Northern Ireland institutions: closures in July

Some notes for your diary if you're intending to carry out any research in Northern Ireland in the next couple of weeks...

All departments of both the General Register Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI) and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) will be closed on Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 July 2014. Both institutions will close at normal time on Friday 11 July and re-open to regular schedules on Wednesday 16 July.

The Linen Hall Library will be closed on Saturday 12, Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 July. It will close at 5:30pm on Friday 11 July and reopen for normal hours at 9:30am on Wednesday 16 July.

All Northern Ireland public lending libraries will also be closed on Saturday 12, Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 July, returning to normal timetables from Wednesday 16 July.

WW1 Roadshow at Trinity College Dublin, 12 July

On Saturday 12 July, a World War One Roadshow will be held at Trinity College Dublin. It's hosted by RTE, TCD and the National Library of Ireland, and features a day-long programme of events that include short talks, WW1 cookery demonstrations, music, theatre, full-length lectures, family activities and genealogy advice.

The latter will be provided in the Trinity Long Room Hub from 10am to 4pm by Timeline Research, FindMyPast and others, and Nicola Morris, MAPGI, will give a brief introduction to Searching for your WW1 Ancestors at 10:50am in one of the scheduled 'pop up' (15-minute) talks.

At 11:30am, Catriona Crowe of the National Archives of Ireland will give a short talk about the Soldiers' Wills collection, a record set which is now freely available on the NAI's Genealogy website.

In addition, the programme features a Family Memorabilia event. Members of the public are invited to bring along items relating to World War 1 to be catalogued for an online European archive. Experts from the National Library of Ireland will be on hand to review and record memorabilia. Booking for this component is essential (update: fully subscribed at 7 July).

Download the full programme (pdf).

Mapping city, town and country since 1824

The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) has launched an exhibition called Mapping city, town and country since 1824: the Ordnance Survey in Ireland. It's been organised by the RIA Library and the Irish Historic Towns Atlas (IHTA), and focuses on the Academy’s extensive collections relating to the mapping of Ireland at a scale of 6 inches to one mile.

The 6-inch maps are an essential source for the investigation of 19th-century Ireland's cities, towns and countryside. Every headland, mountain, river, field, plot, bleaching green and public building is recorded for posterity. 

The exhibition, which is accessible Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm, except on conference days at the Academy, sets out to illustrate the scope and depth of the Ordnance Survey engagement in the 19th-century island. It continues until 30 January 2015.

Mapping city, town and country – lecture series
To complement the exhibition, the RIA has organised a Mapping city, town and country lecture series. The lunchtime lectures will cover all aspects of the Ordnance Survey project. The lectures will be held on Wednesdays, 1–2pm, in the Meeting Room, Academy House, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, and will be recorded for podcast purposes. All welcome, and no need to book.

27 Aug:  The map-making of the OS: challenges on every front, with Dr Jacinta Prunt
1 Oct:    The OS 6" Mapping Project: political & cultural agendas, with Prof. William Smith
8 Oct:    Translations? The Ordnance Survey & Irish place-names, with Prof. Nollaig Ó Muraíle
15 Oct:  George Petrie’s “Topographical Department” (1835-42), with Paul Walsh
22 Oct:  Glimpses of Ireland's past: drawings in the OS Memoirs, with Angélique Day
29 Oct:  John O'Donovan's work for the Ordnance Survey, with Prof. Michael Herity
5 Nov:    From Rocque to the OS: mapping Dublin 1756 to 1847, with Rob Goodbody
12 Nov:  Dublin in 1847: city of the Ordnance Survey, with Dr Frank Cullen
19 Nov:  The OS now and in the future, with Colin Bray

Ancestry's US census collection is free until 6 July

To celebrate 4th of July in the USA, Ancestry is offering free access to its US Federal census collection until Sunday 6 July.

The collection spans from 1790 to 1940 and includes more than 700 million names.

To take up the offer, click the image below. If you already have an Ancestry account, you'll get immediate access, otherwise, you'll have to register.

The offer expires on 6 July at 11:59 ET.

Create your own family's WDYTYA? story online

Findmypast and TV Production company Wall to Wall are planning to mark 10 years of the internationally successful Who Do You Think You Are? TV programme by launching a commercial website and online product: the 'Who Do You Think You Are? Story'.

This site will allow family historians of all levels to create their own personalised Who Do You Think You Are? story quickly and easily, and share it with friends and family. The researcher adds details about their own immediate family and the 'Who Do You Think You Are? Story' will create a unique visual representation. This will feature key events in the family's history but will also pull in contemporary issues which would have impacted on the individuals' lives.

Wall to Wall has commissioned Findmypast to draw on its extensive archive of historical records, British newspaper cuttings, exclusive images, war records and much more, so that the new website brings personal history to life.

