IRISH RESEARCH BEGINNING Understanding the Records

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1 IRISH RESEARCH BEGINNING Understanding the Records Presented by Eunice Robinson PLACE NAMES AND JURISDICTIONS: Since the 1920's, Ireland has been divided into 2 main divisions: 1. Northern Ireland, which consists of most of the territory of the old Irish province of Ulster, is part of the United Kingdom. The capital is Belfast, with the main seat of government being London. Northern Ireland consists of the "six counties", Antrim, Armagh, Londonderry/Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone. 2. The Republic of Ireland, is an independent country with the capital being. The Republic or Eire, consists of the other 26 counties from the provinces of Leinster (SE), Munster (SW), Connaught (NW) and the rest of Ulster (the counties of Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan). Further geographic breakdowns within the country, and the demarkation lines do not necessarily follow. You may have from family stories might be any one of these geographic categories. 1. Province - Ireland is divided into 4 provinces consisting of several counties each - Connaught, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. 2. County - There are 32 counties. Two counties have changed their names: Leix/Laoighis/Laois was formerly Queen's County; and Offaly was formerly King's County. The counties are (in alphabetic order): Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Down,, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Londonderry, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow. Irish Begin/05October2012er/1

2 3. Barony - These are based upon old tribal boundaries and usually a small portion of a county. 4. Poor Law Union - In 1838, a Poor Relief Act divided Ireland into civil districts called Poor Law Unions. This act required that funds be raised to support the poor within each union, which usually contained several parishes, many townlands and generally was named after a large town in it. 5. Superintendent Registrar's Districts - These districts were established by the Births, Marriages and Deaths Act of Each district had a superintendent who registered these events within the district. The boundaries of the poor law unions were the same as the superintendent registrar's districts. 6. Diocese - The Church of Ireland and the Catholic Church are divided into large areas known as dioceses. These boundaries do not correspond to each other nor to county boundaries. The bishop of each diocese is in charge of the ministers of the parishes within his diocese. 7. Parish - There are 2 types of parishes - civil and church a. Civil parishes are areas of local self-government and contains several hamlets and townlands. In large cities, they include many church parishes. There are 2,447 civil parishes in Ireland. b. Church parishes are small areas of the church over which a parish priest or minister presides. The Church of Ireland parish boundaries usually agree with civil parish boundaries. Catholic parishes are larger and include several civil parishes. 8. Cities or Towns - These are civil areas, large or small. There can be several townships within a parish and many parishes within a single large city. 9. Townlands - These are small areas of land such as family farms. There are over 60,000 townlands in Ireland. 10. Electoral Divisions - These divisions were created for election purposes. CIVIL REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS (1845 to Present) On April 1, 1845, the Irish government began registering marriages of Protestants. On January 1, 1864, registration of all births, marriages and deaths commenced. The country was divided into registration districts, with each district having its own superintendent registrar. The original records were kept in the district offices and copies sent to the Registrar General in. In 1922, a separate Registrar's Office for Northern Ireland was established in Belfast. Irish Begin/05October2012er/2

3 The information contained on the birth, marriage and death records is much the same as contained on other civil registration records in other countries. 1. Birth certificates - when and where born, given name, name of father, name and maiden name of mother, occupation of father and address and relationship of informant. 2. Marriage certificates - parish and county of marriage, church where performed, year and date, full name of bride and groom, age (often only says "full age" - usually 21 years and older or "minor" - under 21 years), marital status (bachelor, spinster, widow/ widower), rank or profession, residence of each, names and occupation of fathers and witnesses (these may be related). 3. Death certificates - date and place of death, name and surname (widow sometimes appears under her maiden name), occupation (relationships often mentioned), cause of death and information (again relationship often given). The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has the indices, which are available through most of the local Family History Centres. For some years, once you locate the desired record on the index film, you can refer to another film for the actual record (see the list below). There are gaps in the collection, but this does not mean original documents do not exist. They may have been missed during the initial filming or not turned into the central repository. A. All of Ireland B Indexes certificates 1864-Mar 1881, M Indexes certificates D Indexes certificates *note as a result of the 1994 Stillbirths Registration Act, as of 01 January 1995, provision is now made for the registration of stillbirths in the Republic of Ireland. It is a retrospective Act so that parents may register a stillbirth that occurred in the past. B. Republic of Ireland B Indexes certificates M Indexes certificates NONE D Indexes certificates NONE C. Northern Ireland B Indexes certificates M & D CENSUS RECORDS Like the rest of Great Britain, census enumerations were carried out every 10 years. For Ireland, the first one was conducted on May 28, 1821 when Government-appointed enumerators took a census of the population. A few volumes survived the 1922 burning of the Four Courts in and these are in the Public Record Office. The next was taken in This census was conducted along the same lines as the 1821 enumeration. Most was destroyed, but again there are some that survived. Irish Begin/05October2012er/3

