Irish Family History Society

This year the Society is celebrating its 25th anniversary, having being established in 1984. We are currently developing plans to celebrate. The first celebration of the Society's 25 years is the emergence of the new website. An Online Bookstore for the sale of the Society's publications and a Members' Only area are currently being developed and will follow over the next few months.

Organised by the Irish Genealogical Research Society. IFHS will be joining them for this outing.

Visit to Newbridge House, Co. Dublin & Battle of the Boyne Interpretative Centre, Co. Meath.

Cost €55. Full details of outing are shown on the Society's Website on Meetings page.

Numbers are limited so early booking is essential. Open to Society members only.

"We have had a number of queries as to timescales for placing future counties online. We apologise for the delay in responding to you all.

Although we placed Antrim, Kerry and Down online in December, we encountered a number of errors in transcription, as well as some missing material. We have requested our partners to review the material with a view to improving accuracy. These three counties, with improved data quality, along with Cork, Donegal, Wexford, Galway and King's County (Offaly) will be placed online by the end of May.

Some material was never microfilmed, and has hence has not been digitised (Valentia in Co. Kerry is a case in point). We will supply information about missing material for each county, as well as arranging to have it digitised as soon as we can.

The National Archives would like to express its appreciation to our users for your very important feedback on transcription errors. This feedback has proved beneficial in our overall assessment of the quality of data being provided by our digitisation partners in this project. It is hoped that corrections submitted by members of the public for Antrim, Kerry and Down will be included in the forthcoming launch, but they may have to wait until the next one due to shortage of resources.

Further tranches of counties will comprise:
1. Limerick, Mayo,Waterford, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Fermanagh, Kildare, Kilkenny and Leitrim;
2. Londonderry (Derry), Longford, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Queen's County (Laois), Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Westmeath and Wicklow.

At present, we hope to be placing the first listed tranche online by mid - July, and the second tranche by end -August, but this is subject to our being satisfied that the data meets our required levels of accuracy.

In September, we will be rebuilding the site to include full transcription of all of the data on the household forms for 1911, including religion, occupation, relationship to head of family, literacy status, marital status, county or country of origin, Irish language proficiency, specified illnesses, and child survival information.

The new PRONI Name Search database allows you to search pre-1858 will indexes online.

- the index to pre-1858 wills which are to be found in various collections in PRONI

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is committed to making its archives more widely available. While PRONI's eCatalogue has made access to PRONI's archives easier and speedier, in most instances it does not provide information on the actual content of the archives. PRONI has therefore embarked on a project to improve access to content by producing or reproducing indexes to some of the most popular records.

This project is PRONI's Public Service Agreement commitment in the Programme for Government for the next 3 years from 2008 to 2011.

Forthcoming indexes will include the surviving fragments of the 1740 and the 1766 religious census returns.

Saturday 23 May 2009
Robert Emmet Theatre (Room 2037), Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin

Following on from the oral evidence given by CIGO & APGI representatives to the Northern Ireland Assembly's Scrutiny Committee for Finance & Personnel in relation to the Civil Registration Bill 2007, the Committee has now published its report in which it supports the proposal to include parents' names in all future death registrations in Northern Ireland.

From the 1 April 2009, General Register Office (GRO) information for the public will move from our current website (www.gro.gov.uk) to join the website Directgov. It is intended that a full launch, supported by a Press Release, will take place on 7 April 2009.

Directgov is a cross-government supersite, the aim of which is to host information on all public services in one place.

The new website address for GRO is www.direct.gov.uk/gro. This will take users to an area entitled "Registering Life Events". As well as providing easy links to the GRO online certificate ordering service, it will contain information on the registration of birth, adoption, stillbirth, marriage, civil partnership and death as well as guidance on family history and the use of the General Register Office birth, death and marriage indexes.

The current GRO web address (www.gro.gov.uk) will remain active and will host a "homepage" that will guide visitors to GRO information via links.

I would be grateful if you would make the necessary arrangements to amend any reference you may have to the current GRO website address on your website or on printed literature to show the new web address of www.direct.gov.uk/gro. Since the web address www.gro.gov.uk will remain active, changes to your printed material can await the next print run.

Philippa McCray
Administrator (Acting)
Federation of Family History Societies"

To mark the Irish Times' 150 Anniversery Free Digital Archive access is available from Friday 27th March to Sunday 5th April. Articles can be printed and downloaded for free. See their web site http://www.irishtimes.com/150

Conor Dodd, one of our speakers on Saturday 18th April, will be a guest on Donal hUallachain's radio programme on Friday 10th April at 8.30pm. Looking Back is a local history show where the presenter Donal, delves into the past and discusses Dublin's local history. Conor will be speaking with Donal about Military research, the subject of his talk to IFHS. The show is repeated on Monday morning 13th April at 11am. So do listen in if you can.

Upper Lough Erne in 1739
HMC Franciscan Manuscripts
Deserted Children in Dublin 1854 (Download)
Real Life in Ireland 1904
Working Class Conditions in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales 1908

Also available as a FREE DOWNLOAD is the digitised Philimore's Pedigree Work: A Handbook for the Genealogist.

Two Irish IFHS members, Joan Sharkey and Mary Beglan, attended the recent Who Do You Think You Are Show, which was held in London on Friday 27 February to Sunday 1 March. This popular show was well attended and there was a good Irish presence this year including Irish Roots Magazine, Eneclann, National Library of Ireland, National Archives of Ireland, Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, Ulster Historical Foundation and the Irish Family History Foundation.

We hear that the show will be held again at the same time next year at the same location.

Following the show Joan and Mary stayed on in London and spent 2 days researching at The National Archives in Kew before heading back home.

