October 2007 - Irish Genealogical Society International

Transcription

Volumne 28,
Number 4
Deireadh Fomhair (Oct) 2007
$7.00
Church Records
IGSI Information
2007 Irish Days
at MGS Library
Golden Valley, MN
Second Saturday of the Month
JANUARY 13, 2007
FEBRUARY 10, 2007
MARCH 10, 2007
APRIL 14, 2007 (Library Closed)
MAY 12, 2007
JUNE 9, 2007
JULY 14, 2007
AUGUST 11, 2007
SEPTEMBER 8, 2007
OCTOBER 13, 2007
NOVEMBER 10, 2007
DECEMBER (Library Closed)
(These dates subject to change so check
before you come.)
Irish research volunteers are available from
9:00 am to 3:00 pm to assist with using the
library and Irish resources. If you have questions, call Beth Mullinax at (763) 574-1436.
Informal class for beginners at the library
9:30 am on the above dates. Other classes
offered throughout the year. MGS Library
number (763) 595-9347
New Address?
If you have moved and forgotten to tell
us, you will miss the issues of The Septs
as well as other information sent by us.
The Septs is mailed at postal bulk rate
and is not forwarded to a new address
or returned to IGSI if undeliverable.
You can make the change to your address online at the IGSI website (under
Manage Your Member Information) or
send an email to [email protected] at least two weeks before
the publication dates – January 1, April
1, July 1, and October 1.
Page
157
The Septs Quarterly Journal
5768 Olson Memorial Highway • Golden Valley, MN 55422-5014
Web site address: http://www.IrishGenealogical.org
ISSN 1049-1783 • Indexed by PERSI
Editor
Ann Eccles [email protected]
Managing Editor Tom Rice [email protected]
Layout/Design Diane Lovrencevic [email protected]
The Septs is published quarterly - January, April, July and October. It is available through
IGSI membership ($25 per year). Contributions and article ideas are welcome.
Material intended for publication is due the 1st of February, May, August and
November. Material should be mailed to the address above, ATTN: Editor, and
may be published or edited at the discretion of the journal staff.
Copyright © 2007 by Irish Genealogical Society International
Printed in the USA
Irish Genealogical Society International
2007-2008
Board of Directors
President - Laurie Hanover Past President - Linda Miller First V.P. - Frank Braun
Second V.P. - Secretary - Kevina Munnich
Treasurer - Robert Zimmerman [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Committee Contacts
Book Sales - Linda Miller Historian - Hospitality - Mary Joan Larsen Irish Days - Beth Mullinax Library Acquisition - Beth Mullinax Membership - Elizabeth Beckers
Publications - Tom Rice Publicity - Volunteer Coord. - Diane Lovrencevic Website Editor - Diane Lovrencevic [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Cover Photo, Holy Cross Church, Charleville, County Limerick, Ireland.
Photo courtesy of B. Ryan
______________________________________________________________ Table of Contents
Articles
161 Irish Church Registers:
An Essential Resource
by Brian Mitchell
166 Church Records: Considering
a Key Genealogical Resource
by Tom Rice, CG
169 Irish Immigrants Among Three
American Minority Religions
by Dwight A. Radford
177 Catholic Church Records:
the Ties That Bind
by Kathy Lund
181 Pedigrees and Piety:
the Impact of Religious Tradition
and Irish Immigrants to America
by Colleen McClain
187 The Irish Methodists:
History and Resources
by Sue Kratsch
191 Dr. Philip Crosslé Genealogical
Collection (Part II)
by David E. Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA
199 Are You Shortchanging
Your Family History?
by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, CG
201 Finding Irish Church Records Online
by Kathleen Strickland
203Research Pitfalls of Census Records:
How Bad Can They Be?
by Nancy Grell
206 Catholic Parish Records:
Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis
by Beth Mullinax
The Septs - Volumne 28, Number 4
Departments
159
160
176
198
198
202
205
205
206
207
207
208
208
209
211
212 213
President’s Letter
Editor’s Letter
Donations
Quarterly Calendar
Website News
IGSI Moving
Queries
IGSI Volunteers
100 Years Ago in the News
Ask Connemara Kate
Update Member Information
Contribute to The Septs
Quarterly Program
Library Acquisitions
Gleanings
Annual Conference
Bookstore
Page158
President’s Letter
President’s Letter:
Moving On
by Laurie Hanover
It has been a busy time for IGSI. We had
a presence at the Irish Fair in St. Paul;
the prestigious David Rencher spoke on
two days at our Quarterly meeting. We
are now preparing for our annual Genealogy Conference, October 27, “Searching for Your Family History,” and for
the Quarterly meeting in November. At the same time, the Board and our
wonderful volunteers are updating our
constitution, prioritizing ideas from a
brainstorming session in June, and finding resources to implement them for our
members.
We have been notified by Minnesota
Genealogical Society that a lease has
been signed for the new location of the
MGS Library and that we will move at
the end of October. The new Library location is at 1185 N. Concord St. in South
St. Paul, MN, just a few miles from the
Minnesota History Center where many
of us also do research (how convenient!) The library will be closed from October
25 to November 9 for the move, but we
will reopen at the new location on Irish
Saturday, November 10, 2007. Please
come and see our new home that day!
I would like to thank the outgoing Board
for their hard work and accomplishments: Linda Miller, President; Glenn
O’Meara, 2nd Vice President; Kathy
Lund, Treasurer; and Valerie Morrison,
Past President. Along with me, our new
Board for this fiscal year is committed
and settling into their new responsibilities: Frank Braun, 1st Vice President;
Kevina Munnich, Secretary; Bob Zimmerman, Treasurer; Linda Miller, Past
President. We are still looking for and
need a 2nd Vice President.
Page
159
As I write this, all Minnesotans are
stunned and profoundly saddened by
the collapse of the 35W Bridge and the
tragic loss of life that occurred on August 1. The 35W Freeway and bridge
were part of a main artery into Minneapolis from both the south and north. The day after it happened, I heard over
and over again: “I travel that bridge at
least twice a day,” “I was on that bridge
three times that day,” and “It could have
been me.”
Like almost everyone else, a horror
settled in when I first heard about it. I
took inventory of my family and called
each one to be sure they were safe, just
as I did on September 11, 2001. Because
Family is important, and their story is
important, I research the family I never
got to meet. So far, none have been
famous, but every one is special and
important to me, and I’ve promised to
pass their stories on to my children and
grandchildren. The resources provided
by IGSI have been invaluable in my
search.
Until the bridge is rebuilt, I’m going to
find a new way home, and maybe learn
more about the cities in which I live.
There are other routes that I’ll have to
learn and re-learn. Similarly, researching family history is not always a straight
shot on the freeway; sometimes we have
to try another route, one less traveled
but maybe more interesting. Along the
way, we might find something we overlooked or never knew, just like in life.
Laurie Hanover, a lifelong resident of the
Twin Cities area,
served as IGSI
Secretary. Her
interest in genealogy became
serious about five
years ago when
she discovered
her Irish origins.
Laurie has two
sons and five
grandchildren, three girls and two boys.
Irish Saturdays
There are two remaining Irish Saturdays in 2007 when you can visit
the library and receive research assistance from our experienced volunteers or attend a class. The two
remaining dates are October 13 and
November 10. If you plan to attend one or both of these events, be
aware of the location.
October 13 Irish
Saturday
at the Golden Valley address.
9:00-3:00. November 10 Irish Saturday and
Open House at our new address:
1185 Concord Street N, South St.
Paul. 9:00-3:00
Library Closings
October 25 - November 9 Library closed for the move to
South St. Paul.
Good Luck with your research!
Dec. 2, 2007 – Jan. 3, 2008
Library closed for the holidays
________________________________________________________________ Editor’s Letter
A Sense of Place
by Ann Eccles
Sharon DeBartolo Carmack has been
Last month I visited my brother in San during the 1800s. Dwight Radford de- writing a column for The Septs for some
Diego; and while there, I joined three scribes the influences of three minority time now. She has submitted her last
friends for a drive to the Santa Maria religions – the Moravian Church, Latter column as The Seanchie. She plans to
wine country, just north of Santa Bar- Day Saints, and the Shakers – on Irish spend more time on her own research
bara. Some of you may know that is the who immigrated to the U.S. in an ar- and on other projects. We thank her for
area in which the movie Sideways was ticle which was previously published in her generous spirit of sharing her talent
filmed. Our trip planners had seen the The Irish At Home and Abroad in 1998. and information on family history removie and, using a map from the local Two articles on specific denominations search and writing. Check out her colvisitor’s bureau, had plotted our tour to include Kathy Lund’s wonderful article umn in this issue which could help you
include a number of the film’s locales. on using Catholic Church records and in planning the publication of a family
I found it an interesting way to focus Sue Kratsch’s article on the history of history.
a trip – visiting wineries and dining in Irish Methodists and their records.
Kathleen Strickland shares a collection You’ll find something new and informarestaurants featured in a film. of websites to help start your search for tive on almost every page of this issue!
So take a break, read, and enjoy!
Likewise, genealogists do well to plan church records.
and focus their research for best results. In this issue we have focused our at- David Rencher details the items of the
tention on Church Records. That still Dr. Philip Crosslé collection at the Naleaves a wide area to explore, but we’ve tional Archives in Dublin; in this issue Ann Eccles delved into genealogy after
done our best to provide starting points he concentrates on the “Smith Books. she retired and
for your travel though this record type. Nancy Grell’s column for the Begin- found almost
ning Genealogist describes some of the every branch
Tom Rice gives an overview on why caveats of using census records. Diane leading back to
church records are important to use. Lovrencevic shares information on vol- Ireland. Still
Brian Mitchell provides much useful unteers and a new website committee – a novice in acIrish
information on accessing Irish church as well as noting some fresh opportuni- cessing
registers. He shares an example of the ties for you to participate as a volunteer resources, she
information he found in church records with IGSI. And Val Morrison, a former continues to exIGSI Board member and current chair plore her many
related to his family history.
of the Minnesota Genealogical Society’s family lines. She
Colleen McClain’s article provides an Moving Committee, shares important has volunteered at IGSI, working with the
overview of religious development in information on the relocation of the surname database and membership updates the last couple of years
Ireland and the continuation of religious IGSI office and library. and cultural intolerance in the U.S.
Update Your Email
As a service to our members, we now
use email as reminders for events, classes and programs as well as for special
announcements. You can help by checking your email address in your member profile on the IGSI
website at http://www.IrishGenealogical.
org. It is only when we have the correct
email address that you can be sure of receiving the most up-to-date information
from IGSI.
they may use computers at libraries and
other locations. Internet websites such
as http://www.hotmail.com and http://
www.yahoo.com offer a free email accounts. Most public libraries offer instruction on how to use email.
While some members may not have a
computer and email at their disposal,
Page 160
Seeking Church Registers
Irish Church Registers: An Essential Resource
by Brian Mitchell
C
ivil registration of births, deaths
and Roman Catholic marriages
didn’t begin until 1864 in Ireland,
though Protestant marriages were subject to registration from April 1845.
Before these dates baptism, marriage
and burial details of an ancestor will
be found in church registers. As birth,
marriage and death certificates are indexed on an all-Ireland basis, it is probably fair to say that parish registers lose
their importance with the introduction
of civil registration. For the first half of
the nineteenth century and before, parish registers are an indispensable source
of information for the genealogist.
Which Church? Which Register?
Before seeking out church registers you
will need to know in which civil parish your ancestor lived, and their religious denomination - Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian or
other dissenting Protestant.
The organisation of churches in Ireland can cause confusion. The Church
of Ireland was able to establish an allIreland parish structure because of its
privileged position as the Established
Church prior to disestablishment in
871. The Church of Ireland parish
largely coincides with the boundaries
of the civil parish and retains the civil
parish name. The church and its parish structure evolved like any other organisation. Throughout the 18th and 19th
centuries new parishes were carved out
of existing parishes or parishes united
to form a new parish. Churches became
separated from the old burial places as
new churches were constructed. For
example, the Old Clondermot Parish
Page
161
Church in County Londonderry was
built in the townland of Clondermot in
1622. By the middle of the 18th century
this church was falling into disrepair, so
a new church was erected on its present
site in Altnagelvin townland in 1753. By
1867, the Church of Ireland population
of the parish had risen to 1,500. A new
parish, called All Saints, with its church
in the townland of Clooney, was separated from Clondermot parish to accommodate the large number of parishioners living in the Waterside area of the
city of Londonderry.
civil parishes. The Penal Laws and the
active persecution of Catholics resulted
in the late erection of chapels in many
parishes and the late commencement
of many Catholic registers. Catholic
registers, especially in larger cities, can
be of an early date. There are baptism
and marriage records for Wexford town
dating back to 1671. Dublin city has no
less than nine parishes with registers
commencing before 1800 – the earliest
being St Michan’s, which has baptism
and marriage registers dating from
1726. In contrast, the registers of predominately rural counties often start at
a late date. Of the 41 Roman Catholic
parishes serving the 52 civil parishes of
County Donegal, 29 have registers that
only begin after 1850. Nine of the Catholic parishes have registers with commencement dates in the 1840s, while
another two have entries from the 1830s.
Only one register, Clonleigh, with entries from 1773, goes back into the 18th
century. The reason for this is, in part,
owing to the actions of an enlightened
landlord. The local landlord, the Earl of
Erne, conscious that Catholics had to
attend Mass in the open air, donated a
piece of land at Murlog on which Clonleigh chapel was erected about 1760.
With disestablishment it was deemed
that Church of Ireland records of baptism and burials prior to 31 December
1870 and marriages prior to 31 March
1845 should become public records. As
a consequence, by 1922, the original records of 1,006 parishes were deposited
in the Public Record Office in Dublin
while 637 were retained in local custody.
With the fire in the Public Record Office in 1922 all but four of the 1,006 registers were burnt. The effect of the fire
was more severe on some counties than
on others. For County Dublin, with 99
civil parishes, 72 pre-1871 church registers survive of which seventeen have
commencement dates between 1619 and
1699. In contrast County Kildare, with The Presbyterian church does not have
110 civil parishes, has only sixteen regis- a parish structure as such; congregaters with pre-1871 commencement dates. tions generally formed where there was
sufficient demand from local PresbyteOwing to its numerical strength, the rian families. In those areas with a high
Roman Catholic Church was also able Presbyterian population, there could be
to set up a parish network which in- many Presbyterian meeting houses. For
cluded within it every townland in Ire- example, the civil parish of Ballymore in
land. This parish network, however, County Armagh had six Presbyterian
frequently does not correspond with congregations by the middle of the 19th
either the names or boundaries of the century. By contrast, County Wicklow,
_______________________________________________________ Seeking Church Registers
with 57 civil parishes, had only one Presbyterian congregation, at Bray. Other
Protestant dissenting denominations –
such as Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists and Quakers – formed where
there were enough like-minded people.
The Presbyterian congregations in Ireland are very much associated with the
nine counties of the northern province
of Ulster. One feature of the Presbyterian Church is the concentration of congregations within relatively small areas.
Doctrinal differences and disagreement
over a choice of a minister often divided
the original congregation and led to the
creation of a new congregation. One
example from County Londonderry
demonstrates this process. In 1777, a
secession congregation was formed at
Crossgar by a party which had separated
from the congregation of Macosquin. In
1812, some members of Crossgar objected
to the allocation of the Regium Donum,
or King’s gift, a payment made to Presbyterian ministers. They withdrew and
formed a new congregation at Ballylintagh which, in turn, split to form a secession church at Dromore.
The difficulty presented by this growth
of congregations, largely in Ulster, lies
in identifying the correct Presbyterian
register to search. You will probably
need to search two or three registers
even if you know the exact area in which
your ancestors lived. My wife, for example, is descended from at least four
generations of Presbyterian farmers in
Garvagh, County Londonderry, yet the
family’s allegiance over the last 150 years
has fluctuated between First Garvagh,
Second Garvagh and Boveedy Presby-
terian churches. Furthermore, some of
her Presbyterian ancestors were buried
in the original Desertoghill Church of
Ireland graveyard.
Religious and civil persecution resulting from the Penal laws may explain
why there are few Presbyterian registers from the 18th century. Of 68 Presbyterian Congregations in County
Londonderry only three have baptism
or marriage registers with entries predating 1800, namely Ballykelly, First
Garvagh and First Magherafelt.
Church of Ireland registers may include the baptism, marriage and burial
records of Protestant dissenters. For
centuries, the Established Church
claimed the right to administer baptism, marriage and burial ceremonies
to all Protestants, regardless of denomination, as the exclusive prerogative of
Church of Ireland clergy. For example,
until 1782, marriages between dissenters, celebrated by their ministers, were
illegal. Until 1844, a marriage between
a dissenter and a member of the Established Church was considered illegal
if performed by a dissenting minister.
Prior to the Burial Act of 1868, which
permitted dissenting ministers to conduct burial services, Church of Ireland
clergy held jurisdiction over funeral
services for Protestants. Clearly, if you
have Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist,
Congregational or Quaker ancestry,
do not overlook the Church of Ireland
registers. Further, members of the Established Church frequently became
dissenters. I have a great-grandfather
who was baptised and married Church
of Ireland but died a Methodist.
After identifying the religious affiliation of your ancestor and their residence,
you need to identify what church registers exist for your area and their dates of
commencement. The commencement
dates of registers vary from church to
church. For example, the Church of
Ireland register for St. Columb’s Cathedral, Londonderry, dates from 1642
while the earliest Roman Catholic register in County Londonderry doesn’t
predate 1822.
The absence of relevant records is a
well known problem in Irish genealogy
as many records were destroyed or simply not recorded until quite late on. If,
for example, your County Derry ancestors were Roman Catholic it is highly
unlikely, no matter how persistent you
are, that you will be able to confirm
birth or marriage details of your ancestors prior to 1822.
Resources to Help Find Church
Registers
There are a number of reference works
which can help you identify church registers and their dates of commencement.
John Grenham, in his extremely comprehensive Tracing Your Irish Ancestors,
provides a listing of all Roman Catholic parish registers, microfilm, and
database transcript to be found in the
National Library of Ireland, the Public
Record Office of Northern Ireland, the
LDS Family History Library and local
heritage centres, as well as those pub-
‘Irish Church Registers: An Essential Resource’ continued on page 163
Page 162
‘Irish Church Registers: An Essential Resource’ continued from page 162
lished. On a county basis, Grenham
provides a map showing the Roman
Catholic parishes together with a table
which identifies the date of coverage of
baptism, marriage and burial registers
for each parish and where copies and
indexes of these registers can be found.
The Public Record Office of Northern
Ireland (PRONI) is compiling microfilm
copies of all church registers of baptisms,
marriages and burials, especially for the
pre-civil registration period, in the nine
counties of Ulster. PRONI’s Guide To
Church Records lists church registers of
all denominations and their reference
number in PRONI, for the nine counties of Ulster, in alphabetical order by
civil parish. In addition to noting dates of
coverage of church registers, it also notes
details of vestry books, session minutes,
pew rent books, communicants’ rolls,
etc. The latter sources often shed light
on the important role churches played in
the life of the community, particularly in
education and welfare.
In A Guide to Irish Parish Registers,
Brian Mitchell locates churches of all
denominations within their civil parish
and provides the earliest commencement date of their registers. The information is tabulated in alphabetical
order by civil parish name within each
of Ireland’s 32 counties., Map reference
numbers to Mitchell’s A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland and to the maps accompanying the householders’ Index to
the Griffith’s Valuation assist in identifying the location of each civil parish.
In Mitchell’s A Guide to Irish Churches
and Graveyards, every church and graveyard in Ireland at the time of the mid19th century Griffith’s Valuation is
identified in relation to a townland or
Page
163
street address. Each townland or street
(in a town) is located within its appropriate civil parish, and each civil parish
is listed in alphabetical order within its
county. An Ordnance Survey number
enables the researcher to pinpoint the
exact location of any church or graveyard
on a six-inch Ordnance Survey map.
You should also learn about the history
of the church associated with your ancestor. The number of books detailing
the histories of churches, either individually or collectively, is growing by
the year. A History of Congregations in
the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, 16101982, for example, gives a brief history
of every Presbyterian congregation in
Ireland. Fawcett and Crooks’ Clergy
of Derry and Raphoe brings up to date
Canon Leslie’s history of each Church of
Ireland parish in the dioceses of Derry
and Raphoe (which extends over Counties Derry, Donegal and Tyrone). In addition, it provides biographical detail on
the clergy in these parishes, including
many from pre-Reformation times.
An Introduction to the Parishes of Derry
Diocese, by Thomas Bradley and Finbar
Madden, records short histories of all
Roman Catholic parishes within the Diocese of Derry. Such books tell when an
original parish was subdivided to establish a new parish. For example, the parish of Greencastle, County Tyrone, was
originally part of Lower Badoney; but, in
1892, it became a separate parish.
Histories of 30 Presbyterian congregations in Counties Derry and Antrim
are recorded in Julia Mullin’s book, The
Presbytery of Coleraine. She also compiled histories of twelve other congregations in County Derry in The Presbytery
of Limavady.
It is relatively simple to find the contact
name and address of the present-day
incumbents of churches in Ireland as
the major denominations produce directories annually. The Irish Catholic
Directory identifies, within dioceses,
details of Roman Catholic parishes and
the priests serving them. The Church of
Ireland Directory lists its parishes and
ministers on a diocesan basis, and the
Presbyterian Church records the appropriate detail by congregation, within
Presbyteries, in the Presbyterian Church
in Ireland Directory.
Finally, of major significance to family historians, especially to those who
don’t know the civil parish address of
their ancestor, is the computerisation of
church registers by the network of local
centres in the Irish Genealogical Project (http://www.irishgenealogy.ie).
Results of a Church Register Search
To demonstrate the value of church registers as a source, follow my search through
the registers of Shankill Parish Church,
Church of Ireland, Lurgan, County Armagh, for references to the Corner/Cordner branch of my family tree.
My starting point into the Corner/
Cordner branch of the family tree
was the identification of the following
civil marriage certificate. George John
Wake, a merchant of Lurgan married
Catherine Cordner of Toberhewny in
Shankill Parish Church, Church of Ireland, Lurgan on 6 May 1874. Catherine’s
father was recorded as Henry Cordner,
a farmer.
The Townland Index confirms that
the townland of Toberhewny is located
in the civil parish of Shankill, County
_______________________________________________________ Seeking Church Registers
Armagh. As it was customary to marry
in the bride’s parish it meant that the
obvious church register to search for
additional Cordner details was that of
Shankill Church of Ireland Church.
A search of the microfilm copy of the
registers of Shankill Parish Church
(MIC1/18) in the Public Record Office, Belfast, provided the following
information:
Baptism Register
11 July 1824 Henry of parents
Henry and May
Corner of Lurgan
Marriage Register
Unsuccessful search
for marriage of Henry
Corner to May.
