As the Records Show
Irish Research Beginnings
by Sherry Irvine, CG, FSA Scot

A new line of research and a new country is a new beginning and offers an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. There are benefits in being the novice all over again. You can pick up new ideas and be reminded of standard basic principles, and you can go looking for resources that add interest to your new studies.

In recent months I have been introduced to some research aids that are useful for anyone beginning Irish research. One is a book, another is a series of maps, and two others are online resources.

A Recent Guide
There have been several guide books written over the years and now another has recently made an appearance, Finding Your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide, by Dave Ouimette (Ancestry, 2005). It offers what I call a "soft landing," presenting Irish research in a friendly encouraging style that avoids intimidation.

The book sticks to basics, beginning with general research principles and useful background on history, names, place names, and migration. Nine chapters cover the most important record groups, with the stress on the past 200 years. Topics covered include civil registration, church records, censuses and other lists of heads of households, land records, newspapers, directories, and wills.

Finding Your Irish Ancestors can be read through in an afternoon, which is a good idea in order to get an overall impression of the work that lies ahead. You will come away with a sense that some can be done online, quite a bit can be done using LDS resources and some work must be done in Ireland. Going back to the appropriate chapters as work progresses will help you choose the right route to the records you need.

Maps in Detail
Most genealogists quickly develop a love of maps and an appreciation of how useful they can be. For Irish genealogy they are particularly important partly because of the strange sorts of divisions found nowhere else and partly because a family's location may be the only thing to set them apart. In the 1800s Ireland was mapped in great detail, at the townland level, by the Ordnance Survey. Modern copies of their maps, in color and in black and white, can be purchased from Past Homes as rolled or folded sheets, and county plans are available on CD-ROM.

The clarity of the PDF images is one of the advantages of this series. I have used the county plans for Antrim and Down and, for the first time, clearly understand the way two parishes are split between these two counties on either side of the River Lagan. Parish boundaries stand out clearly in red.

Irish Books Online
You may have heard about these two sites already but if not, be sure to take a look. Both of them are presenting, without charge, classic books on Irish history, literature etc. A few titles should be of interest to all, and others will appeal to those searching in particular locations or with some interests outside genealogical research.

At Library Ireland I suggest you read the index of titles even though it stretches to an eight page list, then carry out a search. Here is a fascinating mix of social history and topography made up of the full text of some books along with articles from books and journals. Here are three titles:

• Irish Local Names Explained
• Population of Ireland
• Ancient Houses of Dublin

At Celt you can find another array of classic Irish material including many titles familiar to students of literature, but historical and other subjects as well. The letters stand for "Corpus of Electronic Texts" and the site is a project of the University of Cork. Some are very early indeed, 1400s and earlier, many are translations from Latin, French, Spanish or German, and there is a large selection of English texts as well. At the home page, choose 'Published' from the row of links just above the center of the page. Among the titles in English are these:

• List of Officers Taken Prisoner at Ballymore, 8 June 1691
• The History of Ireland
• The Valuation of Ireland

Conclusion
As I said at the start, there are benefits to being a novice. In fact, this is a good tactic for anyone of any level of experience; when faced with a sticky problem go back to basics, re-read the beginner' guide and look for the fundamental resources that round out your research.

Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA Scot is an author, teacher, and lecturer specializing in English, Scottish, and Irish family history. She is the author of Your English Ancestry (2d ed., 1998) and Researching Scottish Ancestry (2003), and she is a contributor to several publications. Since 1996, she has been a study tour leader, course coordinator, and instructor for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University. She teaches online at MyFamily.com. Recently she served a two-year term as president of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Sherry's Upcoming Speaking Engagements

• Irish Research Online Class at MyFamily.com
  19 January 2006 ($29.95)
• Nanaimo Family History Society
  20 February 2006
• Australasian Congress, Darwin, Northern Territory
  01-04 June 2006

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Ancestry Quick Tip Jamboree

It's time for this week's Ancestry Quick Tip Jamboree! Thanks to everyone who has sent in a Quick Tip. Please keep them coming so that we can keep this tradition going. You can send your tips to: ADNeditor@ancestry.com.