Dublin City Library & Archive Family History Day
138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2

On Thursday 22 January 2009 the twelfth annual Sir John T. Gilbert Lecture was held at Dublin City Library and Archive, Pearse Street. The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Eibhlín Byrne, was chairman for the evening. City Librarian, Deirdre Ellis-King, welcomed the capacity audience and introduced the Lord Mayor.

The twelfth lecture was given by Professor Colm Lennon, Department of History, NUI Maynooth. Professor Lennon's lecture, Dublin's civic buildings in the early modern period, was well received by the audience.

This lecture will be published by Dublin City Public Libraries before the end of 2009.

From 19 February 2009 the Linen Hall Library are introducing a trial period of longer opening hours on Thursdays and Saturdays.

On Thursdays the Library will open until 7.00pm and on Saturdays the Library will open until 4.00pm.

Our full opening hours from 19 February will be:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 9.30am - 5.30pm;
Thursday 9.30am - 7.00pm.
Saturday 9.30am - 4.00pm.

The following announcements received from FFHS which may be of interest to some members.

Due to shortages of staff, we have very reluctantly decided that, with effect from Monday 2 March 2009, the production of original archives to readers must be restricted as follows:

It is hoped that the imposition of these restrictions on productions will be sufficient to enable the National Archives to maintain its existing levels of service to the public in other respects.

'From Speed to Rocque: the growth of early modern Dublin' Lecture
Tuesday 17 February 2009 at 6.30pm, National Library, Kildare St., Dublin 2.

To mark the publication of Irish Historic Towns Atlas No. 19, and in conjunction with the Royal Irish Academy, Professor Colm Lennon will give a talk entitled 'From Speed to Rocque: the growth of early modern Dublin, 1610-1756' in the Library's Seminar Room on 17 February at 6.30pm.

On the 23rd January LDS placed online a free transcription of the indexes to the Ireland Civil Registration indexes of all Births, Marriages and Deaths from 1864 to 1958 (Republic only from 1922) and Non-Catholic Marriages from 1845-1864. It is available on their Pilot FamilySearch website and was created from LDS copies of the indexes only and does not contain exact dates or images of the original records. For the first few days following the launch, digital copies of the index pages were also available but these have now been withdrawn.

From their web site www.familysearch.org select Record Search Pilot from the dropdown menu option Search Records. A Link is also available from the Home Page under What's New - See prototype for searching millions of records

"On 25 October 2007 the Prime Minister announced that he had asked Paul Dacre, working with Professor David Cannadine and Sir Joseph Pilling, to chair an independent review of the '30 year rule', under which most government records are transferred to The National Archives and made available to the public by the time they are 30 years old.

These records are lists of those registered to vote in Dublin city in Dail and local elections, for use in polling stations at election time. This online database covers the year 1939-1940. The full series of electoral lists 1938 to 1964 is available in the Dublin City Library and Archive Reading Room.

Who Do You Think You Are? Show, London Friday 27nd February, Saturday 28th and Sunday 1st March 2009

Once again this popular show is taking place at the Olympia, London, England. Full details of tickets costs, Shows, Lectures and Exhibitors can be found at their web site
http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk/

Ainsley Harriott, Lesley Garrett and Matthew Pinsent who appeared in the last BBC series will be appearing live in the Who Do You Think You Are? Theatre

There will be a good Irish presence at the show again this year including Irish Roots Magazine, Eneclann, National Library of Ireland, National Archives of Ireland, Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, Ulster Historical Foundation and the Irish Family History Foundation.

The Dictionary of Irish Architects, an on-line database, was launched on 28th January 2009. It contains biographical and bibliographical information on architects, builders and craftsmen born or working in Ireland during the period 1720-1940, and information on the buildings on which they worked. Some 6,000 individual architects or architectural practices are included in the DIA, as are more than 40,000 building references. The project has been supported by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism.

It was created and compiled by Ann Martha Rowan. The Dictionary is a work in progress. Members will recall that Ann Martha Rowan spoke to the IFHS about her database some years ago. It will be a very valuable resource for those researching the history of Irish Architecture.

"The Family History Event will be taking place on Sunday 3rd May 2009 at the Barbican Centre, London.For a full list of exhibitors, details of the Lectures Programme and further information about the show, please visit http://www.thefhevent.com/

On 16th January 2009, PRONI launched their new online Electronic Catalogue (eCATNI) containing over one million catalogue entries, approximately 60% of PRONI's total catalogue entries, with the remainder to be published on an ongoing basis.

PRONI visitors have already been making use of the eCatalaogue onsite since it went live in the PRONI Search Room on 10 November 2008. The eCatalogue is the end result of the electronic catalogue for Northern Ireland (eCATNI) project and brings PRONI in line with other National and International archival institutions.

A group of volunteers got together on Tuesday 6th January to pack the journal for posting to our members. Unfortunately we were unable to pack and post before Christmas. Our usual packers John Heueston, Eddie Brennan and Mary Beglan were joined this year by Chairman Gerry Cahill and fellow committee members Joan Sharkey and John Dyer.

We managed to pack all journals in the one day and they were left in the local sorting office on the way home. We were pleased to hear reports that some members received their copy in the post the following morning. We were so busy packing we forgot to take photos of the group. We did remember, just in time, to take some photos of Joan and John Dyer as they delivered the journals to Harmonstown Sorting Office.

The 1911 Census records for Antrim, Down and Kerry were made available online on 23rd December 2008. Dublin was put online in December 2007. Publication of the remaining counties will follow up to mid-2009. Donegal, Cork and Wexford are the next counties to be digitised. More precise timescales will be posted on their web site when available.

Fifteen Year Membership Certificates.

