IrishGenealogyNews

Monday, 14 November 2022

Irish genealogy, history and heritage events, 14 - 27 November

Monday 14 November My Ruiger Family Heritage, with Joe Lavery. An online event hosted by North of Ireland Family History Society, Newtownabbey Branch. All welcome. 7pm–8:30pm GMT. Those wishing to attend should e-mail Newtownabbey@nifhs.org and they will be sent the link.

Tuesday 15 November: Garda na Pobal – The foundation of An Garda Siochana, 1922, with Dr John Reynolds. An in-person event and part of the Tipperary People and Places Lecture series no.16. Host: Tipperary Studies, the local history dept. of Tipperary County Librairies. 7pm. Free. Venue: Gallery of the Source Library, Thurles. Tea and coffeee served. All welcome. Details.

Tuesday 15 November: The Civil War Legacy: Ireland in the 1920s and 30s, an online lecture by Professor Fearghal McGarry, QUB. Host: National Library of Ireland. All welcome. 7pm GMT. Free, but need to book.

Tuesday 15 November: Dr. Ella Webb (1877-1946): "Children need help and I am going to help them," an in-person event with Dr Declan Warde. Host: Foxrock Local History Society. Venue: Foxrock Pastoral Centre, Kill Lane, Foxrock, Co Dublin. 8pm. All welcome. Members free. Non-members €5 on the door.

Wednesday 16 November: A long hard road: a story of Famine Migration, an online talk with John Grenham. Host: Libraries NI, Heritage from Home Series 3. 12:30pm. All welcome. Free but need to register here.

Thursday 17 November: Book Launch: Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530-1700 Suppression, Migration and Reintegration, by Dr Bronagh Ann McShane. Host: Moore Institute, University of Galway. In-person venue: The Bridge Room First Floor, Hardiman Research Building. Galway. 5pm. Free. Followed by reception. Need to book.

Thursday 17 November: Genealogy advisory evening at Wicklow Local Studies, Salthouse Lane, Wicklow Town. An in-person, drop-in event. Free. All welcome. First come, first served. 6:30pm to 8:30pm.

Saturday 19 November: Wading through blood: de Valera and the Civil War, an online lecture with David McCullagh. Host: Decade of Centenaries programme of South Dublin County Libraries. 1pm. Free but need to book. Booking and details.

Saturday 19 / Sunday 20 November: Irish Genealogy Education Day, an in-person and online event. Presentations from Dublin genealogist Claire Bradley and Geraldene O’Reilly. Host: New Zealand Genealogical Society, Irish Interest Group - Lower North Island. Venue: Collective Community Hub, 1/33 Johnsonville Road. Johnsonville. Wellington. NZ. All welcome. Starts Saturday 10pm GMT / Sunday 10am NZDT. Booking and details.

Monday 21 November: The Cobains of Kilwaughter, with Norah Crammond. A hybrid meeting hosted by the North of Ireland Family History Society, Larne Branch. In-person venue: Larne Museum and Arts Centre, 2 Victoria Road, Larne, BT40 1RN. Online: email branch secretary for zoom link. 7:15pm - 8:45pm GMT. All welcome. Details.

Tuesday 22 November Estate Records, with Brett Irwin of PRONI. A hybrid meeting of the North of Ireland Family History Society, Belfast Branch. In-person venue: Stranmillis University College, Belfast BT9 5DY. Online via zoom - see details. All welcome. 7pm.

Tuesday 22 November Internal Migration in Ireland, 1600-2000, with Dr Patrick Fitzgerald (Mellon Centre for Migration Studies). Online talk. Host: Libraries NI, Heritage from Home Series 3. 12:30pm. All welcome. Free but need to register, here.

Tuesday 22 November When the Music Stopped: Rethinking the ‘traumatic silence’ of the Irish Civil War. An online event hosted by the National Library of Ireland. 7pm–8pm GMT. Free. All welcome. Need to register.

