Irish Roots Spring issue published

The Spring issue of Irish Roots magazine is now available in the shops! It's also available in digital format on the publisher's website here.

In this month's issue there's a focus on Tracing Your County Mayo Ancestors and a feature about using Directorie to further your research. There's also an article that explores the 1830's Tithe War; this not only points you in the direction of the tithe applotment collections but also puts the historical period in context. Other features include helpful guidance to researching ancestors in Australasia and locating church records in the US.

Combining traditional genealogy with dna testing is examined in another feature, there's a handy guide to the top ten most useful websites for research, and there's also my own feature bringing you a round-up of all the latest Irish genealogy releases and developments.

On the heritage side you can also discover how New Ross is celebrating the 50th anniversary of JFK's visit to New Ross.

Another great issue.

More Church of Ireland transcriptions go online

More transcriptions of Church of Ireland registers have been released by the Anglican Record Project, as follows:

Buttevant Garrison (Cloyne)
Baptisms 1917–22

Cloghran parish church (Dublin)
Baptisms 1782–1864
Marriages 1739, 1782–1839
Burials 1732–1864

Kilsaran parish church (St Mary’s, Castlebellingham, Armagh)
Baptisms 1818–1840
Marriages 1818–1844
Burials 1818–1900

St Patrick’s Church, Kenmare (Ardfert & Aghadoe)
Marriages 1819–1950

Strabannon parish church (Armagh)
Baptism 1688–1750, 1765, 1782–1847
Marriages 1698–1754, 1778–1844
Burials 1698–1751, 1782–1864

Dromiskin & Manfieldstown (Armagh)
Dromiskin parish church
Baptisms 1791–1839
Marriages 1805–1903
Burials 1802–1907

Dromiskin & Manfieldstown (Armagh)
Manfieldstown parish church
Baptisms 1824–1856
Marriages 1824–1850
Burials 1838–1884

The transcriptions are downloadable in pdf format here.

The Anglican Record Project is an ongoing endeavour to make Church of Ireland baptism, marriage and burial registers available in a digital format. It is run by Mark Williams and hosted by the Representative Church Body Library.

(Mark will be presenting a lecture about his work at the IGRS Open Day in Dublin this coming Saturday. Details.)

Plantation exhibition opens in Derry in June

An exhibition entitled Plantation: Process, People, Perspectives will be opening next month in Derry's Guildhall. It will examine the planning that went into the Plantation and how people were effected by it, as well as its continuing legacy. It will also mark the re-opening of the city's glorious sandstone Guildhall after a £3million restoration project.

Making the announcement on the Great Parchment Book blog, Bernadette Walsh, Archivist at Derry City Council’s Heritage and Museum’s Service, says that the exhibition will showcase a fantastic collection of maps, drawings and other items that have been loaned by other institutions in the UK and Ireland. There's more here.

Bernadette told me a few weeks ago that some samples from the Great Parchment Book, which is still being conserved and digitised, are expected to be included in the exhibition. The Great Parchment Book is a major survey, compiled in 1639, of all the lands in County Derry/Londonderry seized by the Crown; it includes names, placenames and details of rentals and contracts, and has been described as the Domesday Book of Derry.

'Too many histories...?' Hedge School debate online

If you weren't able to get along to HistoryIreland's 20th anniversary Hedge School last week, you can listen to a recording of the debate, free, on the magazine's website.

The theme of the debate was 'Too many histories . . .’? Surveys of the past generation, and involved some of Ireland's leading historians discussing the major narrative histories of the past generation. It was held at the Royal College of Physicians in Kildare Street on 16 May 2013.

FindMyPast.ie releases Co Down church records

FindMyPast Ireland has released an interesting batch of 12084 church records for Annaclone/Anaghlone and Ballyroney, near Banbridge in Co Down.

It includes records from the registers of the First and Second Presbyterian Meeting Houses, the Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic church, and includes baptism, marriage and burial records, Presbyterian Communicant Rolls and a register of graveyard plots, as follows:

Baptism, Marriage and Burial

3405 St Colman's RC Annaclone baptisms 1834-1913
1137 St Colman's RC Annaclone marriages 1851-1913
1505 St Colman's RC Annaclone burials 1851-1913

3448 Ballyroney Presbyterian baptisms 1819-1913
790 Ballyroney Presbyterian marriages 1831-1906

974 Anaghclone Presbyterian baptisms 1839-1913
618 Anaghclone Presbyterian marriages 1845-1913

79 Anaghclone Church of Ireland baptisms 1877-1900
114 Anaghclone Church of Ireland marriages 1845-1900
14 Anaghclone Church of Ireland burials 1877-1900

Communicant Rolls

991 Anaghlone Presbyterian Communicants 1868-1913
1464 Ballyroney Presbyterian Communicants 1861-1913

The Rolls are an annual roll call of members of each community between 1861 and 1913. Notations in the registers include changes to women's names on marriage, the date of death of church members (or the date they left the church or emigrated) and whether a certificate was issued on emigration (these certificates acted as letters of introduction and confirmation of good behaviour, and helped emigrants to settle into new congregations).