FHS Committee members Eddie Brennan and John Dyer were among the group of Society members who received their Fifteen Year Membership Certificates in 2008. The certificates were presented to Eddie and John by Hon. Chairman Gerry P Cahill following our committee meeting on 17th December last. Certificates to the other members were posted in December.

National Library of Ireland launches new manuscript research guide to women in Irish History

NLI recently launched their online Research Guide to Women in Irish History compiled by Dr Sonja Tiernan.

The introduction to the guide states "The National Library of Ireland's holdings constitute the most comprehensive collection of Irish documentary material in the world and offer an invaluable representation of women's roles in history and heritage. Documents relating to individual women and organisations pertinent to the history of women are distributed throughout the collections of the National Library. This research guide outlines the procedure to locate sources for researching women's history which are contained in the department of manuscripts and provides a brief description and contextual background of relevant collections. It is noteworthy that sources concerning women in history may also be contained in other collections or records not specifically mentioned here …"

Papers available include those of Teresa Brayton (1868-1943), poet, literary nationalist and author of the old Irish song, 'The Old Bog Road, Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) an Anglo-Irish writer, known for her children's stories and for her novels of Irish life and the Irish nationalist, Maud Gonne MacBride (1866-1953), born at Tongham Manor, near Farnham, Surrey. Copies of the guide are available to download from the NLI website at
http://www.nli.ie/en/manuscript-research-guides.aspx

Irish Historic Towns Atlas No. 19, Dublin, Part II, 1610 to 1756 by Colm Lennon, published by the Royal Irish Academy in association with Dublin City Council, was launched on Wednesday, 3rd December 2008 in the Rotunda, City Hall, Dame Street, Dublin 2. IFHS members, Hon. Chairman Gerry Cahill and Mary Beglan attended the launch.

Dublin Part I, to 1610 by Howard Clarke was published in 2002. Dublin Part II traces the growth of the city from 1610 to 1756. The histories of over 2000 sites (streets, markets, schools etc) are referenced in the extensive topographical index and explained in the accompanying essay. A composite reproduction of Rocque's plan (1756) is one of a range of maps and views presented in large format.

Format: A3 format with cover, historical detail of over 2,000 sites, 22 large-format high quality maps, reconstructions and views. Cost is €30. See their web site www.ria.ie/projects/ihta/index.html Click "Buy online" for details.
The IHTA have produced many atlases to date including Armagh, Belfast, Trim, Kilkenny and Kildare. Full details of all their publications are available on their web site.

The IHTA is based at Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2. Jennifer Moore, Editorial Assistant, spoke to the Society on October 6th 2008 to expand more on the project.

IHTA 19: Irish Historic Towns Atlas No. 19, Dublin, Part II, 1610 to 1756 (2008)
ISBN 978-1-904890-44-7

National Library of Ireland - Self-Service copying (Photocopying and Digital Cameras)

The National Library has recently announced the following changes to copying services.

From Monday 10th November 2008 readers will be permitted to photograph material from the Library's Collections (Printed and Manuscript) using their own digital cameras in designated self-service copying areas in the Main Reading Room and the Manuscripts Reading Room.

In addition to this, Self -Service copying - both photocopying and photography using digital cameras - will be available during normal Library opening hours including lunch time, evenings and Saturday mornings.

For details of the conditions of use, exemptions, copyright guidelines and the preservation and handling guidelines for the printed collections see information sheet Self-Service Copying (Photocopying and Digital Photography).

For specific terms and conditions which apply in the case of the manuscripts collection see Guidelines for Use of Digital Cameras by Readers in the Manuscript Reading Room .

Eneclann Ltd, Dublin, launch New CD-ROM.
World War 1 Irish Soldiers: Their Final Testament
Compiled & Edited by Kiara Gregory. Kiara is a member of I.F.H.S.

This publication is a detailed catalogue of 9,000 surviving wills of Irish soldiers who died in World War 1. During the war soldiers sent to the front line were encouraged to write their last will and testament, if they did not survive these wills were registered, 9,000 of these wills are deposited with the National Archives of Ireland. These documents have never been published before, and this CD contains copious details, including an estimated 18,000+ names (soldiers, witnesses, beneficiaries and relatives) and is fully searchable. It is an essential resource for those interested in the Irish experience of WW1 as well as genealogists and family historians tracing Irish family members in the early 20th Century.

To celebrate this new launch, and the hard work and dedication of the compiler, Kiara Gregory, Eneclann are offering a special launch 20% discount online. To get this discount please use the discount code "kiara" when making your purchase. This discount will only be valid until 30 November.

'Ireland's Memorial Records: World War 1 1914-18'. This title normally costs EURO 78.43 (ex VAT)

To commemorate the end of World War One Eneclann are also offering a MASSIVE 50% discount on our edition of 'Ireland's Memorial Records: World War 1 1914-18'. This title normally costs EURO 78.43 (ex VAT) and contains a complete edition of the eight volume work, along with many other details. The objective of these volumes (3,177 pages) was to preserve the names of over 49,000 Irishmen who lost their lives fighting in the Great War, World War I, 1914-1918. It is the most complete record known to exist and was published in 1923. This edition is a fitting digital testament to that original aim and was launched 2 years ago by Minister O'Donoghue at the National War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge. See Eneclann's web site http://www.eneclann.ie for more details.

Note re Irish VAT (Sales Tax): This is charged on all customers from the European Union at 21%, but customers from North America, Australia, and anywhere outside the EU shop at Eneclann's site tax free.

We recently received an email from Gordon Smith of Naval-History.Net in relation to his web site www.naval-history.net which now has the complete Royal Navy and Royal Marine casualty lists from pre-1914 to 2008, including both World Wars. These are listed both alphabetically and chronologically by ship.