4 The 1841 census was taken on June 6th. Unfortunately, most of the census records in Ireland were destroyed. Dr. Stephen Royle prepared a detailed list of the surviving individual returns extracted from the 1841 and 1851 censuses. His unpublished list is held in Queen's University, Belfast. The 1851 census was taken on March 30, A good number of the original returns survive for parishes in Co. Antrim and are in the Public Record Office in. The 1861 census was destroyed by government order. The Catholic parish registers of Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford include a census dated April 17, The 1871 census, taken on April 2, 1871, was also officially destroyed. An apparently full transcript for two parishes in Co. Meath (Drumcondra and Loughbraclen) is contained in the Catholic parish registers. The Protestant entries are given in full. The first census records that are complete for the whole country was undertaken on March 31, It is held in the Public Record Office, including the returns for Northern Ireland. The next most useful census, was taken on April 1, 1911, and followed the lines set down in 1901 except with one important addition. Married women were required to state the duration of their present marriage, the number of children born and how many of these were still alive. These are both now on-line. After the 1911 accounting, the census was taken in the following years: 1926, 1936, 1946, 1951, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, and But not yet released. These records are held in the National Archives in, with copies for Northern Ireland in the Public Record Office (PRONI) in Belfast. As well as the national census, there were often parish or town censuses. You will have to do a location specific search to uncover these returns. These records may be included in parish registers or even in the estate records. Refer to Irish Genealogy: A Record Finder, pages 63 to 74 for other surviving census records, arranged by county. PARISH REGISTERS Parish registers exist for all counties in Ireland. Some are in the National Library in, others are located in the Public Record Office in Belfast and some are held in local custody. Church of Ireland parish records tend to have the earliest start dates. Surviving registers are either in local custody, on microfilm in the National Archives, Representative Church Body Library, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland or on microfilm in the Family History Library, in Salt Lake City. Catholic parish registers started a little later, from the mid-eighteenth to early nineteenth century in the cities, larger towns and the more prosperous areas in the east and south. In Irish Begin/05October2012er/4

5 the smaller towns and less prosperous areas in the north and west, the records date back to the early to mid-nineteenth century. Nearly all Catholic records are found on microfilm in the National Library in. The records for the north, are on film in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, in Belfast and the Family History Library, in Salt Lake City. For other religious denominations, some records are more accessible than others. The registers of the Quakers, Palatines, Huguenots and northern Presbyterian congregations do exist, however, refer to the various "how-to" books for specific information. The type of information found in the parish register varies from that found in civil registration. However, for baptisms or christenings, there will be the child's name, the parents' names, the abode of the family, and the baptism or christening date. Occasionally you might also find the birth date. The marriage information found in parish registers is very much like that on a certificate. The names of the bride and groom, the date of their marriage, their ages (sometimes full, minor or actual age), their marital status (bachelor, spinster, widow/widower), their occupation, the names of their fathers' and the fathers' occupation, and the witnesses. The information contained on a burial register is usually the most sparse. The name of the deceased, date of burial, sometimes the date of death and sometimes the age. In some of the records, it may list only the record at John James' son. One of the more inconclusive records. One other problem is the deciphering of the handwriting, or in the case of many Catholic parish registers, the records are written in Latin. IMPORTANT PLACES FOR GENEALOGISTS National Library of Ireland Kildare Street City Library & Archive Pearse Street General Register Office (GRO) Irish Life Centre Lower Abbey Road 3 rd floor, Block 7 National Archives Bishop Street Representative Church Body Library (Church of Ireland) Braemor Park, Rathgar Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) Titanic Quarter, next to the Citibank Bldg. Belfast Irish Begin/05October2012er/5

6 Selected Bibliography Some of the books that would be very helpful to an Irish researcher are: 1. Irish Records, Sources for Family & Local History, by James G. Ryan, published by Flyleaf Press,, this book is a wonderful source for information on Ireland. 2. A Guide to Irish Parish Registers, by Brian Mitchell 3. A Guide to Irish Churches & Graveyards, by Brian Mitchell, published by Genealogical Publishing, Baltimore, very good source book for Irish denominations and churchyard locations. 4. In Search of Your British & Irish Roots, by Angus Baxter, published by Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, an all-around good source book. 5. Directory of Irish Archives, edited by Seamus Helferty & Raymond Refausse, Irish Academic Press,, Handbook on Irish Genealogy, edited by Donal F. Begley, Heraldic Artists Ltd., 3 Nassau Street,, Tracing the Past: Sources for Local Studies in the Republic of Ireland, by William Nolan, Geography Publications, 24 Kennington Road, Templeogue, Irish Genealogy, A Record Finder, edited by Donal F. Begley, Heraldic Artists Ltd., 3 Nassau Street,, Irish Families, Their Names, Arms and Origins, by Edward MacLysaght, 1957, 1960, Trace Your Irish Ancestors, by Sean E. Quinn 11. Irish & Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research, Margaret D. Falley, Genealogical Publishing Company, The Palatine Families of Ireland, Hank Jones 13. Guide to Irish Quaker Records, Olive C. Goodbody 14. General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1995 (originally published 1861) 15. Irish Migrants in the Canada A New Approach, Bruce S. Elliott 16. An Irish Genealogical Source, Guide to Church Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 1994 ISBN The Irish in Ontario, A Study in Rural History, Donald Harman Akenson, Flight from Famine, the Coming of the Irish to Canada, Donald MacKay 1990 Irish Begin/05October2012er/6

7 19. Irish Emigration and Canadian Settlement, Cecil J. Houston & William J. Smyth Ulster Emigration to Colonial America , R.J. Dickson, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Samuel Lewis (several volumes) 22. Maps of the Roads of Ireland, George Taylor & Andrew Skinner, County Tipperary, A Guide & Directory 1889, County Antrim, A Guide & Directory 1888, and County Down, A Guide & Directory 1886, George Henry Bassett 24. The Pictorial Guide & Directory of 1850, Henry Shaw 25. Finding Your Irish Ancestors, Dr. Penelope Christensen, Heritage Productions, Toronto, ON Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen s University of Belfast, Ireland 27. A Guide and Directory 1888 County Antrim, George Henry Bassett, printed by Friar s Bush Press, Belfast. Irish Begin/05October2012er/7

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