Wednesday 23 November Burning the Big House – Understanding Civil War Conflagrations, with Prof. Terence Dooley. An in-person event hosted by Westmeath Archaeological & Historical Society in association with Westmeath County Council's Decade of Centenaries programme. Venue: Greville Arms Hotel, Mullingar, Co Westmeath. 8pm.

Wednesday 23 November Using Free Websites to Find your Family, with Aiden Feerick MAGI. An online event hosted by Dublin City Culture Club. 11am. All welcome. Free, but need to booke.

Wednesday 23 November Exploring the Irish Experience of WW1, an online exhibition tour. Host: National Library of Ireland. 1pm to 1:45pm. Free. All welcome. Need to book.

Thursday 24 November: Twenty ways to find a townland, and other hints and tips, an online event with Georgina Scally MAGI. The final talk in the National Archives of Ireland's lecture series. 6pm. Free. All welcome. Need to book.

Thursday 24 November: "The Bulletin" and "Persons Unknown", an online premiere of two audio plays inspired by once-classified official records, taking us back to a time when military and civilian efforts to control propaganda shaped the relations between Britain and Ireland forever. The plays will be followed by a panel discussion with record specialists from the UK National Archives, writers and members of the production team. 7pm–9pm. Free. All welcome. Need to book.

Thursday 24 November Haunted Histories, with Dr David Hume talking about stories, superstitions and folklore in Ulster. Hosted by the North of Ireland Family History Society, Ballymena branch. 7:15pm–8:45pm GMT. A hybrid meeting. In-person at Michelin Arts Workshop, Braid Arts Centre 1-29 Bridge Street, Ballymena, Co Antrim. Online: email Ballymena@nifhs.org for zoom link. Details.

Thursday 24 November: History and the role it plays in our identity and contemporary politics, an address from Taoiseach Micheál Martin, T.D.. An online event in the Ireland 1922 series hosted by the Royal Irish Academy. Booking essential. Free. All welcome. 7pm to 8pm.

Friday 25 November: Killure-Kilgerrill: Its People and Places. An in-person launch of a new, 726-page local history published by Killure Heritage Group. 7.30pm. Venue: Gullane’s Hotel, Main Street, Ballinasloe, Co Galway. Details. Book on sale locally at Salmons and online via Kennys.ie.

Friday 25 November: Tipperary Cumann na mBan, with Dr Noreen Higgins. An in-person event hosted by Emly Historical Society at St.Ailbes Hall, Emly, Tipperary. 8pm. Refreshments will be served. All welcome.

Friday, 11 November 2022

FindMyPast delivers a mix of Military records from World War 1

With Veterans' Day and Remembrance/Armistice weekend now upon us, FindMyPast has released a handful of small collections that may help you to learn more about your ancestors and their experiences in the British military during the First World War. Brief details are below with direct links to each record-set.

The War Pictures Weekly has joined
FindMyPast's British Newspaper Collection

Prisoners Of War Sound Recordings 1916-1918
This collection, the first of its kind to join the FindMyPast database, offers 56 sound recordings of servicemen held in German prison camps in the First World War. Among the recordings are a 22-year-old boxmaker from Cork (Daniel Kiely) and a 36-year-old shoemaker from Belfast (John McCrory).

Prisoners Of War, General Correspondence, 1915
If you've located ancestors that were captured and imprisoned in German camps, this collection will give you an insight into the hardships endured by POWs. It comprises official government documents, reports, and personal letters from loved ones. Many of these records describe concern over the conditions of the camps, as well as some first-hand accounts of imprisonment. A few named individuals also appear.

British Rolls Of Honour and Nominal Rolls, WW1
Some 251 records from Coventry, in the English Midlands, have been uploaded to this collection, which now holds more than 310,000 entries.