Baptism Register
5 March 1845 Henry of parents
Henry and Letitia Corner of
Toberhuney
5 May 1849 Thomas of parents Henry and
Letitia Corner of
Toberhuney
28 December 1853 Jane of parents
Henry and Letitia Corner of
Toberhuney
26 March 1856
George of parents Henry and
Letitia Corner of
Toberhuney
24 November 1859 William John of
parents Henry and
Letitia Corner of Toberhuney
Marriage Register
23 April 1844 Henry Corner of
Toberhuney in this
parish, bachelor and
Letitia Mathews of
Cornreaney in the
parish of Donaghcloney, Spinster. By
license
Four Corner marriages in the period
1802 to 1824 were
identified:
23 August 1813
Thomas Corner to
Margaret Douglas
21 December 1815 Thomas Corner to
Mary Summerton
31 July 1817
John Corner to Mary
Barrit
21 April 1822
Robert Corner to
Isabella Hynd
Until additional information comes to
light I will not be able to prove the relevance or otherwise of any of the above
four marriage entries.
The next logical step is to extend the
search for the marriage of Henry Corner to May to the registers of other
Protestant churches in the civil parish of
Shankill. The town of Lurgan is located
in the civil parish of Shankill. Unfortunately, the registers of the Methodist
Church and Presbyterian churches in
Lurgan do not exist for the period 1800
to 1824. The marriage registers, on the
other hand, of the Religious Society of
Friends (Quakers) in Lurgan commence
in 1632. Or, the unsuccessful search may
simply mean that the marriage occurred
before the keeping of church registers.
Another option is to extend the search
for the above marriage to the Protestant
churches in the parishes surrounding
Shankill parish. The vast majority of
marriages were between people who lived
locally. The above family history confirms this: George Wake of Lurgan married Catherine Cordner of Toberhewny.
This townland lies on the southern
boundary of the town of Lurgan. Henry
Corner of Toberhewny married Letitia
Mathews of Cornreany. Although these
two townlands are in different counties
(Armagh and Down respectively), the
Corner and Mathews farms shared a
common boundary! It might be worthwhile, therefore, to search the registers
of the Protestant churches in the civil
parish of Donaghcloney (the civil parish
in which the townland of Cornreany is
located). The Church of Ireland registers for Donaghcloney Parish Church
commenced in 1697.
Beyond Church Registers
Although church registers are perhaps
the single most valuable source in genealogy your research is not finished once
you have exhausted them. The information you gain from one source offers
clues to other records to search. No record source, no matter how important,
stands in isolation.
The above family detail recorded in
church baptismal and marriage registers
provides encouragement to search other
sources for additional information. For
example, the civil death registers recorded the deaths of Henry Cordner
and Letitia Cordner on 25 August 1887
and 18 September 1889 respectively. The
will of Henry Cordner of Toberhewny,
Page 164
‘Irish Church Registers: An Essential Resource’ continued from page 164
which was proved at the Armagh Probate Office on 5 November 1891, named
many family members.
The Tithe Book of 1833 records a Henry
Corner with 2 farms of land amounting
to 6 acres at Toberhewny. By the time of
the Griffith’s Valuation in 1864 Henry
Cordner was farming 6 acres in Toberhewny and a William Cordner was
farming 10 acres.
Griffith’s Valuation confirms that Lord
Lurgan was the landlord of the townland of Toberhewny. Toberhewny is
part of the manor of Brownlowsderry
owned by the Brownlows, Lord Lurgan.
The records of that key Irish institution, the great landed estate, are a vast
source of untapped knowledge.
Estate and personal papers of the
Brownlow family, Lords Lurgan, relating largely to the manors of Brownlowsderry and Richmount in the Lurgan
area, County Armagh, are deposited in
the Public Record Office, Belfast. Some
500 volumes and 5000 documents relating to the Brownlow estate can be found
in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Reference D1928).
A map contained in a survey of the estate of Charles Brownlow by Alex Richmond in 1832 (T2485/2/4, PRONI)
identifies 2 small farms of 5 and 6 acres
being farmed by H Corner. No Corners
or Cordners, however, were recorded
in Toberhuney at the time of Patrick
Dougan’s survey of the estate of William Brownlow in 1751 (T2485/2/1). The
1766 religious census for the parish of
Shankill did record a William Corner
in Tuberhuney.
The Brownlow Leasebook of 1667-1711
was published by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in 1988 as Settlement and Survival on an Ulster Estate.
This leasebook was drawn up by Arthur
Brownlow, the estate’s owner between
1667 and 1711. This leasebook records
that the tenants of Toberhewny in 1667
were Robert Gare, Anthonie Hartlowe,
William Jones, Jane Porter and William Smith. The leasebook recorded
two Corner leases, one in the townland
of Drumnamoe in the civil parish of
Shankill and the other in the townland
of Derryadd in Montiaghs civil parish,
County Armagh:
Parryes land, 21 acres, and Levyes
land, 15 acres, in Dromenmoe
leased to Henry Corner for his life
at £6 3s per annum above taxes;
rest as usual dated 15 August 1695.
Derriadde to Edward Murphy,
John Abraham and William Corner for 21 years from May 1691...
dated 3rd November 1690
The leasebook also recorded a copy of
Arthur Brownlow’s will dated 29 September 1710 with one of the witnesses
being H Corner.
If You Search the Church Registers
If you intend to visit a minister of a church
in person, I recommend that you make
contact in advance either by writing or by
telephone to ensure convenience and cooperation. Should you arrive unannounced
on their door step, there is no guarantee
of a warm welcome. I personally prefer
searching a church register at my leisure as
opposed to a hurried examination of one in
the presence of an impatient clergyman.
Having decided on a register to search,
resist the impulse to glance through the
pages to check for surnames that might
belong to your ancestors. The registers,
especially of a later date, may be tabulated and the information written in the
appropriate columns, neatly and legibly. But often the information is simply written, and not too clearly at that,
in sentence form. In a hasty search of a
register you may overlook the very entry
you seek.
Be aware of possible variants of your family name; standardisation in the spelling of
surnames is a 20th century phenomenon.
Surnames can be difficult to interpret and
distinguish in the context of a poor quality,
handwritten parish register. It is also possible that the original compiler of a record
made a mistake. Use care and patience in
your search to lessen the chances of misreading a surname and to aid in interpreting poor handwriting. If fortunate, you
might be able to follow successive generations of your family through the registers
of one church.
In short, an examination of Irish church
registers is well worth the effort.
References
Fawcett, F. W., Crooks, D. W. T., and others. Clergy of Derry and Raphoe. Belfast:
Ulster Historical Foundation, 1999.
Gillespie, Raymond. Settlement
and Survival on an Ulster Estate: the
Brownlow Leasebook 1667-1711. Belfast:
P.R.O.N.I., 1988.
Grenham, John. Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, 3rd edition. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2006.
Page
165
_____________________________________________________ Overview of Church Records
Church Records
Considering a Key Genealogical Resource
by Tom Rice, CG
Do Look at Church Records
There are many reasons to look at the
recordings of your ancestors’ interactions
with a church. The most common motivation is to find those key genealogical elements -- dates and places of births, marriages and death, and to confirm familial
relationships. For the vast majority of our
ancestral history these events were recorded by a church whether a government
agency recorded the same information or
not. Thus, church records may serve as a
substitute for missing civil vital records;
in other cases, they provide an alternative
record of these key events; as such they
may provide additional information and
confirming or contradictory data. Church
records sometimes point to broader familial relationships through the listing of
sponsors at baptisms and confirmations
and witnesses at marriages.
records will be those covering baptism/
christening, marriage, death, burial and
confirmation. These are often referred to
as sacramental records. However, beware
of such denominational practice variations
as adult versus infant baptism. At a minimum these records will provide the names
of those involved in the event such as the
baptized and the sponsors. However, you
may find much more information such
as mention of parents and even the naming of an ancestor’s birth parish or at least
former parish. Amongst the richest of all
church records are the Swedish Lutheran
Church’s clerical surveys which often provide a person’s birth date, a women’s maiden name, occupation, dates of birth, marriage and death and notations as to coming
into, leaving or moving within a parish.
The Irish, alas, must settle for much less
recorded information.
Beyond providing core genealogical information, church records often point to key
elements of a person’s interactions with
other members of the community and
tell much of that community’s history. In
North America, a region populated by
immigrants and migrants, church congregations were often a key element in the
peopling of the land. There are instances
where whole congregations emigrated, or
where a newly established pioneer church
aggressively recruited members of the
home congregation to join them in their
new home. In early New England, the
Church was the central agent in the establishment of new towns. It would be a mistake to limit your view
of church records to just the sacramental
recordings. Taken as a whole, church records cover a rich variety of information.
Consider membership lists which may cite
where members came from or where they
went, business records, personal papers of
ministers and church leaders, minutes of
church leaders’ meetings, biographies and
appointment records of clergy and members of religious orders, parish histories,
and of course church cemetery records and
the inscriptions on the tombstones in the
church yard. Consider also publications
such as bulletins, newsletters and newspapers at both the parish level and at the
regional or diocesan level.
Types of Church Records
The types of church records available varies by religion, time period and location.
In a Christian-centric view, which covers most of those of Irish origin, the core
Issues
Church records share many issues common to other record groups. Language can
be a stumbling block. Records may be in
the language of the predominant immigrant group and Roman Catholic and some
early Protestant records may be in Latin
rather than the vernacular of the time and
place. Denominational specific terminology may be used in the records, and this
may vary over time. Do not assume that
church records are all inclusive or totally
accurate; especially question printed versions of church records as to accuracy and
completeness.
A partial solution to the language problem is the availability of downloadable
“Word Lists” for many languages found
at the FamilySearch website, http://www.
familysearch.org/ (Guides>Word List).
These consist of a list of words in the language of interest, most likely to be found
in genealogical sources, and their English
translations.
Which Religion?
Your ancestors may have belonged to a
religion different from yours or that of
your parents or grandparents. Your family may have drifted from one religion to
another over time. Knowing the religion
of your ancestors is important for finding
the correct church; but that religion also
affects the kind of records you will find,
what will be recorded, even where those
records might be located if they are not at
the church of origin.
Identifying your ancestor’s religious affiliation can be a bit of a mystery. Consider
both given and surnames, location in Ireland, time period of emigration and place
of settlement in the new country. Look
for clues in family papers such as a family
bible, baptismal certificates, wedding announcements, memorial cards, and copies of obituaries. A clergyman’s name on a ‘Church Records’ continued on page 167
Page 166
Overview of Church Records
‘Church Records’ continued from page 166
marriage certificate will generally point to
the denomination of the bride. Look to a
county history or city directory to match
up that clergyman with the proper religion. Death certificates, obituaries and
mortuary records if analyzed properly can
point to religious affiliation. While your
ancestors may have belonged to a given religion, you may have to determine the specific branch of that denomination to which
they owed allegiance in order to find the
relevant church.
Finding the religion, or at least the church
they attended if the denomination is
known, may be facilitated by maps that
show church locations in the neighborhood where your ancestor lived. Your
search may be made easier if your ancestors settled amongst their own kind as to
ethnic origin, and language. Often these
ethnic neighborhoods also shared a common religion.
Where Are the Church Records?
You may find the church records pertaining to your ancestors at the church where
the event occurred, or you may have to do
a bit of sleuthing. If the church of your
ancestor’s life is still extant, this is the place
to start. The records may be still there. If
that church is no longer in operation, the
records may be in any one of a number of
places: a neighboring church of the same
denomination to which members of the
defunct parish transferred allegiance, or
a central denominational archive. Many
of these archives are now with denominationally associated colleges. Sometimes,
church records leave the control of the denomination altogether and can be found
at a local or regional library or genealogical or historical society library. One place
to always check is the Family History LiPage
167
brary (FHL) catalog at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp . The FHL has an extensive
collection of filmed church records from
around the world.
Do not forget to look for versions of a
church’s records in print, e.g. books of
transcripts and extracts of church records.
Search for these in the FHL online catalog and by using WorldCat, http://www.
worldcat.org, and the online catalogs
of libraries in the area of the church in
question.
Finding original church records may be
only half the battle; there is also the question of access. Remember, church records
are private records. Unlike a government,
there is no obligation for a church to open
its records to the public. Another issue is
availability of staff to search and record
church records, especially true for individual parishes. Their staff is often very
busy, and your genealogical quest is far
from their first priority. Openness or closure of records varies from parish to parish
and from diocese to diocese. When you
find the original records off limits, look
for alternatives such as filmed or printed
versions.
Many counties in Ireland have one or more
Heritage Centres that have indexed most
if not all of the church records available
for their jurisdiction. A list of these centres can be found at http://www.ireland.
com/ancestor/fuses/address/index.cfm?fu
seaction=manyaddress&LocDescID=3
History’s Effect on Church Records
Knowing the history of the time and place
of the event for which you are searching
in church records will help you to con-
duct a more successful search and to better interpret what you find. If the church
was the established church, i.e. the state
sponsored religion of the country, more
records will likely be available. However, if
the denomination was suppressed in some
way, its records may be quite scarce during
that time period of suppression, witness
Roman Catholic records up to the 1820’s or
so in Ireland. If the government bestowed
certain civil privileges on members of the
established church, then your ancestor’s
name on their roles may point to expediency rather than a faith alliance: witness
Roman Catholic names appearing on
Church of Ireland records. Do not forget
that there were government established
religions in several North American colonies prior to the Revolution. Civil upheavals could wreck havoc with church records;
witness the loss of a significant portion of
the Church of Ireland’s records stored at
Four Courts during the Irish Civil war. Religion and Family History
Consult church records for more than
their genealogical value. For many of our
ancestors religion and the institutional
church were important parts of their life
and of their community. To appreciate just
how important, look at the history of the
church and its role in society at the time.
There have been some dramatic shifts as
to how a given denomination and religion
in general fit into society over time. In
terms of the records themselves, church
minutes may provide the best window into
how community members interacted with
the church. Here we can see the much
more personal interaction between the individual and the church community or at
least with its leaders.
_____________________________________________________ Overview of Church Records
Where to Learn More
As with any key genealogical record type,
there is more to learn about church records
than can be conveyed in one article. There
are several places you can turn to learn more
about church records. Almost any good
general genealogy book will have a chapter
on church records. Especially good are the
relevant chapters in Val Greenwood’s The
Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, and in Szucs and Luebking’s The Source. This latter work lists the major archives,
repositories and record keeping practices
of major American denominations. For an
Irish genealogy perspective, an excellent
overview of the topic is given in Radford
and Betit’s “Church Records” chapter in
A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your
Irish Ancestors. This gives methodology guidance, considers the key elements
of many denominations separately, and
provides an excellent bibliography. James
Ryan’s Irish Church Records in also worth
visiting as is his Irish Records book. John
Grenham, in Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, provides an invaluable resource with his
“Roman Catholic Parish Registers” chapter that details what records are extant and
where these may be found for each parish arranged by county and supported by
parish maps of each county. In A Guide to
Irish Parish Registers, Brian Mitchell lists
Irish parish registers for most denominations and how to locate them. He further
correlates them with the civil parish and
with the maps relating to the householders’ index to Griffith’s Valuation.
References
Val Greenwood, The Researcher’s Guide to
American Genealogy 3rd ed., (Baltimore:
Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 2000)
Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, The Source ( Provo,
Utah: Ancestry Incorporated, 2006)
Dwight A. Radford, and Kyle J. Betit, A
Genealogists Guide to Discovering Your
Irish Ancestors (Cincinnati: Betterway
Books, 2001)
James G. Ryan, Irish Church Records, 2nd
ed. (Glenageary, County Dublin, Ireland:
Flyleaf Press, 2001)
James G. Ryan, Irish Records Sources for
Family and Local History (Provo, Utah:
Ancestry Incorporated, 1997)
John Grenham, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, 3rd ed., (Baltimore: Genealogical
Publishing Co., Inc., 2006)
Brian Mitchell, A Guide to Irish Parish
Registers (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, Co., 1988)
Tom Rice, CG is a professional genealogy
researcher, lecturer, teacher
and writer. He
is the managing
editor of The
Septs, a past
director of the
Minnesota Genealogy Society,
past treasurer
and co-first vice
president
of
IGSI and a genealogy help desk volunteer
for the Minnesota History Society. He can
be contacted at [email protected].
Irish Church Records Information on IGSI Website
Do you need a handy reference to
important dates related to church
records in Ireland, the content of
church registers, or a list of major
repositories for Irish Church records? Now, you can find that and
even more information on the IGSI
website, http://www.IrishGenealogical.org.
We thank David Rencher, AG, CG,
FIGRS, FUGA, the guest speaker
at the August 2007 quarterly meeting of the Irish Genealogical Society
International, for his permission to
post the handout information from
his talk on Irish Church Records. This information is in the Members
Section of the website. Login to the
Members Home Page to find the
link to the handout.
We plan to add more research aids in the coming months.
Page 168
Church Sources for Tracing Immigrants
Irish Immigrants Among Three American
Minority Religions
by Dwight A. Radford
The Irish Genealogical Society International thanks Dwight Radford and the
journal, The Irish At Home and Abroad,
for permission to reprint the following
article which appeared in The Irish At
Home and Abroad, volume 5, number 2,
2nd Quarter 1998.
Immigrants from Ireland to America
frequently belonged to various minority
religions. The records of these denominations may help to document the immigrant, his or her family and origins in
Ireland. Examples of Moravians, Mormons, and Shakers have been chosen
for this article because they represent
three distinct patterns of migration and
membership in minority religions. The
Irish joined the Moravians in Ireland
and came to America as Moravians. In
contrast, the Irish joined the Shakers
after they came to America. Irish immigrants often joined the Mormon church
in England, Scotland and Wales before
coming to America.
These religious groups had specific geographical settlements in America. Historical background material is available
for each minority group in addition to
the contemporary records created by
the churches. These groups included
Irish immigrants of both Catholic and
Protestant backgrounds. The Shakers
are now almost defunct. In contrast,
Mormons have grown from a minority
religion in the nineteenth century to a
worldwide church of ten million members in the late twentieth century.
These minority religious groups demonstrate how religion, history, migration
patterns, and genealogy come together
in the study of Irish immigrants. Even
Page
169
if the researcher’s ancestors belonged to
the Catholic church or a mainstream
Protestant denomination, a relative may
have belonged to a minority religion.
Within the records of minority religions vital information, such as birth
places in Ireland or parents’ names, is
often preserved.
Moravian Church (United Brethren)
Ireland
The Moravian Church originated in
Eastern Europe and was established
in Ireland in 1746 through missionary
efforts from England. This denomination had a few congregations in Ireland
many members from which immigrated
to America. Many Moravians lived together in organized settlements where
they were self-sufficient.
The number of Moravians in Ireland
during the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries is uncertain, but John Taylor Hamilton’s A History of the Church
Known as the Moravian Church places
the number at 4,673 in 1824 and 5,000
in 1834. The strength of the Moravian
Church was in Ulster with congregations in Dublin and Corofin, County
Clare.
County Civil Parish Congregation
Antrim Ballinderry Ballinderry
Antrim Belfast City Belfast
Antrim Ahoghill
Graeehill
Cavan Drumgoon Cootehill
Down Kilkeel
Kilkeel
Down Hillsborough Kilwarhn
Dublin Dublin City Dublin
Londonderry Artrea Gracefield
Table 1. Moravian congregations in Ireland for which records survive.
The Moravians kept records of baptisms, marriages, and burials. Congregations kept a Congregation Book
which may contain a list of members and
their families, details on movements or
emigration of church members. Some
congregations kept a diary containing
information on services held, absences
of members, as well as arrivals, departures and deaths of members.
The ministers’ diaries often contain
biographical sketches of deceased members and immigration information.
Moravian registers of Ireland are on microfilm at the Public Record Office of
Northern Ireland in Belfast. For details
about records see, An Irish Genealogical
Source: Guide to Church Records. There
are no surviving records of the Corofin,
County Clare congregation which dispersed at the time of the 1798 Rebellion
in Ireland.
United States
Moravian immigration to America took
root in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Moravian immi¬grants of all nationalities first located in the settlements at
Forsythe County, North Carolina and
the communities of Bethlehem, Nazareth and Lititz, Pennsylvania. Records
from these communities can indicate a
member’s congregation of origin.
The Moravians originally came to
America not as colonists but as missionaries to the Native Americans among
whom they established missions as early
as the 1730s. With communities established through mission work, members
immigrated and the settlements grew.
Among the immigrants were many
___________________________________________
areas. If a record
other than the
Memoirs is needed, it is important
when contacting
the archives to
specify where an
ancestor lived so
that the appropriate records can be
searched.
Congregation at Lititz, Lancaster County,
from 1748-1820 (FHL#20371 item 13).
North Carolina
Forsythe County had many Moravian
communities dating from 1753. It would
be inaccurate to state that they were all
of Eastern European origin. Some families listed as born in England or Canada
may actually have had their original
roots in Ireland. This should be considered when researching in Moravian records, especially the Memoir Cards and
the Minute Books.
Pennsylvania
The three major
settlements
of
Moravian immi- The Memoirs for the Forsythe County,
grants in Pennsyl- North Carolina congregations are at the
vania were Bethle- Moravian Archives in Winston-Salem.
Centers of Moravian Immigration. Map created by Wade Hone. Pub- hem and Nazareth The memoirs for non-Germanic people
lished courtesty of Dwight A. Radford
in Northampton have been translated from the original
County and Lititz German. All of the North Carolina
Irish-born Moravians, although the in Lancaster County. Immigrants would Memoirs are indexed at the Archives.
Irish Moravians were a minority within often settle in this area only to later mi- The index is completely cross-refergrate to other parts of the United States. enced in terms of married women.
the church.
Abstracts of the memoirs for these con- The following are examples of IrishMost Moravian Church records of gregations were published as “burial” born Moravians’ memoir cards:
births/ baptisms, marriages and deaths records and are available through the
Brietz, Margaret (nee Marrow), b.
will not list the birth place of the mem- Family History Library (FHL) in Salt
ber. The record which may provide this Lake City.
02 Jan. 1829, Magherafelt, Derry
information is called a “memoir.” MemCo., Ireland; d. 14 Jan 1886, Salem;
oirs are similar to eulogies; before death The “burial” records for the Bethlehem
m. Charles G. Briety, 1857.
a person may have had a memoir writ- and Nazareth communities were pubten about his or her life and service to lished in Gravestone Inscriptions in MoraDouthit, John (Sr.). b. 09 May 1709,
the church. If a memoir was not writ- vian Graveyards in Nazareth and BethleCoolrain, Ireland; d. 22 Feb 1784,
ten before death, the minister could hem and Some Church records, 1742-1904
Hope, NC; m. Mary Scott, 1738; 11
children.
have written one after the death of the (FHL #384711). The Lititz cemeteries
member.
have been transcribed in Abraham Reinke Beck’s The Moravian Graveyards of
Mack, Mary (nee Grant).b. 01 Aug
The Moravian Archives in both Beth- Lititz, Pa., 1744-1950 (FHL #20371 item
1755, Balhnderry Co., Antrim,
lehem and in Winston-Salem conduct 17) and in Record of All the Interments
Ireland. Called to service in W.I.
genealogical research for a fee. Both re- on the Burial Grounds of the Moravian
[West Indies], 1799 & to marry
positories have gathered the births/bapHanan. Trying trip, including captisms, marriages, burials, minutes and
‘Irish Immigrants Among Three American Minority Religions’ continued on page 171
memoirs for the congregations in their
Page 170
‘Irish Immigrants Among Three American Minority Religions’ continued from page 170
ture by Irish rebels, ml. J. Hanan;
m2. Jacob Mack.
