Nearly half a million Irish-born appear in the 1950 US Census

Last week, Ancestry announced the preliminary release of their transcription of the 1950 US Census. Impressive stuff, given images of the census returns were released only on 1 April. This speedy transcription was achieved by the company's proprietory handwriting recognition software and although it hasn't been fully quality checked, they took the decision to release it to researchers.

I've given it a quick spin to check out the Irish contingent. I'm not fully convinced of the figures returned by my searches, but the number of Irish-born individuals appearing in the collection's index is just shy of half a million: 483,099.

Of these, more than 2,090 were in their nineties (born 1850-1860) as were 8,080 other residents born anywhere other than Ireland. A further 39 Irish-born claimed to be centenarians.

The oldest of the Irish-born were two gents recorded as 104 (see below): Dennis Sullivan (transcribed as Sullman) of Marlborough, Middlesex, Massacussetts and Edmund Walsh of Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan. The Sullivan family – he was living with his daughter and son-in-law – may have been having a family joke, as Dennis was buried two years after this census and his headstone records him as 10 years younger.

Edward Walsh is proving a little more difficult to confirm one way or the other, but he is living in 1950 with a 75-year-old woman. She describes him as a bachelor 'roomer', so may not have known him well.

Upgraded Placenames Database of Ireland - Logainm.ie - now online

The much appreciated Placenames Database of Ireland – Logainm.ie – has been redeveloped and will be officially launched tomorrow, 12 May, by Jack Chambers TD, Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and Sport.

Improved search functions, additional browsing facilities, and new maps from Ordnance Survey Ireland and OpenStreetMap have been part of the upgrade, and very welcome they are, too (the refreshed site is already accessible).

These upgrades helped me out yesterday when I was exploring a new dna match. The family surnames appearing in the match's online tree looked promising, but the place of origin was stated as Glen Givet. Hmmm. Never heard of that one.

Thanks to Logainm's suggestions and maps, I was soon looking deeper into records for the civil parish of Glenlealy, the neighbour of Wicklow parish, which my mother's maternal line called home for more than two centuries.

I still haven't made the link (I haven't had much time), but I'm reasonably confident I will.

To mark the launch of the improved site, a Place Names Workshop: Place names in bilingual areas will be presented by Dublin City University's All Hallows Campus. It will be held from 10:30am to 5pm in Irish on Thursday and and from 9:30am to 5pm on Friday in English. The programme is available to download here. Any queries, contact logainm@dcu.ie.

Belfast City Cemetery records: free enhanced access coming soon

I attended a presentation hosted by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland this lunchtime and learned that the £2.8million Belfast City Cemetery Heritage Project will not only see some of the burial ground's outstanding architectural features restored and the creation of a new visitor centre, it will also provide family historians with a new digital and interactive resource.

The burial ground, which was opened in 1869 and now covers more than 80 acres, is the final resting place for an estimated 225,000 people.

For some years, burial records have been available via the Belfast City Council website (here), which provides images of records over 75 years old at a fee of £1.50 each.

However, as part of the Heritage Project's remit to introduce new and improved digital experiences, PlotBox.io – a Ballymena-based company specialising in Management Software & Mapping For Cemeteries – has surveyed, photographed and mapped the cemetery plot by plot and carried out a full audit to verify the digital data for each burial matches the Council's historical documentation.

Researchers will recognise Plotbox as the company behind (Discover) EverAfter, a free site hosting burial details for many cemeteries in Northern Ireland. The businessnow has a 80-strong team across its NI HQ and offices in Boston and San Franscico.

Today's brief presentation was given by Plotbox's Solution Consultant Niall Adams. He ran through various features of how genealogists will be able to search the Belfast City Cemetery site, zoom into its map to identify the exact location of each plot, view the headstone, and find out whether the plot is shared (and if so, with whom). Niall said the new database is not quite ready for public access, but its launch is not far off. All the records will be free, and registration will not be required.

I understand the physical architectural restoration and new-build elements of the Heritage Project, which has been partially financed through the Heritage Lottery Fund, are due to be completed and opened this summer, so it may be that the digital elements have to wait for the official launch before the button is pressed.