The War Pictures Weekly and the London Illustrated Weekly.
This newspaper was published from 1914 to 1916 in London. It featured an array of illustrations from the First World War, ranging from German infantry; land, sea and air battles; troop trains; food riots at Home and the impact of reduced police numbers after so many officers enlisted. It's relatively short text features brought details of how the war was progressing militarily and how people at Home were managing.

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Thursday, 10 November 2022

Enjoy a long research weekend with free access to FindMyPast

FindMyPast is opening up its entire database (bar just one collection... see below) this weekend. This means you have free access to billions of records across the range - census, BMDs, military, institutions, newspapers, probate, crime, Poor Law, transportation and emigration, directories and much, much more.

Free Access has ended

The only collection that will not be part of the free access is the 1921 Census of England and Wales. Other than that, whether your focus is the USA, Canada, Ireland, the UK, or Australia and New Zealand, you can dive in and search and view records.

What's not to like?

Choose your preferred FindMyPast website from the options below. The same collections will be available, free, in all of them, so it doesn't much matter which one you choose.

	FindMyPast Ireland
	FindMyPast USA/Canada
	FindMyPast UK
	FindMyPast Australia/NZ

Free access to Findmypast runs to 10am GMT on Monday 14 November. After the free access ends, you can only view records with a valid subscription.

Wednesday, 9 November 2022

Free access to 1950 USA Census available on MyHeritage

MyHeritage is opening up free access to its collection of records from the 1950 federal census of the USA. The offer marks the company's largest release for this collection, covering 30 million records from the states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.

The addition of these records means there are now more than 150 million records in the collection, and the searchable index includes all the continental United States at the time. (Alaska and Hawaii are included, but they did not become states until nine years after the census).

Details for enumerated individuals include names, ages, residence addresses, relationships, households, gender, birthplace, maritage status and other facts.

A few million records remain unavailable to search. These, MyHeritage says, are records that couldn’t be scanned and indexed accurately through more automated means and require some additional manual handling. They will be added to the database over the next few months.

Click the image to start searching or to set up a free account.

Big updates to the Irish Registry of Deeds Index Project

Just six weeks on from celebrating the main index reaching a total of half a million entries, the volunteer-managed Registry of Deeds Index Project has received another update over the last few days. It sees the main index grow to a new total of 510,922 entries, transcribed from 53,114 memorials of deeds. The Townland and Grantor Indexes have been updated.

A random sample from the Townland Index freely available
on FamilySearch. Click for enlarged and zoomable view.

A huge update of nearly 55,000 entries has also been made to the Townland Index. As part of this, the earliest three volumes (1708–1820) of townland indexes for County Antrim have been fully transcribed, as have the earliest two volumes (1708–1810) for County Down.

These transcriptions include Belfast from 1708 to 1820.

"This recent bundle of transcriptions was an enormous task since many of these early pages were severely smudged," explains Project founder and manager Nick Reddan FIGRS.

"A great deal of detective work was required to recreate the text. "Moreover, during this work, more than 900 errors were found in the original indexes. These have been corrected in the transcription index, which now holds 362,200 entries."

"By contrast, the Townland Index books are quite legible from 1811, and transcribing them is straightforward."

The Grantor Index has also grown, with more than 1,130 entries recently added. It now holds 46,637 entries.

To join the band of volunteers, click the link above, where you'll find details, how-to guides and more.

Tuesday, 8 November 2022

RootsIreland adds more Catholic records for the parish of Dingle

RootsIreland.ie has added 16,531 Roman Catholic baptism records from Dingle parish to its Kerry database. They run from 1823 to 1899. Marriage records for the same parish were already available.

For an up to date list of all the online sources for County Kerry, click the image, right.