Another source for immigrant origins
is the minutes of the North Carolina
congregations; minutes dating 17521879 have been published in the series
Records of the Moravians in North
Carolina. These minutes mention Irish
families and sometimes the congregation in Ireland from where they came.
They are indexed. Some examples of
the Irish identified in the published
church minutes are:
November 8, 1826. John Spence,
the journeyman tailor who is
working for Br. Charles Levering,
was formerly a Society Brother
at Gracehill, Ireland. (“Salem
Board Minutes,” Volume VIII
(1823-1837), p. 3777).
December 27, 1840. ... In the evening there was a final meeting of
these festival days in which the
married Agnes Jane Whicker,
m.n. Morrow, was numbered
among the nonresident section
of the congregation. She was
baptized and confirmed in Ireland in the Episcopal Church
and became acquainted with
the Brethren’s congregation before she migrated to America.
Here in Salem where she has
relatives (Br. and Sr. Waterson)
she lived a long time as a single
person...(“Diary of the Congregation in Salem,” Volume IX,
(1838-1847),p. 4526).
The printed minutes are available on
microfilm through the FHL:
Page
171
Volumes
Vols. 1-5
Vols. 6-9
Vols. 10-11
Years
1752-1792
1793-1847
1841-1879
FHL Films
#1321198
#1321210
#1321211
Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints (Mormons or LDS Church)
headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah,
began sending missionaries to Ireland
in 1840. Mormonism was a new religious tradition founded in 1830 in New
York State. The LDS Church was of
neither the Catholic nor the Protestant
tradition.
The church’s early missionaries were
not successful in converting large numbers of converts in Ireland; however,
they found greater success in England,
Scotland and Wales. It was in these
countries that large numbers of Irishborn joined. LDS Church records of
this second country may hold the key to
identifying an Irish immigrant’s birth
place.
Unlike other religious organizations,
LDS converts were expected to immigrate immediately to Church headquarters in Nauvoo, Illinois (from 18391846), and subsequently to Salt Lake
City, Utah (1847+). Upon arrival in
Utah, the converts either determined by
themselves or were assigned by Church
leaders to settle in numerous LDS settlements established in Utah, Idaho,
Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico,
Arizona, Nevada, Alberta (Canada)
and northern Mexico. Many Mormons
worked in mining and railroad camps/
towns. In fact, much of the Central Pacific and Utah and Northern Railroads
were constructed using LDS contractors and laborers.
The average convert to the LDS Church
was usually married with young children. One or two siblings of the couple
may have also joined. In this case it may
be that out of all the branches of a particular family, the LDS branch will have
preserved the birth place in Ireland. For
this reason, it is important for the descendants of Irish families who spent
time in Great Britain to consider LDS
records in their research efforts. Even
today, the oldest continuous Mormon
congregation is not in Utah but in Preston, England.
Not all converts remained Mormon,
nor did they all emigrate. Many converts were “cut off ” (excommunicated)
for various reasons while others drifted
away from the faith. Even if an ancestor was excommunicated, a birth place
and parentage may have been recorded
in the records.
An LDS congregation may be categorized as either a ward or branch. A
branch is the smallest organized local
unit in the Church. A ward has a more
formally developed organizational
structure. In Great Britain, many of the
congregations were branches for decades due to the fact that members were
expected to emigrate thus depleting the
congregation of its leadership. Wards
and branches together are grouped into
stakes. If an area only has branches,
as was common in nineteenth century
Great Britain, they are grouped into
districts.
Due to Mormon doctrine concerning
the keeping of genealogies, there are
many sources available to document
members. LDS records and resources
are available through the FHL or at the
___________________________________________ Church Sources for Tracing Immigrants
LDS Church Historical Department.
The FHL has published a guide to LDS
research sources in Research Outline:
LDS Records. Some of these sources
are:
European Emigration Card Index
(1849-1925): This is an index of names
of persons who emigrated from European countries. Most of the persons in
this index were members of the LDS
Church and registered for passage
through the LDS Church’s Emigration
Office at Liverpool, England. Most of
the information from this source was
compiled from the Emigration Registers
of the British Mission.
Beginning Name
Aaberg
Broad
Eagar
Harrison
Jongsma
Michael
Peterson
Smith, P.
Whilshire
FHL Microfilm
298431
298432
298433
298434
298435
298436
298437
298438
298439
Bishops’ Report of 1852: Officially
named the Registry of Names of Persons
Residing in the Various Wards as to Bishops’ Reports, this source will locate families who settled in early Utah, many of
whom were from Great Britain. This
report can be utilized to locate an immigrant family and identify the congregation to which they belonged soon after
immigration (FHL #823831).
Congregation Records: There are two
types of congregation records: membership records and minutes of meetings.
The vast majority of membership records are available on microfilm at the
FHL, but the LDS Church Historical
Department does have numerous mem-
bership records that the FHL does not
have. Minutes of meetings are only available at the LDS Church Historical Department. Since 1877, the LDS Church
has provided standardized forms for
membership records, and from this
time birth places are often given in the
records. Baptisms are performed only
when the candidate has reached at least
the age of
eight.
early converts joined the LDS Church
against the wishes of their families,
these journals can often provide some
insights into the family dynamics. Also,
journals may list where relatives who
did not join the faith immigrated. Numerous repositories in Utah house collections of early Mormon journals. The
largest collection is at the LDS Church
Historical Department. Two
catalogs of deEarly
posited jourChurch
nals are Davis
InforBitton’s Guide
mation
to Mormon DiF i l e :
aries and Autobiographies and
This is
Name Index to
an index
the Library of
to names
Congress Colfound
lection of Morin over
mon Diaries.
1, 0 0 0
Both
books
sources
can be viewed
which
on microfilm at
c onc e r n
the FHL (FHL
L D S
m e m #1059488 item
bers. In2), however,
cluded in
they are not
this index
up to date. Bitton’s guide is
are membership
also available
record s,
on Infobases’
histories Map created by Wade Hone. Published courtesty of Dwight A. Radford LDS Family
of wards
History Suite™
and branches, family histories, local CD-ROM.
histories, journals, missionary records,
periodicals, cemetery records and im- Journal History of the Church (18301973): This is a scrapbook type chronomigration records.
logical compilation including a potpourJournals: Journals (diaries) were kept by ri of information about thousands of
many early LDS members and may deearly LDS members. Most of the infortail their conversions to the religion and mation was extracted from unindexed
some of their genealogies. Since many diaries, correspondence and newspaper
Page 172
articles. The Journal History is available
on microfilm at the FHL (Index, FHL
#1233503-550 and #1255971-980).
Membership Card Index: Also known
as the “Minnie Margetts File,” it indexes some early congregation records
from England, the United States, Mexico and Australia from the 1830s to the
1930s. The Membership Card Index is on
microfilm at the FHL (#415443-457).
Black’s Membership of the Church:
Susan Easton Black’s fifty-volume work
Membership of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1848 includes
biographical sketches of early members
of the LDS Church and is available in
Infobases’ LDS Family History Suite™
CD-ROM. This index was compiled
from secondary sources and contains
errors.
ternational Genealogical Index (IGI)
which is open to the public.
RLDS Church
The Reorganized Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS
Church) consisted of Latter Day Saints
who did not migrate west to Utah in the
1840s. These members reorganized the
church in 1860 based on doctrinal differences with the Utah LDS Church
particularly concerning church leadership and the doctrine of polygamy. The
RLDS Church is now headquartered in
Independence, Missouri.
Susan Easton Black’s Early Members
of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day
Saints (six volumes) contains biographical sketches and is available in Infobases’ LDS Family History Suite™ on CD-
Patriarchal Blessings Index (18331963): Members of the LDS Church
can receive a blessing from a church
patriarch. Records generated in the
process may provide the person’s birth
date, birth place, parents’ names, date
of blessing and place of the blessing.
Access to the blessings is restricted
to direct descendants, but the index
to the genealogical information has
been compiled and microfilmed (FHL
#392631-96).
Temple Index Bureau (TIB): This is
a unique LDS source which indexes
temple work performed by LDS members between 1842 and 1970. The TIB
is on microfilm at the FHL but is restricted because there are names of
living persons in this collection. The
TIB contains about 30 million names.
The information for deceased persons
is being extracted and added to the In-
Page
173
Map created by Wade Hone. Published courtesty of
Dwight A. Radford
ROM. RLDS congregation records are
on microfilm at the FHL.
The RLDS Church sent missionaries
to Utah in the 1860s. Among their converts in the Intermountain West were
many Irish immigrants who had origi-
nally joined the LDS Church in Great
Britain. Irish birth places may be preserved in the RLDS Church records if
they are not preserved in the records of
the LDS Church. For example, Black’s
work lists William M. Gibson, born
1821 (1822) in Wicklow Down, Ireland.
He was baptized into the RLDS Church
in Salt Lake City in 1869 and migrated
to San Bernadino, California, where he
worked with the congregation
Shakers (United Society of Believers
in Christ’s Second Appearing)
The Shakers were a communal religion
which arrived in America in 1774 from
England. The faith advocated a communal lifestyle, pacifism, and celibacy
for all members. Celibacy is probably
what Shakers are most remembered for
in American history. Celibacy was expected of married couples who joined
the church. Men and women lived apart
in separate houses in the communes.
By the mid-1800s, the communal colonies stretched from Maine to Kentucky
and encompassed some 6,000-7,000
believers. Church growth came from
taking in children as well as adult converts. Due to the lifestyle of the Shaker communities, they attracted many
members, but numerous people left the
communities as well. Irish immigrants
were among the members; many nonmember Irish also lived and worked
among the Shakers. Those Irish-born
who were Shakers joined in America.
Persons from all walks of life were attracted to the Shaker communes. One
interesting case is Emily Brannan (18051881) who spent her life in the Enfield,
New Hampshire commune. She was
the daughter of Lord Dunraven of Ireland. On the other hand, impoverished
or disabled Irish among others were
___________________________________________ Church Sources for Tracing Immigrants
regularly taken in and cared for by the
Shakers. The Shakers did not pressure
people into joining the communes.
Due to the unique arrangement where
Shakers employed and housed nonmembers, an Irish immigrant who
never joined may be found in their
records. Among adult converts were
single women who had no means of
support. Transient converts or residents were known as “Winter Shakers,”
families who had fallen on hard times.
They would often come to the Shaker
communities in the winter only to leave
when times got better. Thus, an Irish
immigrant may have been associated
with the Shakers for either a short while
or for a lifetime. If an ancestor or an ancestor’s family is known to have lived in
a township or community where there
was a commune, the Shaker records
may be worth investigating for clues to
the family history.
The Shakers often took in and raised
orphans or children of parents who
could no longer support them. Although
many of these children stayed and lived
Shaker Communities:
State
CT
FL
GA
IN
KY
KY
MA
MA
MA
MA
MA
ME
ME
ME
NH
NH
NY
NY
NY
NY
OH
OH
OH
OH
County Hartford
Osceola
Camden
Parke
Mercer
Union
Berkshire
Worcester
Middlesex
Berkshire
Berkshire
York
Cumberland
Cumberland
Grafton
Merrimack
Livingston
Columbia
Albany
Wayne
Cuyahoga
Warren
Montgomery
Hamilton
Community
Existence
Enfield
1790-1917
Narcoossee
1896-1911
White Oak
1898-1902
W Union (Busro) 1810-1827
Pleasant Hill
1806-1910
South Union
1807-1922
Hancock
1790-1960
Harvard
1791-1918
Shirley
1793-1908
Tyringham
1792-1875
Savoy
1817-1825
Alfred
1793-1932
Sabbathday Lake 1794-present
Gorham
1808-1819
Enfield
1793-1923
Canterbury
1792-p resent
Groveland
1836-1895
Mt. Lebanon
1787-1947
Watervliet
1787-1938
Sodus Bay
1826-1836
North Union
1822-1899
Union Village
1806-1912
Watervliet
1806-1900
Whitewater
1824-1916
in the communes, others left and never
returned. Other children were sent to
the Shakers by their parents to learn a
trade. Their records often mention the
fact that a member was taken away by
parents.
Records
Shaker Membership Card Index:
This index lists many members in New
England as well as other Shaker communities. It was compiled from various
sources including church records and
cemetery records. These cards can contain birth and death places and dates,
admittance and transfers from the community, and apostasies. The card index
is at the Western Reserve Historical Society Library, Cleveland with copies
at the FHL:
Name on Cards
A-Butler, Ja.
Butler, Je. – I
J – Sering, A.
Sering, D. – Z
FHL #
934620
934621
934622
934623
Membership cards vary in their content.
Some provide exact birth places while
others only give vital information or
when members joined. Some Shaker records will tell the origins of a member’s
parents, even when the member was
born in the United States. One example
is of Mary McBride. A biographical
sketch of her from the Union Village,
Ohio, community reads as follows:
Mary McBride born in Baltimore,
Maryland, 1832. Entered Whitewater Shaker So. 1852. Moved to
Watervliet So. 1863, and to Union
Village, 1900. Was second Eldress
at Watervliet So. Father’s name,
Denis, born in Londonderry, Ire-
Page 174
land. Mother’s name, Mary, American born, but do not know her birth
place.
Shaker Collection at the Western
Reserve Historical Society (17231952): This is a vast collection of records
from the various communities. Records
are deposited at the Western Reserve
Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio.
These records are on 52 rolls of microfilm, and a set is at the FHL. Two
easy ways to access this collection in the
FHL Catalog are: (1) the Locality Catalog under the title of “United States
-Church Records,” and (2) the Subject Catalog under “Shaker - History.”
One important index to memberships
is also included in this collection as
Shaker Membership Card Index (FHL
#1550582).
Resources
Brigham Young University:
Harold B. Lee Library
Provo, UT 84602, USA
Internet: http://www.lib.byu.edu/
Daughters of Utah Pioneers:
300 North Main Street,
Salt Lake City, UT 84103, USA
Internet: http://www.dupinternational.org/
Family History Library
35 North West Temple
Internet: http://www.familysearch.org/
LDS Church Historical Department:
50 East North Temple,
2nd Floor, East Wing
Internet: http://historyresearch.utah.
gov/links/other.htm
Page
175
Moravian Archives
41 West Locust Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018, USA
Internet: http://www.moravianchurcharchives.org/
Moravian Archives
Four East Bank Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
Internet: http://www.moravianarchives.
org/
Public Record Office
of Northern Ireland
66 Balmoral Avenue, Belfast BT9 6NY,
Northern Ireland
http://www.proni.gov.uk/
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints
Historian’s Office:
Independence, MO 64051, USA
Internet: http://www.cofchrist.org/history/default.asp
Western Reserve Historical Society
Library
10825 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106-1788, USA
Internet: http://www.wrhs.org/index.
php/library
References and Further Reading
Moravians:
Hamilton, John Taylor. A History of the
Church Known as the Moravian Church.
1900. Reprint, New York: A.M.S.
Press, 1971.
An Irish Genealogical Source: Guide to Church
Records. Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation on behalf of the PRONI, 1994.
Records of the Moravians in North Carolina. Raleigh: Edwards and Broughton
Printers, 1922-1969. 11 Volumes. Volumes 6-7 were reprinted by the North
Carolina Department of Archives and
History.
Latter-Day Saints:
Barlow, Brent. “History of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in
Ireland Since 1840.” MA. Thesis, 1968,
Brigham Young University.
Betit, Kyle J. and Judith Eccles Wight.
“The Irish in Utah,” The Irish At Home
and Abroad 1 (Spring 1994): 22-27.
Bitton, Davis. Guide to Mormon Diaries and Autobiographies. Provo, Utah:
Brigham Young University Press, 1977.
Black, Susan Easton. Membership of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, 1830-1848. 50 vols. Provo,
Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center,
1984-1988.
Black, Susan Easton. Early Members of
the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints. 6 vols. Provo, Utah:
BYU Religious Studies Center, 1993.
Brown, S. Kent, Donald Q. Cannon,
and Richard H. Jackson, eds. Historical
Atlas of Mormonism. New York: Simon
and Schuster, 1994.
Daughters of Utah Pioneers. “The Mormons from Ireland,” Our Pioneer
Heritage 13 (1970): 313-372.
Jaussi, Laureen R. and Gloria D. Chaston. Genealogical Records of Utah. Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974
(FHL #6031507).
_________________ Church Sources for Tracing Immigrants and Seeking Church Registers
‘Irish Church Registers: An Essential Resource’
continued from page 165
Jaussi, Laureen Richardson and Gloria Duncan Chaston. Register of L.D.S.
Church Records. Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book Co., 1968.
McGee, M. Patrick. “A Preliminary
History of the Irish in Utah Territory Through 1879.” M.A. Thesis, 1992,
Brigham Young University. Indexed;
includes information on the Irish-born
in 1850-1870 censuses. Name Index to the
Library of Congress Collection of Mormon Diaries. Logan, UT: Utah State
University,1971.
Research Outline: LDS Records. Salt
Lake City, The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, 1992.
Shakers:
Andrews, Edward Deming. The People
Called Shakers: A Search for the Perfect
Society. New York: Dover Publications,
1953.
Brewer, Priscilla J. Shaker Communities,
Shaker Lives Hanover, NH: University
Press of New England, 1986.
Morse, Flo. The Story of the Shakers.
Woodstock, VT: The Countryman
Press, 1986.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Vernon Nelson, archivist of the
Moravian Archives, PA, and Richard Starbuck, archivist of the Moravian Archives,
NC, for their reviews of the Moravian section. Thanks also to Jay Burrup, C.A. at
the LDS Church Historical Department
for his review of the LDS section.
Dwight Radford is a professional genealogist residing in Salt Lake City. He specializes in Irish and Irish immigrant genealogy. Dwight has written numerious articles,
was co-editor of The Irish At Home and
Abroad (1993-1999), and co-author of A
Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your
Irish Ancestors (Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books, 2001). Aside from his client
work, he volunteers at the Utah Department of Corrections where he teaches Irish
genealogy to the inmates at the famly history center. He can be reached at [email protected].
IGSI Member Donations
We thank the following members
who have donated $10 or more to
the Society between May 1 and July
31, 2007.
Virginia B. Akers
Bette Blair
Frank R. Braun
Sharon L. Butler
Maureen A. Cannon
James M. Connolly
John Friel
Richard Goffin
Hazel W. Halloran
Col (Ret) Hugh B. Harrison
Peter M. Kaley
William Kanan
Sharon McAvoy Nichols
John K. McElroy
James L. McLaughlin
Ray & Irene McNamee
Brian L. Mitchell
Thomas F. Nuss
Paul E. Roney
Jeanne M. Vale
Norma Wolff
Guide to Church Records. Belfast: Ulster
Historical Foundation, 1994.
A History of Congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, 1610-1982. Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society of
Ireland, 1982.
Irish Catholic Directory. Dublin: J. Duffy
and Co., annual.
Mitchell, Brian. A Guide to Irish Parish
Registers. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1988.
Mitchell, Brian. A New Genealogical
Atlas of Ireland. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002.
Mitchell, Brian. A Guide to Irish Churches and Graveyards. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1990.
Mullin, Julia E. The Presbytery of Coleraine. Coleraine: Mullin, 1979.
Mullin, Julia E. The Presbytery of Limavady. Limavady, County Londonderry,
Northern Ireland: North-West Books,
1989.
Brian Mitchell is the Manager of the Derry
Genealogy Centre (since 1982); contributor of articles to
family tree magazines such as Irish
Roots, Family Tree
Magazine
and
Ancestors; lecturer
at conferences in
Canada,
USA
and Ireland; and
the author/editor
of over 20 books on
family history, local history and emigration.
Page 176
Roman Catholic Church
Catholic Church Records: the Ties That Bind
by Kathy Lund
G
enealogists seek records that tie
people together in families. Sources
that do this best are family oral history;
modern censuses; birth, marriage, and
death certificates; and church records.
Why Use Church Records?
Irish researchers face major problems
using some of these best sources. The
nineteenth century censuses in Ireland
were destroyed either deliberately or by
accident. Only a few fragments survive.
By sheer luck those who inherited research conducted prior to 1921 may have
data from those censuses, but for most
of us it is a lost opportunity. Civil Registration of births, marriages, and deaths
began in Ireland in 1864, long after
many of our ancestors left. There are
civil registers of Church of Ireland marriage records from 1845, a help for some.
These may be worth a search even for
Catholic ancestors. Since few early Irish
genealogical sources remain, church records assume greater importance.
What Are Catholic Church Records?
Catholics are fortunate in belonging to
a universal, hierarchal institution that
preserves its sacramental records. Kept
primarily at the local parish level they
are often copied for diocesan archiving.
Remember: these are private records.
Access can be withheld or facilitated at
what can seem the whims of parish secretaries, priests, and local bishops! Be
discreet; be courteous; be patient.
Catholic records are generally limited
to sacramental events. Baptisms and
marriages make up the bulk of records
and may be recorded chronologically
in a single book or in separate volumes.
Page
177
Lists of First Communicants or Confirmands offer little useful information other than the general location and
age of persons at that date. Even then,
family relationships are not given. Occasionally there may be burial records,
a parish census, or an historical note of
interest. The format varies from freeform text to a more modern standardized form. Each has its strengths and
weaknesses for the genealogist. In the
free-form style, a priest may include
more information, signatures, etc. or
not! In the standardized style, there is
a greater chance that required information will be inserted. Regrettably, some
priests did not seem to mind leaving
blank spaces.
Details in the records seem to follow
cultural norms, but marriages normally contain the most information.
For example, Spanish-Californian and
French-Canadian marriage records
are far more informative than those in
English-speaking areas. They normally
give the date, the names of the bride
and groom and their parents, whether
the parents are deceased, their parish,
and witnesses – and sometimes their
relationships. If one party is widowed,
the name of the deceased spouse replaces the parents’ names. Information
that a parent has been widowed can be
crucial in distinguishing among people
with similar names. The records show
if a bride or groom is under the age of
majority and may give the ages and occupations of the contracting parties.
Best of all, such records allow for signatures by the couple and the witnesses
able to sign. While many natives could
not write, many immigrants could. Do
not assume the priest is correct in stating that the parties could not sign; he
may have been overly-meticulous about
his books. Often the people will have
signed other records!
In the English-speaking areas of Ireland, Canada and the United States the
information is skimpier. Often only the
names of the couple and the witnesses
- along with the signature of the priest
- appear. Though this can vary. Researchers may be shocked at the number
of “mixed” marriages in the Catholic records of the countries of immigration.