Irish genealogy, history and heritage events, 9-22 May

Monday 9 May: Pier 53, Philadelphia, an online talk with Susan McAninley, plus AGM. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey Branch. All welcome. Non-members should contact Branch Secretary at Newtownabbey@nifhs.org for zoom link. 7pm–8:30pm BST. Free.

Monday 9 May: Ferries on the Foyle, an online talk with Dr Jim Condren, plus AGM. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. 7pm to 8:30pm. Talk Postponed.

Monday 9 May: Visit to the Livingstone Centre, an in-person event at The Livingstone Centre, 3 Church Hill, Killinchy, Newtownards, Co Down. Host: NIFHS, Killyleagh Branch. All welcome. For confirmation of meeting time and other details, contact the Branch Secretary at Killyleagh@nifhs.org.

Monday 9 May: Big Jim Larkin 1874-1947, an in-person talk with Historian-in-Residence James Curry. A Mondays at the Mess event. Venue: Richmond Barracks, Inchicore, Dublin 8. 7pm–8pm. All welcome. Admission: €5 full / €3 conc. – includes refreshments after the talk. Booking.

Tuesday 10 May: Towards an understanding of Mary MacSweeney: Trauma and the Brixton Hunger Strike, 1920, with Dr Leeann Lane, an in-person talk presented to coincide with The Treaty 1921 exhibition. Hosts: Tipperary County Council and the National Archives. 7pm. Free. All welcome. Venue: The Source, Cathedral St, Thurles, Co Tipperary. Details.

Tuesday 10 May: Military Records - Nineteenth century British Army, WW1 & the Irish Revolution, an advanced family history workshop with Declan Brady. In-person at Richmond Barracks, Inchicore, Dublin 8. 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Free. Details. Fully booked

Tuesday 10 May: From the Ashes: Creation of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, with Stephen Scarth. An online event hosted by the Antrim and Down branch of the Western Front Association (WFA) and PRONI. Free. All welcome. 7pm. Need to register before 6pm on the day to receive link. Details.

Tuesday 10 May: Early Irish Immigrants to Essex County, an online talk by Laura Smith. Host: Essex Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, Essex Branch. Non-members welcome. Free. Pre-registration is required. 7pm EDT / 12pm Ireland. Details.

Wednesday 11 May: Waterford Heritage – Plans, Projects and Partnerships, an in-person event with Bernadette Guest, Waterford County Heritage Officer discussing her role and projects. Host: Waterford Museum Society. All welcome. 8pm. Venue: upstairs at Merry’s Gastro Bar, Lower Main Street Dungarvan. Admission fee €5.

Thursday 12 May: The National Archives – the Memory of the Nation, with John Hedigan and NAAC panel. An online YouTube event charting the evolution of the National Archives as the memory of the Irish State from the 18th century to the present day. 6pm. All welcome. Free. Register by 5pm on day of event.

Thursday 12 May: Cleave's Creamery Tipperary – taken over by the workers on 12 May 1922, a talk with Des Marnane. In-person event at The Excel, Mitchell St, Tipperary. 8pm. Details.

Thursday 12 May: Grangegorman's archive collection, an online lecture with Brian Donnelly, senior archivist at the NAI. Host: TU Dublin Conservatoire. Part of the Stages of Memory project. 5pm. Free. All welcome. Need to register on Eventbrite.

Thursday 12 May: ‘Such troubled times’: the burning of big houses in Northern Ireland 1921-1981, with Olwen Purdue. Part of the online Burning the Big House lecture series. Host: Centre for the Study of Historic Irish houses and Estates, History Department, Maynooth University. 7pm to 8pm. Booking. Fully booked.

Saturday 14 May: Home to Mayo, a day programme from the Mayo Genealogy Group celebrating its work at past and present projects. In-person. Venue: Museum of Country Life, Turlough, Castlebar, Co Mayo. Talks and presentations from 11am to 1pm followed by tours with an emigration focus from 2pm and 3pm. Free. Details.

Sunday 15 May: O'Connell Avenue, Limerick City, a free walking tour with Dr Paul O'Brien. An in-person event. Meet at the Model School, O'Connell Street, Limerick at 1.45pm. Tour starts at 2pm. All welcome.

