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Irish
Genealogical Research - A Short Guide |
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| The
aim of this guide is to provide an introduction to family
history research in Ireland. It starts by looking at the challenges
with Irish genealogical research and then follows with advice
on developing a research strategy and conducting documentary
research.
At the end there is a list of the most important
record repositories and libraries in Ireland, their addresses
and opening hours.
Fiona Fitzsimons
Director of Research, Eneclann |
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Irish Research Challenges
•
Developing a Research
Profile
•
Starting Documentary
Research: Civil Registration, Griffith's Valuation,
Parish Registers
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Documentary Research,
the next step: Cancelled Books, Wills, Petty Session
Records, Registry of Deeds
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Record Repositories
in Ireland |
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IRISH
RESEARCH CHALLENGES |
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Irish genealogy is a complicated
business, mainly because of the poor survival rate of many
of the historic records. The destruction of the Public Records
Office of Ireland in 1922, is of course the most famous archival
disaster in Irish history. However, there is a long history
of the destruction of historic Irish records, including a
fire in the Custom Office in 1711, and another in the Bermingham
Tower in Dublin Castle in 1758.
For researchers, the problem
of these earlier disasters is that the records were not comprehensively
indexed, and so we do not know exactly what was lost - broadly
speaking we know that the main classes of records stored there
were the legal, financial and administrative records of the
13th to the 17th Centuries, marking the transition from the
medieval Irish Lordship to the Irish Kingdom.
Conversely, we have a
much clearer idea of the extent of destruction in 1922. Records
destroyed include the Census of Ireland returns, between 1821
and 1851; more than half of all parish registers of the Anglican
Church of Ireland which were deposited there after 1869; the
majority of wills and testamentary records proved in Ireland
to that date. Other records destroyed included the pre-1900
records of local government; pre-1900 legal records from the
Irish courts; and the majority of all Irish export and trade
records from the 18th Century onwards, transferred from the
Customs House to the Public Records Office shortly before
1922.
Yet archival disasters
alone do not fully explain the huge gaps in Irish historic
records - there is also the legacy of Ireland's colonial past.
The Tudor reconquest of Ireland in the 16th Century, and the
Cromwellian and Williamite confiscations (1650s-90s), undermined
civil society in Ireland and badly affected both the creation
and survival of many records.
By the early 18th Century,
probably more than 75% of all land in Ireland had been transferred
to a new ruling class. This new protestant ascendancy was
underpinned by the Penal Laws that restricted the civil rights
of catholics, and presbyterians and other religious dissenters
(including Quakers and Baptists, etc.). The Penal Laws also
acted as a disincentive among these groups to keeping records.
To the researcher the sorry result is, that in Ireland the
vast majority of all catholic and presbyterian registers of
baptisms, marriages and burials that have survived, date only
from the 19th Century.
Another way in which
Ireland's colonial past affected the destruction or survival
of historic records, were the small but significant differences
between Ireland and Great Britain, in how records were made
and kept. A good illustration of this, is that in 1914 the
British government ordered the Census of Ireland returns 1861
to 1891, should be pulped to create paper for the war effort.
The order was given on the mistaken assumption that census
records in Ireland were collected in the exact same way as
in England, Scotland and Wales, whereby a second enumerator's
copy of the census returns had been made. This was not the
case in Ireland.
However, my main purpose
in outlining the chalenges of Irish research, is not to discourage
researchers, but to show how to work around these huge gaps
in the records, and get a result.
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DEVELOPING
A RESEARCH PROFILE |
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The key to all successful
research is to first gather as much information as possible
on your immigrant ancestor(s), to create a 'profile' of the
individual or family that left Ireland.
Draw up a search strategy to keep your research focused,
and remember to keep full notes of all your sources. At
the outset of your search the main information you want to
establish are names, places and dates of key events in the
lives of your emigrant ancestors from Ireland.
