|
Ancestry Magazine
3/1/2000 - Archive
| March/April 2000 |
Vol. 18 No. 2 |
Researching Ireland at Home and Abroad
Editor's Note: Read "Further Irish Research," by Sherry Irvine, FSA (Scot), which accompanies this article.
Sometimes the hardest part of Irish research is actually deciding where to begin and at what point enough information has been gathered so that efforts can move into Irish records. But, the search for Irish origins is a combined research effort in the country where an immigrant settled, and in Irish records—preferably in that order. The biggest mistake a researcher can make when beginning Irish research is to "jump over the water" too quickly. If Irish records are examined prematurely, efforts can quickly come to a stand still.
One of the best strategies in beginning Irish research is to make an inventory of what is already known about a family who immigrated, and then to begin filling in missing information from records in the country where the ancestors settled. The average Catholic and Protestant church records in Ireland start in the late 1700s or early 1800s and are only partially indexed. And many Irish surnames are so common that an inquiry of indexed records would likely produce hundreds of individuals with the same name and no way to know which one is the ancestor. Therefore, learning as much as possible about the immigrant ancestor before taking a research trip to Ireland increases the chances of successfully identifying them once research moves into Irish records.
Historically, Ireland was divided into four provinces: Connaught, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster. These provinces contain thirty-two counties, within which are church and government parishes known as civil parishes. Within the civil parishes are small townlands of several hundred or thousand acres. Records generated in the immigrant country will hopefully reveal one of these administrative divisions as a place of birth.
Helpful Guidelines
The guidelines below have been gathered from years of experience conducting research for clients with Irish ancestry:
If family legend states that an ancestor was from Belfast, Cork, Dublin, or Londonderry (Derry), proceed with extreme caution. These were ports that emigrants departed from and they often get passed down in family legend as where the ancestor was from. If the legend identifies an Irish county such as Armagh, Longford or Sligo as the home, the chances of it being correct are more likely.
It is often possible to conduct Irish and Irish immigrant research without ever going to Ireland or Northern Ireland. Many major sources have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City, Utah, or they can be ordered through the FHL’s family history centers worldwide. For a listing of family history centers, see the Web site, under "Custom Search."
The largest concentration of Irish immigrants went to America, Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. Other important areas were the Caribbean Islands, Channel Islands, Chile, France, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Mexico, The Netherlands, and Spain. A church record, cemetery record, obituary, immigration record, census or local history from one of these places may reveal the Irish birth place.
Birth dates and ages of the Irish as recorded in various records are almost always incorrect. Don’t ignore an ancestor in a record because the birth year is five or even ten years off. Be wary of a birth date that falls on St. Patrick’s Day or on a saint’s feast day.
The Irish, particularly women, were not always consistent with their first names. Be careful not to ignore an entry in the records even if the name may not be the same. For example, Owen and Eugene are the same, as are Delia and Bridget. Also, Irish women sometimes used their maiden name in records in Ireland and abroad.
It was common for young Irish men, both Catholic and Protestant, to join the British Army. This provided a way out of both poverty and Ireland.
The Irish are known to have put their birth place on their tombstone. This is an important reason to locate an ancestor’s grave.
The average Irish lineage will only be extended back to about 1800 or the latter part of the 1700s. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule.
The Irish did not always retain their religious affili-ation after immigrating—not all Catholics remained Catholic and not all Scots-Irish remained Presbyterian.
Published Works
In the age of computer technology, genealogy is changing on a daily basis. For example, many records have been transcribed, indexed, and published in journals worldwide. Until recently, these were largely inaccessible because there was no index to the journals. Now, using the technology of the CD-Rom, articles published just about anywhere can be located through the Periodical Source Index, or PERSI. PERSI is the creation of the Allen County Public Library located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This library has one of the largest collections of historical and genealogical journals and magazines in the world. No family research should be undertaken without searching PERSI regularly as new information is found from other sources. PERSI is available to members of Ancestry's Web site. If you don't have access to the collections at the Allen County Public Library, libraries such as the Family History Library have large journal collections.
Published works do not stop at journals and magazines, they also include family histories. Just about any large genealogical society or state/province library will have published family histories. The largest collections are located at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC and at the Family History Library. Other large collections can be found at libraries such as the New England Historic and Genealogical Society in Boston.
