Northern Ireland's Tithe Applotment Books go online

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has released its newly digitised collection of Tithe Applotment Books online. They've been a long time coming to a screen near you, but it's good to now have TABs for the entire island readily accessible to family historians and other researchers. Many will be able to trace their ancestors back a couple of decades or even more prior to Griffith's Valuation.

Townlands of Carran and Crew, Errigal Keerogue, Co. Tyrone.
Click/tap to open enlarged view of sample page

The books, which date from c1820 to c1840, can be viewed, free of charge, on PRONI's e-catalogue (see step by step below). They are catalogued alphabetically by parish name and can be searched at townland level within each parish pdf. They are not indexed by householder's name.

I've only had a chance to look at a couple of parishes so far, and I'm pleased to say the scanning quality is very good. The only thing you need to watch is the size of the pdf downloads. The two I opened were large: 63Mb and 121Mb, so not a lot of fun for those with a slow connection, but they're worth waiting for! Each page is large and you can zoom in and out to decipher the writing where needed.

To access the files, go to PRONI's e-catalogue page. Click the bright green 'Search the e-catalogue' button. On the next page, click Browse in the top right of the page, just below the PRONI logo. Then enter FIN/5 in the search box. From the landing page, FIN/5/A is probably the best option for most researchers, but look around the other 22 options, too, in case there's a file dedicated to your parish of interest. From FIN/5/A you'll find you have the option of 317 'digital view' files, arranged alphabetically by parish. Use the Previous and Next buttons below to select those you want to view. (These instructions are for a PC, not a mobile phone.)

For information about the Tithe Applotment Books and their value to genealogists, see my website Irish Genealogy Toolkit.

I imagine PRONI's e-catalogue will take a heavy bashing in the next few days!

Also released online today are the National Education Commissioners Grant Aid Applications collection. These files, held in ED/1, consist of 33 volumes of applications arranged by county and then by school name. They date from 1832 to 1889. They provide interesting details about the number and demographics of pupils attending local schools, and the make up and salary of teaching staff. Some teachers names are included, as are the names of the local people supporting the applications. The latter are identified as either Protestant or Roman Catholic.

To access the files, go to PRONI's e-catalogue page. Click the bright green 'Search the e-catalogue' button. On the next page, click Browse in the top right of the page, just below the PRONI logo. Then enter ED/1 in the search box. On the landing page, you can start selecting by county and then, within your chosen file, select the school you want to view. The pdf downloads for individual schools are mostly about four to six MB.

NOTE: Other online releases from PRONI today: Hogg photographs (LA/7) and Northern Ireland Hansard (NILA/7).

New book: The People of Derry City, 1930

Just published in the USA is The People of Derry City 1930 by author Brian Mitchell MAGI, who manages the Derry Genealogy and Heritage Centre.

The 192-page book contains names and address details extracted by Brian from The Derry Almanac and Directory, and follows on from The People of Derry city 1921, which was published in 2016.

Because the 1926 census for Northern Ireland has been destroyed, the first post-1911 census that survives for Derry City is that for 1937. Under existing legislation, this won't be released to the public until 2038, which leaves the annual editions of The Derry Almanac as the closest surviving census-type documents for the period from 1912 to 1936.

Brian has transcribed both the 1921 and 1930 Almanac using five fields: surname of head of household, first name of head of household, street address, house number, and Almanac page number of the respective listing, creating census-substitutes for the city's inhabitants for the year before Partition and again nearly one decade later.

The new book is now available through Genealogical.com. ISBN: 9780806358949. Price US$32.

Black Friday brings good deals from FindMyPast DNA

No longer such a new-kid-on-the-block, FindMyPast DNA is running another Black Friday Sale on its test kit this year.

Just as FindMyPast's huge online database is known for specialising in Irish and UK records, so it's DNA partner (Living DNA) is considered a specialist in helping people around the world connect with their Irish and British roots. Some genetic genealogists believe this DNA test provides a greater level of detail in its results, especially for those with ancestral connections to the geographical British Isles. But it's not a localised test.

You'll see results mapped across 80 global regions, including 21 from Britain and Ireland.

In addition to the dna test discount, Living DNA is offering a saving on its Deep Ancestry (y-DNA and mt-DNA) upgrade, so you can discover details of your ancestor's migration histories for less, plus, with every DNA test, researchers automatically receive 14 days of free access to Findmypast’s entire archive of more than 11 billion records and historical newspapers.