Probably the best way
to proceed, is to first talk to your oldest living relatives
- almost everyone can spontaneously 'take their family back'
two generations on both sides, and will even know both grandmothers'
maiden names. Family photographs are a great way to start
conversations on family history, and to 'unlock' older people's
memories of the past.
You should also examine
any surviving family documents - ranging from civil records
of births, marriages and deaths, to deeds of property, memorial
cards, letters, or a family bible, etc.
To complete the profile,
you should also research official records in your own country,
relevant to your immigrant ancestors. The most useful sources
are census records; civil and church records of marriage or
death for all your family that were born in Ireland; and newspaper
obituaries and gravestone inscriptions for all family members
born in Ireland.
There are also some electronic
sources available that you may find useful. The available
electronic records do, however, vary a great deal in quality.
As a rule of thumb, the involvement of history professionals
in compiling records provides some guarantee that a source
is complete and the information is reliable. We at Eneclann
and Irish Origins are producing electronic data-sets on CD-ROM
and on-line which are driven by the knowledge of professional
genealogists, historians and archivists. For this reason researchers
should check to see whether the source they need to examine
has been published on irishorigins.com
or on CD-ROM by Eneclann
first.
We have included some of the main sources
that can be examined:
Ireland
• www.irishorigins.com
Including the definitive publication of Griffith’s Valuation.
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www.census.nationalarchives.ie
The 1911 Dublin census online, the rest of the country and
the 1901 census are to follow
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www.eneclann.ie
A list of Eneclann’s CD-ROM titles, with detailed information
about each.
U.S.
• www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration
Lists immigration records compiled by the National Archives
in Washington.
•www.ellisisland.org
Lists immigrants processed through Ellis Island.
Australia
•www.nationalarchives.ie/
Transportation of convicts from Ireland after 1836, compiled
by the National Archives of Ireland.
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www.records.nsw.gov.au
For information about people who received assisted
passage to Australia, see the NSW state archives Family History
web site.
England,
Scotland & Wales
• www.originsnetwork.com
Contains marriage records from the 16th to 19th Centuries,
wills 18th & 19th Century, apprentice records 15th to
19th Centuries
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www.nationalarchives.gov.uk The 1901 Census for England
and Wales on-line
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www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
Census returns
and parish and civil registers for Scotland.
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STARTING
DOCUMENTARY RESEARCH: THE BASICS |
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Once you have completed the profile of your
ancestor(s), you should have the following information for
all individuals you want to trace in Ireland: the individual's
full name; their place of origin (to a townland or parish);
approximate dates of birth or marriage, or of other key events
such as the years in which their children were born in Ireland.
With this information you are ready to develop your research
using the Irish documentary sources.
Ireland is a small country, and most of the
historical records are centralised which is an advantage to
the researcher. Records that relate to the Irish Republic
are held principally in archives and libraries in Dublin;
records that relate to Northern Ireland are held principally
in Belfast. A small number of records, mainly parish registers,
are held locally.
The first sources that you will probably
need to examine will be the civil register of births, marriages
and deaths; Griffith's Valuation (available at www.irishorigins.com);
and relevant parish registers. As a rule of thumb, it is possible
to take most Irish families back to the 1840s. It is more
difficult to take research earlier than this date, because
the rate of survival of records is poor.
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Civil registration of births,
marriages and deaths was introduced into Ireland
in 1864. Prior to this date, civil registration of non-Catholic
marriages only, was practised in Ireland from 1845. It is
estimated that 10 to 15% of births and marriages were not
registered between 1864 and c. 1900. However, the actual rate
of non-registration is probably half this, and between 5 to
7% of civil records that are not found in the national index,
can be found by examining the original index kept by the local
registrar. These records are not available in electronic format.
The index to civil registration can be examined in the Irish
Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1. There is a special
research room for family researchers, but allow plenty of
time as service can be very slow. Researchers are charged
a search fee and also for each copy of every record ordered.