Monday 16 May: AGM & Update on the Islandmagee Project, with Martin McDowell & Anne Johnston. An online event hosted by the North of Ireland Family History Society, Larne Branch. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome. Email Larne@nifhs.org by Saturday noon for link.

Monday 16 May: ‘The Temple, the Ark and the Edicule': Recreating Jerusalem in Early Medieval Offaly, with Dr Tomás Ó Carragáin (UCC). An online lecture hosted by Offaly History. All welcome. 7:30pm via Zoom. Free. Email info@offalyhistroy.com for the link.

Tuesday 17 May: AGM and Branch meeting, an online event hosted by the North of Ireland Family History Society's South Tyrone Branch. Non-members welcome. Free. 8pm. Email to SouthTyrone@nifhs.org for zoom link.

Thursday 19 May: Ablaze! Fire and the country house: a perspective beyond Ireland, with Christopher Ridgway. Last of the online Burning the Big House lecture series. Host: Centre for the Study of Historic Irish houses & Estates, Maynooth University. 7pm–8pm. Booking. Fully booked.

Thursday 19 May: A day programme of workshops exploring how the Irish Historic Towns Atlases are used by various sectors from academic to architectural. An online event, live-streamed from the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin 2. Free. All welcome. 9:30am to 6pm. Need to register. Details.

Thursday 19 May: Ancestral Voices: Dillon and Parnell, the 2022 J.C. Beckett Memorial lecture with Professor Paul Bew. An in-person event hosted by the Ulster Society of Irish Historical Studies (USIHS) and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). Venue: PRONI, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Titanic Quarter, Belfast, BT3 9HQ. 7pm. Free. Need to book in advance.

Saturday 21 May: Black '47 conference. Lectures and discussions exploring the Great Famine in the year of 1847, emigration, protest and consequences. In-person event. Venue: Irish Workhouse Centre in Portumna, County Galway. 9am–5pm. All welcome. Fee: €25 per person, includes welcome tea/coffee and scone, lunch and other refreshments. Details.

Black '47: a full day conference at the Irish Workhouse Centre

Marking its 175th anniversary, the Irish Workhouse Centre in Portumna, County Galway is hosting its first of this year's annual conferences – Black '47 – on Saturday 21 May.

It's a full 9–5 affair, with a top-notch line-up of speakers, and comes with tea/coffee in the morning to set you up for the learning and discussions that follow, and lunch to keep the motors running.

Here's an overview of the programme:

• 9am – 10am Registration / Tea/coffee and scones
• 10am Official welcome
• 10.30am Sending back Ireland’s Paupers: The repatriation of the Irish from Britain during the Great Hunger, with Dr Gerard Moran
• 11.15am Tea/Coffee
• 11.30am Patient Endurance: The Great Famine in Connemara, with Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill
• 12.15pm ‘We won’t allow one grain of corn to leave the country’: Protest and resistance, 1846-’47, with Dr John Cunningham
• 1pm-2pm Lunch
• 2pm The Famine Irish in Toledo, Ohio: An Exploration of ‘Mutative Ethnicity’, with Dr Regina Donlon
• 2.45pm Done to Death: The human skeletal Evidence of the Great Famine, with Dr Linda Lynch
• 3.30pm Oral Accounts of Disease and Mortality in the Great Famine, with Dr Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh
• 4.15pm – 5pm Open Panel

For fuller details of the speakers and their topics, download the conference brochure by clicking the image above.

The conference will be held at the Irish Workhouse Centre and costs €25 per delegate. It is part-funded by the Heritage Office, Galway County Council and supported by the Heritage Council and Galway Rural Development.