The amount of Black Friday discount varies slightly from region to region, but provide worthwhile savings. ALL the discounts expire at 11:59pm GMT on Monday 2 December.

	FindMyPast Ireland DNA kit reduced from €79 to €59 + shipping Deep Ancestry upgrade reduced from €24.95 to €10.
	FindMyPast USA/Canada  DNA kit reduced from $89 to $59 + shipping Deep Ancestry upgrade reduced from $29.95 to $10.
	FindMyPast UK  DNA kit reduced from £79 to £59 + shipping Deep Ancestry upgrade reduced from £19.90 to £10.
	FindMyPast Australia/NZ  DNA kit reduced from $129 AUD to $95 AUD + shipping Deep Ancestry upgrade reduced from $39.95 AUD to $34 AUD.

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Check out ARA Ireland's Explore Your Archive week

Today marks the middle of Explore Your Archive Week for the Archives and Records Association (ARA), Ireland, the principal professional body for archivists, archive conservators and records managers in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

In addition to a brand new website at https://araireland.ie/, where you'll find 'featured' collections from Tipperary Studies, RTE Archives and Loreto Archives, ARA Ireland members have organised some events to showcase their collections and demonstrate more of what archivists and librarians get up to at work.

For example, Donegal Archives has three month-long travelling exhibitions – the Traditional Boats of Ireland (The Dónal Mac Polin Collection); A Trek Throough Time: images from the county archives; and Celebrating 120 Years of the History of Irish Local Government, while Derry Genealogy and Heritage centre is holding two Open Afternoons of talks and consultations.

Social media has been a major player in the Explore Your Archives campaign, and I've noticed high levels of activity and engagement on twitter (the only sm outlet I use). A series of themed hashtags were decided in advance (see image above right), so that archivists could prepare and present their own unique take of the day's hashtag term using twitter, facebook, instagram etc.

Some of those I've seen across my twitter feed have taken an amusing or unexpected twist on the day's 'tag term' or have revealed some very strange and unusual items among their archives. It's really been quite enlightening.

To join in the fun, and find out more about the fabulously diverse range of archive collections available across Ireland, search your preferred social media using any of the tags listed. It doesn't matter if the official day for that tag has passed... a search with a hashtag should still find the posts.

Bargains galore at NIFHS Flash Book Sale, 30 November

The North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS) will be holding a Flash Book Sale of Surplus Material this Saturday, 30 November, at its Research Centre and Library in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim.

A terrific range of books is available, including Graveyard Inscriptions, Journals, Biographies and Communities, Churches, Local History, and much more, and the prices are low, low, low.

The Flash Book Sale list (pdf), with prices (many of them half price), can be downloaded from the NIFHS website.

Some other books – many of them directories from the second half of the 1900s – will also be on sale at full price. See the Also For Sale list (pdf).

The sale will be held from 10:30am to 2pm at Unit C4 Valley Business Centre, 67 Church Road, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim, BT36 7LS, where there's plenty of free parking.

NAI & PRONI: Press Preview/Preservation Weeks in Dec.

December is looming, and with its arrival there is always some disruption to regular opening and closing schedules, and that's even before we put the tinsel up (well, it is in my house, anyway).

Outside of the 'festive' closures in the last week of the month – I'll bring you details of those nearer the time – there are two big changes to note: the National Archives of Ireland's Press Preview week and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland's Preservation Week. Here are the details:

NAI - Press Preview Week, Monday 2 December – Friday 6 December inclusive.
The Reading Room at Bishop Street, Dublin 8, will be closed to the public for the entire week. The free Genealogy Advisory Service will not operate, either. The suspension of normal services is to facilitate the annual Press Preview when reporters and researchers from the media assemble to view and review government records released under the 30-year-closure rule. (In January, the 1989 records will be released to the public, and it's traditional that the press gets advance sight of them to prepare features and reports for publication or broadcast in the New Year.)

The NAI (and its Genealogy Advisory Service) will reopen to the public on Monday 9 December at 10am (not the usual time of 9:15am).

PRONI - Preservation Week, Monday 9 December – Friday 13 December inclusive.
During this annual event, PRONI's Preservation and Collections Management staff get an opportunity to dedicate some time to the vital work that goes on behind the scenes. The knock-on effect means a reduced service to researchers. Document ordering and production will be suspended throughout the week, but the Search Room and self-service microfilm facilities will be available as normal in the public search room.