Burial Plot

Ballyroney Presbyterian graveyard – Plot ownership 1895

This useful record records the address of those who owned plots. They do not record memorial transcriptions.

1926 census: stand up and be counted

If you've been keeping up with the progress (or lack of it) of the Government's 1926 Census 'early release' plan, you'll be aware that there's a problem. See my recent blogpost on the subject.

The brick wall in this particular story is the Central Statistics Office. It is, of course, run by civil servants – a breed of people not exactly known for their originality or flexibility and certainly not given to rewriting the rule book in response to public demand. So while the current Government may wish to release the 1926 Census in time for 1916, you can bet your bottom euro that the CSO has neither the will nor the motivation to facilitate that intent.

Over the last couple of years, a few smoke screens have wafted into the story, blaming this or that suggested compromise solution for the delay. As far as I can make out, the only real hurdle all along has been the CSO; every reasonable suggestion has been swiftly booted out of play and its view has become more entrenched. Frankly, I really can't see that any further legislation will be introduced in the near future without an almighty lobbying effort from the genealogical community.

The CSO's argument is clear enough from this reply (dated last week) to a 'lobby' letter sent to Taoiseach's office at the beginning of April:

I refer to your email of 8 April relating to the release of the 1926 Census forms.

The Censuses of Population held between 1926 and 1991 inclusive were carried out under the 1926 Statistics Act which did not permit any access to Census records, at any time. However, the 1993 Statistics Act repealed the 1926 and 1946 Statistics Acts and provided for the release of census forms for these Censuses 100 years after the date of the relevant Census.

When this provision was debated in the Seanad at the time, the view was expressed that the proposed 100 years period should be reduced to 75, or even 50 years. However, while the retrospective introduction of the 100 years exemption was seen by some as undermining the original guarantee given to householders, it was generally accepted that 100 years was a reasonable compromise in all the circumstances, including having regard to increasing life expectancy.

The position is that the confidentiality of all statistical returns from individuals, households and business is guaranteed by law, and this guarantee is the cornerstone of all CSO surveys, not least Censuses of Population.

I am satisfied, therefore, that the 100 years period provided for in the 1993 Act strikes the right balance in facilitating legitimate historical and sociological research on the one hand, while the protecting the confidentiality of Census data and the integrity of CSO procedures on the other.

Yours sincerely

Paul Kehoe T.D.
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach
with special responsibility for the CSO

If we really, really want the early release of the 1926 census, it is time for Irish genealogists to stand up and be counted. We need to lobby like crazy! You can see the argument above. Argue back! Loud and clear. Take one point, any point, and knock it down. Get your friends, your family, your collegues, your local history/genealogy society involved, too. Get them all writing. A ten or fifteen minute investment of time from everyone who cares about this could just deliver a huge return.

The CSO seems set up to resist all the way to 2026 so if we don't fight for this, we'll definitely be 13 years older before the 1926 census returns are revealed.

Send your emails to taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie.

This week's genealogy and history events

Monday 20 May: Fr John Fahy (1893-1969) Radical Republican & Agrarian Activist, with Jim Madden. Host: Birr Historical Society. Venue: Dooly's Hotel, Birr, Co Offaly. 8pm. All welcome.

Thursday 23 May: Competing Stories 1912-1922 – Understanding our past, an event incorporating archive film and talks on the Decade of Centenaries (part of Community Relations Week. The session will consider what is “documented community memory?” As versions of history are shaping the present, there are risks and opportunities in commemorating the decade 1912-22. Will the same versions of history which shaped the present be driving the future? Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. 2:00pm–4:45pm. Free. Booking not necessary. Details: 02890 534800.

Thursday 23 May: Dublin in the Early 20th Century – Exploring the 1911 Census, with Catriona Crowe. Venue: Ballyroan Library, Orchardstown Villas, Dublin 14. 7:30pm. Free. No booking required.

Saturday 25 May: Irish Genealogical Research Society Open Day and Lectures. Venue: Dublin City Libraries & Archive, Pearse Street, Dublin 2. Free. See great line-up of lectures, and details.

Saturday 25 May: 15th Medieval Dublin Symposium. Host: Friends of Medieval Dublin. Venue: Robert Emmet Theatre, Room 2037, Arts Building, Trinity College, Dublin. 9:30am to 5:00pm. Free.