Also, it may be necessary to extend the search for published family histories internationally. Sometimes a history has been published not on the American or Canadian branch of the family, but by descendants of the branch that went to Australia or New Zealand. Genealogy is so popular in these places that many published works can be found. Visit the Society of Genealogists’ Web site for help in finding international works.
Records in the Immigrant Country
The most common Irish records that provide immigrant origins are tombstones, death certificates, cemetery records, church marriages and burials, obituaries, citizenship records (in the United States), and civil recordings of births, marriages, and deaths. Other important sources can include passenger arrival lists, land records, fraternal records and military records. Of course, all of these vary from country to country. Within larger countries such as the United States and Canada, they vary between states and between provinces.
If a church record gives the names of witnesses to marriages or burials, or lists godparents at the birth or baptism of a child, this can be an invaluable clue. The witness or godparent, if not a brother or sister of the ancestor, may be a cousin, an in-law, or a friend from the same community in Ireland.
Although the largest denominations in Ireland are Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland (part of the Anglican communion), Presbyterian, and Methodist, other significant faiths in Ireland are Baptist, Moravian (United Brethren), and Quaker (Society of Friends). So if it is impossible to find an ancestor’s marriage in the local Catholic parish abroad, it is wise to consider the Methodist or Episcopal registers.
If the search has led to the point where Irish records should be considered in the search for immigrant origins, consider two sources: Griffith’s Primary Valuation on CD-Rom, and the heritage centres throughout Ireland.
Griffith's Primary Valuation
Many people have heard of Griffith's Primary Valuation, but few really understand why it was generated. From 1847 to 1864 a valuation of property was taken throughout Ireland and the funds went, in part, for the support of the poor houses. This valuation involved detailed surveys of all land and houses occupied by tenants, lessors, and land owners. The results were published and are available on microfilm or microfiche worldwide. This is a very important source. It has been indexed and can be searched on CD-ROM. Although the CD-ROM index is not perfect it can be used to pin down where in Ireland a particular surname is found, especially if it is uncommon. Using my own name Radford as an example, if I did not know where in Ireland they were from, the CD-ROM index would quickly show that Wexford is where the majority of Radfords were located.
This will not work for common names such as O'Brian or Kelly since they are everywhere in Ireland. However, if an ancestor named Kelly married a Radford in Ireland, then this would lead the search back to Wexford. Of course, these are easy examples.
There are any number of ways this CD-ROM can be used. For instance, if a list has been compiled of the godparents to an ancestor’s children, from an American or Canadian church record, then the entire list of surnames can be compared. This is based on the hope that the godparents were from the same county in Ireland and that they immigrated to the same place. The CD is available for sale at many bookstores.
Even if an ancestor immigrated before 1847, Griffith's is still valuable if the assumption is always made that some family members stayed behind or immigrated at a later date. This still allows for a statistical survey of surnames or even a specific search for a parent, cousin, or sibling who remained.
Heritage Centres
In Ireland and Northern Ireland, each county is covered by one or more heritage centres which can be contacted to search their indexes for a fee. Indexes may include church records, newspapers, tombstones, tax records and civil records of births, marriages, and deaths. It is important to provide the heritage centre with enough information about your ancestors so that they can be identified in the indexes.
However, don't contact a centre asking for Mary Kelly born about 1835. They would likely provide hundreds of possible candidates and no way of telling which, if any, is the ancestor. However, a search for a Mary Kelly born about 1835, with a brother Thomas born about 1837, and a sister Bridget born about 1840, would be more likely to get a positive response. Also, if the parents’ names and the mother’s maiden name are also known, this will increase the chances of having positive results. Before contacting a heritage centre, a county has to be known or at least suspected. A current listing of heritage centres in Ireland and Northern Ireland can be found on the Irish Family History Foundation’s Web site.
The End Result
Once research in the country to where the immigrated settled is completed, the relatives are identified, and at least a county in Ireland is determined, a full search of sources in Ireland can be undertaken. Through the use of Irish records it is often possible to determine exactly where an ancestor lived, if relatives are still in Ireland today, and to extend the lineage. All these possibilities, however, begin with a thorough search of records in the immigrant country and then moving back from there.
Dwight A. Radford, a professional genealogist, was co-editor of the quarterly journal The Irish At Home and Abroad for six years.
|
|
 |
|
