Clare County Library

This site has an amazing amount of resources online and is a must to see for anyone researching in County Clare.

The Clare County Library -Genealogy Section has 1901 Census, 1841 & 1851 Census Search Forms, Griffith's Valuation 1855, 1820s-1840s Clare Tithe Applotment Books and so much more.

The Clare County Library Main Page also has sections for Folklore, History, People and Places and Placenames.

Please visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links & Chat

9 million Irish Church, Census, and Gravestone records now online

According to the Legacy Newsletter:

"The Irish Family History Foundation, a network of county-based genealogical research centres on the island of Ireland, is now making their records available via an online research system (ORS). These centres have computerised just under 9 million Irish genealogical records, including church records, census returns and gravestone inscriptions.

At present 16 of the 32 county genealogy centres have their details on-line, with a further 5 centres coming online in the coming months, and the remaining 11 centres hoping to follow suit in the not-too-distant future. The Irish Roots website (http://www.irish-roots.net/) will eventually hold details of all church records, which in some cases go back over 400 years to 1600. The site contains the largest online, searchable collection of Parish records for the island of Ireland. The complete indexes, which list surname, first name, year and county of ALL records is freely searchable. To view a detailed record you can purchase credit online for instant access for a small fee."

To read further please see Legacy Newsletter

Mother's Day in the United Kingdom and Ireland

England was the first country in the world to dedicate a day for mothers as early as 1600s. They called this day for mothers as 'Mothering Sunday'. Many of the poor lived and worked as servants for the wealthy, far away from their homes and families. On Mothering Sunday, servants were given the day off to return home and spend the day with their mothers. The time decided for the annual visit to home was middle Sunday of the fasting period of Lent (which lasts from Ash Wednesday to Easter).

The tradition of Mothering Sunday stopped with the advent of Industrial Revolution in England when the working conditions and life pattern changed. Over the period of time one Sunday - 4th Sunday in Lent was reserved in the honor of mothers.

The original meaning of Mothering Sunday has been lost and has taken the form and name of Mothers Day in US.

Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links and Chat.

While there stop into Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Chat.

Online Irish Genealogy Databases

As per their site:

The index to the following genealogy records is freely available for researchers to search online. We ask you to first register with us and login to view the index records.

To view an individual detail genealogy record you will need to purchase credit at a cost of €10.00 per record.

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Leitrim

Below is a list of databases that are searchable * No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Leitrim 234,972
Marriage Records for Co. Leitrim 86,352
Death Records for Co. Leitrim 42,721"

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Tyrone & Co. Fermanagh

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Tyrone & Co. Fermanagh 439,543
Marriage Records for Co. Tyrone & Co. Fermanagh 245,272
Death Records for Co. Tyrone & Co. Fermanagh 58,381

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Armagh

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Armagh 322,500
Marriage Records for Co. Armagh 218,644
Death Records for Co. Armagh 15,865

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Roscommon

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Roscommon 331,135
Marriage Records for Co. Roscommon 146,528
Death Records for Co. Roscommon 69,370

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Mayo

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Mayo 528,230
Marriage Records for Co. Mayo 193,538
Death Records for Co. Mayo 116,690

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Galway (West)

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Galway (West) 240,037
Marriage Records for Co. Galway (West) 120,788
Death Records for Co. Galway (West) 18,154

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Cork (North & East)
Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Cork (North & East) 535,230
Marriage Records for Co. Cork (North & East) 221,018
Death Records for Co. Cork (North & East) 5,963

Irish Genealogy Databases for North Co. Tipperary

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for North Co. Tipperary 266,380
Marriage Records for North Co. Tipperary 52,198
Death Records for North Co. Tipperary 69,184

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Tipperary (South)

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Tipperary (South) 284,812
Marriage Records for Co. Tipperary (South) 106,091
Death Records for Co. Tipperary (South) 115,980

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Kildare

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Kildare 159,813
Marriage Records for Co. Kildare 58,012
Death Records for Co. Kildare 5,846

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Dublin (North)

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Dublin (North) 191,604
Marriage Records for Co. Dublin (North) 104,208
Death Records for Co. Dublin (North) 3,009

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Dublin (South)

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Dublin (South) 81,112
Marriage Records for Co. Dublin (South) 30,094
Death Records for Co. Dublin (South) 47,677

Irish Genealogy Databases for Co. Louth

Below is a list of databases that are searchable ** No. of Records
Birth Records for Co. Louth 200,594
Marriage Records for Co. Louth 81,088
Death Records for Co. Louth 11,918

Online Irish Genealogy Databases - Co. Leitrim

Please Note: I have not used this site so welcome comments from anyone who has.

Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links and Chat.

While there stop into Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Chat.

Library Ireland

Library Ireland is a free online resource for Irish antiquities, biography, folklore, genealogy, history (general, local and social), literature, and much more besides.

The Genealogy Section contains information on Irish Names, Census, Street Directories, County Directories.

Anyone with Irish ancestry may find this site worth the visit.

Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links and Chat.

While there stop into Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Chat.

Irish Genealogy

I have checked all the links in the Ireland section and added new. Please take time to visit and areas that pretain to yout genealogy.

Antrim
Armagh
Carlow
Cavan
Clare
Cork
Derry
Donegal
Down
Dublin
Fermanagh
Galway
Kerry
Kildare
Kilkenny
Kings
Leitrim
Limerick
Longford
Louth
Mayo
Meath
Monaghan
Queens
Roscommon
Sligo
Tipperary
Tyrone
Waterford
Westmeath
Wexford
Wicklow
All Of Ireland
Ireland Message Board
Brick Walls
Genealogy Chat
Genealogy Blog

If you know of any great sites that I should add please send them to me. Thanks

Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links and Chat.

While there stop into Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Chat.

Irish Family History

Over the next few days I will be updating the Ireland section of Looking 4 Kin

While looking for sites to add I have come across a great new blog:
Irish Family History

Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links and Chat.

While there stop into Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Chat.

National Archives Ireland - 1911 Census online

Hi everyone

Information from The National Archives of Ireland site

"The first phase of the Irish 1901 and 1911 census website, containing the records for Dublin 1911, fully indexed by name, and with free access to the digitised images of the original manuscript household forms, was launched on 3 December 2007. The site also contains a wealth of photographs and essays on life on Dublin at that time, with links to illustrative census forms."

The direct link to the cenus page is The National Archives of Ireland 1901 and 1911 Census digitisation project

Further areas will be added to the site in due course

Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland

Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland

The Atlas provides information on each of the 32 Irish counties, including origin of the county name, size and population, geographical features, ancient divisions and designations (including the main clans associated with each). There is also a map for each county, showing the cities, towns, villages and baronies, as well as the rivers and roads etc. The information on the population of the counties and major towns, and the clearly marked baronies on the individual maps, should prove of use and interest to genealogists involved in studying their Irish ancestry.

Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links and Chat.

While there stop into Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Chat.

Try a new Ancestry.com Membership! No Credit Card Required

Ireland - Australia Transportation Database

A searchable database of convicts who were transcported from Ireland to Australia together with some of their families who travelled as free settlers.

Rather than try to explain the site, as I am sure I could not do it justice, I show the information quoted on the main page of the Ireland-Australia transportation database

The National Archives of Ireland holds a wide range of records relating to the transportation of convicts from Ireland to Australia covering the period 1788 to 1868. In some cases these include records of members of convicts' families transported as free settlers

To mark the Australian Bicentenary in 1988, the Taoiseach presented microfilms of the most important of these records to the Government and People of Australia as a gift from the Government and People of Ireland. A computerised index to the records was prepared with the help of IBM and is available for use at various locations in Australia.

While the collection of convict petitions dates from the beginning of transportation from Ireland to Australia in 1791, all transportation registers compiled before 1836 were destroyed in the Four Courts fire of June 1922. Therefore, if the person you are researching was convicted before 1836, but was not the subject of a petition, he or she will not appear on this database. In other words, the records from which the transportation database was compiled such as the transportation registers, convict reference files and petitions to government for pardon or commutation of sentence, are incomplete.

Online search

To search the transportation database, please click on the following link: Ireland-Australia transportation database

For more on the history and historical sources of transportation, consult the brief outline and the comprehensive article by Rena Lohan

Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links & Chat

Research in Ireland

An article entitled Research in Ireland was published in the Looking 4 Kin newsletter on 11 March 2005. Prior to that, back in 2003 or 2004 it was in the old JustGen Newsletter.

I have revisited that article and picked out some of the sources that are available for Irish research. As the original article was an overview, I have increased the information on each source and, where possible, included links to sites of interest.

This has made the original item much too long for a blog, so I will be posting some separate pieces as and when each section is updated.

But first, the introducton and basics of research in Ireland.

AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS

Many of you reading this item will have ancestors who originated from Ireland. The usual comment is – ‘Oh, searching in Ireland is difficult, a lot of records no longer exist’. I must admit that, when I first started searching for my husband’s ‘lost’ Irish Grandfather, that was my first reaction. I rapidly became fed up with encountering the notation – ‘Records no longer exist – destroyed in fire’. On enquiring further, however, I found that there is a great deal of information available to the researcher.

The LDS Family History Centres hold extensive collections of microfilm copies of Irish records – check to see if they can be ordered from the Family History Library.

A search at Family History Centers will show you where there is a centre near you. A further search at the Family History Library Catalog will show you exactly what is available.

The Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths

The general registration of births, marriages and deaths started in Ireland in 1864 – much later than the rest of the British Isles. The one exception to this is Protestant Marriages, where registration took effect in 1845. I may be wrong, but it would seem from searching the pre 1864 marriages at the General Register Office (Northern Ireland), that not all Protestant marriages have made it onto the indexes prior to 1864. Perhaps not all the ministers were diligent and omitted to forward records for indexing.

Census Returns

The first modern style census in Ireland took place in 1821. Unfortunately, most of the census returns for the 19th century were destroyed in the early part of the 20th century, although there are some snippets around. The first full census available is that for 1901. In view of the difficulties encountered due to the lack of information available from earlier censuses, the normal 100-year closure period was reduced and the 1901 census records have been available for public inspection for some years. The 1911 census is now available for inspection at the Dublin Record Office.

Currently, there is no full version of tbe 1901 or 1911 censuses of Ireland online, but there are a number of sites that provide links to the extracts that are available. One such site is Online Irish Census Indexes & Records

On 6 December 2005 it was announced that agreement had been reached between the National Archives of Ireland and Library and Archives Canada to digitise Irish Census Records for 1901 and 1911.

According to the The National Archives of Ireland site, the first phase of the project, Dublin City and County 1911, is to be launched in Autumn 2007.

In the absence of earlier census returns, the following substitutes are available – and these will be reviewed in detail in later blogs -

17th Century

Muster Rolls (1630)
Books of Survey and Distribution (1680)
Civil Survey of Ireland (1665-1667) and Census of Ireland (1659)
Hearth Money Rolls (1660s)
Subsidy Rolls (1660s)
Poll Tax Returns (1660s)

18th Century

Return of Householders (1766)
Free Looms (1796)

19th Century

Tythe Appointment Books (1824-1838)
Grifiths Valuation of Ireland (1848-1864)
Landowners in Ireland (1876)
School Records (mid 19th century)

Regional Records

In addition to the main countrywide records, over the centuries a number of parishes had their own censuses. For example, in 1770 a census was carried out for the town of Armagh. It was arranged street by street and gave individual names, occupations, size of family and religion.

Update

This item was originally written a few years ago. At the beginning I mentioned my husband’s ‘lost’ Irish Grandfather. I am pleased to say that I have since found him. In fact, Samuel Alexander Brown was not born in Ireland as the family (including Saumuel's children)said - he was born in Glasgow, Scotland. It was great grandfather Hugh Brown who, according to Scottish censuses, was born in Ireland.

It goes to prove once again that you should not believe everything you are told - even if the informants appear to be the most reliable people!

Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links & Chat

Mayo Ancestors

Mayo Ancestors

I ran across this site put together by the Family History Centers.

Their site states:

"Official Genealogy records of County Mayo, Ireland

We hope you can use this search facility to locate your family ancestors. At present you have access to the complete Birth and Baptism records for County Mayo.

To search the Birth / Baptism Register, specify the Surname, Firstname and the approximate year of birth of your ancestor.

Note that the search results will include variations of the First name and Surname.

We will soon be giving you the ability to search Marriages and Deaths."

Guide to Sources for Irish Family Research

BallybegVillage.com offers a brief look at some of the records available for Irish research.

Free Guide to Sources for Irish Family Research
Topics include:
Census of Ireland 1659
Civil Survey of Ireland 1659
Tithe Applotments
Ordnance Survey Maps
Griffith's Valuation of Ireland
Valuation Maps
Cancellation Books
House Books

Introduction to Irish Church Records covers:
Baptismal Records Ireland
Catholic Marriage Records in Ireland
Protestant Church Records

Guide To Irish Land Division gives a beginner's guide to understanding land division in Ireland.

Civil Registration and Census of Ireland 1901 & 1911 covers:
Birth, Death and Marriage
Irish Census Records

Be sure to visit Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Links and Chat.

While there stop into Looking 4 Kin Genealogy Chat.

Try a new Ancestry.com Membership! No Credit Card Required