Irish Genealogy News Blog

    

     If you're doing Irish Genealogy and aren't reading this blog you should be.  Written by Claire Santry the site has so much to offer it's hard to list it all.  There are links, advice, and of course news about the latest Irish records.  It was Clair's blog I turned to to keep me updated as I impatiently awaited the release of the records from the Valuation office a few years back and I stop in at least once a week to catch up on anything I may have missed.  I was excited to read this headline recently-- "Beyond 2022: project aims to recreate the Public Record Office of Ireland before the 1922 fire".  Read about it here.

     That one made me snap to attention!  How wonderful would it be to have those lost records back?  It's a definite step in the right direction that the remnants of the fire along with copies stored off site are being seriously looked at with an eye to digital recreation.  I would however, have to think that quite a few are gone for good.  For instance, how would one begin to recreate those destroyed censuses?  Sadly, outside of church records the early censuses were one of the few documents to mention by name a significant percentage of laboring class Irishmen in the 19th century.  I've found a few Griffith's, Tithe Applotment, and criminal records for some of my ancestors in addition to church records, but that's about it.  One group from County Carlow, the Michael Hore family, appears in none of those records except church registers. They weren't land owners, didn't leave wills, and many couldn't even sign their names.  Those census records are my Holy Grail.

     The Irish Genealogy Toolkit is another creation of Clair Santry's and is also well written and informative.  On a gray, chilly day like this one it's a perfect diversion.