Latest records added to RootsIreland are from County Westmeath

The Dún na Sí Heritage Centre has uploaded 3,600 new burial and marriage records to its County Westmeath database on RootsIreland.ie. The new records are split across two collections, as follows:

Burials

• Clonfad & Fransciscan Abbey – 483 records
• Portshanaghan Churchyard – 23 records
• Ballyloughloe Churchyard – 40 records
• Bunowen – 7 records
• Killua – 19 records
• St Johns Churchyard Clonmellon – 32 records
• Castletown Geoghegan – 40 records
• Clonarney – 105 records
• Lacken – 97 records
• Knockmant – 12 records
• Scarden – 25 records
• Kilcolumb – 139 records
• Clonlost – 26 records
• Griffinstown – 18 records
• Miscellaneous – 1913 records

Marriages

• Mountnugent RC Marriages – 227 additional records

You can see a full breakdown of the Westmeath record collections here. 

NAI Reader's Tickets: optional online application system launched

The National Archives of Ireland has introduced an online application system for Reader's Tickets. The application process is straightforward and all supporting documentation — photo ID and proof of address — can be uploaded directly from your computer device.

While the application can now be made online, the Reader’s Ticket will not be issued online or by post. It will be issued only when you next attend the NAI in Bishop Street in person. It cannot be collected by a third party.

The benefit of the online application will be clear to those researchers living abroad as they can submit their application well In advance of their trip and won't have to remember to bring their utility bills etc with them.

The non-online application process is still available.

You can find out more on the NAI's website.

Ancestry adds two indexes of obituaries and marriages from Ireland

Ancestry has added two new collections of records of potential use to Irish and British genealogists.

They are:

UK and Ireland, Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current. This is an index of obituaries published in the Newspapers.com database. It holds only basic details. You need a Newspapers.com subscription to view the full published obituary. There are 40,971 entries from newspapers published in Antrim (21,363) and Dublin (19,608).

All UK and Ireland, Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-current Results. This is an index of marriage announcements published in the Newspapers.com database. It holds only basic details. You need a Newspapers.com subscription to view the full published announcement. The index holds 18,460 entries from newspapers published in Ireland, 7,414 published in Antrim titles, 11,046 in Dublin titles.

April (headstones) additions to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives

A sizeable bundle of headstones photos and transcribed inscriptions were added to Ireland Genenealogy Projects Archives last month, more than 300 of them from Midleton's Holy Rosary cemetery alone (and there's 900 more from the same burial ground still in the pipe!).

Holy Rosary Cemetery, Midleton County Cork.
Photo courtesy of Angela Gallagher and IGP Archives.
Click for enlarged view.

As always, the files in the online Archives, whether they are record transcriptions, newspaper cuttings, memorial cards, headstone or any other items of potential value to Irish genealogists, are free to access thanks to the individual volunteers who donate them.

CORK Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Holy Rosary Cemetery RC, Midleton, Parts 2&3
St Colman's RC Graveyard, Cloyne, Part 4 (Finished)

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Kilbarrack Graveyard, Sutton, End of Section 2

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Kinard (New) Cemetery, Glin

LONGFORD Genealogy Archives – Headstones
Kilcommock Old Graveyard (partial)

MONAGHAN Genealogy Archives – Headstones
St Dympnas CoI Graveyard, Ballinode (Text File updated)

Irish genealogy, history and heritage events from 2 to 15 May

Monday 2 May: May Bank Holiday across the island. All repositories closed.

Tuesday 3 May: The Treaty 1921, the National Archives of Ireland's exhibition is on tour and will be at The Source Arts Centre, Cathedral Road, Thurles, County Tipperary until 31 May. Free. In-person event. All welcome. Details.

Tuesday 3 May: Newspapers and Directories, an advanced family history workshop with Declan Brady. In-person at Richmond Barracks, Inchicore, Dublin 8. 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Free, but need to book. Fully booked.

Tuesday 3 May: Five Top Tips for Analysing your DNA Results, an online refresher class with Anne Johnston. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society. 7pm-8pm. Fee: £10. All welcome. Need to book.

Wednesday 4 May: Archives and Memory, North and South, an online discussion with Janet Hancock, Stephen Scarth and Tim Murtagh from PRONI and Nigel Johnston from NAI. Hosted by PRONI, NAI and Trinity Long Room Hub. 7pm–8:15pm. An online event. Free. All welcome. Details. Need to book.