By including the inter-war and post-war years, providing background information and allowing for the addition of photographs of those lost, he hopes you will find these pages a valuable complement to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site.

There is also considerable supporting information on battles, actions, convoys, warships, merchant ships and ship losses on www.naval-history.net.

The BBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" magazine included a review of the site in their June 2008 issue.

The A.G.M. of the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) is set for Tue 18 November 2008 in the Freemasons Hall, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 (off Kildare Street) at 7.00. This will be followed by a talk by John Waters who recently featured on RTE's Where Was Your Family During The Famine? Programme.

The following announcement received from FFHS relating to WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? LIVE 2009 show will of interest to many of our members.

Visit Eneclann's web site http://www.eneclann.ie/Research/genealogy_Obama_family_history.html for details of their extensive research into Barack Obama's Irish links to the Kearney family from Moneygall Co. Offaly. Working back from known information of Falmouth Kearney, Obama's 2nd great-grandfather, Eneclann has taken the family tree back to c1698.

The following announcements received from FFHS relating to British and U.S. research will of interest to many of our members.

The Certificate in Local History, run by the National University of Ireland Maynooth, will be offered at Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse St., Dublin 2, beginning this autumn. The course runs from mid September 2008 to end April 2009 and the tutor is Dr. Seamas O Maitiu.
Classes will be held on Tuesday evenings, from 18.00-21.00.
For more details, download:
Local History Brochure 2008-2009 (PDF, 267KB)
or
Local History Brochure 2008-2009 (MS Word, 52KB)

Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations is petitioning the Government to open the 1926 Irish Census.

"CIGO has long called for the early release of the Republic's 1926 census returns. These returns constitute the first snapshot of the Free State's population only four years after the creation of the State. Eighty-two years have elapsed since the census was compiled and few people from that time are now still living. Also, the data that was recorded in 1926 cannot be deemed 'sensitive' in terms of the information recorded in contemporary census records. CIGO argues that as the 1926 census holds vital genealogical information for so very many people born in Ireland before the commencement of civil registration, then these records should now be made available to the public. There is certainly a precedent for this as the 1911 census (which covers all of the island of Ireland) was first made available at Dublin's Public Record Office of Ireland (now the National Archives) in 1961 - only 50 years after it was compiled!

The Genealogical Society of Ireland is also firmly behind the campaign to get the 1926 census returns released to the public and as such has announced that it is to propose the publication of a parliamentary Bill providing for such access. The Bill is likely to be initiated through the Seanad (Senate and the Upper Chamber) of the Houses of the Oireachtas (the Republic's parliament). This move is very much in-line with CIGO's own policy and - in addition to CIGO's current negotiations with the Central Statistics Office (the body which controls access to all census records created since the foundation of the State) - we will be supporting GSI's Bill. Obviously - with only a slim chance of success - the campaign needs all the support it can harness and CIGO implores all those with an interest in Irish genealogy to support both it and GSI in anyway they can. Everyone who is interested in this issue can help the success of the campaign by signing CIGO's petition which is to be presented to Brian Cowen TD, the Taoiseach [Prime Minister] of Ireland."

The following announcements received from FFHS relating to British research will be of interest to many of our members.

The Military Archives will be closed until further notice, due to staff training and stocktaking. Any inconvenience caused to researchers is deeply regretted. Queries should be addressed by post to: Military Archives,
Cathal Brugha Barracks, Rathmines, Dublin 6.

With effect from 1st June 2008 the General Register Office (Northern Ireland) www.groni.gov.uk has increased its fees as follows:

Index search, including 4 free verifications, is now £12
Each verification from a Register entry is now £3
The 'assisted search' of Registers is now £26 per hour
Full certified copies of events, with details supplied, will now cost £6

The National Library of Ireland allows public access to Roman Catholic parish registers for Cashel & Emly, Cloyne and Kerry.

The National Library announced recently that access is now available to their microfilm copies of Roman Catholic parish registers from the dioceses of Cashel & Emly, Cloyne and Kerry. While access to Cloyne and Kerry was allowed subject to permission from the Diocese, access was not allowed at all to the Cashel & Emly registers. For further details see www.cigo.ie

The National Library have updated their Family History - Parish Registers Guide, while is available on their web site, to denote this change. The online listing of the parish registers and their microfilm call numbers has been updated to show the call numbers for all parishes including Kerry and Cashel & Emly. See NLI web site www.nli.ie under Family History.

At the recent Who Do You Think You Are Show held in London in May 2008 the new Times online archive was launched. The online archive covers the period 1785 to 1985. The Times digital newspapers has been available for many years in Libraries, Universities and such like. The newly re-designed web-site is now aimed at the general market and includes many articles of historical interest.

Over the next months, The Times will be adding post-1985, as well as The Sunday Times from its launch in 1822.

For a limited period of time, all of the Times Archive will be free. However, it is necessary to register with Times Online to view articles that you have searched for.

The IFHS held it's AGM on Saturday 14th April in the Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse St. Dublin, which was well attended.

The Hon. Chairman, Mary Beglan read the minutes of the 2007 AGM followed by the Chairman's report. Mary updated the meeting with the current position regarding various matters. As we are all aware the Dublin 1911 census went live in December 2007 and the remaining counties are due over the course of the next two years.

The General Register Office Research Room has now moved to Lr. Abbey St. The indexes are now available once again on open access; however the 5 day limit on photocopies still applies. The Irish Family History Foundation's website http://www.irish-roots.ie was officially launched in March aboard the ship "Jeannie Johnston" on Dublin Quays. Patricia Moorhead and Mary Beglan attended the launch. Mary asked about the lack of a search facility on parents' names when she was advised that this was scheduled to be looked at in April. Some recent changes were announced with regard to the Registry of Deeds. With effect from May 1st 2008 there will be no charge for a daily search of public records prior to 1970; however the cost of a copy memorial will increase from EURO 12 to EURO 20.

