There are many who say the Irish are a rule to themselves, and this appears to be fairly true as far as Family History Research is concerned.
Searching for Irish ancestors is full of ups' and downs' and on this page I list a few of them, with appropriate links, that should help those who are new to family history.
The first 'awakening' that new to family research folks have, and it certainly happened to me many years ago, is that Irish Genealogy is like Irish folk law, we would love to 'prove' a connection, but rarely can! This is due to the tragedy of internal struggles within Ireland that led to the destruction of the records of Ireland's heritage.
Let's make a start with the theory ... Civil registration of non catholic marriages commenced in1845, and all births, marriages & deaths have been registered since 1864. So there is quite a challenge involved in securing documentary 'evidence' of events which took place before then for the majority of family researchers.
The recorded events have been brought together in a 'master index' which covers the period up to 1921, when the northern counties remained as part of the United Kingdom. If you need information prior to 1921 then your source material will be located in the General Register Office in Dublin. The GRO in Ireland is a sub department of the Department of Health & Children, and currently does not have an active presence on the internet. If what you are after is in post 1921 Northern Ireland, then your searches will take you to Belfast.
For the pre 1921 data, the GRO in Dublin contains microfilmed copies of the original registers in its possession, and these are available for public search. (Return to Top)
Probably the biggest blow you will encounter, is that nearly all the census material for the 19th century is destroyed. Students of Irish history know only too well the tragedies which unfolded in Ireland that caused the loss of this material. The two minute elevator ride explanation is that they were either destroyed as part of 'the troubles' or ordered to be destroyed by the then government of the day. Consequently, provided you go to Dublin, you can view the census material for 1901 and 1911. However, if you go to Belfast, which is part of the United Kingdom, you cannot because they are subject to the 100 year rule. You can see the census material at the National Archives in Dublin, and there is a hyperlink from the bottom of this page. (Return to Top)
So given that the 19th century material is SNAFU'd for Ireland, family historians are reliant upon a resource known popularly as the Griffith's Valuation. This resource is the result of a valuation of individual tenements for the purpose of deciding local taxation. The survey commenced in 1844, was completed in 1865 and the material comprises
- The original notebooks of the valuers, which provide information on the land and buildings.
- The financial valuations prepared by the then government.
- The cancelled books which record changes in ownership of the land.
Family Tree Maker Software have made available an index on CD to the Griffith's Evaluation from which it is possible to locate an individual's indexed position in the evaluation. There is some debate concerning the completeness of this Index, particularly in the British Society of Genealogists.
There are many printed books available providing guidance on using the Griffith's Evaluation, and if you plan to visit Dublin to use the evaluation in your research you are advised to do some background reading before your trip. Try The Irish Roots Guide by Tony McCarthy ISBN 0 946640 77 7.
From the Griffith's Evaluation it is possible to determine the following information
- Names of individuals occupying a building
- Name of the lessor
- Property or Land description & size
- Rateable value (Return to Top)
Earlier I mentioned the BMD indexes but there are others which are useful.
Army records: A large proportion of the British Army was Irish (see my own family connection with the Leinster Regiment) so to keep track of all these wandering soldiers and their offspring the Births, Deaths & Marriages (Army) Act of 1829 made sure that proper records were maintained at the GRO in Dublin. Consequently, at the back of each yearly index is a separate index. These start in 1888 and stop for births in 1930, for marriages in 1931 and for deaths in 1931. Again the South Africa War generated many mortal casualties, and for the period 1898 - 1902 are indexed in the 1902 Death Index.
Maritime records have been maintained since 1864 for deaths and births of Irish citizens at sea, and from 1886 these have been indexed with the appropriate Birth or Death Index (at the back of the index). There are indexes for the earlier years 1864-1885 which can be seen upon request at the GRO.
The General Register Office is also currently engaged in two major projects:
- the transfer of paper-based records to an electronic imaging system. This project will continue until 2000
- the registration of events using computer technology to replace the present system of manually recording births, deaths and marriages (Return to Top)
Roving around Ireland searching out the history of your ancestors is certainly a wonderful thing to do, however be aware that Family History Research is an industry in Ireland. Family Heritage Centres are truly wonderful establishments, but you will not be allowed personal access to any records, so there is no 'browsing'. Instead, you provide information to assist a search, and the archivist in the Heritage Centre will search for you ... for a fee.
Now I may be a bit of an old cynic, but half the fun in family history is the 'search' so having someone else do it some how robs me of the pleasure. Still this is the way in Ireland ... and when in Rome ... as they say.
The good news is that most of the Family Heritage Centres are now contactable via the internet, you can fill in a form, e-mail it and await a response providing a fee that is payable should you wish to proceed. So if you are on the other side of the earth, or just 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, your access to the service is equal. You can access a list of Heritage Centres from the National Archives Web Site.
Of course, you do have personal access to the indexes and microfilms at the GRO and National Archives. Also things are looking up, for instance the on-line initiative to allow a search of the database of Irish Convicts is very welcome.
The church in Ireland can be about as complicated as it can get when searching for your ancestors. Cross denomination marriages, civil marriages, dual registration, each pose their own set of challenges. However probably the most complex piece is trying to understand in which Diocese an event may have taken place. The 'established' church up to 1869 was the Church of Ireland and not the Roman Catholic Church. Having said that the catholic faith accounted for the vast majority of folk, so some understanding of the Catholic Parishes, and what records exist is important. JOHN GRENHAM has published an excellent series of small maps in his book TRACING YOUR IRISH ANCESTORS ISBN 0-7171-1898-3 and this makes a valuable reference resource for your bookshelf.
Within Ireland there is an ongoing project by the National Library to microfilm all parish registers, index them and convert the material into machine readable format (computerise them). But beware because access by the public to these records is restricted, and the bishops of Ardagh & Clonmacnoise, Cloyne, Down & Connor, Galway, Kerry & Limerick have refused to grant public access. The theory is that if you want to look at the microfilmed register you must first write to the local parish priest and obtain from him written permission to view the register. If you produce such a document at the National Library you can then see the microfilmed register. Finally, if you get that far then take your Latin dictionary because the use of written Latin was prevalent ... maybe using the Heritage Centre is not such a bad idea after all!
The Church of Ireland Baptism, Marriage & Burial material was found in the National Archives in Dublin. Baptismal data recorded is
- infant's name
- father's name (after 1820 his occupation)
- mother's first name (no maiden name)
- clergyman's name
but don't get your hopes too high, because during the 'troubles' of 1922 the original registers of 1,000 parishes were destroyed. Now that I told you the bad news, here is the other side ... the instruction to forward the records to the Record Office was ignored by about half the clergy, so an equal amount of parishes were saved. Add to this the fact that some clergymen copied the registers before they were sent in has meant that slowly the records are being rebuilt. That was the good news ...the bad news is that they are not kept in any central repository. The Representative Church Body Library in Dublin have amassed a creditable collection of microfilmed copies, there are some at the National Archives, the Parish Register Society, the National Library, The Genealogical Office, plus others. A full index of where all the registers are is maintained by the National Archives.
National Archives Dublin (Return to Top)
© Don Dickson The Dicksons Network 1999. All rights reserved. This page was last edited 19 August 1999