Regular service will resume on Monday 16 December. Researchers should also note that the last Late Night Thursday of 2019 will be on 5 December and will resume on 9 January 2020.

Irish genealogy and history events, 25 Nov - 7 Dec

Monday 25 November: Getting Started, an introductory workshop for those interested in local and family history. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 11am to 1pm. Fully Booked.

Tuesday 26 November: Online Resources workshop, an introduction to using online records for family and local history research. Each workshop will start with an orientation tour of PRONI. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 11am to 1pm. Fully Booked.

Tuesday 26 November: Talking about DNA, with Martin McDowell. Host: NIFHS, Belfast Branch. Venue: CS Lewis Room, Holywood Arches Library, 4-12 Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 1NT. Free. All welcome. 7:30pm.

Tuesday 26 November: Six Degrees of Separation, with Dr Linde Lunney. Host: NIFHS, Causeway Branch. Venue: Upper Main Hall, The Sandel Centre, Knocklynn Road, Coleraine, BT52 1WT. 8pm. Free. All welcome.

Tuesday 26 November: Historical Emigration from Newtownstewart and District, with Dr Patrick Fitzgerald and Clare Lawler Kilgallen. Host: Dennett Interchange. Venue: Mellon Centre for Migration Studies, Ulster-American Folk Park, 2 Mellon Road, Castletown, Omagh, Co Tyrone, BT78 5QY. 7:30pm. All welcome. Free. See full details and Registration/RSVP (not obligatory) at eventbrite.

Tuesday 26 November: An inconvenient truth? Sexual violence and the Irish Revolution, a History Ireland Hedge School, chaired by editor Tommy Graham. Venue: National Photographic Archive, Meeting House Square, Dublin 2. In the panel will be Linda Connolly, Lindsey Earner, Tom Clonan and Brian Hanley. 7pm. Free.  Booking recommended.

Wednesday 27 November: Using WikiTree, with Anne Johnston of the NIFHS. An Explore Your Archive week event. Host: PRONI. Venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1pm. Free but need to register.

Wednesday 27 November: Ulster, America and the Enlightenment, an evening celebration of a unique epoch in Irish, Ulster and Belfast history in the Age of Revolution. Host: Ulster Historical Foundation. Venue: Drinks reception, C18th music with harpist Edel Brady and three talks by renowned historians. Venue: First Presbyterian Church, 41 Rosemary Street, Belfast BT1 1QB. All welcome. Donation of £20 appreciated. 7pm to 10pm. Details.

Wednesday 27 November: From the Cradle to the Grave: The Work of the Sanitary Officer, with Joanne Rothwell, County Archivist. Venue: Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club, Davitts Quay, Dungarvon, Co Waterford. 8pm. Admission: €5. No booking necessary. All welcome. Details.

Wednesday 27 November:  Mary Mulligan, neighbour to Countess Markievicz, with Peadar Curran. Host: The Old Dublin Society. Venue: Dublin City Library & Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. 6pm. Free. All welcome.

Thursday 28 November: Researching Your WW1 Ancestors, with Alan Rosborough. Host: NIFHS, Ballymena Branch. Venue: Michelin Arts Workshop, Braid Arts Centre, 1-29 Bridge Street, Ballymena, Co Antrim BT43 5EJ. 7:15pm. All welcome. Free.

Thursday 28 November: A Beginner’s Guide to Using DNA for Family History​, with Martin McDowell of the NIFHS. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 1–2pm. Free, but need to register.

Thursday 28 November: The Military Service (1916-1923) Service Collection, with Michael Keane. Venue: The People's Museum of Limerick, 2 Pery Square, Limerick City, Limerick. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Thursday 28 November: The penal laws and Catholic children in the eighteenth century, with Dr Eoin Kinsella. Host and Venue: Royal Society of Antiquities, Helen Roe Theatre, Society House, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. 7:30pm. Free. All welcome.

Thursday 28 November: Exploring Land, Mapping & Property Records in Ireland, a seminar, chaired by Tom Quinlan (NAI). Host: Property Registration Authority of Ireland. Venue: Registry of Deeds Archive Services, Henrietta Street, Dublin 1. 2:30pm–4pm. Free. Need to register.

Thursday 28 November: Law, language and injustice: Myles Joyce and the Maamtrasna Trials, 1882, with Professor Margaret Kelleher. Host: South Kilkenny Historical Society. Venue: Mullinavat Parish Hall, Mullinavat, Co Kilkenny. Free admission. 8pm. All welcome.