Most often the bride is Catholic and
the groom either non-Catholic or, more
rarely, non-baptized.
Ethnic parishes in America may have
followed their European cultural traditions. A Polish-American priest in
Pennsylvania recorded the deceased’s
birthplace in a burial record. Unfortunately, those parish books are available
strictly to parish staff.
Baptismal records are the next best
Catholic source. They regularly cite the
date, the person’s name, the parents’
names - including the mother’s maiden
name - and the names of the sponsors.
Sometimes the birth date is included.
Baptisms of Native Americans and
slaves may include only the new “Christian” name with no reference to a surname, tribe, or owner. In the case of a
convert, the parents’ names are usually
omitted but the former religion is mentioned. This can be a clue for further research. Look for a subsequent or earlier
marriage of the convert to a Catholic.
_______________________________________________________ Roman Catholic Church
Conversion or abjuration was often expected in a “mixed” marriage! Marginal
notes may mention the date and place
of a subsequent marriage, confirming
relationships or opening up a new geographical area for a collateral line. Burials are not a sacrament so their records are scarce in the English-speaking
culture; many did not commence until
after the institution of civil death records. In Quebec, however, they were routine.
Until the 1930s, the church records were
the official provincial records. Sometimes coroner inquests are included in
the parish registers. Many children died;
their burial records give their names and
age, their parents’ names, and the date
and place of burial, normally the parish
cemetery. For married persons the marital status (i.e. widow) and the name of
the surviving or deceased spouse will be
mentioned in place of the parents. If a
person died in another area but is being
buried in the parish, the place of death is
normally given.
While not church registers, cemetery
or sexton’s records can be extremely
helpful in linking families, especially
collateral lines. In larger cities these are
kept by the diocese and are far more informative than gravestones. Have you
ever puzzled over the identities of those
sharing a small grassy spot with your
ancestors? Often they are in-laws, cousins, or neighbors from “the old country.”
For children who died as infants, this
may be the only trace of their existence.
A burial date can lead to a death record
that may lead to another generation…
and so on.
Where Are the Records?
How can you access Catholic Church records? In Canada and the United States,
you must determine exactly where the
person lived. There are no diocesanwide indices although civil records may
pinpoint a location in later years. Many
Irish came through Canada prior to entering the Unites States. Do your people show up first in upstate New York
or anywhere along the Canadian border? Is Canada a birthplace listed on
the census records of your family? It is
worth checking for a migration trail. If
your ancestors married in Quebec, key
finding aids are the Loiselle and Rivest
marriage indices, available from the
LDS Family History Library. Fiches are
at the Minnesota Genealogical Society
library. French-Canadians have genealogical volumes by Tanguay and Jette
to narrow their search. Use these with
the usual caveat about printed secondary sources.
If the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints (LDS) Family History Library in Salt Lake City filmed the registers for that time period and place, you
can do a keyword search for “Catholic
Church registers” and the place. For a
list of Catholic and non-Catholic Irish
church records at LDS check: http://
www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/county/
ldspars.html. Be aware it may not be
complete. Most of the Catholic registers from Quebec, New Brunswick, and
Prince Edward Island are held at the
LDS Library and are accessible through
your local Family History Center for a
small fee. Holdings of the Ontario registers are spottier. Several large U.S.
Archdioceses have allowed LDS to film
their records prior to the early or mid20th century. Irish Catholic registers are
not commonly held, but check just in
case.
If the U.S. film you need is not available, check the most recent edition of a
finding aid such as Virginia Humling’s
U.S. Catholic Sources: a Diocesan Research Guide. Organized by state and
then diocese, it lists areas included in
each diocese, archivists, contact information, fees, and miscellaneous details.
You may be able to search at an archive
yourself or hire a trusted researcher
there. The genealogical societies in
Canada can be very helpful in providing similar information. With a smaller
population to cover, most Canadian genealogical groups are happy to help and
may even do look-ups for you.
When you are ready to search in Ireland, recall that prior to 1922 our immigrant ancestors lived in a united
Ireland. Catholic Church jurisdictions
were not as clearly defined as they are
in the United States and Canada. They
freely crossed county lines, for example.
Because the church was outlawed by
the Penal Laws during much of the 18th
century, most registers begin around
the 1820s and are not common in some
areas until decades later! Often, a fee is
charged for an online search of the records. Films of Irish church records can
be difficult to use. The records are brief,
with many abbreviations and inconsistent spelling of townlands and many en-
‘Catholic Church Records’ continued on page 179
Page 178
Roman Catholic Church
‘Catholic Church Records’ continued from page 178
tries may be crammed on a page. Your
best option may be to hire a search.
The county Heritage Centres in the
Republic of Ireland have produced databases of sacramental registers made
available to them. To search, you need
only the county location, not a specific
parish. If you have enough information
to distinguish your family from others,
this works beautifully. Unfortunately,
some Centres were under-funded and
have closed. Irish Origins (http://www.
irishorigins.com) promises to have
them available soon for a modest fee.
Until then, the Irish Ancestor page
at the Irish Times site (http://www.
ireland.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/index.htm) lists available records. They will do a limited
3-year search in a specific parish for
$50. Check James Ryan’s Irish Records:
Sources for Family and Local History for
information on locating church records.
Brian Mitchell’s A New Genealogical
Atlas of Ireland, second edition, shows
parishes and Roman Catholic dioceses.
The National Library in Dublin has
microfilms of the historic Irish Catholic church registers, which may not be
reproduced.
In Northern Ireland, databases are held
by Armagh Ancestry, the Ulster Historical Foundation, and Irish World. For
a fee, these agencies will check for your
ancestors. Catholic records from Ulster
are less numerous and tend to begin later
than in the other provinces. The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland
(PRONI) holds microfilms of church
registers but does not lend them.
How to Search the Records?
Whenever possible, use the original
records or a facsimile like fiche or film
otherwise problems may arise:
1. Interpretation of names: A diocesan
archivist may look only at a handy
index or database. If your query information does not match exactly,
you will receive a negative response.
When dealing with “foreign” names,
e.g., Irish in French-speaking Canada, the accepted spelling may be
so mangled that O’Brien becomes
Aubrey, etc. Spelling was not standardized until the 20th century
and, even then, certain names have
many variations. Think of Gearety,
Garitty, Geherity, etc. Is it McInnis
or Maguinness? Ahern or O’Heron?
Some Irish have used the “O” or
“Mc/ Mac” intermittently, a considerable diversion in an index or
Soundex.
2. Problems with the original record:
Even priests can make mistakes.
They may have worked from notes
made off-site and confused the entries, making godparents parents
and so on. They may have transcribed a baptismal entry into the
marriage book or vise-versa. Dates,
especially in January, may be incorrect. Be prepared to offer arguments
for your re-interpretation.
3. Problems with an index: Often
the surnames (and occasionally the
given name in the case of baptisms)
are written in the margin as a finding aid. A busy priest or secretary
may extract the wrong name. Or,
a child who used a middle name or
nickname as an adult may be overlooked. At Sacred Heart Church
in Waseca, Minnesota, Gertrude
Some dioceses require permission for
a researcher to read the films so check
before making a trip. If you cannot afford a trip, consider hiring an Irish researcher. The local parish has control
of its records; due to multiple search
requests and few staff, a priest may not
welcome your inquiries. As mentioned
earlier, rapport counts. A personal
visit with pre-notification will usually
trump a letter.
Page
179
______________________________________________________ Roman Catholic Church Carroll was listed in the margin as
Mary. Fortunately, the parish secretary allowed the family to check
the register; they recognized the
entry instantly.
4. Incorrect transcription or translation: An archivist in St. John, New
Brunswick, skipped a line in the
text in this transcription of a baptismal record and confused the
surname of the godfather Louis
Godin with that of the mother.
The missing line reads: “…Trainor
de cette paroisse. parrain Louis…”
The mother’s name “Else” is actually “Alice.” In the actual register
we also have the father’s signature,
a distinguishing marker.
5. Incomplete abstraction: A parish
secretary might return a standardized certificate of a baptism that
does not mention the godparents or
any other contextual information.
Ask for a photocopy of the record
when possible. Note in the following
responses from the same archivist
the inclusion of parental information
in the letter, the different interpretation of the surname of the male witness, and the mistaken year!
6. Poor handwriting or preservation
of the registers: The registers may be
in very poor condition with faded ink,
cramped handwriting, and moldy, torn,
or burned pages. The year, marked at
the top of the page, may be shredded
away. You may need to resort to having
a search done at a diocesan archive as
some records or fiches are in such bad
shape that this may yield better results.
The archivist will be more familiar with
the materials and a better translator of
abbreviations and the Latin or ethnic
language in the text. Contrary to rumor,
Latin is not always the language used in
Catholic records. Ask for a photocopy,
if possible, as a double check on the
interpretation.
Conclusion
Catholic Church records are a great
source for genealogists. They may become the foundation of your pedigree
chart or may expand your knowledge
of collateral lines. They offer clues on
neighbors and friends. They can define
life-spans. Don’t neglect them!
Mary Kathleen (Kathy) Lund is a Chicago native with
mostly
Irish
ancestry. She
served on the
IGSI
Board
from 1997 - 2007
in several positions, including as President from 2000
– 2002. She has
been a Director
on the Minnesota Genealogical Society
Board since 2002 and chairs its Continuous
Improvement Committee. Her Irish lines
come from Antrim, Armagh, Clare, Cork,
Limerick, Kilkenny, and Tyrone. She is
still searching for her Walsh’s county.
Page 180
Religious Traditions on Irish Immigrants
Pedigrees and Piety:
the Impact of Religious Tradition and Irish Immigrants to America
by Colleen McClain
W
e have all been bequeathed a religious pedigree. It is as much a
part of our genealogical inheritance as
our brown eyes or red hair. But how
easy it is to overlook the religious affiliations that defined not only our
ancestors’ piety but their cultural and
economic realities. For years I’ve been
fascinated by the history of theological
reflection, but I hadn’t fully connected
the dots between genealogy and religion until The Septs editor, Tom Rice,
invited me to do some exploring. What
were the religious perspectives our ancestors brought with them across the
sea to America? How did their religious
understanding affect their experience
of emigration and settlement?
of the natural world tended to be a characteristic of Irish Christians, perhaps to
this very day.
Although most of the native Irish continued to practice Roman Catholic
Christianity, the European Protestant
Reformation began to influence the religious practices on the island as British
settlers arrived, about 4,000 by 1630, and
50,000 by 1641. By the early 1700s about
27% of the Irish population were Protestant, primarily living in the northeast
and in more urbanized areas.2
bytery of Munster was begun in 1696.3
Of the one million people in Ireland
in 1640 about 40,000 were Scottish
Presbyterians. By 1671 they numbered
about 100,000.4 Other Presbyterians
with an English Puritan background
arrived with Cromwell’s army in the
mid 1600s.5 Of the 35,000 soldiers who
accompanied Cromwell, about a quarter remained in Ireland. Many of them
married native Irish wives and converted to Catholicism.6
By the mid 1600s Quakers, the Society
of Friends, had arrived, most coming
The settlers brought a variety of reli- from northern England. The Englishgious belief systems. Anglicans from man, William Edmundson, set up the
England created the Church of Ire- first Irish Friends meeting (religious
land, or the “established church,” which service) in Lurgan, County Armagh in
It seems that a religious underpinning handled civil matters such as marriages, 1654. By the 1680s, despite efforts to enhas always been at the root of the Irish christenings, etc. Most Anglicans set- courage membership, there were only
experience. Even in ancient times, Eire tled in more urban areas, particularly in about 650 Quakers in Ireland, primarily
in Counties Dublin, Laois, and Wickwas an animate, ensouled land filled Dublin.
low.7 Although small in numbers,
with “thin places” where the worlds
they formed a vibrant community
of spirit and matter intermingled. and are remembered particularly
Sacred forests, holy waters, spiritfor their valiant efforts to feed
filled rings of standing stones, and
the victims of the Famine in the
fairy realms formed the boundaries of the known world of these
1840s. Many became merchants,
island dwellers.
including the French Bewley
family, founders of the Bewleys’
Christianity arrived in the 400s
Oriental Cafés that we still enjoy
today.[http://www.mountmeland took deep root. By the 800s a
lick.net/history/quakers/earlygolden age of monasticism flourished in Christian Ireland. Zealdaysofquakers.htm] Also arous practitioners of the faith, fol- Drombeg Stone Circle in County Cork. Courtesty of Colleen McClain. riving in the mid 1600s were the
lowing in the spiritual footsteps
Baptists from England. Never
of their ancestors, withdrew to remote,
numerous, their numbers had dwindled
exquisitely beautiful regions where Lowland Scots brought their Pres- to less than 2,000 by 1725.8
spartan, frugal simplicity was the ideal, byterian faith primarily to counties
an ideal that inspired Irish Christians Antrim and Down in the early 1600s. In the late 1600s French Calvinist Protfor centuries.1 Combining the tenets of Some moved on to towns in the south- estants, called Huguenots, fled reliChristianity with their pre-Christian ern part of the island where the Pres- gious persecution and some, primarily
spiritual focus on the magical wonder
Page
181
___________________________________________ Religious Traditions on Irish Immigrants
The Methodists arrived in the mid 1700s
and, like the Quakers and the Baptists,
actively sought converts to their cause.
By 1752 they had enough supporters to
convene the first Irish Methodist Conference led by John Wesley and nine
Methodist preachers. Unlike the other
Protestant faiths in Ireland, however,
they viewed themselves as a reform
movement within the Anglican Church
until 1817.12
Ruins of Ballymoney Old Church in County Antrim.
Courtesty of Colleen McClain.
from the La Rochelle area, took refuge
in Ireland. Most settled in towns like
Portarlington, Youghal, Waterford,
Cork, Lisburn, and Dublin.9 Those who
settled in the province of Ulster joined
forces with their fellow Calvinists, the
Presbyterian Scots.10 But wherever they
settled, they brought their expertise in
linen and silk manufacture.
In the early 1700s, several hundred
Palantine families of German Lutherans from the Rhineland Palatinate arrived also seeking safety from religious
persecution. As noted in John Wesley’s
1756 & 1789 journal entries, “... they established roots mainly in Counties Carlow, Limerick, Kerry, Tipperary and
Wexford.”11
The native Irish continued to practice
their Catholic faith, some becoming
even more dedicated to their religious
identity as the increased dominance of
the Protestant population fueled resentment. More often than not, they
were reduced to non land holding tenants and subservient positions in their
native land. About one third of the
Catholic population of the island perished during the invasion of Cromwell’s
Puritan army between 1649-51. Others
fled or were transported to Virginia or
the West Indies. Two thousand Catholic landowners were forcibly moved to
the province of Connacht. Most of the
Catholics were not displaced but were
left impoverished. The reigns of Charles
II and James II saw a more favorable environment for Catholics but with the
success of William of Orange in 1690,
the beginning of the Penal Laws and the
Protestant Ascendency, the outlook for
Catholics was bleak indeed.13
The Protestant ethic was one of order,
industry, and improvement. Changing
the Irish landscape from wild forest to
carefully tended farms, drained bogs,
and neatly tended towns was regarded
as their God-given duty.14 To not do so,
one must be inferior, even sinfully guilty
of laziness. The native Irish Catholics
held an entirely different ethic of leaving
the land of the magical fairies in its natural state. Individualistic achievement
was less to be admired than communal
commitment. Dependence on God’s
grace was more edifying than opportunistic enterprise. Suspect of Protestant
values, Catholics, although “down on
their luck”, nevertheless believed in the
superior spirituality of their religious
perspective.15
But even in this atmosphere of distrust
and competing values, marriages between Catholics and Protestants occurred. According to Irish historian
Marianne Elliott,
Timoleague Friary in County Cork.
‘Pedigrees and Piety’ continued on page 183
Page 182
‘Pedigrees and Piety’ continued from page 181
Mixed marriages were common,
and wandering friars - so-called
‘couple-beggars’ - who earned a living from conducting them, drew
scorn from the civil authorities and
the Catholic Church alike, though
only occasionally was action taken
against them. By law a priest who
conducted mixed marriages could
incur the death penalty. This act
remained in force till 1833, and was
only repealed in 1870. But they were
only illegal if they involved property, and all sides trod carefully.16
Moreover, some upwardly mobile enterprising Catholics found the Protestant theology to their liking. Prior to
the 1800s, such conversions were socially acceptable and the newly minted
Protestants were not ostracized by their
former Catholic communities.17 For
those of lower economic status, matters
of religious persuasion were sometimes
less important than familial loyalty and
acceptance within community. Protestants who married into Catholic families
were more likely to change faith to keep
the peace and vice versa. As the political history of the land brought greater
and greater divisions between the Irish
of all religions, intermarriage between
faiths became less and less likely.
As the Protestant control of the wealth
and the governance of Ireland increased,
so did disdain and distrust between the
faiths. When Alexis de Tocqueville
visited Ireland in 1835, wealthy Protestants in Dublin spoke to him of their
contempt of Catholics, regarding them
as savages, while others told him of the
Catholic hatred of their haughty Protestant landlords.18
In fact, although the ruling class was
restricted to Protestants, not all Protestants were among the privileged ranks.
Impoverished Protestants held much in
common with their Catholic neighbors.
Kerby Miller tells us,
Both in the countryside and in
towns the lower ranks of Protestants and Catholics shared numerous cultural characteristics: localism and familism; Celtic customs
and superstitions; low rates of formal religious observance; an overfondness for whiskey; and strong
emphasis on economic security and
communal solidarity.19
As the Irish left their homeland to emigrate to America,
religious community opened
doors or closed them, encouraged or frowned on opportunities, and had a huge influence on the way in which our
ancestors thought and acted.
Ruins of Derrykeighan Church of Ireland in County Antrim
Page
183
The first large scale migration from Ireland to America
began in the 1700s among the
Scots-Irish of Ulster. Most were Presbyterians. By 1717 there were already
thirteen Presbyterian churches established in Philadelphia and the eastern
shores of Maryland. However, the new
immigrants often lacked the funds to
buy land in these previously settled
areas. Nor were they well received by
the Puritan and Quaker colonists who
described them as “uncleanly, unwholesome and disgusting, a pernicious and
pugnacious people.”20 So the emigrants
moved inland establishing Presbyterian
churches in the Pennsylvania hinterland
by 1720, Virginia by 1740, North Carolina in 1755, and South Carolina in 1764.
By 1775 about 200,000 had emigrated
from Ulster to America.21 The Calvinistic theology of their Presbyterian faith
provided the assurance that they were a
chosen people, favored and protected by
God. Their tightly-knit faith communities and rigid belief systems gave them
the staunch backbone (or arrogant feistiness), to defy the rigors of pioneer life.
Due to the vigorous efforts of the Ulster-born clergy, the Presbyterian
Church traveled to the frontier with the
emigration movement. By 1776, they had
established 600 congregations.22 But it
was not enough. Presbyterian settlers
kept on moving further into the back
country where clergy were scarce. The
tightly knit Ulster Presbyterian communities began to stray apart and were
drawn into the revivalism of the ‘Great
Awakening’ religious movement. The
Ulster Presbyterian identity shifted to
the more individualistic personal salvation preached by the American Methodists, Baptists, and other frontier faiths.
By 1800 Presbyterian adult membership
had dropped to 15,000, far outnumbered
by the Baptists and Methodists.23
Not all emigrants from Ireland in the
1700s were Ulster Presbyterians, of
Ardcolm Church of Ireland in County Wexford.
course. There were also Catholic emigrants, although much fewer in number. They tended to be absorbed by the
overwhelmingly Protestant religious
landscape so that they abandoned their
Catholic roots or became “name only
Catholics.”24 Irish Anglicans also tended to assimilate and blended in among
the American faith communities. Other
Irish Protestants found their way to
America as well. About 3,000 Irish
Quakers arrived, most settling in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.25 Twenty percent of the Methodist Traveling Preachers in America in the late 1700s were
from Ireland, the largest percentage
from Tyrone, especially the Castlederg
area in West Tyrone.26
The vast majority of the immigration
from Ireland took place after 1800. Irish
historian, Christine Kinealy, estimates
that about 10.5 million Irish emigrated
from 1815 to 1911, 80% coming to the
U.S.27
In the early 1800s the Jeffersonian ideal
of tolerance toward all faiths made an
attempt to welcome, or at least tolerate, newcomers to the U.S. But by the
1820s, the Jacksonian era tended to divide along ethnic and religious lines.
By the late 1830s economic hard times
further eroded good will, especially
toward the Catholics who comprised
three-fourths of the immigrants arriving in the US from Ireland after 1820.28
Irish Catholics, with their “alien” religion and culture, were targets for the
Second Great Awakening Protestant
revival with its emphasis on purging the
land from all sin and all that might be
unpure.29 As early as 1829, Irish Catholics in Boston were being harassed. In
1834 the Ursuline convent in Charlestown was burned. Ten years later, 20
died and hundreds were wounded in
Philadelphia riots.30
By the 1850s, the influx of destitute Irish
fleeing the Famine in their homeland
increased the virulent attacks of the nativists. Nativism became a national political movement, the “Know-Nothing”
or American party, rejecting any who
didn’t fit into the homogenous Protestant mainstream. Irish were viewed as
“subhuman, violent, drunk, and, above
all, a threat to Protestant America.”31
Violence toward the Irish erupted in
many cities, including New Orleans
where 4 were killed, St. Louis where
10 died, and Louisville where 20 were
killed and hundreds wounded. Fortu-
nately, Catholic Bishop John Fitzpatrick
of Boston and Archbishop John Hughes
of New York exercised wise leadership
renouncing retaliatory violence thereby
depriving the nativists of “combustible
materials to fuel the flames of hatred
and prejudice.”32
Although anti-Irish prejudice was widespread in Protestant America, the more
recently settled communities of the
West tended to be more tolerant. Places
like San Francisco had no entrenched
longtime citizenry. Almost all were
newcomers, native-born and emigrant
alike. By 1867 San Francisco had even
elected its first Irish born mayor.33
As the Irish attempted to make a place
for themselves in their new home, the
Catholic Church and the Democratic
political party became bulwarks against
nativist attacks and avenues toward
assimilation. The Catholic Church
provided educated priests who came
to the aid of the often illiterate emi-
St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland, Glenarm, County
Antrim. Courtesty of Colleen McClain.
‘Pedigrees and Piety’ continued on page 185
Page 184
‘Pedigrees and Piety’ continued from page 184
As descendants of the Irish diaspora we
have inherited the effects of the faith
perspectives that our ancestors brought
with them.