The site will go live in the next few weeks. If you wish to receive news of the site's launch, you can sign up at http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarestory.com.

Church of Ireland releases Parish Registers list online

As promised last month, the Representative Church Body Library (RCBLibrary), the main repository for the written heritage of the Church of Ireland (CofI), has released an updated list of CofI parish registers. The new list has been painstakingly prepared in an extensive project by amending and cross-checking the lists of baptism, marriage and burial registers across the island and has been achieved through collaboration with the National Archives of Ireland.

The new list, which can be downloaded, free of charge, from the Archive section of the Church of Ireland website is arranged alphabetically by parish name (with additionally parishes within the main cities alphabetically listed under the name of each city). Furthermore, the list has been colour–coded as far as records in the Republic of Ireland are concerned for the first time, making it easier to see at a glance what has been transferred to the RCB Library; the small number of collections available in the National Archives of Ireland; what was destroyed; and finally what collections continue to be held in local custody.

It may be considered to be definitive as far as registers in the Republic of Ireland are concerned. The RCBLibrary will continue to work with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Belfast to account for materials available in microfilm and in original format available through that repository for parishes in the nine counties comprising Ulster.

The electronic list will now be maintained, amended and updated on a regular basis by the RCBLibrary and will be permanently available on the Church of Ireland website where it will be extensively consulted by Irish family historians.

Many thanks to all concerned for this work. The list will be a great boon to genealogists.

FindMyPast adds more Irish Petty Sessions records

The Irish Petty Sessions Order Book collection on FindMyPast just keeps growing! The latest update of more than a million records takes the total of entries in this collection alone past the 21million marker.

And that's discounting the Dog Licences collection which stems from the same court; they've been 'moved' to a distinct record set within the online database and comprise 1.8million records.

The Petty Session Courts included in this latest update are as follows:

County	Court Name	Dates now available
Cavan	Ballinagh	1852–1914
Cavan	Ballyjamesduff	1858-61, 1865-72, 1877-84, 1887-1914
Cavan	Kilnaleck	1857-62, 1865-66, 1871-1904, 1911-14
Cavan	Mountnugent	1876-79, 1895-1914
Cavan	Mullagh	1861–1914
Cavan	Virginia	1830-31, 1834-57, 1863-1914
Clare	Ennis	1851–1913
Clare	Ennistymon	1851–1914
Clare	Kilkee	1872–1914
Cork	Castlemartyr	1853, 1872–1914
Cork	Kildorrery	1854-55, 1858-59, 1875-77, 1881-83, 1887-1908
Cork	Rathcormack	1851-1913
Cork	Youghal	1851–1914
Donegal	Milford	1857–61; 1865–1913
Dublin	Balbriggan	1851–87, 1894–1914
Dublin	Blanchardstown	1840–1912
Galway	Ardrahan	1851–1914
Galway	Arran	1859–61, 1870–1914
Galway	Athenry	1851–1914
Galway	Castletown	1860–1863, 1866–1913
Galway	Cleggan	1892, 1902–1912, 1914
Galway	Clifden	1857–1914
Galway	Derrynea	1864-66, 1891-92, 1900-12
Galway	Galway	1836, 1839, 1851–1914
Galway	Garrafin	1902–14
Galway	Moycullen	1876–87, 1891–95, 1908–14
Galway	Oranmore	1861–1914
Galway	Oughterard	1851–1914
Kildare	Naas	1866–67, 1874–77, 1881–1914
Kildare	Newbridge Town	1869–70, 1886–1914
Kilkenny	Johnstown	1853, 1856–1914
Kilkenny	Kilkenny	1854–1914
Kilkenny	Stoneyford	1851–54, 1857–67, 1883–85, 1892–1913
Kilkenny	Thomastown	1851–60, 1876–77, 1886–1914
Laois	Maryborough	1853–1914
Laois	Timahoe	1851–86
Leitrim	Carrick-on-Shannon	1838–44, 1851–1913
Mayo	Newport	1854-55, 1859-70, 1873-96, 1900-07, 1910-14
Mayo	Westport	1851–1914
Meath	Kells	1851–1914
Meath	Moynalty	1896–1914
Offaly	Edendeery	1851–1913
Roscommon	Roscommon	1872–1914
Sligo	Ballymote	1854–1914
Tipperary	Nenagh	1837–41, 1846–1913
Tipperary	Templemore	1851–1913
Waterford	Waterford City	1851–1914
Westmeath	Glasson	1843–58, 1867–1913
Westmeath	Moate	1828–61, 1866, 1869–1913
Wexford	Duncormick	1896–1914
Wexford	New Ross	1851, 1853–1913
Wicklow	Enniskerry	1859–1914
Wicklow	Rathdrum	1851–1913

Find out more about the Irish Petty Sessions Court on Irish Genealogy Toolkit.