Wednesday 4 May: Defending the Interests of Dublin's Poor: Sarah Cecilia Harrison and the 'greatest tragedy of modern times', an in-person event with Dr Mary Muldowney. Host: Dublin City Council. Venue: Central Library, Ilac Shopping Centre, Henry Street, Dublin 1. 1pm. Free. All welcome. Need to book.

Wednesday 4 May: Documentary screening of Burren Girl, a Minnesota woman's quest to discover her County Clare ancestors, followed by discussion. An in-person event (Ireland premier) to be hosted at Hotel Doolin, Fitz Cross, Doolin, Co Clare. 8pm to 10pm. All welcome. Free. Donations to Burrenbeo Trust appreciated. Booking essential. View trailer.

Thursday 5 May: The ruined Irish country house: reality and perception, with Robert O'Byrne. Part of the online Burning the Big House lecture series. Host: Centre for the Study of Historic Irish houses and Estates, History Department, Maynooth University. 7pm to 8pm. Booking. Fully booked.

Thursday 5 May: The Treaty 1921, the National Archives of Ireland's exhibition is on tour and will be at Donegal County Museum, High Road, Letterkenny, Co Donegal until 31 May. Free. In-person event. All welcome. Details.

Saturday 7 May: Discover and Publish your Irish Family History, an online presentation with Miles Davenport. Host: McClelland Irish Library, Phoenix, Arizona USA. 11am–1pm. All welcome. Members $15 / Non-Members: $20. Details and registration.

Monday 9 May: Pier 53, Philadelphia, an online talk with Susan McAninley, plus AGM. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey Branch. All welcome. Non-members should contact Branch Secretary at Newtownabbey@nifhs.org for zoom link. 7pm–8:30pm BST. Free.

Monday 9 May: Ferries on the Foyle, an online talk with Dr Jim Condren, plus AGM. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. 7pm to 8:30pm. Talk Postponed.

Monday 9 May: Visit to the Livingstone Centre, an in-person event at The Livingstone Centre, 3 Church Hill, Killinchy, Newtownards, Co Down. Host: NIFHS, Killyleagh Branch. All welcome. For confirmation of meeting time and other details, contact the Branch Secretary at Killyleagh@nifhs.org.

Monday 9 May: Big Jim Larkin 1874-1947, an in-person talk with Historian-in-Residence James Curry. A Mondays at the Mess event. Venue: Richmond Barracks, Inchicore, Dublin 8. 7pm–8pm. All welcome. Admission: €5 full / €3 conc. – includes refreshments after the talk. Booking.

Tuesday 10 May: Towards an understanding of Mary MacSweeney: Trauma and the Brixton Hunger Strike, 1920, with Dr Leeann Lane, an in-person talk presented to coincide with The Treaty 1921 exhibition. Hosts: Tipperary County Council and the National Archives. 7pm. Free. All welcome. Venue: The Source, Cathedral St, Thurles, Co Tipperary. Details.

Tuesday 10 May: Military Records - Nineteenth century British Army, WW1 & the Irish Revolution, an advanced family history workshop with Declan Brady. In-person at Richmond Barracks, Inchicore, Dublin 8. 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Free. Details. Fully booked

Wednesday 11 May: Waterford Heritage – Plans, Projects and Partnerships, an in-person event with Bernadette Guest, Waterford County Heritage Officer discussing her role and projects. Host: Waterford Museum Society. All welcome. 8pm. Venue: upstairs at Merry’s Gastro Bar, Lower Main Street Dungarvan. Admission fee €5.

Thursday 12 May: Grangegorman's archive collection, an online lecture with Brian Donnelly, senior archivist at the NAI. Host: TU Dublin Conservatoire. Part of the Stages of Memory project. 5pm. Free. All welcome. Need to register on Eventbrite.

Thursday 12 May: ‘Such troubled times’: the burning of big houses in Northern Ireland 1921-1981, with Olwen Purdue. Part of the online Burning the Big House lecture series. Host: Centre for the Study of Historic Irish houses and Estates, History Department, Maynooth University. 7pm to 8pm. Booking. Fully booked.

Sunday 15 May: O'Connell Avenue, Limerick City, a free walking tour with Dr Paul O'Brien. An in-person event. Meet at the Model School at 1.45pm. Tour starts at 2pm. All welcome.