Mayo County Library has digitised Ballinrobe Workhouse collection

Mayo County Library's Local Studies team has released online its newly digitised Ballinrobe Poor Law Union Workhouse collection.

Click image to reach Mayo's Workhouse Collection home page

Forty volumes of minute books are available in pdf format for free download from the Library's County council's website, along with informative articles about the workhouses, the role of the Board of Guardians, and other matters under the control of the local regime, and a gallery of maps and newspaper cuttings.

I would recommend any researcher new to these types of resources to read these articles and, whether experienced or not, to check out the comprehensive collection directory and index. This 73-page word doc should be consulted for details of the content of the individual pdf files.

The collection includes Board of Guardian minute books (1844-1899), financial records (1841-1931), letter books (1855-1915), workhouse infirmary records (1906-1921) and outdoor relief records (1874-1926).

Click each item below to access the pdf menu for each category.

• Ballinrobe Workhouse Minute Books, 1844 - 1872
• Ballinrobe Workhouse Minute Books 1872 cont'd - 1899
• Ballinrobe Workhouse Financial Records
• Ballinrobe Union Letter Books
• Ballinrobe Union Legal Matters and Workhouse Administration
• Ballinrobe Union Outdoor Relief and Workhouse Infirmary (incl. death register 1906-19)

In total, there are more than 160 pdfs to explore.

€25m redevelopment funding for Trinity College Dublin’s Old Library

The Government has announced funding of €25 million towards the restoration of one of Ireland’s foremost national heritage sites: the Old Library at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

The Old Library is home to the magnificent Long Room (see image below), 350,000 early printed books, and 20,000 precious manuscript and archive collections, including the 9th-century Book of Kells. Its priceless collection spans millennis and has been in the care of TCD for more than 400 years.

But it now faces significant conservation and environmental challenges. External pollution and dust accumulation are taking their toll on the collections and the fabric of the Old Library building.

There is a need to modernise environmental control and fire protection measures. Recent fires in similar heritage sites across the globe provide stark warnings.

The Old Library Redevelopment Project draws on the best 21st-century design and technology to safeguard the Old Library building and conserve its precious collections for future generations. It includes urgent structural and environmental upgrades; and the redevelopment of facilities in line with the best library and museum experiences around the world.

A new Research Collections Study Centre will provide national and international scholars with a secure, accessible, and inspiring environment to intimately study the unique and distinct collections.

Located in the beautifully colonnaded ground floor, the Research Collections Study Centre will overlook Library Square, one of the original historic courtyards at Trinity College. In addition, a Virtual Trinity Library will provide digital access to the unique and distinct collections of the Library across the world.

The Government's allocation is the most significant funding award for the cultural heritage sector this year.

Mná 100 explores women's contributions to Irish nation's history

A new online resource, aimed at showcasing women's participation in political, military, professional and domestic roles over the last 100 years, has been launched as part of the Republic of Ireland's Decade of Centenaries commemorative programme.

Mná 100 explores the experiences and influence of women who lived during this period of immense change. Some are well-known and have contributed significantly to Irish political life and public service. Others have never before found their voices.

Click to view the Pop Up Women's Museum exhibition tour

But through new research and archival discoveries, and the generosity of the many descendants of those women who have given access to their private archives of family photographs, letters and personal mememtos, their stories can now be told and their contribution to historical events, particularly the campaign for independence and the Civil War, examined and valued.

Through the medium of film, podcast, articles, exhibitions, photo essays and webinars, Mná 100 offers another online primary source for people with an interest in the concerns, beliefs and lives of their female ancestors, and their contributions to the nation's history.

Find out more by clicking the Mná 100 logo above.

Two-week summary of new and updated US 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 two weeks. (The previous summary list was published on 4 May, 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

• New Hampshire, U.S., Birth Records, 1631-1920 (2,127,345)
• New Hampshire, U.S., Revolutionary War Records, 1675-1835 (83,367)
• New Hampshire, U.S., Death Records, 1650-1969 (2,311,67)
• New Hampshire, U.S., Divorce Certificates, 1850-1969 (158,511)
• New Hampshire, U.S., Marriage Records, 1700-1971 (3,581,392)
• New Hampshire, U.S., Marriage Records, 1770-1961 (10,105)

Family Search

• Louisiana, Orleans Parish, State Museum Historical Center, Cemetery Records, 1805-1944 (8,671)
• United States, Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916-1939 (1,568,928)
• Texas, Hardin County, Deed Records, 1840-1920 (714)