Mary Beglan advised that IFHS had recently registered a new domain address (www.ifhs.ie). She advised the meeting that we are currently in the process of setting out our requirements with an IT specialist and expect to progress this over the coming few months.

The Hon. Treasurer, John Heueston followed with the Hon. Treasurer's report, when he gave a detailed report on the Society's finances. Last year John spoke on the withdrawal of the Credit Card facility. He told how the PayPal facility, which was set up last December by our webmaster Ian Johnston, was working well with many members renewing online, as well as a number of new members.

The election of Officers for 2008-2009 and committee then took place. Gerry Cahill was elected Hon. Chairman for the coming year, taking over from the outgoing Chairman Mary Beglan who held the position for the past five years. Mary has taken on the position of Editor of the Society's various publications.

The Office Bearers for the year 2008/9 are:
                                Hon. Chairman:         Gerry P. Cahill
                                Vice Chairman:         Eddie Brennan
                                Hon. Treasurer:         John Heueston
                                Hon. Editor:              Mary Beglan

                                Committee:   Mona Germain Dolan
                                                    John Dyer
                                                    Richard Flatman
                                                    Ian Johnston
                                                    Pat Moorhead
                                                    Michael Murphy
                                                    Bernadette Murray
                                                    Joan Sharkey

Incoming Hon. Chairman Gerry P. Cahill with Hon. Treasurer John Heueston

During the Any Other Business section of the meeting a number of questions and comments were made including news of the IFHS web site. Mary Beglan advised that that we hope to include a Member's only section which we are currently unable to do on our free web page.

The A.G.M. was completed at 12.30 approx. A number of us had a light lunch upstairs in the Dublin City Library Café and enjoyed chatting with our fellow members. Others enjoyed lunch at a nearby café at St. Andrew's Resource.

As always a special thank you also goes to the Dublin City Library & Archives for allowing us the use of their premises and for their help throughout the morning.

The Society of Australian Genealogists (http://www.sag.org.au/) recently advised us of their new CD-Rom which provides a fully searchable transcription of the 1901 Census of County Clare, Ireland. Details of more than 112,000 individuals are included. Advanced search features allow searches by name, occupation, age, county of birth, place of enumeration and much more - 38 searchable fields! For Windows 98, XP and Vista.

Special pre-publication price of AUS$35, includes GST and ordinary post within Australia. Available at this special pre-publication price ONLY if order is received by 31 May 2008.

"I am presently writing a history of the Dublin Docklands from Sheriff Street to the Pigeon House. I wonder if you or your members might be able to recommend persons familiar with this area who I might talk to in coming months. If you would rather give them my phone number or email, that would be fine by me.

Turtle Bunbury
www.turtlebunbury.com
Lisnavagh House, Rathvilly, Co. Carlow, Ireland
www.lisnavagh.com
Mob: + 353 - (0) 87 - 6453 486

Mr Turtle Bunbury is a best-selling author, scriptwriter, travel writer and historical consultant based in Ireland. His next book 'The Irish Pub' will be published by Thames
& Hudson in September 2008. His most recent book 'Vanishing Ireland' was shortlisted for the Easons Irish Published Book of the Year Award 2007.

The National Library has recently launched its Strategic Plan 2008-2010. Hard copies of the plan are currently available in the National Library and can also be downloaded in PDF in English and Irish from the Library's website http://www.nli.ie/en/udlist/reports-and-policy-documents.aspx

New parish registers available at Dublin City Library & Archive Pearse St, Dublin 2.

On the 29th March 2008 Dublin City Library announced that additional parish registers were added to their databases at their Pearse St. premises. These registers are in addition to those previously available in the Library and on the Dublin Heritage web site www.dublinheritage.ie for the present it will be necessary to visit the Library to view these records.

The additional Parish registers available are:

Clondalkin CI
Clondalkin CI
Clondalkin CI

Clondalkin RC
Clondalkin RC

Palmerstown RC
Palmerstown RC

Rathfarmham RC
Rathfarmham RC

Sandyford RC
Sandyford RC

St. Agatha's RC
St. Agatha's RC

St. Andrew's RC
St. Andrew's RC

St. Audoen's CI
St. Audoen's CI
St. Audoen's CI

St. Audoen's RC
St. Audoen's RC

St. Catherine's CI
St. Catherine's CI
St. Catherine's CI

St. Catherine's RC
St. Catherine's RC

St. James's CI
St. James's CI
St. James's CI

St. James's RC
St. James's RC

St. John's CI
St. John's CI
St. John's CI

St. Jude's CI

St. Kevin's CI

St. Mary's RC Haddington Rd.
St. Mary's RC Haddington Rd.