Example of an entry in the civil marriage
register
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Griffith's Valuation
provides information on all property holding in Ireland between
1847 and 1864. The source was compiled for taxation purposes
and includes 1.4 million distinct landholdings including over
400,000 householders. It provides a snap-shot of who lived
on the land in the mid 19th Century. The definitive set of
Griffith's Valuation has published by Origins and Eneclann
in partnership with the National Library of Ireland and is
available at www.irishorigins.com
Example of a page from the Griffith Valuation
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1901 & 1911 Census
- The first complete census to survive for Ireland is the
1901 census, the others having been destroyed in 1922 or by
administrative oversight. Both the 1901 and the 1911 census
returns for the entire island of Ireland are available for
consultation at the National Archives in Dublin. If your ancestors
remained in Ireland until this time, these sources are essential
for genealogical research. Bear in mind that even if your
ancestor had left Ireland, their parents or siblings may not,
and therefore will appear in the census returns. The National
Archives are committed to making the 1901 and 1911 cenus of
Ireland available free online. Currently the 1911 census returns
for Dublin are available to view at www.census.nationalarchives.ie
Example of a 1901 census return
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Parish Records - Parish registers are organised
by denomination.
Catholic Parish Registers
- Microfilm copies of almost all Catholic parish registers
for Ireland are available in the National Library of Ireland.
Catholic parish records are organised by Diocese. Approximately
half of the catholic registers date from the 1840s, when parish
boundaries were reorganised shortly after the introduction
of Catholic Emancipation in Ireland.
Church of Ireland Registers
- The surviving Church of Ireland (Anglican or Episcopalian)
registers are mainly held in the Representative Church Body
Library (R.C.B. Library) in manuscript. Micro-film copies
of many of these registers are held in the National Archives
of Ireland, which may save a trip out to the R.C.B. Library
in Churchtown, Dublin 14.
Some registers relating to parishes in Northern Ireland, are
available on microfilm in the Public Records Office of Northern
Ireland (P.R.O.N.I.) Belfast.
There are also some registers that only survive in manuscript
form and are held in local custody by the rector. A genealogist
will be able to advise you whether the records that you are
searching for still survive, and if so, where the records
are held.
Methodist records
between 1747 and 1817-18 are usually entered without distinction
in the Church of Ireland parish registers. Between 1817-18
and 1878 a split in the Methodist church meant that the Wesleyan
Methodist Connexion maintained separate registers. The best
account of where Methodist records may be found is Steven
ffeary-Smyrl's 'Irish Methodists', No. 1 in the Exploring
Irish Genealogy series.
Presbyterian Parish records
for the counties of Northern Ireland are kept mainly in P.R.O.N.I.,
although some records are also available on microfilm in the
Presbyterian Historical Society in Belfast. Records for congregations
in the Republic of Ireland are usually held locally by the
minister.
Note: There is no one finding-aid that records all Presbyterian
congregations in Ireland, from the 17th to 21st Centuries.
Consequently, it will require research simply to identify
whether records for a specific congregation and time-frame
survive, and where they can be accessed.
The Religious Society of Friends
(popularly known as Quakers), records are held in two repositories,
in Dublin and Lisburn. Records extend from the second half
of the 17th Century to the present.
Jewish records
have in the main, been centralised in Dublin, and can be accessed
through the Irish Jewish Museum. A Jewish community existed
in Dublin from the 1660s, and there were cemeteries in Dublin
and Cork from the early 1700s. However, the majority of records
date from the late 19th Century onwards.
Note: You will need to consult with a professional genealogist
to identify and access church records relating to any other
denomination.
Heritage Centres:
Church records are also available through the local Heritage
Centres. The centres have prepared computerised data-bases
of church records in their catchment areas. Many of the Heritage
Centres provide an excellent value for money service, but
you will need to know your ancestor's county of origin in
Ireland, their approximate date of birth, and the name of
one or both of their parents in order to avail of this.