R e g a rd le s s
of when our
forebears departed from
their homeFor post
land, their religious belief
Famine
systems met
Irish immigrants
a new and
the Cathooften hostile,
lic Church
suspicious
became the St. Joseph Catholic Church; Tinryland, County Carlow.
reception
Courtesty of Colleen McClain. in America.
central expression of
How they
their identity. Between 1870 and 1921, used their spiritual understanding,
the Catholic Church grew in the U.S. how they banded together or melded
exponentially. By 1889, they built the of- into the dominant religious landscape
ficial Catholic University in Washing- is a legacy that we will encounter either
ton, D.C. and by 1920 1.7 million were explicitly or as an echo of a subtle whisenrolled in Catholic parochial schools.35 per, our “collective homesickness.” Irish
vocalist, Sinéad O’Connor, who angrily
The Irish were excluded from holding ripped up a photo of Pope John-Paul II
elective offices in the Democratic party on “Saturday Night Live” in 1992, was
until 1870; yet, in exchange for Irish recently quoted as saying, “by blood
votes, Democratic politicians offered and by birth I am a Catholic.”38 She may
aid to the destitute, employment, the have been speaking, unknowingly, for
possibility of upward mobility within many of us who find the remnants of
the party, acceptance and a sense of old faiths still reverberating through
belonging.36
our souls.
grants, assisted in the assimilation process by promoting American middle
class values and patriotism, and lauded
the
successes of
“good” Irish
Amer ica n
Catholics.34
By the early 1900s most Irish had assimilated into the American culture,
at least economically and socially. But
emotionally, the trauma of their diaspora ran deep; when faced with continued prejudice, it contributed to what
Kerby Miller calls “a collective, almost
institutionalized homesickness”, IrishAmerican nationalism and a “staunch,
ethnocentric Catholicism.”37
Page
185
Sources:
1. Katharine Scherman, The Flowering
of Ireland: Saints, Scholars & Kings,
(Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown
and Company, 1981), p. 106
2. Kerby A. Miller, Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to
North America, (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985),
pp. 19, 22
3. John M. Barkley, A Short History of
the Presbyterian Church in Ireland,
(Belfast: Publication Board, Presbyterian Church in Ireland, 1959),
p. 25
4. Margaret MacCurtain, Tudor and
Stuart Ireland, (Dublin: Gill and
MacMillan Ltd, 1972), pp. 116, 178
5. John M. Barkley, A Short History
of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, p. 15
6. Brian J. Orr, As God Is My Witness: The Presbyterian Kirk, the
Covenanters, & the Ulster Scots,
(Bowie,Maryland: Heritage Books,
Inc., 2002), p. 264
7. Margaret MacCurtain, Tudor and
Stuart Ireland, p. 168
8. Toby Barnard, A New Anatomy of
Ireland: The Irish Protestants, 16491770, (New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 2003), p. 17
9. “Huguenot and Palatine Surnames
in Ireland,” DoChara, www.dochara.
com/stuff/surnames-huguenot.php
10. James G. Leyburn, The Scotch-Irish:
A Social History, (Chapel Hill: The
University of North Carolina Press,
1962), p. 128
11. ‘The Palatines,’ from “Irish Pedigrees”, by John O’Hart, vol.2.
Transcribed by Patrick Traynor, Rootsweb,
http://www.rootsweb.
com/~irlcar2/palatine.htm
12. William Dool Killen, The Ecclesiastical History of Ireland: From the
Earliest Period to the Present Times,
(London: Macmillan, 1875), p. 269
North America, pp. 20, 21
14. Toby Barnard, A New Anatomy of
Ireland: The Irish Protestants, p. 291
15. Marianne Elliott, The Catholics of
Ulster, (New York: Basic Books,
2001), p. 183
16. Marianne Elliott, The Catholics of
Ulster, p. 179
North America, p. 94
18. Emmet Larkin, Alexis de Tocqueville’s
Journey in Ireland, July-August, 1835,
(Washington, D.C.: The Catholic
University of America Press, 1990),
pp. 45, 49, 73
21. James G. Leyburn, The Scotch-Irish:
A Social History, p. 175, 186
22. Kerby A. Miller, et. al., Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters
and Memoirs from Colonial and Revolutionary America, 1675-1815., (New
York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 381
26. John H. Lenton, ed “Wesley’s
Preachers,1740-1791, The General
Commission on Archives and History:
The United Methodist Church, http://
www.gcah.org/WesleyPreachers/
WesPreachersIntro.htm
27. Christine Kinealy, This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845-52,
(Boulder, Colorado: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1995), p. 297
Northeastern University Press,
1995), p. 79
33. R.A. Burchell, The San Francisco
Irish, 1848-1880, p. 7, 13
North America, p. 332-33
North America, p. 526-27
38. Kimberly Winston, The Oregonian
newspaper, Thursday, July 12, 2007
28. Kerby A. Miller and Patricia Mulholland Miller, Journey of Hope: The
Story of Irish Immigration to America,
(San Francisco: Chronicle Books,
2001), p. 18
30. R.A. Burchell, The San Francisco
Irish, 1848-1880, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980), p. 2
31. Kerby A. Miller and Patricia Mulholland Miller, Journey of Hope,
The Story of Irish Immigration to
America, p. 12
32. Thomas H. O’Connor, The Boston
Irish: A Political History, (Boston:
Colleen McClain, M. Div, M.S., and
former IGSI Board member, is a graduate of San Francisco Theological
Seminary. She has
made two family
history research
trips to Ireland.
She currently resides in Portland,
Oregon,
where
she continues to
enjoy the benefits
of IGSI membership and the fascination of
Irish genealogical research
Page 186
Methodist Church Records
The Irish Methodists: History and Resources
by Sue Kratsch
I
rish Methodism began in England
about 1738. As students at Oxford
University, John and Charles Wesley,
the sons of a Church of England clergyman, formed part of “The Holy Club”
which met regularly for prayer and disciplined study. Due to the methodical
nature of their practices, the members
were given several less than complimentary nicknames. The one that stuck was
“Methodists.” After the brothers were
ordained in the Church of England,
they preached and formed small groups
for worship – the beginnings of a revival
and renewal movement within the established church.
John Wesley did not intend to found
a formal church; his listeners were expected to maintain their ties to the
Church of England. However, unlike
the practice of the established church,
Wesley and his followers brought the
movement directly to the people, often
in open-air meetings on market days, at
fairs, or wherever ordinary people would
naturally gather. His hearers were often
those who were disillusioned with the
Church of England, usually the lessprivileged members of society.
Started in Dublin, the Irish Wesleyan
movement spread to towns where Protestant shopkeepers and artisans resided,
and to those estates which landlords had
settled with Protestant tenants – particularly in Tipperary (Barker estate,
Kilcooly; Otway estate, Templederry),
in Limerick (Dunraven estate) and in
Galway (Croasdaile estate, Clonrush).
Two areas in Ulster were especially receptive to Wesley’s message: the “linen
triangle” south of Belfast, approximately delimited by Lisburn, Dungannon,
Page
187
and Newry; and a rectangle centered
around Lough Erne, taking in County
Fermanagh and adjacent areas.
during this period, records of Methodists will be found in Church of Ireland
registers.
Converts were drawn from groups most
likely to be loyal to the British crown.
The Orange Order, a conservative and
militant Protestant movement founded
in County Antrim in 1795, was formed
in reaction to increased Roman Catholic legal rights as the Penal Laws were
gradually lifted. The Volunteers, and
later the Yeomanry, were local military organizations composed primarily of Protestants. According to David
Hempton, Wesley’s message “appealed
to certain kinds of marginal communities with tight boundaries around them,
such as the Palatine colliers of Tipperary and the soldiers in Irish garrisons.”1 Military garrisons in Athlone, Cahir,
and Limerick City were among Wesley’s
preaching venues.
Gradually the societies attracted more
individuals who were not members of
the Church of Ireland. The movement
began to splinter after Wesley’s death
in 1791. Those who desired to loosen the
bond with the Established church and
administer the sacraments petitioned
the Conference (the Connexion’s governing body). Permission was granted
for some locations in 1816, thus beginning the earliest Methodist sacramental records. Those who wished to retain links with the Established church
formed the Primitive Wesleyan Methodist Connexion in 1818; their records
are found in Church of Ireland registers.
These two groups reunited in 1878 although further divisions and unions occurred within Methodism. Researchers
should consult both Church of Ireland
and Methodist records.
John Wesley visited Ireland 21 times
between 1747 and 1789, although he
was preceded there by other Methodist
preachers. As in England, his listeners
consisted of members of the established
Church of Ireland as well as some conservative Presbyterians and Quakers;
most were of the “lower orders” of society. Conversions from Catholicism occurred only rarely.
Local worshiping societies banded together in England and Ireland during
John Wesley’s lifetime as the Wesleyan
Methodist Connexion. Lay preachers
often led these societies. Even when the
leaders were ordained clergymen they
did not administer the sacraments of
Baptism and Holy Communion nor did
they perform marriages. Consequently,
Methodists traditionally organized as
small classes or cottage meetings; societies, each with its own chapel; circuits,
formed of a number of societies; districts; and Conference. Early baptismal
registers were kept by circuit. Thus even
if the exact location of a family is known,
it is still necessary to know the circuit;
and circuits were frequently formed and
realigned. The ffeary-Smyrl booklet
contains a list of Wesleyan Methodist
Connexion circuit baptismal registers
and their dates of coverage, 1816-1850.2 A
microfilm copy of these records is held
at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. The form called for the
child’s name, parents’ names but not the
______________________________________________________ Methodist Church Records
mother’s maiden name, and the dates
of baptism and entry on the register.
Other notes may have been added in the
margins.3
Before 1840, few Methodist clergy
performed marriages, even within the
Wesleyan Methodist Connexion; most
marriages took place in the Church
of Ireland. After civil registration of
non-Catholic marriages began in 1845,
Methodist marriages were recorded by
the Superintendent Registrar of the
District (who was initially required to
attend the marriage) rather than by the
officiating clergyman. The quarterly returns of the Superintendent, which also
contain civil marriages, are held at the
General Register Office in either Dublin or Belfast.
Records of burials are sparse; some
Methodist chapels in Ireland had burial
grounds, but most early burials were in
Church of Ireland graveyards. Over the
years, a number of Methodist magazines
contained obituaries, sometimes extensive; others contained simple death notices; some of these have been indexed.4 Some of these journals include The
Methodist Magazine (11798-1821), The
Wesleyan Magazine (1822-1839), and the
Irish edition of The Methodist Magazine
(1801-1822).
Methodists were known for their emphasis on literacy, sobriety and discipline, and for their charitable works; a
few records survive from these endeavors. Records of The Stranger’s Friend
Society in Dun Laoghaire are an ex-
ample; the registers begin in 1790 and
show the names of those given assistance. They may have been of any denomination. Further details and a list
of contributors to the society in 1799
were published in the Journal of the
Dun Laoghaire Genealogical Society
in 1999.5
Dissenters, Arminians, Palatines
Irish genealogist Nora Hickey points
out that terminology used in Ireland
may differ from what we would expect: “Protestant” may refer exclusively
to members of the Church of Ireland,
while all other non-Catholics are “Dissenters.”6 By 1790 in England, the
Methodists were legally recognized as
Dissenters. Under the Toleration Act,
individual congregations could issue
“Dissenting Certificates” signed by six
or seven members to become a formal
church. William Leary’s booklet gives
more information on these records.7
In Ireland, Dissenters were subject to
many of the same legal liabilities as
Catholics. This was one of the key factors contributing to emigration.
Another term to watch for is “Arminian.” Formulated by Dutch theologian
Jacobus Arminius, the concept – sometimes mistakenly “Armenian”— refers
to the rejection of the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. The initial title
of a 1798 Methodist publication was
“The Arminian Magazine.”8
Beginning in 1709, German Palatinates
living in England were transported
from England to settle in rural Ireland,
Other Resources
on Irish Methodists
The following titles can be found in
the IGSI and MGS Library:
Falley, Margaret Dickson. Irish
and Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research.
Evanston, IL:M.D.Falley, 1962.
Heald, Carolyn A. The Irish Palatines in Ontario: Religion, Ethnicity,
and Rural Migration. Gananoque,
Ontario: Langdale Press, 1994.
McKenzie, Donald A. Obituaries
from Ontario’s Christian Guardian, 1861-1870. Lambertville, N.J.:
Hunterdon House, 1988.
O’Connor, Patrick J. People Make
Places; The Story of the Irish Palatines. Newcastle West, Limerick:
Oireacht na Mumhan Books, 1989.
Ratcliffe, Richard. Basic Facts
About Methodist Records for Family
Historians. Oxford: Alden Press,
2005.
Representative Church Body Library. A Handlist of Church of
Ireland Parish Registers in the Representative Church Body Library.
Dublin: Representative Church
Body Library, 2005.
Ryan, James G. Irish Church Records: Their History, Availability
and Use in Family and Local History
Research. Glenageary, Co. Dublin,
Ireland: Flyleaf Press, 2001
‘‘The Irish Methodists’ continued on page 189
Page 188
Methodist Church Records
‘‘‘The Irish Methodists’’ continued from page 188
Other References,
Sites and Archives:
Web
Beckerlegge, Oliver A. United
Methodist ministers and their
circuits, being an arrangement in
alphabetical order of the stations
of ministers of the Methodist
New Connexion, Bible Christians, Arminian Methodists,
Protestant Methodists, Wesleyan
Methodist Association, Wesleyan Reformers, United Methodist
Free Churches and the United
Methodist Church, 1797-1932.
London: Epworth Publishing,
1968.
Wesley Historical Society,
“Links”
http://www.wesleyhistoricalsociety.org.uk/LINKS.htm
Public Record Office of Northern
Ireland (PRONI)
http://www.proni.gov.uk/records/church.htm
Public Record Office, Kew
http://www.nationalarchives.
gov.uk/default.htm
Check the inside back cover for
our Bookstore selections which
include several titles referenced
in articles in this issue. Use the
handy form to order by mail or
go online and order at the iGSI
website.
Page
189
such as on the Southwell estate at Castle
Matrix near Rathkeale, County Limerick. The surnames of these German
Protestants were modified over time
to distinctly English-sounding names:
Kough became Cook, Lorentz became
Lawrence, Becker became Baker, and
Berghmann became Barkman, then
Hillman. By the time of Wesley’s visits
they had spread to Counties Limerick,
Tipperary, Carlow, Offaly, Wexford,
and Kerry. An Irish family with any
tradition of Methodism should search
the lists of Palatines, particularly The
Palatine Families of Ireland.
Nora Hickey noted that, when researching Irish families, one should
remember the English connection. The
Irish moved between England and Ireland both temporarily and permanently
– to work, to marry, to serve in the military, or as a first step in emigration to
North America and other parts of the
world. Examples of Irish resources to
be found in England: the records of
the Irish estates of absentee landlords;
and quarterly muster returns of Irish
yeomanry companies, which included
many Protestants and Dissenters, from
1823 , at the Public Record Office at
Kew (WO 13).
Methodism in North America
The Irish Palatines began leaving Ireland in 1756 and continued for thirty
years or more. Methodist preachers
toured North America prior to the
establishment by the Irish Palatines,
in 1766, of the first Methodist society,
Wesley Chapel, in New York City. Later
called John Street Methodist Church,
it is considered the cradle of American
Methodism and it is still in use today.
From here the itinerant Irish preacher
Robert Williams spread Methodism to
Baltimore, Virginia, the Carolinas, and
New England. In 1770, a group of New York City Palatines established a Methodist colony in
what is now Washington County, New
York, with the help of well-to-do Irish
immigrant Thomas Ashton, whence
the name “Ashgrove” entered the annals of American Methodism. Remaining true to their loyalist sentiments in
Ireland, many moved to Canada before
and during the American Revolution,
where they helped establish Methodism
in Ontario and the Eastern Townships
of Quebec.12 Edward Dromgoole, an influential Irish Methodist thought to be
from County Sligo, emigrated to Baltimore in 1770 and became a Methodist
convert. He and his sons spread Methodism in Virginia and the Carolinas.
Methodists in the American colonies
found it difficult to be dependent upon
England for ordained clergy, even more
so after the Revolution. John Wesley
eventually broke ties with the Church
of England by ordaining clergy and appointing two superintendents (or bishops) for the colonies. Thomas Coke, a
Welshman, was one of these; he had
spent several years as a superintendent
in Ireland.
Prior to 1815, the majority of Irish immigrants to North America were Protestants. According to Kerby Miller,
approximately two-thirds of the emigrants were Presbyterian, half the rest
were Catholic, and the remainder were
divided among other sects.13 The Rebellion of 1798 and ensuing famine were
factors for both Catholic and Protestant emigration in this period while religious and political concerns motivated
______________________________________________________ Methodist Church Records
others to leave. Bruce Elliott describes
the deteriorating economic conditions
which compelled a Protestant middleclass emigration after 1815 in his book,
Irish Migrants in the Canadas. This is a
study of 775 Protestant families in the
towns and on the estates of north County Tipperary (primarily the baronies of
Upper and Lower Ormond, with some
in Owney & Arra and Slievardagh) and
the adjacent panhandle of County Offaly (barony of Clonlisk). Elliott provides extensive background information
on their situation in Ireland and the deteriorating economic conditions which
led to a chain migration to Ontario.14
While many of this group remained
in the Church of Ireland, a significant
minority turned Methodists in Ireland
and remained so in Canada.
Another group of Methodists from the
north Cavan parishes of Annagh, Annagelliffe, and Castleterra settled in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada. Many
joined relatives in the Richmond military settlement. A few Palatines were
among the 1823 Peter Robinson settlers
of Carleton County as well.
To summarize, the family genealogist
who is searching for Irish Methodist
ancestors have multiple ecclesiastical
resources to check – Church of Ireland
and Methodist, as well as other denominations. Other resources include British
governmental records, military records,
and sources related to Peter Robinson
emigrants. It may be best to start with
some of the resources and references
cited below.
Sources
1 David Hempton, “Methodism in
Irish Society, 1770-1830”, TransacThe Septs - Volumne 28, Number 4
tions of the Royal Historical Society,
ser.5 vol. 36 (1986), pp. 117-142
2 Steven C. ffeary-Smyrl, Irish Methodists - Where Do I Start? (Dublin:
Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations, 2000)
3 Steven C. ffeary-Smyrl, Irish Methodists - Where Do I Start? (Dublin:
Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations, 2000)
4 The University of Manchester, John
Rylands University Library, “Special
Collections: Methodist Collections”
http://www.library.manchester.
ac.uk/specialcollections/collections/
methodist/
5 Roisin Lafferty, “The Stranger’s
Friend Society 1790,” Journal, Dun
Laoghaire Genealogical Society, vol.
8 no. 4 (Winter 1999)
6 Nora M. Hickey, “Genealogical
Research for Your Irish Ancestors
among the Religious Minorities in
Ireland,” handout, IGSI meeting, 5
May 2007
7 William Leary, My Ancestors Were
Methodists (London: Society of Genealogists, 1990)
8 The University of Manchester, John
Rylands University Library, “Special
Collections: Methodist Collections”
http://www.library.manchester.
ac.uk/specialcollections/collections/
methodist/
9 Henry Z. Jones, The Palatine Families of Ireland (Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 1990)
10 Nora M. Hickey, “Genealogical
Research for Your Irish Ancestors
among the Religious Minorities in
Ireland,” handout, IGSI meeting, 5
May 2007
11 Public Record Office, Kew
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.
uk/default.htm
12 Eula C. Lapp, To Their Heirs Forever
(Belleville, Ontario: Mika Publishing, 1977), Methodist Palatine migration from Ireland to New York
and Ontario.
13 Kerby A. Miller et al, Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters and Memoirs from Colonial and
Revolutionary America, 1675-1815
(Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2003), pp. 4, 185, 620.
14 Bruce S. Elliott, Irish Migrants in
the Canadas: a New Approach (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University
Press, 1988), p. 125
St. Paul resident Sue Kratsch is a retired
computer professional now spending what
used to be her
working hours on
family
history.
Although she is
t h r e e- q u a r t e r s
Swedish and oneeighth German,
she was inspired
by the Irish eighth
to devote 30 years
to the pursuit of
elusive ancestors in Ireland, New York,
and Illinois. She is past President of the
Yankee Genealogical Society.
Page 190
Smith Books
Dr. Philip Crosslé Genealogical Collection (Part II)
by David E. Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA
Introduction
This article is a continuation of the description to the Dr. Philip Crosslé materials started in the last issue of The Septs.
This issue addresses the massive collection
of his materials deposited in the National
Archives. So large is the collection that I
underestimated the descriptive material
and this collection will require a part three
to conclude the materials in this portion.
Indexes
There is a card index in the search room
of the National Archives to “the records
of families and individuals not included
in the catalogues and indexes [found
elsewhere] and not recorded in the card
indexes of the Testamentary Records,
Deeds, etc. It concerns records from
Chancery and Exchequer Court documents and many other sources. The
cards fill one large cabinet.”1 This index
was microfilmed in 2001 by the Family
History Library. The microfilm numbers are as follows:
Abercrombie – Chadwick, William
Microfilm # 2,232,810 item 2
Chadwick, William – Perrott, Elizabeth
Microfilm # 2,232,839
Perrott, Elizabeth – Young, James
Microfilm # 2,232,840
National Archives
Bishop Street, Dublin
The National Archives of Ireland has an
index to the Crosslé materials in their collection that covers primarily Chancery and
Exchequer Court documents and other
materials. This is in addition to the wills
and administrations that are indexed in
the Testamentary Card Index.
Page
191
“Smith Books” and Miscellaneous
Papers
This collection comprises ten (10) rolls
of microfilm, often referred to as the
“Smith Books,” but the name is a misnomer. While the collection comprises
a number of “Smith” abstracts, it is full
of materials on other surnames as well.
The extracts include items from Prerogative wills, Chancery Bills, Consistory Court Wills, Hearthmoney Rolls,
Lists of Gentry, inhabitants of various
communities, parish register abstracts
and miscellaneous correspondence and
notes.
Family History Library microfilm
597,132. This volume is indexed at the
beginning for the names of those who
have will abstracts and Chancery proceedings. The volume is paginated and
specific lists, although not indexed by
every name at the beginning of the volume are referenced by page number i.e.
“List of Inhabitants of Armagh for 1739”
is on page 113. There are also a number
of linear pedigrees beginning on page 187
for the families of Usher (Waterford),
Carre, Parsons (Dublin), Cosby, Colley (Antrim), White, Colclogh, Smith,
Dowdall (of Drogheda), Fitzsimons,
Trevor, Bagnal, Pointz, Stafford, Sands,
Bolton, Magenis, Maguire, McDonnell,
Taffe (Louth), Erskine, Plunkett, and
Veatch (Cavan). Obviously, there are
many more names associated with these
pedigrees.