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

AmericanAncestors

• Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from:
  Sacred Heart, Boston | Sacred Heart, Brockton | St Alphonsus, Beverly | St Francis of Assisi, Cambridge | St John the Evangelist, Cambridge| St Joseph, Belmont | St John the Evangelist, Canton | Sacred Heart, Groton | Sacred Hearts, Haverhill. (Total 170,000 searchable names added)

Ancestry

• New York, U.S., Record of Award Medal, 1920-1991
• Charlotte County, Virginia, U.S., Births, 1875-1878
• Hawaii, U.S., Marriage Certificates and Indexes, 1841-1944

FamilySearch

• Some 34 collections updated. Follow the link, then click the (bold blue) 'Last Updated' option twice for full listing of most recent updates.

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.

Did your Tipperary ancestors own dogs during the War of Independence?

Tipperary Studies, the county library's specialist local history department based at The Source in Thurles, has been beavering away for some years on its project to digitise material held in its archive. I've mentioned many of the releases on Irish Genealogy News, and over the time, the number and scale of collections and documents held in the free digital archive has grown hugely.

Click to view enlarged image from 1918 dog licence register

Another major release is due shortly. It relates to the library's famine records, and nearly all of the project work was carried out during the Lockdown. I'll bring news when the upload is completed and the records are ready for us.

In the meantime, researchers with Tipperary connections can enjoy a hunt through some newly-digitised Dog Licence Registers, none of which is included in the huge indexed dog licence collections available through the FindMyPast and Ancestry databases.

These registers cover the areas around Mullinahone, Drangan, Cloneen, and Glengoole, Gortnahoe, Killenaule, and run from 1918 to 1923.

It's worth reading this fact-filled feature article from the Tipperary Studies team as it sets the records in historical context, and picks out some of the more notable entries.

Online Irish genealogy and history events, 17 - 30 May

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.

Thursday 20 May: Burning the Custom House, 25 May 1921. Part of the centenary programme. Two lectures: The Civilian Dead, with Brian Smith, and The Human Cost for the IRA, with Des White. Online. Free on Facebook at 8pm. (Recording will be on YouTube in due course.)

Thursday 20 May: Collecting the National Memory, with Dr Sandra Collins, Director of the National Library of Ireland. Host: University College Dublin. 11am. Online. Free. Details.

Saturday 22 May: The Firemen's Tale, with Las Fallon. Host: Burning the Custom House, 25 May 1921 centenary programme. Online. Free on Facebook at 8pm. (Recording will be on YouTube in due course.)

Sunday 23 May: Caught in the Middle - Inside the Custom House 25 May 1921, with Mícheál Ó Doibhilín. Host: Burning the Custom House, 25 May 1921 centenary programme. Online. Free on Facebook at 8pm. (Recording will be on YouTube in due course.)

Monday 24 May: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland reopens to the public on an appointment only basis. Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Information.

Tuesday 25 May: People Power and Places: Grand Jury Records and Local History, ad afternoon seminar presented as part of the Beyond 2022: Ireland's Virtual Record Treasury Research Project in association with Local Government Archivists and Records Managers. 2:30pm–5pm. Free. All welcome. Details and registration.

Tuesday 25 May: ‘Burning the Books’: Series finale of 'Out of the Ashes'. Lecture with Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian, Oxford, followed by Ovenden in conversation with Helen Shenton, College Librarian and Archivist of Trinity College Dublin. Hosted by Beyond 2022: Ireland’s Virtual Record Treasury Research Project in association with Local Government Archivists and Records Managers. Free. 7pm–8:30pm. Online. All welcome. Details and registration.

Tuesday 25 May: Past Lives: Exploring histories of Family, an online workshop and part of the Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival 2021. Host: University of Limerick. Includes the following presentations: The marginalisation of ex-servicemen in the Limerick District Lunatic Asylum, 1900-1925, with Stuart Clancy; The Earl Grey Orphans of Kilrush Union Workhouse, 1848-1850, with Sharon Dilger-Kelly; The South Limerick Volunteers, with Padraig Hogan. 4pm to 5pm. Details.

Tuesday 25 May: Burning of the Custom House, with Liz Gillis, final lecture in the centenary programme. Online. Free on Facebook at 8pm. (Recording will be on YouTube in due course.)

Tuesday 25 May: Kilstifeen and phantom island traditions of the west coast, with Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh, National Folklore Collection, UCD. Host: Kilrush and District History Society. Online. 8pm. Free. Link.

