Dan Hamilton sent an e-mail to me this week describing an online database that should be interesting to many people with Irish ancestry. Lalley.com is really designed for genealogists researching Wilmington, Delaware Irish families—especially those with County Galway connections. However, its resources will be of value to many with Irish ancestors even if those ancestors did not stop in the Wilmington area.

Searchable databases on the site contain almost nine thousand Roman Catholic sacramental records, death records, data from the 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1900 U.S. Wilmington Census, and Wilmington City Directories, passenger lists for ships sailing from Galway to New York in the Famine years 1846 to 1851. Visitors will also find the names of every land occupier recorded in Griffith's 1855 Valuations of Tenements for eight civil parishes in the north County Galway, Ireland as well as information for the Hannon, Hart, and Lalley families including a documented Family History Report for each family.

The same Web site also contains the entire 1901 census returns for the civil parish of Cargin, County Galway. The Web site is planning to add the records of Wilmington, Delaware’s Cathedral Parish of St. Peter 1849-70.

This is an excellent example of a "grass roots" database: a local effort that results in high-quality genealogy information becoming available to millions on the Internet. Web site owner/operator Joseph M. Lalley, Jr. deserves an award for his efforts. To look for yourself, go to: www.lalley.com/.