If there is one criticism to be made of this excellent service,
it is that the majority, though by no means all of the Heritage
Centres, have only indexed Catholic records, and have ignored
extant records for all other denominations. If we consider
that in the 18th Century alone, one third of the Irish population
was not catholic, then it becomes apparent that the exclusion
of protestant and other denominational records, excludes a
significant proportion of the Irish population.
For further information see www.irishgenealogy.ie
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DOCUMENTARY
RESEARCH: THE NEXT STEP |
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church records, Griffith's Valuation and the civil register
of births, marriages and deaths are the easiest records to
access, and to search successfully. Once you move beyond these
records, you are moving into the realm of historical research.
The range of sources that you will find can provide a wealth
of information, not found in any other class of records, although
these sources are not generally known to the amateur genealogist,
and are not always as easy to use.
Cancelled Books
The Cancelled Books are the manuscript revisions of
Griffith's Valuations, held in the Valuation Office. Although
very rarely used except by the professional genealogist or
historian, they are one of the richest sources for Irish family
history.
As previously mentioned, Griffith's Valuation
was compiled for taxation purposes between 1847 and 1864,
to record all landholding in Ireland. The Cancelled Books,
also known as the Revision Books, were updated from the initial
date of compilation, on average every 12 to 18 months, to
ensure that everyone in Ireland paid the correct amount of
local taxation. These regular revisions continued to the 1970s,
when the rates system of local taxation was abolished. As
the records were updated so frequently, they can be used as
a census substitute, to determine how long the head of household
remained at a particular address, but also, how long a holding
remained in the family.
The main use of the Cancelled Books to the
genealogist, is to establish the specific time-frames within
which to search for relevant documents for an individual or
family. For example, it is possible to use the Cancelled Books
to identify the head of household's approximate year of death,
and this can help focus follow-on research in the civil register
of deaths, or the printed Calendar of Wills and Administrations.
Likewise, the Cancelled Books will show whether or not a family
remained resident in an area, so that the researcher knows
whether to search for the family in the 1901 or 1911 Census
returns.
The Cancelled Books will also show whether
the land-holder ever bought out the land they occupied under
the Land Reform schemes of the early 20th Century, and this
information will help to trace associated land records relating
to an individual or family.
The research room in the Valuation Office
is very small, and space is limited, so researchers are advised
to arrive early.
Example of a Valuation Office Cancelled
Book
Wills
As previously mentioned, the majority of wills and testamentary
records for Ireland prior to 1922, were destroyed in the fire
at the Public Records Office. However, there are a number
of surviving records and Calendars which go some way to filling
in the gaps left in 1922.
In 1859 a new registry system was established
in Ireland for the first time, and the administrative structure
by which wills were recorded, proved and administered changed.
From 1859 a Calendar of Wills and Administrations was published
annually, and these Calendars still survive, even where the
original documents do not. The Calendars are arranged alphabetically,
and each record contains: the name, address and occupation
of the deceased; the place and date of death; the value of
the estate; the name and address of the person(s) to whom
probate or administration was granted.
What makes the Calendars a particularly useful
source, is that from the second half of the 19th Century a
much wider section of the Irish population began to leave
wills, and from the early 1860s, abstracts of wills for small
farmers, shop-keepers, publicans and even labourers can be
found.
The Calendars of Wills & Administrations
are held on the open shelf in the reading room of the National
Archives of Ireland.
In addition to these Calendars, Eneclann
has produced a comprehensive index to all the surviving Testamentary
Records held by the National Archives from 1484-1858. This
Index of Irish Wills, 1484 - 1858 is available at
the Eneclann Shop.
Example of a surviving will at the National
Archives
Petty Sessions
Records Petty Sessions were the lowest level
of the courts in Ireland in the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, and were the equivalent of the modern District
Court. Perhaps following the model of Petty Sessions in England,
justices in Co. Cork began the practice of meeting regularly
to deal with minor criminal cases in the 1820s. The idea spread
to other areas, was adopted by government, and led to the
establishment of Petty Sessions throughout the country.
The Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, consolidated
and amended the Acts regulating proceedings at Petty Sessions,
and provided for the formation of Petty Sessions Districts.
The National Archives holds Order Books for most Petty Sessions
Districts in the twenty-six counties of the Republic of Ireland
for the period 1858-1924. The real value of these records
to the genealogist is that although the information provided
on specific cases can be limited, the Petty Sessions Books
provide a real window into the past in a way that few other
sources do.
Example of a Petty Sessions Page
Registry of
Deeds The transfer of the greater proportion
of land in Ireland in the 17th century, mainly from the native
ruling class to the new protestant ascendancy, meant that
the new establishment needed to regulate and establish clear
legal title to land in case of dispute. By an Act of the Irish
Parliament, 1708, the Registry of Deeds was established for
this purpose. Over the next two centuries, it became the central
registry for all land transactions in Ireland, until the establishment
of the Land Registry in the late 19th Century. Until the early
19th century, these records deal almost exclusively with the
middle classes, landed gentry and aristocracy, and so their
use is limited. Transactions are mainly concerned with sales,
mortgages and leases; family settlements, marriage settlements,
wills, and some business transactions.
Example of a deed at the Registry of
Deeds
Additional
Sources In addition to the
sources listed above, there are also many regional specific
sources, and sources relating to specific professions and
occupations, which can be searched separately. The best single
source guide to records held in Irish archives and repositories
is Hayes Guide to Manuscript Sources for Irish Civilization,
published up to 1975. There are also smaller pocket guides
such as the Directory of Irish Archives (4th edition)
published by Four Courts Press in 2003, and the excellent
Irish Libraries, Archives, Museums & Genealogical
Centres by Robert K.O'Neill, published by the Ulster
Historical Foundation in 2002. But possibly the most valuable
reference works for the researcher are John Grenham, Tracing
Your Irish Ancestors (3rd ed., 2006) and Jim Ryan, Irish
Records (1997). In addition, it is always advisable to
examine the individual archive/repositories own accessions
catalogues.
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RECORD
REPOSITORIES IN IRELAND |
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The General Register Office is open Monday
to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm.
GRO, Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1
The Irish Jewish Museum
is open May to September, on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday
between 11am and 3.30pm; Winter opening times (October to
April) Sunday only, 10.30am to 2.30pm. Curator, Mr. Raphael
V. Siev.
Irish Jewish Museum 3 Walworth Road, South
Circular Roar, Dublin 8
The National Archives of Ireland
is open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm.
NAI, Bishop Street, Dublin 8
The National Library of Ireland
is open Monday to Friday 10 am to 5pm; Saturday morning 10am
to 1pm; late night opening to 9pm on Monday & Tuesday.
NLI, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
The Presbyterian Historical
Society, is open Monday to Friday 10am to
12.30pm, and Wednesday 2pm to 4pm.
Presbyterian Historical Society, Room 218, Church House,
Fisherwick Place, Belfast BT1 6DW,
Public Records Office of Northern
Ireland is open Monday to Friday 9am to 4.45,
late opening on Thursday to 8.45pm. For further details their
web-site is available at www.proni.gov.uk
PRONI 66 Balmoral Avenue, Belfast BT9 6NY, Northern Ireland
The Representative Church Body
Library is open Monday to Friday 10 to 1,
and 2 to 5
RCB Library, Braemor Road, Churchtown, Dublin 14
Registry of Deeds,
is open Monday to Friday 10am to 4.30pm.
Henrietta Street, Dublin 1.
Society of Friends Library,
is open, Thurs morning 10.30am to 1pm
Meeting House, Swanbrook House, Morehampton Road, Donnybrook,Dublin
4.
Friends Meeting House, 4 Magheralove Road, Lisburn BT28 3BD,
Co. Antrim, Postal Enquiries only
The Valuation Office
is open Monday to Friday 9.30am to 4.30pm.
Irish Life Centre, Abbey Street Lower, Dublin 1.
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