Abstracts in this volume include:
Prerogative Wills
Chancery Bills
Derry Wills
Hearthmoney Rolls, Co. Donegal 1662
List of Gentry in Co. Louth 1761-69
Dublin Wills
Prerogative Grants
Scottish Peerage
Ossory Wills
Raphoe Wills
Lists of Inhabitants of Armagh 1739
and 1770
Prerogative Cause Papers
Parish Register Society of Dublin
extracts
Parish Register extracts from Enniskillen 1667 (Smith)
Extracts from Trinity College Library
Mss. F3.23 (Dowdall & White)
Extracts from depositions 1641
Genealogy of Smith family of County
Cork
Kilmore & Ardagh Grant Book
Clogher Grant Book
Derry Grant Book
Kilmore Wills
Clogher Wills
Meath Wills
Killaloe Wills
Parish Register extracts for Lisburn
1640 (Smith)
Parish Register extracts from Lurgan
1686 (Smith)
Notes on Crossley family
Dromore Wills
Cork Wills
Elphin Wills
FHL Microfilm 597,133. Abstracts are on
loose pages and include in this volume:
Pedigrees for various Smith and related families, Edward Smith (New
Ross, Wexford), Edward Smith
(Newry, Down), Anthony Smith
(Armagh), William Smith (Waterford), James Smith (Dublin), James
Moore (Cavan), William Smith
(Down), John Smith (Derry), Ralph
Smyth (Lisburn), Hugh McKern,
John Harrison (Dublin), William
Houston (Roche, Co. Louth?), John
__________________________________________________________________ Smith Books
Smith (Yorkshire and Dublin), Daniel Smith (Down), Furlong Smith
(Limerick), Rev. Oliver Gardner
(Down), Mathias Smith (Cork?),
Lieut Trevor Smith (Dublin), Hugh
Smith (Down), Lieut. William Smith
(Donegal), Laurence De Butts (Armagh), Brian Smith (Down), Joan Smith
(Down), James Smith (Dublin), Capt.
Robert Smith (Kings), Richard Gurtard (Dublin), Samuel Smith (Kings),
Thomas Whyte (Cavan), Stephen
White (Drogheda), Alex Gile (Lurgan), Bishop Thos. Smith (Limerick), George White (Dublin), Brent
Moore (Mellifont), John Smith (Saltcoats, Scotland), John Clegston (Belfast), Ralph Rider (Newry, Down),
James Chalmers (Belfast), Samuel
Smith (Belfast), Samuel Smith (Belfast), Archibald Whyte (Dublin),
Valentine Smith (Dublin), Henry
Gardner (Newry, Down), William
Smith (Athboy, Meath), Rev. John
Smith (Enniskillen), John Smith
(Balregan, Louth), Thomas Smyth
(Killtomb, Westmeath), Lt. Ralph
Smith (Antrim), Darby Clarke (Dublin), Christopher Carleton (Newry,
Down), Hugh Smith (Dublin), Stewart families – see also below, Andrew
Stewart (Castlestewart), William
Stewart (Tyrone), Henry Stewart
(Tyrone), Robert Stewart (Tyrone),
John Stewart (Donegal), Sir Robert
Stewart (Derry), and John Stewart
(Donegal).
Cork Will abstracts (Smith)
Prerogative Wills (Smith)
Chancery Bills (Smith)
Exchequer Bills (Smith)
Correspondence (Smith)
Subsidy Roll, County Down 1663
(Smith)
Newspaper clippings
Parish Register extracts Maynooth
(Smith)
Parish Register extracts Lisburn (Acheson/Atkinson, Wade, Workman,
Kelly and Darnel) 1668-79. Additonal
extracts for the time period 1666-1740
various surnames.
Presbyterian Register extracts Lisburn
1699-1701 (Atchison) Additional extracts for the time period 1701-1724
Hearthmoney Roll 1666 Co. Antrim
(Smith)
Parish Register extracts Enniskillen
1667-1711 (Smith, Borland, Cooper,
Watson, Cashell, Halbert, Bolten,
Markell, Coulter, Findray?, Brooks,
Steed, Todd, Armstrong, Canan,
Roberts)
Parochial Returns for the Parish of
Aghalurcher, Co. Fermanagh 16691718 (Smith)
Hearthmoney Roll 1662 Co. Londonderry (Smith)
Freeholders Co. Fermanagh 1745-68
(Smith)
Parish Register extracts Aghadowey,
Londonderry 1808-1840 (Smith)
Parish Register extracts Desertoghill,
Londonderry 1815-1823 (Smith)
Religious Census 1766 Elphin Diocese
(Smith)
Religious Census 1766 Killala & Achonry Diocese (Smith)
Summonister Roll 1626 – Session at
Dungannon (various surnames)
Pipe Roll, 22 James I – Co. Tyrone (various surnames)
Extensive notes and pedigrees on the
Stewart family taken from the Groves
Mss.
Freeholders of County Tyrone 1685
(various surnames)
Parish Register extracts for St. Mary’s
Newry, Down (Shields, Seaver, Carter, continued on next microfilm)
FHL MIcrofilm 597,134. Abstracts are on
loose pages and include in this volume:
Parish Register extracts for St. Mary’s
Newry, Down continued (Shields,
Fullerton, Gordon, Burns, Baker,
Smith, Hutchings, Woods, Waddell,
Cunningham.) All entries are related
to the Shields families; surnames
listed are primarily the affiliated surnames of marriages.
Inquisition Armagh 20 June 1661 (Smith,
Symonds and related families)
Inquisition Downpatrick 5 April 1633
(same)
Inquisiton Newry 2 June 1640 (same)
Inquisiton Monaghan 4 April 1636
(same)
Inquisition Armagh 8 September 1637
(Sacheverall)
Inquisition Monaghan 8 March 1661
(Bolton, Seaver)
Inquisition Armagh 18 April 1631 (Viscount Grandison)
Miscellaneous correspondence (Sheilds,
Seaver, Templeton)
Newspaper clippings (Sievier and related families)
Genealogical descendancy (Seaver, St.
George, Sarsfield, Searight, Hardy,
Thompson of Newry and Thompson of Ravensdale, Carter, Waring,
Turner)
Sample entry: Robert Boyd
Hardy was v[icar] at Acton on
28th February 1806. He was second son of John Hardy of Cooley
Hill, co. Armagh. His father was
second son of James Hardy of
‘Dr. Phillip Crosslè Genealogical Collection’ continued on page 193
Page 192
Smith Books
‘Dr. Phillip Crosslè Genealogical Collection’continued from page 192
Drumart Co. Armagh his mother was only dau. Of Robert Boyd,
Esq. of Acton Co. Armaagh. He
was educated at Newry. He was
m. 20th April 1836 to Anne eldest
dau. Of James Searight of Castle
St. Newry by whom he had 10
sons & 3 daus. viz…
6) Edward [Hardy] (6th son) d.
at New York, 13 May 1882, at 37
years
Sample entry: Generation II.
Andrew Thompson of Newry
[Down], son William Henry
Thompson, of Norfolk, Virginia,
USA
Genealogical Pedigrees, Whitechurch
(Loughbrickland and Carlingford),
Wm Elliot (Fermanagh and Longford), John O’Donnell (Armagh),
Arthur St. George (Armagh), William Semple (Letterkenny, Donegal),
William Semple (Derry), Rev. William Semple (Derry), Rev. Thomas
Semple (Derry), Archibald Acheson
(Letterkenny), Sir William Hamilton (Tyrone), Rev. Robert Semple
(Strabane), Charles Semple, Edward
Semple, John Semple (Monaghan),
John Taylor (Yorkshire, Eng.), John
Thompson (Newry), Ross Thompson (Lawrence Town, Down), James
Thompson (Newry), Robert Turner
(Turner’s Hill, Armagh – typescript,
extensive descendancy), Richard
Triddle (Cork), Zachary Travers
(Cork), Alexander Torrens (Aghadowey, Londonderry), Hugh Torrance
(same), Samuel Townley (Newry),
William Gordon (Newry).
Parish Register extracts Lisburn Parish, baptisms 1673-1749 (Seed), marriages 1672-1761 (Seed), burials 16731749 (Seed) and one entry from the
Page
193
Lurgan parish register for the marriage of Joseph Clarke = Anne Seeds,
12 Feb 1839.
Parish Register extracts Lurgan CMB
1686-1862 (Turner)
Parish Register extracts Lisburn CMB
1667-1749 (Turner)
Will & Grant Book Diocese of Down
1817-24, William Crawford, Hugh
Gabby, and Christian May.
Prerogative Grant abstract, Dudlei
Tennison (Drogheda)
Cork and Ross will abstract, Margret
Jenison (Ballincollie, Cork)
Cloyne Administrative bond abstract,
Anne Jennison (Macrump, Cork
– widow) and Rev. William Jenison
(Dromy, Cork)
Pedigrees constructed from extracts
from the Registry of Deeds, Dublin
Index to Chancery Bills 1617-1701
(Stephens)
Funeral Card for Marianne Sinclaire,
aged 21 died 21 January 1815
Hearthmoney Roll, Co. Antrim 1666
and 1669 (Stevenson)
Hearthmoney Roll Co. Antrim 1669
typescript (Townsend and Jemison)
Parish Register extracts St. Anne, Dublin, marriages and burials 1745-1817
(Taylor)
Parish Register extracts Aghadowey, Londonderry CMB 1727-1852
(Torrence)
Parish Register extracts Desertoghill,
Londonderry baptisms 1814-1865
(Torrens)
Chancery Decree abstract (Tenison,
Rowe, Jeneson)
Exchequer Bills Index 1634-1700
(Thompson)
Chancery Bills (various surnames)
Chancery and Exchequer Bills (Trevor and pedigrees derived from the
extracts)
Exchequer Bills (various surnames)
Registry of Deeds abstracts (various
surnames)
Marriage License Bonds Indexes, all
Dioceses for surname Trotter
FHL Microfilm 597,135. Abstracts
are on loose pages and include in this
volume:
Genealogical Pedigrees and notes on
the families of: Richard Underwood,
Henry Braddell, Veatch, Verner,
Waddy, Murray, Wallace, Beatty,
Orr, Rev. James Wallace (Strabane,
Tyrone), Archibald Wallace (Antrim), Samuel Wallace (Dublin), Gertrude Wallis (Dublin), John Wallis
(Dublin), James Wallace (Down),
Nicolas Wallis (Dublin), William
Wallace (Down), Hares Wallace
(Waterford), Ralph Wallis (Dubin),
Arthur Wallace (Carlow), Alex Montgomery (Donegal), Alex Wallace
(Waterford), James Wallace (Newry,
Down), William Wallace (Newry,
Down), Abraham Wallace (Newry,
Down), William Wallace (Derry),
Robert Wallace (Monaghan), James
Wallace (Longford), John Wallace
(Dublin), William Wallace (Dublin),
Wm Wallace (Crolane near Newry,
Down), Robert Wallace (Tyrone)
Parish Register extracts Enniskillen,
baptisms 1716-1721 (Wallace)
Parish Register extracts St. Anne,
Dublin 1799-1818 (Wallace)
Dromore Will abstracts (Wallace)
Chancery
Pleadings
1629-1677
(Wallace)
Derry Will Book 1786-90, 1796-99
(Wallace, Sherrard alias Thompson,
Holden, Kee, Smyth)
Freeholder’s Registers Co. Down 176995 (Wallace)
FHL microfilm 597,136. Abstracts in
the beginning are on loose pages, but
__________________________________________________________________ Smith Books
later are in bound “Exercise Books” and
include in this volume:
Genealogical Abstracts of various Prerogative wills, Chancery and Exchequer bills leading to the compilation of notes and pedigrees on the
families of: Wallace, Welsh, Waring, Watson, Peebles, John Watson
(Portadown, Armagh), John Watson
(Dublin), Henry Watson (Dublin),
Thomas Watson (Antrim), George
Watson (Antrim), Charles Watson (Antrim), Charles Watson Senior (Blaris, Down), David Watson
(Lurgan, Armagh), Robert Watson
(Lurgan, Armagh), Wm Armstrong
(Lurgan), Francis Watson (Armagh),
John Watson (Lurgan, Armagh),
Alex Watson (Antrim), Edward
Watson (Antrim), Rev. John Gibbons
(Marl Hill, Meath), Lancelot Watson
(Newry, Down), Hugh Watson (Armagh – connection to Jane Watson =
Nathaniel Peebles and Hugh Watson
who came to New York, USA about
1809), Robert Watson (Kilmore, Armagh), Alexander Wooddall/Wadell
(Monaghan and Down), Adam Maitland (Newry, Down), John Watson
(Lisburn, Antrim), George Watson
(Lisburn, Antrim), Thomas Watson
Sr. (Magheragall, Antrim), Nathaniel
Peebles (Tyrone), and Thomas Jones
(Wexford).
Parish Register extracts Lurgan baptisms 1721-1750 (Walsh/Welsh)
Parish Register extracts Kilmore, Armagh marriages 1811-1878 (Watson
and connections), baptisms 1800-1887
(same), burials 1824-1896 (same).
Parish Register extracts Lisburn CMB
1665-1747 (Watson)
Card slip index to numerous Walsh/
Welsh entries
Note: “Watson Books I – III” are not
on this microfilm
Book IV Watson – Registry of Deeds
extracts (Watson)
Book V Watson – Prerogative Wills,
Connor Wills (Watson)
Book VI Watson – Tombstone Inscriptions, County Armagh and will
extracts (Watson)
Book VII Watson – Registry of Deeds
extracts (Watson)
Book VIII Watson – Registry of
Deeds Land Index, County Antrim
(Watson)
Book IX Watson – Prerogative Wills,
Connor Wills, 1821 Census – Armagh (various surnames), Armagh
Wills, Freeholders Co. Armagh, and
Parish Register extracts Mullaghbrack, Armagh baptisms 1737-1763,
marriages 1737-1763, burials 17371760, vestry minutes 1742-1760 (various surnames)
Book X Watson – 1821 Census extracts
Armagh, Marriage License bonds,
Will and Grant extracts (various
surnames)
Parish register extracts St. Paul, New
York, USA, marriages 1758-1811,
burials 1802-4, and one baptism 1759
(Watson)
Parish register extracts Lurgan CMB
circa 1681-1857 (Brown, Watson,
Armstrong, Emmerson – Note:
These are extensive for these three
surnames).
Parish register extracts Kilmore, marriages 1664-1760; 1811-1858, baptisms
1645-1747; 1800-1887, burials 16611749; 1824-1896 (Watson, Armstrong,
Potter, Obry and various other surnames included in the marriages).
Book XI Watson – Prerogative Wills,
Grants, Exchequer Bills, Armagh
Wills (Watson, Coulter, Conway)
Book XII Watson – Index to Judgment Rolls 1795-1809, Dublin Grant
Books 1692-1823, Prerogative Wills
and Grants (Watson), Exchequer
Bill (Fulton v. Stewart 1790), Dublin
Wills, Quaker Records 1767 – 1822,
Hearthmoney Roll Co. Armagh 1665
(Watson)
Book XIII Watson – Prerogative
Grants and Wills, Clogher Grant
Book (Watson)
Book XIV Watson – Prerogative
Wills, Exchequer Bills (Watson)
Book XV Watson – Prerogative Wills
and Grants, Clogher and Cork
Marriage Licenses, Exchequer and
Chancery Bills, Subsidy Roll Co.,
Londonderry 1661 (Denny, Nesbitt,
Kelly, Winder, Killikelly, Robinson,
Torrens, Lambert, Butler, Moore)
Book XVI Watson – Quaker Records
(Dennis, Davenport, Watson, Turner, Timmons), Tuam Wills (Broughton), Prerogative Wills (Broughton),
Chancery Bills (Broughton), Prerogative Cause Papers (Broughton),
Dublin Wills (Broughton), Reg. of
Deeds (Broughton).
FHL microfilm 597,137. Abstracts are
in bound “Exercise Books” with a surname inscribed on the cover. Included
in this volume:
Book I Young – Chancery Bills
(Young)
Book II Young – Exchequer Bills
(Young)
Book III Young – Family pedigrees,
descendancies and notes, Walter
Young (Tynan, Armagh – contains
a connection to John Young of Chicago, USA, Washington P. Doyle of
Memphis, TN, and Decatur Doyle
CSA, killed during the Civil War),
Exchequer Bills (Young)
Hearthmoney Roll, Co. Donegal 1663
and 1665 (Young)
Page 194
Smith Books
Subsidy Roll, Co. Donegal 1662
(Young)
Card slip index (Young)
Book I Wood – Registry of Deeds
Lands Index (Wood)
Book II Wood – Exchequer Bills, Prerogative Wills (Wood)
Book III Wood – Registry of Deeds
extracts, Chancery Bills (Wood),
Drogheda Wills (Hand)
Book IV Wood – Exchequer Bills
(Wood), Killala & Achonry Will
and Grant Books (Atkinson), Killala
& Achonry Marriage Licenses (Cox,
Atkinson, Rogers and various surnames), Killala Wills (various), Parish register extracts CMB St. Anne,
Dublin 1719-1799 (Wood)
Book V Wood – Dublin Grant Books
extracts (Wood), Parish Register extracts St. Catherine’s Dublin, Vol. V,
CMB circa 1636-1715 (Wood), Vol.
VI Union of Monkstown, Co. Dublin 1669-1786, Religious Census 1766
(Hand and Wood), Vol. VIII Register of Derry Cathedral CMB 16421702 (Wood), Vol. IX Register of
St. Peter & St. Kevin, Dublin CMB
1609-1761 (Wood), Vol. X Register
of St. Nicholas w/out Dublin CMB
1694-1739 (Wood), various notes
from Dublin newspapers, Preservation Memorials for the Dead volumes, Extracts from the Registry of
Deeds, Dublin
Book VI Wood – Registry of Deeds
continued. (Wood)
Book VII Wood – Registry of Deeds
continued. (Wood)
Book VIII Wood – Registry of Deeds
continued. (Wood)
Book IX Wood – Registry of Deeds
continued. (Wood)
Book X Wood – Chancery Bills
(Wood), Derry Wills (Wood), Religious Census 1766, Parishes in
County Mayo, Diocese of Tullala
(various surnames – includes CathoPage
195
lics), Diocese of Elphin 1766 Religious Census.
Book XI Wood – Dublin Will and
Grant Books (Wood), Exchequer
Bills (Wood)
Book XII Wood – Prerogative Wills
(Olmsby), Chancery Bills (Wood)
Book XIII Wood – Chancery Bills
1687-92 (Wood)
Book XIV Wood – Parochial Returns
Parish of St. Mary’s Dublin 17201800 (various surnames), Exchequer
Bills (Carpenter), Prerogative Wills
(Wood), 1821 Census extracts Parish of Inniskellen (various surnames),
Parochial Returns Diocese of Elphin, extensive extracts from various parishes circa 1781-1826 (various
surnames)
Book XV – Landed Estates Court record extracts, 1831 and 1841 census
extracts for numerous parishes in
County Sligo (various surnames),
Pedigree of George Wood (Sligo)
Book XVI – Exchequer Bills (Wood),
Parish register extracts Diocese of
Elphin (various surnames), Registry
of Deeds index entries for the surname Wood
Book XVII – Exchequer Bills (Wood),
Pedigree of Coronet Thomas Wood
(Sligo), Bartholomew Wood (Meath),
Robert Wood (Hanover Sq., London), Samuel Wood (Galway),
Book XVIII – Registry of Deeds extracts (Wood)
Book XIX – Wood Lands in County
Sligo, Family pedigrees – Thomas
James Wood (Cortchill, Co. Sligo),
Registry of Deeds extracts (Wood)
Book I Wilson – Exchequer Bills, Prerogative Wills and Grant Books,
Chancery Bills (Wilson)
Book II Wilson – Chancery Bills (Wilson), Typescript index to Prerogative Wills for the surname Wilson
and variant spellings, Loose pages
of typescript abstracts of Connor
Wills (Wilson) continued on next
microfilm.
loose pages. Included in this:
Wilson continued… Typescript abstracts of Connor Wills (Wilson),
Typescript abstracts of Down Wills
(Wilson), Miscellaneous correspondence, Family pedigrees Thomas
Wilson (Curraghstown, Meath), Rev.
Hugh Wilson (St. Nicholas w/out,
Dublin), Thomas Wilson (Leeds),
George Wilson (Dublin), Ralph Wilson (Limerick), Capt. Robert Hamilton (Tyrone), Charles Hamilton
(Cavan, Donegal), Sir John Wilson
(Donegal).
Card slip index to Wilson entries,
Prerogative Wills (Wilson)
Chancery Bills (Wilson)
Exchequer Bills (Wilson, Bell)
Calendar of State Papers (Wilson)
Typescript Index to wills for the Prerogative Court, Armagh, Drogheda,
Connor, Derry, Down, and Dromore
(Wilson)
Book III Wilson – Chancery Bills
(Wilson)
Book IV Wilson – Prerogative will
indexes and extracts (Wilson), various diocesan court wills (Wilson),
loose sheet at end of volume contains
pedigree of Mathew Wilder = Elinor
Stewart.
Book I Wilder – Diocesan wills from
various courts (Wilder), Registry of
Deeds abstracts (Wilder)
Loose Pages – Exchequer Bill Books
(West), 1821 Census abstracts for parish of St. John, Dublin (West), 1831
Census abstracts for parish of St.
John, Sligo (West), Parish of Calry,
Sligo (West), Skreen, Sligo (West),
Kilmoremoy, Sligo (West), 1841 Census abstracts for the Parish of St.
John, Sligo (West), Exchequer Judgment Books 1660-93 (West)
__________________________________________________________________ Smith Books
Parish Register abstracts parish of Lisburn, baptisms 1668-1684 (Wetherby),
marriages 1667 (Weatherby=Taylor),
burials 1671-1684 (Weatherby)
Parish Register abstracts parish of Lurgan, Armagh, baptisms 1681-1723;
1729; 1744 (Wetherby), marriages
1682-1721 (Weatherby), burials 16721735 (Weatherby)
Card slip index for the surname White,
Wright
Parish Register abstracts parish of Lisburn, Antrim baptisms 1639-1738,
marriages 1664-1711, burials 1640-1749
(White, Hayes, Hammell)
Extracts from the Quaker Records,
Dublin 1679- 1837 (White)
Miscellaneous Correspondence on the
families of Wright, Wrightson, Williamson, Wilkinson
Family pedigrees, Joseph Wright
(Newry, Down), Joseph Chapman
(Kildare), James Williams (Woodlands, Armagh with connections
to Edward Williams of California
and Frederick Williams of Pennsylvania USA), Solomon Williams
(Wicklow)
Prerogative Will extracts (Woodlock,
Wittar, Bedall)
loose pages. Included in this:
Book I - Prerogative Wills (Drought,
Delany, Conraghy, Ruddock, Elmsly,
Reddick, French, Maxwell)
1821 Census extracts Town of Cavan
(Ward, O’Brien, Trevors, Swanzy)
1851 Census extracts Town of Ballinamore, Leitrim (Connoly)
1841 Census extracts Parish of Kilogunt,
Leitrim (Brennan)
1851 Census extracts Town of Carrickon-Shannon (Carly, Trimble, Brennan, Walpole)
1851 Census extracts Town of Mohill,
Leitrim (Turner, Hunt, Wynne)
Diocesan wills for Killaloe, Ardagh,
Dublin and Tuam (Wilder)
Book II – Prerogative Wills (Drought,
Maxwell)
Diocesan wills for Killaloe (Drought),
Connor (Maxwell), Down (Maxwell),
Down (Maxwell)
Killaloe Marriage License Bond (Geo
Knaggs = Martha Drought 1828)
Prerogative Grant Books 1690-92
(Drought and Maxwell)
Book III – Prerogative Wills (Drought,
Trotter, Bristow, Wilder)
Book IV – Prerogative Wills (Bristow,
Wilder, Fivey, Trotter, Drought)
Diocesan wills for Dublin, Leighlin and
Meath (Drought)
Book V – Prerogative Grant books
1697-1817 (Drought and Maxwell)
Diocesan Wills for Connor (Clements),
Raphoe (Buchanan)
Prerogative Wills (Fletcher, Chappell,
Collier, Cope, Duffe)
Exchequer Bill (Dawson v. Johnston
1733)
1841 Census extracts Parish of Larne,
Antrim
(Hamill,
M’Clement,
M’Dowell)
Antrim (Reed, M’Clement, Hilditch,
Earls)
Antrim (Glasgow)
1841 Census extracts Parish of Drumgoon, Cavan (M’Kenna, Temple)
1851 Census extracts Parish of Drumgoon, Cavan (Reddy)
1821 Census extracts parish of Drumgoon, Cavan (Lepper, Parks)
Book VI – Prerogative Grants (Lloyd)
Prerogative wills (Coates, Ray, Cooke,
Aubrey)
Diocesan wills Connor (Maxwell),
Down (McGonigal)
Diocesan administrations Connor
(Maxwell)
Freeholder’s lists County Antrim
1761-95
Book VII – Registry of Deeds abstracts
(various surnames)
Diocesan wills from various courts
(Brown)
Book VIII – Prerogative wills (French,
West, Wilson)
Chancery and Exchequer Bills (Salter v.