Irish genealogy and history events, 30 June – 5 July

Tuesday 1 July: Silver and gold – Viking hoards from Tipperary, with John Sheehan. Cashel Summer Lecture Series. Venue: Cashel Library, Friar St, Cashel, Co Tipperary. 7:30pm. Free.

Tuesday 1 July: Launch of Historic Belfast and Christian Heritage Belfast architectural trails 2014. Host: Ulster Scots Agency. Venue: Members Room, Linen Hall Library, Belfast. Reception at 5pm. email: gillian@ulsterscotsagency.org.uk.

Thursday 3 July to Saturday 5 July: A Malady of Migration, a theatrical examination of diaspora, displacement and mental disorders in the 19th century. Venue: The New Theatre, Temple Bar, Dublin (Connolly's bookshop). 1pm (8€/4€) and 7:30pm (10€/5€) each day. Thursday evening show followed by expert panel discussion and reception; Saturday lunchtime show followed by post show discussion. Box Office: +353 (0)1 670 3361.

Thursday 3 July: Using genetic genealogy to break down the brick walls of traditional genealogy, with Dr Gerard Corcoran. Host: Eneclann. Venue: Room 4050A on level 4, in the Arts Block, Trinity College Dublin. 3pm. Free but spaces limited so you need to book. Email workshop@eneclann.ie to reserve your place.

Thursday 3 July: The Great Belfast Tea Fraud, with Dr Pamela Emerson. Host: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 12:30pm to 1:30pm. Admission is free but you need to book your place. 1pm - 2pm, Email:proni@dcalni.gov.uk. Tel: 028 90 534800

Friday 4 July: Turning stone into bread: the Millstone Quarries of the Mourne Mountains, with Niall Colfer. Host: Monuments and Buildings Record. Venue: Pat Collins Reading Room, Waterman House, 5-33 Hill St, Belfast BT1 2LA. All welcome. Free. Details: 028 9054 3159.

Saturday 5 July: Connecting the Irish Diaspora using genetic genealogy, with Dr Gerard Corcoran. Host: Eneclann. Venue: Trustee's Room, National Library of Ireland, Kildare St, Dublin 2. 2pm. Free but spaces limited so you need to book. Email workshop@eneclann.ie to reserve your place.

FindMyPast releases interesting RAF collections

FindMyPast has launched a collection of British Royal Air Force records. It comprises two record sets, the Royal Air Force (110,000 airmen recorded) and the Royal Flying Corps (nearly 343,000 records online for the first time). The majority of RFC records date from 1912 to 1939.

I wasn't expecting to find many from Ireland, but it seems the airforce was rather more cosmopolitan than I imagine. More than 30 countries are represented in the RFC set alone, and there are many Irishmen. It's definitely worth checking out because the details recorded are quite comprehensive, and you may not find the same in-depth info elsewhere.

To give you a flavour, here are a couple of examples I came across:

John Doyle, a 20-year-old Roman Catholic waiter born in Dublin's 'Marlborough Street parish', signed up in 1918. His physical description suggests he'd been involved in some pretty awful accident earlier in his life as he had 'extensive scars on his chest, abdomen, left buttock and groin'. His brother, J Doyle, of 20 Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin, was given Next of Kin status. John doesn't seem to have particularly enjoyed life in the forces. He was detained and had his pay docked for failing to turn turn up for duties on several occasions in March 1919, and was locked up for two weeks after going AWOL, not complying with an order and failing to salute an officer while on sentry duty just one month later. His short military career ended at the end of that year when he was transferred to the Reserve.

William Driscoll was a 19-year-old labourer from St Francis parish, Cork, when he signed up in 1917. His married sister who lived in Cork City was recorded as Next of Kin. He was just 5' 2". He suffered two bouts of Scabies during his time in the RAF and also received treatment for Dermatitis. He was in France for a full year, from August 1918 to August 1919 and was awarded an RAF medal in 1926. He was discharged from the service in January 1920 having re-enlisted in the Royal Munster Fusiliers.

Genetic genealogy workshops in Dublin, 3 & 5 July

Two more workshops have been announced in the Expert Workshop series organised by Eneclann. Both will be presented by Dr Gerard Corcoran, the Irish representative for the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, as follows:

Thursday 3 July: Using genetic genealogy to break down the brick walls of traditional genealogy. Venue: Room 4050A on level 4, in the Arts Block, Trinity College Dublin. 3pm.

Saturday 5 July: Connecting the Irish Diaspora using genetic genealogy. Venue: Trustee's Room, National Library of Ireland, Kildare St, Dublin 2. 2pm.

Both workshops are free, but spaces are limited so places must be reserved (seats assigned on a first-come basis). Email workshop@eneclann.ie to reserve your place, stating which of the workshops you wish to attend.