Quick Tips may be reprinted, with credit to the submitter, in other Ancestry publications, so if you do not want your tip included in a publication other than the Ancestry Daily News and Ancestry Weekly Digest, please state so clearly in your message.

Have a great day!
Juliana

The Family (Christmas) Tree
Bill Daniels

In our home, at Christmas, we decorate five different Christmas trees, each one having a different theme. One theme is an old fashioned Christmas tree and the decorations are old. On this tree I have incorporated photographs of our family through the generations. There are thirty-three different photographs that grace the many generations in the Christmas tree. We have two different photographs of my son's fourth great-grandparents.

Several years ago my mother gave me some miniature frames. They were about wallet size, or 2 x 2 frames. She found them at a Salvation Army store. We also saw them at Aaron Framing store. I kept them in a box until recently. I then decided to put all of the family pictures into the frames. I took all the family photos and resized them in photo shop. I then placed the miniature photographs into the frames. Yes it's a lot of work! But today that one tree in our home is decorated with the family tree.

Note Questionable Entries
Martha Everman Jones, Ph.D.

When typing information into a genealogy computer program and supporting data is not at hand, researchers often plan to search later for more records to substantiate the entry. However, once it is entered it is easy to forget additional documentation is needed until it comes into question. A simple solution is to add (?) after the name, date, or place name. Some examples are Mary Sue JONES (?) or 25 August 1842 (?) or Newton (Newton) Texas (?). The notation (?) alerts the researcher and serves as a flag that more documents are needed to verify the entry. If the research is shared with other genealogists or family members, it signifies the entry is in question and needs additional research.

Verify Ages With Other Sources
Shirley Avera

I recently read a tip in your newsletter from a person who was delighted to learn the correct age of an ancestor after finding it in World War One draft registrations. Do not be too sure that the birth date given is correct. I happened to know that my father had tried to enlist by giving his birth date as two years prior. He had a bad eye though so he was turned down. I recently found this registration on your website which verified what I had known.

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Clipping of the Day

Rhode Island Candidate, Breach of Engagement, Border Wars
"The Ohio Repository" (Canton, Ohio), 06 December 1838, page 3:

A state convention in Rhode Island, and a district convention in New Hampshire, have nominated Gen. Wm. H. Harrison for the Presidency.
. . . .
Miss Mary Willer recovered lately of Amos Rines at Norridgewock, $525 for breach of promise of marriage.
. . . .

We learn from Bangor, in Maine, by way of Boston, that the commissioners and Engineer appointed by Gov. Kent to explore the disputed territory, and, if possible, to ascertain the true boundary line between Maine and New Brunswick, or, in other words, our Northeastern Boundary, arrived at the former place on Monday last, and that their efforts have been crowned with complete success.

The great problem to be solved was, to ascertain the exact location of the "highlands" between the waters emptying on the one side into the river St. Lawrence, and on the other into the Atlantic Ocean. The British diplomatists have denied that there were any such highlands in the contemplated regions. It is stated that the commissioners have not only ascertained that there are such highlands, but that they rise in some places into mountains; and that they have, moreover, discovered the boundary line itself, as marked out by the commissioners under the treaty of 1783, and all the monuments established at that time to fix the line.

This information, if, as it is supposed by Eastern editors, it will lead to the settlement at once of the controversy between the United S. and Great Britain on this subject, is not less welcome than important.-- Nat. Int.

[ADN Editor's Note: For more on the Maine Border Dispute, see today's map of the day.]

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Fast Fact
Help for Holiday Interviews

With the holiday season upon us, many of us may be planning visits with relatives. Whether the subject is you, someone you knew, or an ancestor you are researching, ask yourself and your family members these questions.

Product Spotlights

		Scottish Ancestry, Rev. 2d Ed., by Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) Normally this book retails for $19.95, but today you can buy it in the Shops@Ancestry.com for $15.95.

Thought for Today
Miguel de Cervantes

Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou art.