St. Matthew's CI
St. Matthew's CI

St. Michael's & John's RC
St. Michael's & John's RC

St. Michan's RC

St. Nicholas Within CI
St. Nicholas Within CI
St. Nicholas Within CI

St. Nicholas Without CI
St. Nicholas Without CI
St. Nicholas Without CI

St. Paul's CI
St. Paul's CI
St. Paul's CI

St. Peter's CI
St. Peter's CI
St. Peter's CI

St. Stephen's CI

St. Werburg's CI
St. Werburg's CI
St. Werburg's CI

Taney CI
Taney CI
Taney CI

Baptisms
Burials
Marriages

Baptisms
Marriages

Baptisms
Marriages
Burials

Baptisms
Marriages

Baptisms
Burials
Marriages

Baptisms
Marriages

Baptisms
Burials
Marriages

Baptisms
Marriages

Baptisms
Burials
Marriages

Baptisms

Baptisms
Marriages

Baptisms
Burials

Baptisms
Marriages

Baptisms

Baptisms
Burials
Marriages

Baptisms

Baptisms
Burials
Marriages

1728-1899
1724-1900
1732-1891

1778-1896
1778-1900

1798-1855
1838-1859

1777-1857
1832-1864

1823-1900
1823-1856

1852-1899
1853-1899

1742-1902
1741-1892

1715-1900
1746-1860
1673-1885

1778-1893
1800-1883

1679-1895
1679-1898
1679-1845

1740-1781
1740-1776

1740-1902
1746-1883
1774-1845

1803-1882
1832-1896

1619-1878
1620-1847
1619-1844

1857-1901

1883-1904

1798-1876
1798-1876

1827-1900
1827-1853

1743-1899
1743-1856

1744-1869

1688-1863
1671-1866
1688-1850

1694-1861
1694-1852
1699-1851

1723-1780
1702-1780
1723-1779

1670-1847
1670-1883
1670-1845

1838-1912

1704-1805
1790-1805
1704-1831

1791-1901
1814-1900
1795-1900

National Library of Ireland - Self Service Photocopying now available.

The National Library recently introduced Self-Service Photocopying on Reading Room Floor.

The service is available to readers subject to (i) the provisions of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 (details avaible in the Library) and (ii) the following exceptions:

" Books published prior to 1880
" Books from the Library's rare books and special collections including the LO, Joly, Dix and Thom collections
" Items larger than A3
" Books which are bound very tightly and do not open flat, including some paperbacks
" Books with fine historical bindings
" Damaged and/or fragile books including, for example, those with detached covers or spines, loose pages or plates, badly torn pages or brittle paper
" Books with spines which are thicker than 8cm (3 inches)
" Folded pullouts which are larger than the book
" Any other material considered vulnerable by Library staff

While readers may not themselves photocopy any of the material described above, it may be possible to have the material scanned or photographed by Library staff. Staff are happy to advise on alternative forms of copying.

All items must be examined by a member of the Library's reprographics staff before being copied.

Registry of Deeds - Changes in Fees effective 1st May 2008.

Various changes to the Land Registry Fees come into effect from 1st May 2008. Of those of direct interest to genealogists are:

General search, without limitation, each day, by each member of the Public against all indexes prior to 1970 Nil. (This was previously €6 per day)

For every certified copy of a memorial or application €20.00 (This was previously €12 each)

For full details see Land Registry web site
http://www.landregistry.ie/eng/news/new_registry_of_deeds_rules_and_fees_order.html

23 March 2008

13 March 2008

IFHS recently received this exciting news from CIGO: Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery to go 'On-Line'

Glasnevin Cemetery, once known as Prospect cemetery and which opened in 1832, is well known to the folk of Dublin as the last resting place of many of its deceased citizens. It covers a vast area of over 120 acres in which over the years there have been approximately 1.2 million burials. Although there is no rule barring non-Catholics from being buried there, it has generally been used only by the capital's Catholic citizens. Non-Catholics have generally favoured Mount Jerome Cemetery, on the Southside of the city, which was first opened in 1836.

Recently, one of CIGO's Executive Liaison Officers (Steven Smyrl) was asked by Glasnevin to give it the benefit of his experience about what genealogists would expect to obtain from an on-line service allowing access to the Cemetery's computerised registers. Having done their homework about modern practices relating to releasing data on the Internet, Glasnevin hopes it will be ready during the coming weeks to launch the service. It will be a pay-per-view service and all funds raised from it will be used to maintain the cemetery. Given that the vast majority of the Cemetery's plots are family graves, the records - which stretch back 175 years - record invaluable information about Dublin families. In light of the lack of 19th century census records for the capital, this information is all the more precious. You can read more about the subject here and here.

See also www.cigo.ie

25 February 2008

31 January 2008

17 January 2008

National library of Ireland. www.nli.ie Irish Times Digital Archive available to readers.

Readers can now gain full access to the Irish Times Digital Archive in the Library's reading rooms.

The fully searchable Digital Archive contains exact reproduction of all editions published by the Irish Times from 1859 onwards. There is also a Text Archive which contains
all articles published on Ireland.com including the Irish Times online and Breaking News from 1996 onwards.

[Note. The Irish Times Digital Archive is also available in Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse St., Dublin and in public libraries]

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Web site re-launched

PRONI's web site www.proni.gov.uk was re-launched in early January 2008. They have undertaken a comprehensive redesign of their website.

In addition to the Ulster Covenant and Freeholders databases previously available the web site now includes the 1858-c.1920 Will Calendars Index. The index to wills is based on the entries in the will calendars which summarised every will proved and all letters of administration granted. There are over 148,000 entries. This is the first phase of a project to index and digitise all the early wills that were proved in the District Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry from 1858 to c.1900. It provides a fully searchable index to the will calendar entries for these 3 District Probate Registries with the facility to view the entire will calendar entry for each successful search. The second phase will link the index entries to both the will calendar entries and the copy wills on the History of Probate page.

Other additional features as detailed in their News archive are:
o A 'New to archives' section aims to help visitors new to research by explaining what archives are and how they can be used.
o The 'About PRONI' and 'Visiting PRONI' sections gives extensive guidance on what visitors can expect when coming to PRONI and the services that are available. There is
also useful information and contacts for overseas visitors planning a trip to PRONI.
o 'Your records' gives advice and guidance on how visitors can look after their own personal archives and how to deposit records with PRONI.
o PRONI's 'Your Family Tree' leaflet series has been updated
o The 'Frequently Asked Questions' page has been greatly expanded to cover more topics and answer more queries.

