should also be useful to anyone carrying out research in the US, regardless of the origin of their ancestors.

The figures in parenthesis in the New Collections section are the numbers of records/images in each new record set, if provided by the database.

Unless otherwise stated, the figures in parenthesis in the Updated Collections section reflect the number of records added to the collection in the recent update, if a number has been clearly noted by the supplier. I do not include updates of fewer than 1,000 records.

NEW COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

• Beaverhead County, Montana Records, 1862-2009 (34,892)
• Macon County, Illinois, Decatur Public Library Obituaries, 1879-2007 (163,794)
• Alabama, Madison Co. Chancery and Circuit Court Records, 1829-1968 (442,506)
• Judith Basin County, Montana, U.S., Records, 1887-2012 (19,996)
• Mineral County, Montana, U.S., Obituaries 1870-2010 (26,259)
• Deer Lodge County, Montana, Cemetery Records 1878-2005 (6451)

FamilySearch

• Colorado, Manitou Springs, Voter Records, 1935-1962 (4,911)
• Kentucky, Voter Registers and Registration Books, 1904-1935 (22,843)
• Montana, Military Discharge Records, 1917-1953 (2,234)
• Michigan, Military Discharge Records, ca.1847-ca.1965 (1,101)

Fold 3

• 96th Bomb Group, US 8th Air Force Details.

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

AmericanAncestors

• Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from:
  Most Precious Blood (Hyde Park), Sacred Heart (Boston), St. Aidan (Brookline), St. Margaret of Scotland (Beverly), St. Mary of the Assumption (Brookline), St. Augustine (South Boston), SS Peter and Paul (South Boston), St. Edward (Brockton) and St. John the Evangelist (Winthrop). (c440,000 additional searchable names)

Ancestry

• California, U.S., Sacramento Bee Newspaper Obits, Marriages, Births, 1859
• Indiana, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1802-1892
• Arizona, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1880-1935
• New Mexico, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1801-1993
• Wyoming, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1875-1908
• Alaska, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1883-1978
• Arizona, U.S., Death Records, 1887-1960
• West Virginia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1724-1985
• New York, Arriving Passenger/Crew Lists (incl. Castle Garden & Ellis Island), 1820-1957
• Texas, U.S., Arriving and Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1963
• NARA Collections on Ancestry.com
• U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999

Family Search

• The database updated 26 US collections

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.

Galway Archives digitises Loughrea Board of Guardians Minutes

Newly released from Galway County Council Archives are the Board of Guardians Minutes for Loughrea.

They date from 1839 to 1852, and can be downloaded in a series (GPL2) of more than 100 pdf documents (average size 33Mb), free of charge.

Loughrea Minutes recorded 189 deaths in the week ending
12 May 1849. Click image for larger view.

A full Descriptive List is also available within the series, and is worth exploring before you go diving in.

If you have ancestors from County Galway, be sure to check out some of the other collections to have made their way into the Council's Digital Archive. They represent a small selection of the county's full archive collection, and include some of the most important and most requested records. Included are the Burial Ground Registers for Tuam, 1882-1920, and several other Poor Law and Town Commissioners archives.

April's updates to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives

Genealogy records and headstone photographs from five counties were added to the free, online Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives (IGPA) during April. There's a summary below.

With Lockdowns easing across the island in the next few weeks, many family historians will be heading straight to the reading rooms of libraries and archives for a serious research fix. But for those who'd like a genealogy fix that helps other researchers, and gets your lungs full of fresh air, why not use that much-needed freedom of movement to photograph the headstones of a nearby burial ground?

Wall memorials to the Marrinam family at Inagh Old
Graveyard. Photo courtesy of Marianne McGough and IGPA.
Click image for larger view.

You can then donate your pix (transcribed or not) to IGPA for the benefit of genealogists around the world.

You'll find guidance on the IGPA site, here.

