The Beauty Of Old Irish Records

 

     While sorting through my files today, something I try to do once a year just to see if any bits of information I came across in the past make more sense today than when first discovered, I came upon the Irish census of 1901.  The person enumerated in the census was Thomas Hughes of Ballyraggan in County Kildare and it really brought home to me what could be achieved sitting here at my computer desk thousands of miles from Ireland.

     It all began with finding my third-great-grandfather Daniel McGarr in land records, Griffith's Valuation and the Tithe Applotment books.  After those discoveries I sent a request to the Valuation Office for their records pertaining to Daniel.  A few weeks later I received copies of the cancelled books held at their office that told an amazing story of Daniel's occupation of the land and revealed he actually had a tenant of his own, Patrick Kane, who leased a tiny portion of Daniel's holding.  It also confirmed the number of his lot.  Using that number and old maps at the OSI site, I located his holding then switched to the satellite map where I could get a bird's eye view of the terrain.  Even on the modern map the outline of Daniel's land as seen on the old map was clearly visible.  Switching to Google Maps streetview, the site took me to the lane where the cottage sat but it wouldn't allow me to travel down that lane.

     Enter dear Dara from the Black Raven Genealogy blog, who kindly volunteered to traverse that lane for me and even took snapshots, which I cherish, of the remains of the old cottage, now transformed as part of a shed.  One of the photos, seen below, shows the remnants of a wall and window sill.  I gaze at it and wonder, how many time did my great-great-grandmother Maria lean on that sill to peer out the window?  Perhaps even sit upon it while waiting for her beau James O'Hora from the next townland over to visit?

Old window sill jutting out from the wall

     So many other records played a part in the hunt, baptism records that allowed me to reconstruct Daniel's family there in Ballyraggan, his daughter's marriage records, Daniel's death registration which I had to send for but which is now freely available online.  They all added up to give me an incredible picture of Daniel's life that I wouldn't have dreamt possible when I began researching my family back in pre-computer days.

     So where does Thomas Hughes fit in?  In the year 1872, six years after the death of Daniel's wife Anne Donahoe, their youngest daughter, Sarah, married Thomas Hughes.  The couple made their home with Daniel and after his passing Thomas Hughes inherited the holding.  The records from the Valuation Office spell that out.  And the census record that so excited me?  There were several forms attached to old Irish censuses, one of which was form B1, the House And Building Return which contains a wealth of information.  

Tomas Hughes at number 6

     While land records showed the size of Daniel's lot, what he paid for it yearly, and when Hughes took it over, this form told me what the house itself was actually like!  I learned the home consisted of four rooms with three widows gracing the front.  It was made of  mud or wood according to the form, but from Dara's photos it appears it was a combination of stone and mud.  The roof was thatch. 

     This is the only instance where I've been able to find so much detail about the home of one of my Irish ancestors.  It was my good fortune that some members of the McGarr family remained in Ireland to create records when most of the others immigrated, along with the fact these wonderful records that allowed me to put it all together not only still exist, but, with the exception of the cancelled books, are online.  And not least, that I made the acquaintance of my generous friend Dara.