Monday, 7 November 2022

Irish genealogy, history and heritage events, 7 - 20 November

Monday 7 November: The Names Have It, a talk by Moira Concannon. A hybrid event hosted by the North of Ireland Family History Society, Killyleagh Branch. 8pm. All welcome. In-person venue: Killyleagh Masonic Hall, 50 High Street, Killyleagh, Downpatrick BT30 9QF. Details

Monday 7 November: Ferries on the Foyle, with Dr Jim Condren. An in-person and online event hosted by the North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. Venue:Lecture Room Derry's Central Library 35 Foyle Street, Derry. 7pm - 8:30pm. Details.

Tuesday 8 November: Lost meeting houses of Belfast, an in-person event with Tom Hartley. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Lisburn Branch. Venue: Bridge Community Centre 50 Railway Street, Lisburn, Co. Down BT28 1XP. 7:30pm–9pm GMT.

Tuesday 8 November: Connemara Irish: Despair in the Heartland of Minnesota, an online talk by Jane Kennedy. Hosted by the Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI). 8pm. All welcome. Non-members can obtain zoom links by emailing Membership@Familyhistory.ie

Wednesday 8 November: Treasured Heritage - Researching your place of worship, an in-person talk and tour from the National Churches Trust. Host and venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland 2 Titanic Boulevard, Titanic Quarter, Belfast BT3 9HQ. 09:15–13:00 GMT. Details.

Wednesday 9 November: Victory through faith – the political activation of the Wehrmacht, an online lecture with Katherine Quinlan-Flatter. Hosts: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the Antrim and Down branch of the Western Front Association. 7pm to 8pm. All welcome. Free but need to register in advance. Details.

Wednsday 9 November: Using the Leeds Method – making sense of DNA matches, an online class with Anne Johnston. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society. 7pm. Tickets £10. Need to book. Details.

Wednesday 9 November: Carrickfergus Churchyard: Stories behind the stones, with Dr William Roulston. An in-person event to be held at Carrickfergus Town Hall, Joymount, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim BT38 7DN at 7pm. Hosted by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. Free. Book your seat by phoning 028 9335 8241 or email carrickfergusmuseums@midandeastantrim.gov.uk.

Thursday 10 November: 'We have found a better way, Boys': Reassessing Anna and Fanny Parnell, with Dr Diane Urquart. An in-person lecture at the Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. 1pm. Free. All welcome. Booking recommended. Phone 01 609 0602.

Saturday 12 November: Family History Research at the National Library of Ireland (NLI), an online talk with Steven Skeldon from the NLI's Family History Services. Host: Irish Genealogical Research Society (IGRS). 14:30–16:00 IST/GMT. All welcome. Free to members. €5 for non-members. Details and booking.

Saturday 12 November: Commemoration and burial practices of the Scots in 17th century Ireland, an online lecture by Dr William Roulston. Hosted by the Church Monuments Society. Everybody welcome. 5pm to 6pm. Free but need to reserve your place. Details and booking.

Sunday 13 November: The Irish Civil War in Colour: Michael B Barry and John O'Byrne in conversation with David McCullagh about their new book. An in-person event. 4pm to 5pm. Venue: RDS Library, Anglesea Road, Dublin 4. Free. Need to register. Details.

Sunday 13 November: Military Archives: A History, a discussion by Tommy Graham, editor of History Ireland, with Zoe Reid and Daniel Alyotis. Part of the Dublin Book Festival. An in-person event. 2pm to 3pm. Venue: RDS Library, Anglesea Road, Dublin 4. Free, but need to register.

Thursday 17 November: Book Launch: Irish Women in Religious Orders, 1530-1700 Suppression, Migration and Reintegration, by Dr Bronagh Ann McShane. Moore institute. Register.

Friday, 4 November 2022

This week's new/updated collections for England, Scotland & Wales

Below is a summary of newly released and updated family history record collections for England, Scotland and Wales from the major genealogy databases. (Previous summary, 27 October.)