Friday 29 November: Launch of new suite of online records. Host and venue: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Free, with lunch included. 11am to 3pm. Need to register.

Friday 29 November: Red hand on the Suir – the Irish Transport and General Workers Union in Waterford in the early C20th, with Francis Devine. Host: Waterford Archaeological and Historical Society. Venue: St Patrick's Gateway Centre, Patrick St, Waterford City. 8pm. Members free; non-members €5. All welcome.

Friday 29 November: Exploring Archive & Genealogy Collections, an afternoon of short talks (Tracing your ancestors at 12pm and Understanding Archive Collections) and an opportunity to browse the collections and talk to the genealogist and archivist. Venue: Central Library, Foyle Street, Derry. Hosts: Derry City and Strabane District Council. Free. Details. Part of the Explore Your Archives campaign.

Saturday 30 November: Surplus book sale. Host and venue: North of Ireland Family History Society, C4, 67 Valley Business Centre, Church Rd, Newtownabbey, Antrim BT36 7LS. See list of books for sale. 50% off published price on the day. 10:30am to 2pm. All welcome. Plenty of parking.

Saturday 30 November: School Records, a single two-hour session workshop with Sandra Ardis. Host and venue: North of Ireland Family History Society, C4 Research Centre, Valley Business Centre, Church Rd, Newtownabbey, Antrim BT36 7L. All welcome. 2–4pm. Fee £8, payable at the session. Details.

Monday 2 December to Friday 6 December: Media Preview Week. To facilitate this annual event, when members of the press explore government records that have been closed for 30 years (this year is records from 1989), the Reading Room of the National Archives of Ireland will be closed to the public. Reopens Monday 9 December at 10am.

Monday 2 December: Members' Night - Tales and Artefacts. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Killyleagh branch. Venue: Killyleagh Masonic Hall, 50 High Street, Killyleagh, Co Down, BT30 9QF. 8pm. All welcome.

Tuesday 3 December: Finding Family History Stories, a single two-hour session workshop with Michael McKeag. Host: Host and venue: North of Ireland Family History Society, C4 Research Centre, Valley Business Centre, Church Rd, Newtownabbey, Antrim BT36 7L. All welcome. 11am–1pm. Fee £8, payable at the session. Booking and details, here.

Thursday 5 December: Tracing Relatives of the Belfast Shipyards, a class with Maureen McKinney 7.00pm-9.00pm NIFHS Venue: Honneyman Room, NIFHS Research Centre, Unit C4, Valley Business Centre, 67 Church Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim BT36 7LS. 7–9pm. £8. Fully Booked.

Thursday 5 December: The suffering of the poor and the language of charity in C19th Ireland, with Dr Ciaran McCabe. Host: Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies. Venue: Seminar Room, Institute of Irish Studies (QUB), 27 University Square, Belfast. 6:30pm. All welcome.

Friday 6 December: Online Resources workshop, an introduction to using online records for family and local history research. Host and venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. All welcome. Free. 11am to 1pm. FULLY BOOKED.

Saturday 7 December: How to get ready to search Irish records, with Kevin Cassidy. Host: Columbus Public Library. Venue: Columbus Public Library-Van Cleave Room, 3000 Macon Rd., Columbus, Georgia, USA, 10:30am. All welcome.

Ancestry DNA: Lowest price of the year for Ireland: €59

Ancestry DNA's Cyber Sale for Irish researchers sees the test kit at its lowest price of the year. It's been reduced from €95 to €59. As always, shipping is extra.

That's a saving of €36, and makes the decision to treat friends and loved ones (and yourself, of course!) much easier.

Be sure to make that decision and click/tap the image, right, to place your order before 11:59pm GMT on Cyber Monday, 2 December, when the sale ends.

Offer expired. Link removed.

AncestryDNA at the lowest UK price of the year: £49

Ancestry UK has launched its 2019 Cyber Sale. It sees AncestryDNA test kits at their lowest price of the year: £49 plus shipping.

That's a £30 discount, and makes the decision to treat friends and loved ones (and yourself, of course!) much easier.

Be sure to make that decision and click/tap the image, right, to place your order before 11:59pm GMT on Cyber Monday, 2 December, when the sale ends.


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My winter 'catch-up' selection of Irish history podcasts

In the hope of getting some downtime in the next month or so, I've curated my very own Irish history 'box set' of podcasts I haven't got round to listening to yet, despite their being on my To Do list week after week!