CLARE Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Inagh Old Graveyard (K-Unknown) (Now complete)

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Tierneys (R.C.) Part 3

GALWAY Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Moylough Graveyard

KILKENNY Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Owning Old Graveyard (partial)

TIPPERARY Genealogy Archives - Family History
Rev Walter Skehan Notes Vol 43 with QUIRKE partial (PDF)

Online Irish genealogy and history events, 2 - 15 May

Sunday 2 May: Taking the Biscuit, a specially commissioned drama set during Easter Week 1916 in Jacob’s Factory Garrison under the command of Commandant Thomas MacDonagh. Written and directed by Martin Maguire, the drama is based mainly on documents held in the Military Archives. Host: Cloughjordan Honours Thomas MacDonagh 2021, Cloughjordan Heritage Group. 8pm. Free. Online. Download programme or see MacdonaghHeritage.ie for booking.

Monday 3 May: Bank Holiday in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Monday 3 May: The Modreeny Ambush Centenary, with Ger Heffernan providing a detailed account of the involvement of the Irish Republican Army ‘Flying Column’, local Volunteers and the Royal Irish Constabulary in one of the final military acts of the Irish War of Independence. Host: Cloughjordan Honours Thomas MacDonagh 2021, Cloughjordan Heritage Group. 8pm. Free. Online. Download programme or book at MacdonaghHeritage.ie.

Wednesday 5 May: 'Admirals for a Day’: Reading and discussion, with Cormac O’Malley. Host: National Library of Ireland. Online. Need to book. Free. 7:30pm.

Thursday 6 May: WWI: Exploring the Irish Experience, a virtual exhibition tour. Host: National Library of Ireland. All welcome. Free, but need to book tickets. 11am.

Thursday 6 May: Blitz 80: Hands Across the Border: Assistance from southern fire brigades in the Belfast Blitz, by Las Fallon. Hosts: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland War Memorial (NIWM). Online presentation. 2pm. Free. All welcome. Need to register.

Thursday 6 May: WWI: Life in an Irish Towerhouse, with Donal Burke. Host: Irish Workhouse Centre First Friday Series of talks. 8pm online. €5. Book here.

Thursday 6 May: The Dolphin's Barn Brickworks, with Cathy Scuffil. Host: Walkinstown Library/Dublin City Libraries. 11am. Online. Free. Need to register. Details.

Monday 10 May: Many libraries, archives and similar research centres begin to reopen in the Republic of Ireland, subject to safety restrictions.

Wednesday 12 May: Ireland 1900 - 1925: Crisis, War and Revolution, launch of a new resource exploring some of the most significant events in Ireland’s modern history, from the introduction of the Third Home Rule Bill to the First World War, Easter Rising, partition of Ireland and the creation of two new states. 2pm to 3:15pm. Host: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Speakers: Janet Hancock, Deputy Head of Public Services, PRONI; Dr Timothy Bowman, Reader in Military History, University of Kent; Jim McBride, secretary of HTANI. Zoom event, free. Need to book

Wednesday 12 May: Ireland in Flanders: Men from the island of Ireland during the First World, with Piet Chielens, director of the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres. Host: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. All welcome. Free. 8pm. Need to register.

Thursday 13 May: From Turmoil to Truce: Photographs of the War of Independence, an online tour. Host: National Library of Ireland Photographic Archive. 11am. Free. All welcome. Need to book.

Thursday 13 May: Recovering the Voices of West Cork in the American Civil War, with Dr Damien Shiels. Host: Dúchas Clonakilty Heritage. An online lecture, starting at 8:30pm. Free. All welcome. Need to register. Details.

Friday 14 May: From Speed to the OS: Surveying the Streets through the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, with Sarah Gearty. Host: Carti Cymru 2021 symposium (12-14 May), National Library of Wales. Free but need tickets. 1pm. Online.

Saturday 15 May: Emigrants and Exiles, the East Galway Story, a day conference. A range of speakers composed of descendants and academics will gather virtually across the diaspora to share their stories and the stories of their communities. Host: Trasna na Tíre. On Zoom. 11am (Irish/GMT+1). Free. Download programme pdf. Register at EventBrite.