Broughton)
Prerogative Grant entries (West)
Book IX – Exchequer Bills (Brew v.
Bindon 1749, Hands v. ? 1683)
Kilmore Wills (Rev. Thos. Bell)
Chancery Bill (Mayne v. Dawson
1799-1815)
Prerogative will (Anthony Walsh 1737)
Registry of Deeds (Brew & Chartres)
1821 Census extracts (place unidentified,
surnames Ouham, Boland, Finucane,
Carrigg)
Book X – 1821 Census extracts Town of
Ennis, Monaghan (various surnames,
extensive list)
Diocesan Wills Down (Agnew, Ringland), Dromore (Wallace), Raphoe
(Bryce)
Prerogative Grants (Andrew)
Prerogative Wills (Agnew, Andrew)
Exchequer Bills (various surnames)
Parish register extracts Castledermot
1701-80 (Dixon and others)
Book XI – Prerogative Wills (Quintin)
Diocesan Wills Connor (Quintin)
Chancery Bills (Moore v. Palmer 1770,
Montgomery v. Stewart)
Exchequer Bills (Boyer v. Boyer 1784)
Diocesan Grant Books Ferns 1661-1843
(Carty)
in bound volumes. The beginning of this
Page 196
Smith Books
microfilm is a continuation of the previous set and concludes Book XI. There
is no Book XII in this set. Included in
this are the following extracts:
Book XIII – Includes various notes
on the Power family and the following Exchequer Bills, Benson v. Broghton 1755; Broughton v. Maring 1755;
Broughton v. Lopdell 1758; Broughton v. Kelly 1763; Broughton v. Shaw
1760; Ekenhead v. Hall 1787; Kelly v.
Ekenhad 1791; Bell v. Ekenhead 1800;
Ekenhead v. Kelly 1798; Twomy v.
Ekenhead 1799; Prerogative Wills,
John Lopdell 1778; Chas Lopdell 1767,
Robt Broughton 1777, John Lopdell
1731, Henry Faircloth 1787; Thomas
Faircloth 1765; Thomas Close 1765;
Henry Close 1742; Wm Close 1781;
John Kelly 1781; Robt Kerr 1792, and
Clonfert Will James Lopdell 1741.
Book XIV – Clogher Grant Books, extracts from re: Wallace and Murray.
Clogher Wills, John Law 1716; John
Burnside 1726; Robert Wallace 1728;
Alexr Caldwell 1735; Robert Wilson 1735;
Thomas Armstrong 1736; Alexr McMurry 1720/21; John Morrow or Murry
1728; David Mourray 1731-2; Homer
Murray 1735/6; John Murray 1744; John
Bratten 1743/4; John Bratten 1748; John
Irwin 1738; John Dickson 1745; George
Brattan 1727; John Brattan 1730; Charles
Caldwell 1723.
Books XV – XVI – do not appear here
chronologically where they should.
Book XVII – Registry of Deeds abstracts for the families of Adams, Tymons and Cusack.
Book XVIII – Registry of Deeds abstracts for the families of Bryson,
Lepper, and McCormick.
Page
197
Book XIX – Registry of Deeds abstracts for the families of Scott and
Crawford.
Book XX – Registry of Deeds abstracts
for the family of Alex Henry; extracts
from the index to Cork & Ross marriage license bonds 1623 – 1750 for the
surname Rogers; correspondence from
H.B. Swanzy in the early nineteen
twenties regarding Swanzy and Rogers connections; Rogers extracts from
the index to the Registry of Deeds
1708-1785.
Book XXI – Registry of Deeds abstracts
for miscellaneous families. Since the
records of the Registry of Deeds are
still intact and can be viewed on microfilm at the FHL from 1708 – 1929,
these extracts are of limited value.
Book XXII – High Scheriffs 1814
– 1874 for all the counties of Ireland.
Arranged chronologically and then alphabetically by county. Miscellaneous
notes at the end of the volume about
sheriffs from various counties scattered with additional lists of names
from the 17th and 18th c.; County
Louth list of Sheriffs and Justices of
the Peace 1664 – 1769.
Book XXIII – High Scheriffs 1875
– 1915 for all the counties of Ireland.
Arranged chronologically and then alphabetically by county.
Book XXIV – Hearth Money and
Subsidy Rolls for the Barony of Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, 17th c. (first page
is missing).
Book XXV – Abstracts from Faulkner’s
Dublin Journal for the years 1753
– 1764. Numerous entries of births,
marriages and deaths.
Book XXVI – Index to Judgment
Bonds containing various names 1748
- 1801. Phillip Crosslé states at the beginning of the volume “of only value is
that in many cases the address is given.
I leave it to you [Public Record Office]
whether or not this is worth keeping.
Please note that my writing in many of
these extracts is, in many cases, intelligible only to myself. I did not anticipate
they would be of use to any person save
myself.”
Book XXVII – Index entries from the
Court of Common Pleas 1660 – 1760;
Exchequer Judgment Book 1716 – 1761
for various surnames.
Book XXVIII – Index entries from the
Court of Common Pleas 1761 – 1792.
Book XXIX – This book is titled
“Chaos” but really contains abstracts
from various newspapers, including
Faulkner’s, Hamilton’s Daily Advertiser, Jones Dublin Evening Post, and
Gowan’s Dublin Gazette. These were
all viewed at the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin and have RIA reference
numbers.
Concluding microfilm 597,140 is a collection of loose pages with replicas of
signatures taken from various documents. They appear to have been traced
on “onion skin” pages and collected together in this unbound volume. References at the bottom of each page indicate the source of the signature.
This article will conclude in the next issue
with Part III being the last half of the materials deposited in the National Archives,
Dublin.
Source:
1 Margaret Dickson Falley. Irish and
Scotch-Irish ancestral Research, 2 volumes, (Evanston, Illinois: privately
published, 1962), 1:172
_____________________________________________________________ IGSI Website News
Changes Will Be the Norm
on the Website
by Diane Lovrencevic
David E. Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA,
is employed by the Family and Church
History Department in Salt Lake City
where he is the Director of Records
and Information.
A
professional
genealogist since
1977, he was accredited in Ireland
research in 1981.
He
graduated
from
Brigham
Young University
in 1980 with a B.A. in Family and Local History. He is the research specialist
for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) tour to England
and Ireland every three years and teaches
a five-day course at Samford University,
Birmingham the year prior. He is a pastpresident the Federation of Genealogical
Societies (FGS) 1997-2000 and of the
Utah Genealogical Association (UGA)
1993-1995 and a Fellow of that organization.
Websites have changed the way people
do genealogy and societies must make
changes on their websites regularly to
keep them fresh, to add more or new
information and services. IGSI can be
no different. This quarter we have a
number of changes to announce.
IGSI Calendar: Members can find the
upcoming events and meetings by logging onto our site and checking the calendar located on the left frame of the
site. Send in Irish events in your area to
be added to the events listing. We need
the name of the event, the date, location
and a website address, if any, send to
[email protected].
Bookstore: There are new changes to
the online bookstore. Prior to August
members ordered books by mailing in
their book orders with a check. This
was confusing to members online since
it looked as if you could pay through
Pay Pal. Now you can place a book
order and pay online. If you checked
out our site before and had a problem
with ordering, try us again. Things
have changed. It is easier than ever to
get your books from IGSI.
any of our events. If there is a cost, you can
pay online. Use this option to sign-up for
the Annual Conference or Quarterly Programs. Go online; check out what is coming up and where it will be located.
Organizational Information: The
board wants to keep members informed
about the activities of the organization.
We’ve created an area for the constitution, board meeting minutes and committee reports. Find out what the leadership of the society is doing on a regular
basis. The board minutes will be placed
online after they are approved, usually the month after the board meeting;
committee reports will be available the
month they are submitted and approved;
the constitution is available at all times.
Web Committee: The Web Advisory
Committee is a group of six members who
will direct the website’s development. The
committee includes Diane LovrencevicMinnesota, Len Luttrel-Oregon, Darcy
Pinotti-Minnesota, Tom Rice-Minnesota, Kathleen O’Malley Strickland-Illinois
and Sheila Strickland-Maryland. Most
work will be done by email with any meetings to be held online.
Event Sign-Up: We’ve added the ability for our members to register online for
IGSI Quarterly Calendar
Oct 13, Irish Day at the Library
2007
Oct 13, IGSI On the Road ~ Getting
2007
the Most Out of the Family
History Library Online Catalog (St. Paul Family History
Center, Oakdale, MN. USA)
Irish Day at the Library. IGSI Library reopens in South St. Paul. Open house.
Oct. 24-Nov. 9, IGSI Library closed.
2007
Moving to new location.
Nov 10,
2007
Oct 27, IGSI’s Annual Conference:
2007 Searching for Your Family
History (Coon Rapids, MN,)
9:00 am – 3:00 pm - Cost: $30.
Dec. 2, 2007- IGSI Library closed for
Jan. 3, 2008 holidays.
Page 198
The Seanachie
Are You Shortchanging Your Family History?
by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, CG
W
hat’s the best way to learn how
to write your family history? By
reading bad family histories. I know this
contradicts what I wrote in another issue of The Septs, where I said that one of
the best ways to learn how to write is to
read good writing. Of course, this same
premise holds true for writing family
histories;, but I think I’ve learned just as
much, maybe even more, from reading
and reviewing the bad ones as the good
ones.
It’s a fact of genealogical life that most
family histories are self-published
books. What astounds me is that many
self-publishing authors will invest what
essentially amounts to the price of a
new car in terms of the time and money
it takes to research and write a potentially outstanding family history, but
then will shortchange the book when it
comes to seeking the services of an editor, proofreader, and book designer. So
that your precious family history doesn’t
suffer this fate, let’s look at the role of
these stages of your publication.
Editing
When a book is published by a commercial publisher, it goes through many
pairs of eyes before it’s bound and distributed. Your book should be no different just because you are self-publishing it. After all, this is your baby.
You worked hard on it, and spent years
researching and writing it. Rare is the
book that escapes some type of error
after publishing, but you want to do all
you can to make it as close to perfect as
possible.
After you have completed the draft
of your book, have a professional editor copy edit your book. A copy editor
Page
199
should correct grammar, punctuation,
spelling errors; and check content,
sentence structure, flow, paragraph arrangement, logical paragraph transitions, and continuity.
Check the Literary Market Place under
their Editorial Services listings, http://
www.literarymarketplace.com/lmp/us/
servicesOrgList.asp?ID=5, as well as
the listings for editors in the Association
of Professional Genealogists Directory
http://www.apgen.org. It’s best to have
an editor who is also a genealogist edit
and proofread your manuscript. You
want someone who will make sure that
all of your dates make sense, ensuring
that someone isn’t getting married at
age 11, or giving birth after she’s died, or
getting married to a woman while the
first wife is still alive.
Ideally, you want to catch as many errors at this stage as you possibly can.
Along with the copy editor, you, too,
should read the entire manuscript all
the way through.
After the manuscript has been copy
edited, and you have made all the corrections, then it’s time for book design.
With computer programs, you can do
it yourself, but if you don’t lay out the
book according to publishing industry
standards, it will look amateurish.
Parts of a Book
A book is made of several parts, and not
all parts are included in every book. I’ll
be discussing those that are commonly
used in family histories, but for full details on the parts of a book, see The Chicago Manual of Style.
Front Matter
The front matter consists of the following and in the order it’s listed:
• Half-title page (only the title, not
the subtitle or author, appears)
• Title page (full title, subtitle, author, publisher, and publisher’s
place appears)
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Foreword (Please watch how you
spell this word! It’s not forward.)
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction (how the project came
about, research repositories used,
explanation of records, your decision of whom to include, etc.)
• List of Abbreviations
Some of these items may be combined or
deleted. For example, you may not need
both a foreword and an introduction,
and; you can include in the introduction an acknowledgment of people who
helped with the project. Not all books
have half-title pages, but they all have
full title pages. And, if you can’t think
of anyone you want to dedicate the book
to, then leave that out, too.
Front matter items are numbered consecutively with lowercase Roman numerals with i being the first page the reader
encounters, either the half-title or fulltitle page, although it is not numbered.
When in doubt, look at a commercially
published book for the order of material
and how pages are numbered.
Text
Your text can consist of many parts,
such as a family narrative and compiled
_________________________________________________________________ The Seanachie
genealogies. These can be further divided into chapters, and for the genealogies, surname headings. You should also
include a separate, short introduction
before the genealogies to explain the
numbering system you used. It’s better
to have place this just before the genealogies than in the introduction in the
front matter, where the reader may forget it was there or didn’t read the introduction in the first place.
Text pages begin with number 1 and
are numbered consecutively, of course.
The page on the left (verso) carries the
even page numbers, and the page on the
right (recto) carries the odd page numbers. These can be placed at the top of
the page or at the bottom, in the outer
margins or in the center, although page
numbers are easier to see if on the outside of the page.
Back or End Matter
Here is where you put any appendixes,
the endnotes, bibliography, and index,
in that order.
Proofreading
When you have the pages all laid out
like they are ready to go to the printer,
it’s now time to engage the services of
a proofreader. A proofreader looks for
typographical errors and checks the
page layout and design for consistency.
Even though you will be proofreading
the pages, too, it helps to have at least
one other pair of eyes look it over, and.
Aagain, it’s best to have someone who’s
also a genealogist and will check for
those pesky date problems that can
cause you a lot of embarrassment if
they’re in print.
Here is a checklist of things you need
to watch for when proofing your family
history:
• Titles, heads, and subheads (This is
frequently where there is a glaring
typo.)
• The last line of a page and the top
line of a new page (Make sure the
text flows properly from one page
to the next.)
• Page numbers (Are the even numbers on the left page and odd numbers on the right page? Do the page
numbers follow sequentially for
each new chapter, appendix, etc.?)
• Consistency in use of numbers
in the text (Depending on which
style you’ve decided to use, have
you spelled out all numbers that
should be and used numerals where
appropriate?)
• Spelling consistency in names and
places (Your ancestor’s legal name
may be Daniel Michael O’Brien,
but friends and family called him
Mikey. Which are you using, and
are you being consistent? )
• Proper punctuation (For example,
are all commas and periods inside
quotation marks? Are colons and
semi-colons used properly?)
• Photo and illustration captions (Do
all illustrations have captions? Did
you properly identify who, what,
where, and when for each? Doublecheck for typos and consistency.)
• Genealogical numbering system
(Double-check that generations and
children are numbered properly.)
• Ages and dates (Are there at least
nine months between births of
children? Are mom and dad of the
right age to be married and having
children? Did wife #1 die before dad
married wife #2? Is mom too old
to be having children? Is mom still
alive for the births of all her children? Did mom conceive her last
child at least nine months before
dad died?)
• Notes (Have you used a consistent format and style for source
citations?)
You’ve made a big investment in your
family history. Don’t shortchange it as
you approach the finishing line. Engage
the services of a professional editor and
proofreader. And if you aren’t sure how
to make a book, look for a professional
book designer, too.
Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, a Salt Lake
City-based researcher, is a Certified Genealogist
who
holds a Diploma
in Irish Studies
from the National University of
Ireland, Galway,
and specializes
in
Irish/IrishAmerican family
history research,
writing, and editing family histories. She teaches nonfiction
writing online at http://www.WritersOnlineWorkshops.com, and she is the author
of hundreds of articles and sixteen books,
including You Can Write Your Family
History and Carmack’s Guide to Copyright & Contracts. Sharon can be reached
through her Web site at http://www.SharonCarmack.com.
Page 200
Internet Search for Church Records
Finding Irish Church Records Online
by Kathy Strickland
S
earching for Irish church records
that have been transcribed online
can be a hit-or-miss proposition. Often,
record collections found on websites
have been donated by individuals who
transcribed them from Family History
Library microfilm collections. Some
transcribers have been able to use actual
record books and other sources.
National Library of Ireland
To discover what church records still
exist, start with a visit to the National
Library of Ireland (NLI), http://www.
nli.ie/family_hr.htm. Here you’ll find
a list of Roman Catholic parish records
available on microfilm and a note about
which records are withheld from the
collection. While the Library does
not have parish records for other religious denominations, you’ll find helpful
sources for them toward the end of this
NLI webpage. Other links offer a list
of genealogists you can commission to
do research for you at the National Library, as well as organizations that will
search local county records, for a fee.
Church of Ireland
It’s a little more difficult to find church
records for Church of Ireland and other
denominations at present. The Church
of Ireland website, http://www.ireland.
anglican.org, notes that its Representative Church Body Library in Dublin
holds records for more than 900 Church
of Ireland parishes in the Republic of
Ireland. It offers advice for locating
and requesting records at http://www.
ireland.anglican.org/index.php?do=i
nformation&id=36. An online index
of Church of Ireland and Presbyterian
records held at PRONI (Public Record
Office of Northern Ireland) includes
items for Northern Ireland. At the
Page
201
PRONI website, http://www.proni.
gov.uk/records/USING/using.htm,
scroll down to the “Indexes” heading. Family History Library
The Irish church records microfilmed
by the Family History Library are listed in the catalog located on its website
at http://www.familysearch.org. From
the homepage, click on the “Library”
tab, “Family History Library Catalog”
category, and then “Place Search.” Type
Ireland in the “Place” category for a list
of the main catalog headings used for
searching general Irish records at the
FHL. Go back to the “Place Search”
page, and type in the county you are
researching—for instance, Place =
Donegal, Part of = Ireland. You can
narrow that down with a smaller area:
I entered the parish of Killybegs as
“Place” and “Donegal” as “Part of.” Among the three Killybegs-related results was a microfilm for the “Parochial
registers of Killybegs (Donegal), 18501914; Catholic Church. Parish of Killybegs (Donegal).” Clicking on the “Film
Details” button revealed the contents
of the film: Baptisms, 1850-1911; marriages, 1850-1914. Ireland Genealogical Project
With perseverance, you may find the
records you seek somewhere on the
Internet. The Ireland Genealogical
Project county index page, at http://
irelandgenealogyprojects.rootsweb.
com, includes links to websites for Irish
counties that contain a range of information, with each collection unique to
its website. Following are some of the
county sites that offer transcriptions of
church records (please note that these
are partial lists of church records):
•Armagh. Assorted records posted
to the Armagh mailing list; some
Loughall Catholic records.
•Carlow. A rich website with various records from more than a
dozen parishes.
•Clare. Kilmaley Parish baptisms;
link to Killaloe marriage license
bonds.
•Derry. Record transcripts, various
sources.
•Donegal. Another rich source
with eclectic choices.
•Fermanagh. Click the “Donated
Information” button for an assortment of record transcriptions.
•Kerry. Links to church records by
area and by surname.
•Kilkenny. No records here, but
a good finding aid for Kilkennyrelated microfilm held at the National Library of Ireland and the
Family History Library.
•Leix/Laois/Queens. Nice record
collection, including some Church
of Ireland.
•Longford. Includes some Church
of Ireland records.
•Mayo. This site lists pertinent microfilms held in the Family History Library.
•Sligo. Has a list of finding aids.
•Wicklow. Some records online;
links to more.
Other Irish Genealogy Websites
Be sure to browse other Irish genealogy websites that may have collections
of transcribed church records. The
Waterford Heritage Genealogy Centre,
http://www.iol.ie/~mnoc/, lists general
information on local records and will
research them for a fee.
__________________________________________________________ IGSI Library Relocates
IGSI Is Moving Across the River!
by Valerie A. Morrison, Chair, MGS Moving Committee
Regional centers can be helpful. For a
fee, the Skibbereen Heritage Centre
in Cork, http://www.skibbheritage.
com/census.htm, will search the Roman
Catholic parishes of Skibbereen and
Rath and the Islands. The Mallow Heritage Centre in Cork, http://www.mallowheritagecentre.com/records.html,
also conducts church record research.
As you can see, searching for Irish
church records online can be a hit-ormiss proposition. Good luck with your
search!
Kathleen Strickland, an IGSI member, is
an editor and
writer
living
outside
Chicago, IL. Her
grandmothers
told wonderful
family stories
that set her on
her quest for
her roots many
years ago.
New home of new MGS Library opening on
November 10.
The Minnesota Genealogical Society
(MGS) has completed a five-year lease
for new office and library space – Suite
200 (on the 2nd floor) at 1185 Concord
St. N. in South St. Paul, Minnesota.
Included in the agreement is the use of
an auditorium on the first floor and a
large boardroom on the top (4th) floor,
by advanced reservation. IGSI will sublease office and library space, similar
in area to what we currently have, but
with improved access, lighting and aisle
width for our collection from MGS.
We are still in the Twin Cities metro
area (Minneapolis-St. Paul) but the new
location is in northern Dakota County. Minnesota’s state records will be a little
closer, since they are located at the Minnesota History Center in downtown St.
Paul, only four miles north of the new
locale.
The new building has a distinctive exterior, with multi-colored squares that cause
some people to refer to
it as the ‘Rubik’s Cube’
building. It is easy to
find, south of I-94 on
Highway 52, or north of
I-494 via the Concord
Street exit. The free
parking accommodates
well over 100 vehicles,
with overflow parking
across the street. And
we are happy to report
that the Metro Transit
#71 bus serves the new
location as well.
current plans, the library will be closed
from October 25 through November 9
to allow for packing, moving, unpacking and setting up. The Golden Valley location will be open regular hours
through October 24, but you may find a
few things at the library packed up and/
or moved about as preparatory work is
done.