Electronic catalogue. eCATNI
PRONI's web site states that they are currently converting all of its catalogues from paper volumes into a computerised database or electronic catalogue making it possible
to comprehensively search the contents of all the catalogues quickly and easily by subject, place, person or any keyword.

PRONI is planning a phased launch of its electronic catalogue to begin in Spring, 2008.

Fifteen Year Membership Cetificates

IFHS Committee members Pat Moorhead (left) and Mona Germaine-Dolan (right) were among sixteen Society members who received their Fifteen Year Membership Certificates in 2007.


Pat Moorhead	Mona Germaine-Dolan

10 January 2008

Journal of the Irish Family History Society Volume 23 2007.

The 2007 journal was posted to Ireland members on Friday 4th January 2008 and the remainder were posted on Wednesday 9th January. We regret that we were unable to issue before Christmas as usual. A group of volunteers came in especially to pack the journals last week and many thanks to them for doing so.


The Task - Packing and Postage	The Team - John, Susan and Eddie, plus Mary who took the pictures.

We hope you enjoy reading this year's journal. Articles include:

Editorial    Richard Flatman.
Emigrants from Offaly to Nelson     Helen Whelen
Lottery Win circa 1802!     Margaret (O'Shea) Jordan
My Irish Ancestry - a 3x great granddaughter's view     Elizabeth Kraus
A Clareman's Journey to the Antipodes      Loreley A. Marling
Surprising Benefit of I.F.H.S. Membership     David Wilkins & Peter Davies
Human Ballast on Cargo Ships      Hilary Murphy
Bringing History to Life     George R. Ingham
"What's in a Name"      Peter R.B. Davies
Emigrated to Mexico      Patrick Power
Assessing Australian Army Records      Ignatius Fennessy OFM
Artane Industrial School      Brian Wray
A Tully Lineage in Canada & USA from 1840' till to-day      Ken Watson
'The Story of the Ringrose' Part II      Ken Watson
Irish Methodist Newspapers - A Neglected Resource     G. Rex Meyer
Have You Shaken Your Family Tree?      Tony Duffy
Rathfarnham Burial Ground     Kieran Swords
Book Review

Copies of the journal are available to non-members at a cost of €12 plus postage. See Publications page for details.

10 December 2007

Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.

The following message has been issued by PRONI www.proni.gov.uk.

Restricted late evening opening service
PRONI regrets that from Thursday 3 January 2008 it will be necessary to restrict the late evening opening service available to our customers.
The Self-Service Microfilm Room will remain open: Customers can access:
· Church records
· 1901 Census
· index to the civil registers of births
· Place name and personal names index to the Registry of Deeds
· Tithe Applotment books,
· Abstracts of the 1858 -1900 wills
· Plus other popular sources available on microfilm or microfiche.
The Search Room will also remain open as normal: customers can continue to use the
· catalogues, guides and indexes
· computerised wills database
· Irish Emigration Database of the Centre for Migration Studies
· Findmypast and Irish Origins websites subscribed to by PRONI.
However, the last orders for documents produced in the Reading Room will be 5.30pm and not 8.15pm as at present. Any orders placed before 5.30pm will be fulfilled and customers can remain in the Reading Room to consult the records up to 8.45pm.
We will be reviewing the situation on a monthly basis and intend to resume the full evening service at the earliest possible moment.

6 December 2007

1911 Irish Census

"We are pleased to announce that the 1911 census for Dublin City and County was launched on the internet as a free service on Monday 2nd. December 2007. To access this service go to web site www.census.nationalarchives.ie Other counties will be added on an ongoing basis with an expected completion date of December 2008. It is hoped to have the 1901 census available in 2009."

29 November 2007

New proprietors of Irish Roots magazine.

We have received the following notice which we repeat for our readers:

"Maureen and Julie Phibbs are pleased to announce that they are the new proprietors of Irish Roots magazine. Maureen has many years genealogical experience and her daughter Julie hails from a background of TV production and journalism. The magazine will continue to be produced quarterly and Maureen as editor looks forward to receiving contributions of a genealogical and historical nature from all family history societies throughout the Country in order to ensure that societies of this ilk continue to thrive. Maureen can be contacted at editor@irishrootsmagazine.com and the website is www.irishrootsmagazine.com. The yearly subscription including postage is 21 euros for Ireland and 23 euros elsewhere."

22 November 2007

5 November 2007

3 November 2007

30 October 2007

Heraldic functions of the National Library of Ireland.

24 October 2007: Statement from J Gerard Danaher, SC, Chairperson of the Board of the National Library of Ireland.

Following public questioning of the legal basis of the National Library of Ireland's heraldic functions, the Board of the National Library suspended the exercise of those functions pending receipt of the advice of the Attorney General on the matter.

That advice is to the effect that, on a proper construction of the National Cultural Institutions Act, 1997, the Board can exercise the heraldic powers provided for in the Act although, with minor amendment, the wording of the Act could be made more succinct.

The Board of the Library has formally brought this advice to the attention of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and understands that the matter is under his consideration.

However, in light of the advice it has received, the Board is satisfied that it can exercise the heraldic powers conferred on it by the 1997 Act and has, accordingly, lifted its temporary suspension on doing so.

The Board is aware that doubts exist regarding the legal basis of heraldic functions exercised in the State prior to the establishment of the Board. Such issues that may exist or arise in that regard are matters to be addressed by the State, and not by the National Library of Ireland.