I'm sharing it here on Irish Genealogy News in case it's of interest as a ready-made listing of treats for the ears of other researchers.

In no particular order:

The Treaty of Limerick
BBC's In Our Time programme, broadcast 7 November. 53m.
Chaired by Melvyn Bragg, the discussion panel features Jane Ohlmeyer, Chair of the Irish Research Council and Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Modern History at Trinity College Dublin; Clare Jackson, from the History Faculty at the University of Cambridge and Senior Tutor of Trinity Hall; and Thomas O'Connor, Professor of History at Maynooth University.
Listen to the Treaty of Limerick here.

The Great Irish Famine
BBC's In Our Time programme, broadcast 4 April. 57m.
Chaired by Melvyn Bragg, the discussion panel features Cormac O'Grada, Professor Emeritus in the School of Economics at University College Dublin; Niamh Gallagher, Lecturer in Modern British and Irish History at the University of Cambridge; and Enda Delaney, Professor of Modern History at the University of Edinburgh.
Listen to The Great Irish Famine here.

Jack the Ripper & Irish Connections
Irish History Podcast (IHP) series, recorded 2 September. 31m.
IHP creater Fin Dwyer interviews the historian Hallie Rubenhold, whose latest book is The Five – The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper.
Listen to Jack the Ripper & Irish Connections here.

The Mater Hospital: Where History is Made
Irish History Podcast (IHP) series, recorded 21 October. 50m.
IHP creater Fin Dwyer explores the history of the hospital, which opened its doors in 1861, and interviews its archivist, Helen Madden, and Professor Ronan Cahill of the Mater Hospital and University College Dublin.
Listen to The Mater Hospital: Where History is Made here

Brehon Law: From Divorce to Irish Sex Magic
Irish History Podcast (IHP), recorded 16 August 2019. 33m.
IHP creator Fin Dwyer talks to Gillian Kenny who explains Brehon Law, the complex and sophisticated legal system of early medieval Gaelic Irish society, and challenges some widely held misconceptions about what behaviour was accepted and not.
Listen to Brehon Law: From Divorce to Irish Sex Magic here

Testimony, the story of the Military Archives
RTÉ Radio One's The History Show, broadcast 10 November. 50m.
Author and presenter Myles Dungan visits the Military Archives at Cathal Brugha in Rathmines to explore the collections it holds, what they tell us about the Anglo-Irish War, and how they are being preserved and archived.
Listen to Testimony here.

A Story of Irish Whiskey: How three families saved it from extinction
A five-part series from Irish Distillers. Launched May. 15-20m each.
Narrated and dramatised accounts of the three main Irish whiskey families
– the Jamesons, Powers and Murphys – exploring the drink's meteroric rise in the 1800s through its fall in the aftermath of revolution and wars in the 20th century to, finally, its 21st century renaissance.
Listen to the Story of Irish Whiskey here

A century on – how do we view the War of Independence?
A History Ireland magazine Hedge School, recorded 19 September. 1hr 13m.
History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, chaired this Hedge School, geared towards 15-18 year old students, with a panel made up of Donal Fallon, co-editor of the blog Come Here To Me; Liz Gillis, historian and author of 25 May: The Burning of the Customs House 1921; Martin Mansergh from the Expert Advisory Group on Commemorations; Mary McAuliffe, Assistant Professor of Gender Studies, UCD; and Kevin Manning.
Listen to A century on, how do we view the War of Independence? here.

Scotland and the Global Irish Revolution
A History Ireland magazine Hedge School, recorded at Edinburgh University, 15 May. 32m.
To what extent did revolutionary developments abroad shape what happened within Ireland during the revolutionary period 1919–23? And in what ways did events within Ireland impact beyond Irish shores? History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, was joined for a lively discussion by Darragh Gannon, Fearghal McGarry (both Queen’s University, Belfast); Niall Whelehan (Strathclyde); and Kirsty Lusk (Glasgow).
Listen to Scotland and the Global Irish Revolution here.

And an extra one from Three Castles Burning, a brand-new podcast production.
The Bachelors Walk Massacre
The first in a new series from Dublin historian Donal Fallon, released 19 November. 26m.
Three Castles Burning is a social history podcast, dedicated to the story of the Irish capital and exploring some lesser known events. In this podcast Donal is joined by historian Lorcan Collins.
Listen to The Bachelors Walk Massacre here.