My 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, and shared with some FindMyPast subscriptions (59 million+ pages)

FamilySearch

Fold3

UK, London WWII Military Notices 1939–1945 (1.3million records published in London Gazette)

MyHeritage

Scotland, Commissary Court Wills and Testaments, 1514–1800 (164,471)

TheGenealogist

The Times newspaper (3,129 editions from the 1870s)

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

West Sussex, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 (1,492,381)

FamilySearch

England, Surrey Parish Registers, 1536-1992 (added 9,873)
England, Lancashire, Liverpool, Burials, 1557-1968 (added 578,888)

FindMyPast

Scotland, Poor Law & Poor Lists: Dreghorn Poor Relief, 1872-1901 | Inverness Poor Relief, 1846-1894 | Wick Poor Relief, 1870-1887 | Stirling & Perthshire Poor Relief, 1816-1899.(16,820 additions)
Scotland, Occupations & Professions: Merchants Matriculat in the Company of Merchants of Edinburgh, 1687 | Scotland, Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons 1581-1873 | A history of the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet, 1890 | Scottish Seafarers Index | Fife Shopkeepers and Traders. (16,000 additions)

National Library of Scotland

Aerial photo mosaics maps, 1940s, of south east England
Special Emergency Edition Maps,1938–1939
Edinburgh 1890s: Place and street names (21,000+ entries)

Thursday, 3 November 2022

Two more record sets join FamilySearch's Ireland collection

FamilySearch.org has added another couple of record sets to it Ireland collection. They are:

Betham’s Genealogical Abstracts, 1179–1830
These abstracts are hand-written notebooks recorded by Sir William Betham, the Ulster King of Arms from 1807 to 1853.

In these pages, he drafted and reconstructed family trees and pedigrees, and recorded abstracts from pre-1800 wills, grants and administrations; chancery pleadings; funeral entries; and other miscellaneous records. These notebooks are held by the National Archive of Ireland and were microfilmed by FamilySearch some years ago. The microfilms have now been digitised, resulting in 489,774 indexed records.

Betham made his notes and abstracts mainly, but not exclusively, from records held in the Public Records Office in Dublin which were subsequently lost during the Irish Civil War in June 1922.

Ireland, Original Will Registers, 1858-1920
This collection holds a detailed index of hand-written copies of wills proved from 1858 in District Registries across the counties that are now in the Republic of Ireland. They are word-for-word exact replacements for the original wills lost in the 1922 fire. (The Registers for Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry are held in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.) Unfortunately, no such copies survived for the Principal Registry, where wills for those who died in Dublin, or who had large estates in multiple locations, were processed and recorded.

Images are available on the National Archives of Ireland's free Genealogy site, which says there are more than 550,000 indexed names in the collection. The FamilySearch collection indicates that it holds slightly more than 181,000 name records, so I think the upload of the collection is not yet completed. At present the site is saying that images can be accessed only at a family history center or at an affiliate library; for many people, continuing to access this collection via the NAI site (link above) will remain an easier option.

Tuesday, 1 November 2022

Latest headstone additions to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives

I can't remember the last time a monthly update of the latest additions to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives included batches of records from eight counties. Eight! That's some going for a project that is completely reliant on volunteers for all its imput.

The October additions accounted for eight burial grounds – one-a-piece per county, and all with text files if inscriptions linked to a respective photo of the headstone. Here are the basic details:

A granite stone in Arklow's Main Street graveyard
stands in memory of James Byrne who died in 1763.
Photo courtesy of Emma Cullen and IGP Archives.
Click for enlarged view.

CAVAN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St Patrick's Graveyard, Corlough (Updated)

DONEGAL Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Peters Graveyard, Killaghtee

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Kilbarrack Graveyard - Part 5, Sutton

KILDARE Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Confey Cemetery, Leixlip (Updated)

LEITRIM Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Brigid's Graveyard (CoI), Kiltubrid

LIMERICK Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Holy Cross Cemetery Part 2, Athea

OFFALY Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Colmcille Church Graveyard, Durrow (Updated)

WICKLOW Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Main Street Graveyard, Arklow