NEW-ENGLAND-IRISH-L Archives

From: Pat Connors <>
Subject: [N-E-IRISH] new Irish records on Ancestry
Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2011 14:04:18 -0700

I am first going to post what I have picked off of other websites and then
at the end give my opinions after trying some Ancestry searches.

Here is a good place to start.
New search service for Irish roots:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15018413

This is an opinion I found on another mailing list:
For the time being, it appears that the Ancestry records were those that
were long available via the LDS site. That particular site has always had
Roscommon Catholic records posted, for instance. As well, it appears that
the birth, marriage and death records that are posted are those that were
freely available, via the LDS Pilot Search site and now through their
regular website. These records were transcriptions of the respective
registers and include the volume and page number for the entry, which would
allow one to order the actual record. Please remember that records, for the
most part, after 1871 also will need the quarter in which they were
registered. So far, I've found no Catholic parish records for the counties
I am primarily interested in, Tipperary, Clare, Limerick.


This is from the Genealogy in Time website:
Ireland – Ancestry.co.uk has launched a massive new Irish genealogy records
collection. With the new additions, they now have over 45 million Irish
genealogy records. Ireland is a challenging country to trace ancestors
because many of the individual census records were destroyed. For most
genealogists, census records are the bedrock of their search for ancestors.
However, this new collection from Ancestry should seriously help the cause
of anyone looking for Irish ancestors.

There are two main parts to this new collection: Irish Catholic parish
records (1742 to 1884) and Irish civil birth marriage death (BMD) records
(1845 to 1978). Two things to note:

• According to the 1861 Irish census, about 78% of the population was
Catholic. This number had risen to 89% by the 1891 census. Thus, even if you
think your ancestors were not Catholic, the Irish Catholic parish records
are well worth checking along with the civil BMD registration records.
• Ireland was partitioned into Northern Ireland and the Republic of
Ireland in 1921. According to Chris Paton at the excellent new blog British
Genes, the Ancestry civil registration records are incomplete for Northern
Ireland after 1921.

Readers might be interested in knowing this Ancestry release has not gone
over well with the Irish government. As reported in the Irish Times, the
Irish National Library has questioned the release of a small portion of the
Ancestry collection as possibly infringing on the library’s rights. Reading
between the lines, it would appear the National Library would have liked to
be the one to release its parish record collection to the public. However,
it seems to lack the financial resources to transcribe and prepare the
records for publication on the internet. Finally, please note this
collection overlaps to a certain degree with what is already available on
FamilySearch.

Overall, an excellent collection and worth checking out. Access is by
subscription. Just be warned that people have been reporting on the Ancestry
blog comment section that some of the parish records are mixed up. [Irish
Birth Marriage Death Records]


My opinion:
I immediately tried searching for some of my own records (from County
Tipperary and County Limerick) and got no hits. So, I suspected those
records were not included. I also couldn't find my Flynns in County Leitrim
so doubt that county is included. I really haven't had the time to do more
searching.

More questions:
1, Who transcribed these records? Did they buy already transcribed records
from Ireland which may be the case. Or, were transcribed by the Ancestry
transcribers, many from India? I wouldn't trust my search results if I
didn't get any hits or if I actually got hits because their transcriptions
of the tithes are horrible.

2. The Library of Ireland have been working for a couple of years to
digitalize their church registers from their films. They are going to then
put them online for free browsing. Originally they were supposed to be
online at the end of this year but from what I am reading, there will be a
delay. Also, I am reading that there maybe an effort on their behalf to
begin transcribing the films and also getting that online free.


Lots to think about and lots to be happy about because it has been a long
time coming for the church records to be released. However, Ancestry does
cost money to join. But, check with your public library, many have Ancestry
on the computers for free use. Also, all the Family History Centers have
it.

Please add any comments you may have.

--
Pat Connors, Sacramento CA
http://www.connorsgenealogy.com

This thread:

• [N-E-IRISH] new Irish records on Ancestry by Pat Connors <>