Thursday 27 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 27 May: Climate shocks and climate change: Climate and society in 18th-century Ireland, with Professor James Kelly. The J.C. Beckett Memorial Lecture. Host: The Ulster Society of Irish Historical Studies (USIHS) and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). Online. 7-8pm. Free, but need to register.

Thursday 27 May and Friday 28 Mary Silences and Inconvenient Truths in Irish Culture and Society – the 19th International AEDEI Conference. A virtual event hosted by the University of Vigo via its free TV streaming service. Free. All welcome. Programme and details.

English, Scottish & Welsh genealogy updates: this week's summary

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 7 May 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)

• Inverness Advertiser and Rossshire Chronicle
• Beacon London
• Inverness Joural and Northern Advertiser
• Saturday Inverness Advertiser
• Teviotdale Record and Jedburgh Advertiser
• Weekly Free Press And Aberdeen Herald
• Glasgow Weekly Mail
• Kirriemuir Free Press and Angus Advertiser
• Glasgow Weekly Herald
• Kirriemuir Observer and General Advertiser

FindMyPast

• Norfolk, Churchyard Graves and Memorials, an image-only collection, arranged by burial ground
• British Army Service Records, Scots Guards (44,890 records from WWII and later)

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

• Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989-2020 (752,902)
• England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2019 (5,486,849)

DeceasedOnline

• Brookwood Cemetery, 1854-2016 (243,000)

FamilySearch

• Wales, Marriage Bonds, 1650-1900 (947 added. Total 207,779)
• England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988 (New total 1,985,911)
• England, Lancashire, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1746-1799 (New total 3,486)
• England, Northumberland Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1920 (New total 101,255)
• England, Hertfordshire, Marriage Bonds, 1682-1837 (New total 3,743)
• England, Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-1898 (New total 1,456,543)
• England, Essex Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1971 (New total 107,405)
• England, Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996 (New total 133,129)
• England, Lincolnshire, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1574-1885 (New total 71,729)

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.

Irish Ancestors, Irish Lives: explore their world in this online course

An interesting Irish genealogy and history course, hosted by the Society of Genealogists, will be held online on Wednesday evenings over six weeks starting on 2 June. Each weekly session will run from 6pm to 8pm (GMT+1).

Called Irish Ancestors, Irish Lives, the course is as much about helping researchers to understand the daily lives, social issues and concerns of their Irish ancestors as it is about finding and successfully exploiting relevant historical and genealogical records, both common and lesser-known sources.

It will be presented by Jill Williams and Roz McCutcheon, both of them Fellows of the Irish Genealogical Research Society, and both experienced and popular speakers at the SOG and elsewhere.

Their workshops and courses nearly are nearly always fully booked, so if this sounds just like the type of course you've been looking for to help you understand the lives of your forbears, and how to progress your research, I'd suggest you book quickly.

The cost of the six-week course is £112.50, discounted to £90 for SOG members. You'll find out more about the course, including the topics to be presented at each session, on the SOG site.

RootsIreland will be offline from 5pm for scheduled maintenance

The Irish Family History Foundation has advised that its RootsIreland.ie database, which holds more than 24million records, most of them from church registers (several denominations) and civil records, will be offline from 5pm this evening due to scheduled maintenance.

Five hours has been allocated for the maintenance tasks to be carried out, so the database should be back up and running by 10pm (Irish/GMT+1), but it could be earlier. 

 

FindMyPast offers 20% savings on most subscription packages

FindMyPast is offering a 20% discount on most of its subscription packages. Such savings don't come along as often as they used to - this is the first, I believe, for six months - so if you were casually thinking of getting stuck into your genealogy research, or returning to it after a break, this might be the time to get your decision cap on.

While the saving doesn't amount to much on a one-month package, it certainly is worth having if you were thinking of taking out an annual subscription. If you're a brand-new or returning customer, be sure to take advantage of the offer before 10am (GMT+1) on Saturday 15 May.

Choose from the flags below to claim the discount from the site most appropriate to your research needs.

You'll find all the details about what's included in each package on the landing page.

	FindMyPast Ireland – 20% off 1-month Starter and Pro (not Plus) subs and 12-Month Starter, Plus and Pro packages.
	FindMyPast USA/Canada – 20% off 1- or 12-Month subscriptions to Essential and Ultimate packages.
	FindMyPast UK – 20% off 3- and 12-Month subscriptions to Starter, Plus and Pro packages
	FindMyPast Australia/NZ – 20% off 1-month Starter or Pro (not Plus) subs, and 12-Month Starter, Plus and Pro packages.

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.