22 October 2007

New records added to Irish Genealogical Online Record Search System

We have received the following notice from the Irish Family History Foundation -

As part of the continuing Irish Family History Foundation's Online Research Service (ORS) we are pleased to announce the availability of the records of the Roscommon Heritage Centre. This adds over half a million more baptismal, birth, death and marriage records that can be searched and purchased online.

Just go to the following site and login using your existing IFHF login details. http://roscommon.brsgenealogy.com

The ORS is a national initiative organized by the Irish Family History Foundation which co-ordinates and represents the county based genealogical centres on the island of Ireland. Over the coming months the records of other centres will become available firstly as individual county databases, and then these will be amalgamated into one Irish records database which will allow searching across all counties and sources.

Remember that you can purchase and spend your credit at any of the IFHF onlines centres.

The follow sites are currently live:
Armagh Ancestry
Swords Heritage Centre
North Tipperary Genealogy Centre
Roscommon Heritage and Genealogy Centre

We hope you find the sites useful, and we will keep you informed as to when more Irish Family History Foundation Centres go online in the coming weeks.

12 September 2007

150 years of 'Irish Times' goes online

Irish Times is expanding their database.

Follow this link to the news article: http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0911/breaking72.htm

Here are a couple of quotes from the announcement:

"Genealogists and those researching their ancestors should also find the site of particular interest.
Birth notices, obituaries, social notices, court reports and inquests give considerable insight.
Written in the language of the time, reports also reflect the social and historical background of daily life."

"The site is accessible through http://www.ireland.com/search/ and pricing starts at €10 for a 24-hour pass. The official launch event will
take place in the Mansion House on October 8th."

30 August 2007

Public Records Office of Northern Ireland - move announced to new premises.

On 23 August 2007 Culture Minister Edwin Poots announced that the Titanic Quarter will be the location for a new, state of the art Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
In his announcement the Minister said: "My Department has committed £30 million to the re-location of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in the hope that everyone from the region and indeed visitors to Northern Ireland can use the resources it holds. The new state of the art facilities will greatly enhance public access, with the new building being prominently located within easy reach of many transport routes.

Given the choice of location it is very appropriate that many of the records held by PRONI including some on the Titanic, will be returning home to where they were originally drawn up and written. The regeneration of the Titanic Quarter, which is a very high profile landmark site in Belfast, will formally put PRONI on the map as a must see tourist attraction for local, national and international visitors."

Trinity Quarter is located beside the new Belfast Metropolitan College and within walking distance of Belfast City Centre.
The timescale for the new record office is to have it open to the public in August 2010.
For the full wording of the Minister's announcement see PRONI's web site www.proni.gov.uk

3 July 2007

Dublin City Library & Archive, 138/144 Pearse St., Dublin 2.

New to Holdings.

Newspapers. – The Evening Irish Times January 1902 – October 1921
The Daily Express July 1907 – December 1915

Dublin Electoral Rolls Database.
        1937 – 1945
        1949 – 1951
        1954 – 1957
        1962 – 1964
Database prepared by John Grenham Genealogist in residence Dublin City Library & Archive.

12 April 2007

National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

A number of changes have recently taken place at the National Library.

1. With effect from Monday 16th April 2007 the National Library's premises in Kildare
    Street will open to the public at the earlier time of 9.30am, Monday to Saturday.
2. The Microfilm Reading room located off the Reading Room is reserved for Newspaper
     microfilm only. Self serve printing facilities are available in the room and print cards
     for €2 or €1 can be got from a dispensing machine or at the Reading Room counter.
     Printouts costs 50c each.
3. A second Microfilm Room is now available on the first floor level for
    Catholic Parish registers and Manuscripts. Printing of these records is not allowed.
4. The Catalogue Room is now for Copying only and a limited self service facility is
    planned for books from 1880, which should be available within a few weeks.
5. The Catalogues have been moved into the Reading Room.
6. PCs for accessing The Times Newspapers and other sources are now located in the first
    floor Microfilm Room
7. The Genealogy Advisory Service has now returned to the main building on the first
    floor landing. The Genealogy Service hours are Monday to Friday: 10.00am-12.30pm;
    2pm - 4.45pm.

England & Wales 1911 Census Digitisation – National Archives, Kew, England.

The following notice was received from the Federation of Family History Societies. The Irish Family History Society is a member of FFHS.

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES ANNOUNCES ITS PARTNER IN DIGITISING THE 1911 CENSUS
The National Archives is delighted to announce that Scotland Online will partner the UK government's official archive in the forthcoming project to put the 1911 census for England and Wales online.
Scotland Online was established in 1995, and is one of the UK's leading Internet business solutions providers. In 2002, in partnership with the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), Scotland Online established what is now one of the world's leading genealogy websites ScotlandsPeople www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
The 1911 census (document references RG14 and RG78) is huge - it currently occupies 2 kilometres of shelving at The National Archives. Comprising over eight million householder schedules and a further 38,000 enumerators' summary books, it details information relating to approximately 35 million people then living in England and Wales.
Once digitised the census will take up an equally large ½ a petabyte of computer memory or, physically, 800 data tapes. The digital scanning alone in preparation for digitisation will create 18 million images - 14 times the number of images created in advance of the 1901 census being launched online in 2002.
From 2009 there will be a phased release of the information in the 1911 census starting with the major conurbations. This will include images and transcription data, but with sensitive data redacted in line with the Information Commissioner's recent ruling. From 3 January 2012 the public will have full access to the entire 1911 census, including the information not accessible in 2009. Researchers anywhere in the world will be able to
search across the fields of the census by name, address or The National Archives reference, and download high-resolution digital images.
Maggie Loughran
Administrator, Federation of Family History Societies www.ffhs.org.uk

It will greatly assist us if members include their membership number in all communications.

e-mails to ifhs@eircom.net

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