The November Irish Saturday will be
the opening day in the new location,
so mark your calendar for November
10. Come and look around, do some
research or take in one of the Irish Day
classes. We plan to make it a festive
occasion.
New IGSI address
(effective Nov. 1, 2007):
1185 Concord St. N. Suite 200
South St. Paul, Minnesota 55075
Dates to Remember
The anticipated moving date is October 27,
2007. According to
Page 202
Beginning Genealogy
Research Pitfalls of Census Records
How Bad Can They Be?
by Nancy Grell
C
ensus records are one of the first
places for a new genealogist to begin a research project. Placing an individual or family at a specific location at a
specific point in time shortens the path
to other relevant records. Census records
help determine ages, places of birth, citizenship status, familial relationships,
occupations, immigration dates, and
economic status. Some people deliberately provided
false information. Many distrusted the
government. Others lied to protect
themselves if they felt the information
could be used against them in the future. Some refused to provide any information. Technically in the U. S., an
uncooperative individual was guilty of a
misdemeanor and could be fined. That
law was rarely enforced.
Census records do not stand alone.
They, as all other genealogical data,
should be corroborated with evidence
found in other sources – civil records,
church registers, employment files,
local histories and family documents. A
diligent researcher gathers information
broadly and digests it carefully in light
of the supporting documents for an
event or date. The diligent researcher
must use creativity in spelling and data
interpretation to achieve the greatest
degree of success in using census data.
Birthplaces were often incorrect. Some
individuals did not want to be known
as immigrants. You may find ancestors recorded in early census records as
being foreign born and in later records
as being born in the U.S.A. An interviewed child may have no idea where his
parents were born.
Accuracy
Finding your family in a census is exciting! Not finding a family, even when
you have a location, can be confusing
and frustrating. When looking for ancestors, often names don’t match, dates
can be inconsistent, and individuals
seem to disappear. Census accuracy depended on the motivations and abilities of the both the
individuals recording the information
and the individuals answering the questions. Early on, census takers, called
enumerators, were often political appointees. The wages were low. There
were few checks and balances to determine if the census takers followed the
instructions as written.
Page
203
An unqualified individual may have
provided census information –a neighbor or minor child rather than the head
of the household. An enumerator may
have skipped information or taken a
guess just to fill in the blank. Individuals, even families, could be missed
among the densely crowded boarding houses, hotels and employment
cottages.
Rules were applied inconsistently to
family members away from home. They
may or may not have been included in
the census. Individuals at sea or working on canals and railroads were to be
recorded at their permanent residence
if they were there on a fairly regular
basis. Language and Legibility
Language was a barrier in some cases. Enumerators dealt with people who
couldn’t read or write. English was not
the primary language for many immigrants. The questions asked may have
been unclear; the information provided
may have been heard incorrectly. Enumerators did not ask for proof such as
birth certificates, immigration papers,
or marriage licenses. Even when given
the opportunity, illiterate individuals
could not verify that what was written
was correct. Handwriting created other problems. In a flourishing manuscript style, a capital “S” is often mistaken for an “L” or
an “F”. On the other end of the scale,
an enumerator’s writing may be simply
sloppy and illegible. Other records are
blurred by ink stains and marks.
Names
Names in the census can be inconsistent. The enumerators spelled what they heard. Finding an ancestor may require creative
use of phonetics. (My grandmother “Ellen”
was once listed as “Helen”.) An entire family may be overlooked by the researcher if
an enumerator became creative with the
spelling of a surname. In blended families,
all the children in the household may have
incorrectly been assumed to be full siblings
and be given the same surname.
Initials and nicknames were sometimes
recorded instead of proper names. A
child’s middle name may have been used
on one census and first name on a following census. I knew my grandfather
had nine siblings but, until I sorted it
out using birth records, I had fourteen
children’s names in his family – based
on census information. If names are
consistent but the ages don’t make
sense, this may be an instance where a
__________________________________________________________ Beginning Genealogy
child died and another child was given
the same name. genealogist looking for group migration
clusters.
Due to vanity or ignorance, ages are
notoriously inaccurate. Comparing
recorded ages from census to census
can be frustrating. It is not uncommon for an individual to age (on paper)
only seven to ten years over the 30 year
time span of three consecutive census
recordings.
Final Words of Caution
Mistakes were made in transcription.
Early census enumerators were required
to make two handwritten copies of the
census results. There is no way to determine if the record consulted is the original or a copy, where entire pages may have
been missed. It may be worth your while
to pay a researcher to check for a local copy
of the census to compare with the national
version, if a mistake is suspected. Census-Taking
The physical areas assigned to an enumerator left margin for error. A family living
in a remote rural farm could be counted
twice or completely missed depending on
the understanding of boundaries and districts. For political reasons, census records
may have been faked to enhance or lower
the resulting numbers to meet a goal. Territorial census records may have been padded to pave the way to statehood.
Abbreviations of states and countries
often do not match those now commonly used and may vary from enumerator to enumerator. This is particularly
it difficult for anyone unfamiliar with
the letters might mean. The enumerator’s frequent use of ditto marks could
call into question the accuracy of the
information.
Households were not necessarily recorded in a particular order. While
early enumerators were given a defined
area to cover, there was no pre-determined path to follow. Researchers
know that related families often lived
in close proximity to each other. Yet,
ancestors living on adjacent property
could be pages apart on a census. This
haphazard recording could mislead a
As valuable they as are, census records
are filled with pitfalls for the unwary researcher. The potential for many types
of errors to be made in the recording,
transcription – even the indexing and
interpretation – of census records is
great. Knowing the shortcomings of
these records is essential to using them
to their full potential. This article enumerated the problems; succeeding articles will address the benefits and best
use of census records
Nancy Grell retired from a county level
government administrative position in
1999. She’s been
an active IGSI
member
since
2001, serving as
board president
in 2003 and 2004.
She teaches beginning genealogy classes and
is a research assistant on Irish Saturdays.
She represents the IGSI at the Irish Fair
in St. Paul, MN, and at the Irish Fest in
Milwaukee, WI
Resources
Each of these general genealogy texts
has one or more chapters on census
records well worth reading. These
are all U. S. focused.
Greenwood, Val D. The Researcher’s Guide
to American Genealogy. 3d edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000.
National Archives and Records Administration. Guide to Genealogical Research in
the National Archives. Rev. ed. Washington:
National Archives Trust fund Board, 2000.
Rose, Christine, and Kay Germain Ingalls.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Genealogy.
New York: Alpha Books, 1997.
Szucs, Loretto D. and Sandra Hargreaves
Luebking. The Source: A Guidebook of
American Genealogy. Rev. ed. Salt Lake
City: Ancestry, 1997.
Dollarhide, William. The Census Book: A
Genealogist’s Guide to Federal Census Facts,
Schedules and Indexes. Bountiful, Utah:
Heritage Quest, 1999.
Kemp, Thomas Jay. The American Census
Handbook. Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources Inc.2001.
Lainhart, Ann S. State Census Records. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1992.
Thorndale, William and William Dollarhide. Map Guide to the U.S. Federal
Censuses, 1790-1920. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987.
Page 204
Volunteers and Queries
Volunteer Faces
by Diane Lovrencevic
T
The start of the year for IGSI
finds some known and unknown
faces in the volunteer ranks.
Still missisng from the officer positions
is the 2nd vice president in charge of
membership recruitment.
Should you be interested in any of these
jobs, contact us at [email protected] for further information.
Past Board member Jeanne Bakken
(2nd Vice-President 2005-2006) returns
to help as Coordinator of Indexing Projects. She will organize the information
sent to other volunteers to be entered
into a database. She will ensure review
editing and its preparation for publication on the website and in the library.
Do you have time to help with projects
for IGSI? The following volunteer jobs
can be done from the comfort of your
home:
Are you using the offerings of IGSI?
The benefits you receive are available
because of the work of volunteers. Contribute your talents and time to the organization – and volunteer! Work from
home or at the library; do as little or as
much as you would like. There are many
benefits to being an IGSI volunteer.
Elizabeth Beckers of Grand Rapids,
Minnesota, serves as Membership Renewals Coordinator. Joining the board
seemed like a large obstacle as she lives
210 miles from the meetings. We will
experiment with web conferencing for
our leaders at a distance to attend meetings. This allows Elizabeth to participate whether she is in Minnesota or on
her winter trip to the south.
Frank Braun fills the first Vice-President position which has the responsibility for the Quarterly Programs. A member since 1993, Frank has volunteered
many times before but this is his first
time on the IGSI Board. He comes to
us with board experience having served
on the board for The Minnesota Council of Hostelling International USA
Kevina Munich has graciously accepted
the position of Secretary and joined
the board in September. Her job will
be to keep the board organized and
informed.
Bob Zimmerman joins the board as
Treasurer. He joined IGSI in 2004 and
this is his first volunteer position. Bob
took over in July and has been going
strong since his first meeting.
Page
205
• eNewsletter Editor: This individual will prepare a two-page
newsletter about the organization
to be emailed to members quarterly – activities, announcements,
photos of Irish related areas, and
other items of interest.
• Outreach: This individual will
work with other active members
to create an outreach program:
identifying speakers and locations for promotion and development by IGSI, distributing
information to Irish events and
conferences and reaching out
to members wherever they live.
This individual could manage
this through digital means and
with the help of members.
Diane Lovrencevic is the volunteer coordinator of the Irish Genealogical Society,
International among
other volunteer positions for the organization. A graphic designer by profession,
she does the layout
of the publications of
IGSI. Diane has been
researching her family
history for 18 years
and has moved on to her husband’s Irish
ancestors. Diane lives and works in the
Minneapolis, Minnesota, area.
Queries
MCGINNIS, DEAHL
McGinnis, Peter, b. Ireland c. 1808,
weaver by trade, migrated to the US
c. 1825; worked as a coal miner in PA
and MD, m. Barbara Deahl (b. PA) c.
1840/43 in PA. Four children: James,
Henry, John P. and Mary McGinnis. He d. 1850- 1860. I would like to know
where he came from in Ireland and any
other information on this family.
Contact: Neva Rees, 1102 Colegate
Drive, Marietta OH 45750-1321. Tel:
(740) 374-8415
SULLIVAN, BOHN
Need parents of Cornelius Sullivan, b.
1749 (?Ireland, ?Maryland) m. Catherine Bohn c. 1775. Children: John,
Jacob, Margaret, Abraham, Mary,
Daniel, David, William and Michael.
Cornelius served in the Revolutionary
War, d. 1816 in Westminster MD.
Contact: Prudy Sullivan, N515 Highway H, Genoa City WI 53128.
_________________________________________________________________ 100 Years Ago
100 Years Ago in the News
by Mary Wickersham and Sheila Northrop
In October 1907, Technology Improvements were Speeding Communication.
“The arrival of the Lusitania at the
outer bar 4 days and 20 hours after
leaving Daunt’s Rock on the Irish coast
is a great achievement of modern ocean
navigation, and nearly equals the highest expectations of the big boat’s power. .
. The pity is that she arrives at an inconvenient hour, and that her passengers
and mails. . . must lose a whole night
after their arrival on this side.” The New York Times, October 11, 1907.
“After 10,000 Words Were Sent Between
Nova Scotia and Ireland. . . Communication with Clifden, the Irish station of
the Marconi Company, was established
on schedule time this morning and has
continued successfully across the Atlantic throughout the day.” The New York Times, October 18, 1907.
The International Aeronautic Congress
met in New York, a “. . . bringing together of reports which show the actual
state of aeronautics at the present time
all over the world. . . We have not practically perfected the dirigible balloon,
and flights in man-carrying gasless machines have been made in public up to
half a mile in length. . . We regret that
the Wright brothers have not seen fit to
make public their work, and by reason
of this we have to leave them out of our
considerations.” The New York Times, October 28, 1907.
“Was Michael Dorady, 80 years of age
and a bachelor, of unsound mind when
he bequeathed his savings to charity previous to his passing away? This ques-
tion is raised and answered in the affirmative by Minneapolis residents of Mr.
Dormady who died in Kansas City a few
weeks ago. Minneapolis attorneys on
behalf of [7 relatives], all residing in East
Minneapolis, have filed a protest of their
brother’s will which left all his savings to
charity. They claim he was of unsound
mind and cite his bachelorhood as one of
the evidences of his condition.” The Irish Standard, November 16, 1907.
“A burglar blew open a safe in the Standard
Oil Company’s office in Rockford, but
there was no money in it. The safe cracker
left a note apologizing for making a litter in
the office, saying he was a novice.” Cook County Herald (Arlington Heights),
October 4, 1907.
Catholic Parish Records
Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis
by Beth Mullinax, Librarian
T
he Irish Genealogical Society International and Minnesota Genealogical Society (MGS) branches for
French/Canadians, Polish, and Czechs,
have purchased microfilms from the
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis of church records of 83 Minnesota parishes. These Catholic parishes
are located in: Anoka, Carver, Chisago,
Dakota, Goodhue, Hennepin, LeSueur,
Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Sibley, Washington
and Wright counties. All microfilms
are filed together at the MGS library.
The records list baptisms and marriages; many list deaths, although these
are usually later dates. Some also list
confirmations. There is a compiled index to all parishes included on the microfilms, with
notes and cross-references when earlier
records of a parish are included with
a different parish. For example, the
early parish records of Montgomery &
Kilkenny Townships, LeSueur County,
are found with the records of St. Peter’s
Church, Mendota, Dakota County.
There is also a help-list of Latin terms.
For a list of the microfilms available
in the library, check the IGSI catalog
http://www.irishgenealogical.org/
irish_genealogical_res_catalog.asp. For a complete list of all microfilm available for use at the Archdiocese or at the
Minnesota Genealogical Society, check
the list at the MGS website http://www.
mngs.org/catholic/stpaul1.shtml.
Page 206
Connemara Kate
ASK CONNEMARA KATE
by Beth Mullinax
Dear Kate: How do I know my name
is Irish? Dear Member: We are asked this question quite often. Looking at the history of
Ireland, the country was invaded by the
Vikings as early as 600 AD; the AngloNormans were invited over on a dispute
between the Irish kings and they liked Ireland so well they stayed. Next, the English and the Plantations of the Scots came
and some French Huguenots and German
Palatines settled in Ireland. So, many of
the “Irish” names had their origins in other
countries.
The origin of your surname could be
French/Norman, Scots, English, Welsh,
or even German! However – to answer
your question – we would check surname
books, beginning with Edward MacLysaght’s The Surnames of Ireland, More
Irish Families, and Irish Families. There
is also Robert Bell’s The Book of ScotsIrish Family Names (formerly titled The
Book of Ulster Surnames) and books on
surnames particular to individual counties. The IGSI library has all of these
books.
Irish Names and Surnames, by Rev. Patrick Woulfe, lists the old and new Irish/
Gaelic spelling of the name as well as the
English translation. Remember, the old
Irish surnames were in their language
(Gaelic), as were the Scots. As they became Anglicized over many years, there
became so many variations that we often
have trouble with our research.
When beginning your Irish research, check
out your surname in the above books for a
clue to the spelling of your name in Ireland
and where many with that surname may
be found. Do not assume your family is from where
the book says the name can be found! For
example, I ran into a surname NEAFSEY
in research I was doing for someone. I had
never heard of the surname, so I checked
the books and found the name in Ireland
was KNEAFSEY, usually found in County Donegal. Other spellings I found were
(O) Kneaphsy, Kneafsey, Neafsey, Kneafsey and Kneafsy. None were located in
Donegal; all were in Mayo or Roscommon.
This happened to be an old Irish surname
‘O Cnaimhsighe’.
No matter what the root of your surname, most have been in Ireland for a
century or more, so you are Irish, just
as we are Americans, although our surnames may be German, French, Swedish, or whatever. If you are questioning a surname, send it to
[email protected]; we can
check it out for you.
Check & Update Your Member Information
O
n the new IGSI website – once you
have logged into the Members Section – you find the Members Homepage. Look at the very left side; in the
tan/brown color column, under Member Links you see a few options with
arrows before them. names, or renew online. When should
you do something with this page? Anytime you need to – or perhaps once a
year, at least, before you renew. Click on Manage Your Member Profile and you’ll see a new page with new
options.
Emails. From the Society’s perspective, it helps when all of your information is up to date. We send out meeting
reminders and other communications
by email. If your email is wrong (an
old email or a typo on our part), you are
missing our messages. Related to that,
please add our email address (IrishGenealogical.org) to your approved recipi-
Login allows you to change your Password. Clicking on Basic Member Info
allows you to check and change your
basic member information: address,
phone, email. It’s from this page that
you can also verify and add to your SurPage
207
Of particular importance to keep current are email and home addresses.
ent list – or again, our emails will be returned unseen by you.
Addresses. Some members have a second home for part of the year and ask
that some issues of The Septs be mailed
to this second address. When there is
a second address, check the little boxes
below the address area to indicate which
issues of The Septs should be sent to
which address. That way, you won’t miss
a single issue. Note: mailing labels are
prepared two weeks before the month
of the journal issue. For October, the
address cut-off date is mid-September.
Thanks for helping us out by Managing
your Member Information!
___________________________________ Contribute to The Septs and November Quarterly
Contribute to The Septs
T
he theme for the January 2008
issue of The Septs is Irish Genealogy on the Internet. While our themes
focus on Ireland, we are happy to accept
articles on broader aspects of the topic.
We welcome all contributions. The
deadline for submission of articles is
two months prior to The Septs publication date. Submission date is Novem-
ber 1st for the January 2008 issue and
February 1st for the April 2008 issue.
You can share your knowledge of Irish
genealogy, culture and history and become part of this publication. If you
prefer not to write, recommend an author to us – someone active in genealogy – and we’ll contact them. Send
items of note to the Irish genealogical
Future themes include:
January 2008
April 2008
July 2008
October 2008
community and we’ll include the information. As a society-based publication,
The Septs thrives on the international
diversity and expertise of its members.
We also welcome articles on topics not
related to the themes described below.
Tom Rice, Managing Editor, will work
with writers on any article of interest to
the Irish genealogical community. E-mail:
[email protected].
Irish Genealogy on the Internet
Printed Resources for Irish Genealogy
Emigration, Immigration and New Citizenship – i.e. emigrant lists, ship
lists, naturalization and passport records
Finding Your Ancestor’s Place of Origin in Ireland
Irish Genealogical Society, International (IGSI)
Program
Saturday, November 17, 2007
9:00 am - Quarterly Meeting • 10:00 am Quarterly Program
Marjorie Robie, author of Dwelling Place of Dragons
Information about the book and how it came to be written, with an introduction to the major characters in the book.
Her presentation will include: a description of life in Ulster in 1830 which prompted many Ulster Protestants to emigrate; the importance of religious hostilities and the peace conference in Newry which hoped to end them; and the action of the Orange Order
which sparked the meeting. (Robie notes that neither she nor other Irish historians have seen a similar effort in Ireland until the
present time.)
What went wrong with the peace process – the actions of Daniel O’Connell instituting the idea of Repeal of the Act of
Union, the first action by Parliament to make England and Ireland a bit more democratic, and their effect on the Church of
Ireland and the supporting Protestants and Presbyterians. Check the May issue of The Septs for an article in which Marjorie
Robie describes how she found the diaries upon which her book is based and for a review of the book
Cost: Members: $5
Accessible facility
Non-Members: $8
For more information or a map to MGS Library go to www.IrishGenealogical.org.
Page208
IGSI Resources
Library Acquisitions
July, August, September 2007
PURCHASES –
We recently purchased the following
CDs of digitized books produced by
Archive CD Books, Ireland Ltd. from
Eneclann. They are copies of books
from Trinity Library and the National
Library of Ireland. If you wish to know
more about these CDs, you can go to
their web site, http://www.eneclann.ie,
click on publications CD Books to find
the whole list. You can click on ‘more
info’ for each publication. If you have
questions on these, please contact [email protected]. A049 – Taylor & Skinner’s Road Maps
of Ireland (1783 2nd ed.) (IET0027), Eneclann, Dublin, 2005.
A385 – Parliamentary Gazetter of Ireland 1846 (IE0021), Eneclann, Dublin.
D052 – Pettigrew & Oulton, Dublin Almanac & General Register of Ireland 1845
(IE0002), Eneclann, Dublin, 2005.
D053 – Treble Almanack & Dublin
Directory, 1783 (IE0005), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2005.
D059 – Thom’s Irish Almanac &
Directory, 1884 (IE0013), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2005.
D060 – Pigot’s Commercial Directory of Ireland, 1824, compendium all
sections, (IET005), Eneclann, Dublin, 2005.
Guide, 1889, (IET0014), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2005.
D063 – Medical Directory for Ireland, 1852 (IET0040), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2005.
D074 – Shearman’s Directory of Waterford, Kilkenny and the Southwest, 1839,
(IET0015), Eneclann, Dublin, 2005.
D064 – Kenny’s Irish Manufacturers’
Directory, 1919, (IET0044), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2005.
G110 – Mr. Tuke’s Fund for Assisted
Emigration 1882-5 (IET0048), Eneclann, Dublin, 2006.
D065 – Matier’s Belfast Directory for
1835-6 (IET0018), Eneclann, Dublin,
2005.
G113 – The Irish Emigrant’s Guide for
the United States, 1890, (IET0041), Eneclann, Dublin, 2006.
D066 – James Alexander Henderson,
The Belfast & Province of Ulster Directory (3rd ed., 1856) (IET0011), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2005.
G114 – Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1858,
D067 – Ashe’s Limerick and Clare Directory 1891-92 (IE0024), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2006.
D068 – Macloskie’s Directory of Fermanagh 1848 (IET0020), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2005.
D069 – Bassett’s Louth Guide & Directory 1886 (IET0024), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2006.
D070 – Henry & Coughlan’s General
Directory of Cork and Munster 1867
D071 – Guy’s Directory of Munster
1893, (IET0049), Eneclann, Dublin,
2006, CD
D061 – Slater’s Commercial Directory of Ireland, 1846, compendium all
D072 – “The Sligo Chronical” Almanac & Directory for 1878, (IET0029),
Eneclann, Dublin, 2006.
D062 – Slater’s Commercial Directory of Ireland, 1881, compendium all
D073 – Sligo Independent Newspaper, County Directory, Almanac &
Page
209
G115 – Kilkenny Grand Jury Presentments 1832, (IET0066), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2007.
H598 – O’Hart’s Irish & Anglo-Irish
Landed Gentry (IE0015), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2005.
H599 – Burke’s Landed Gentry of
Ireland, 1899 (IET0039), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2005.
H600 – The Scot in Ulster, 1888
H601 – The Scotch-Irish 1902, by
Charles Hanna, (IET0061), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2007.
H602 – Robert Simpson, The Annals
of Derry, 1847 (IET0056), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2006.
H603 – Dalton’s Irish Army Lists,
1661-1685, (IET0060), Eneclann, Dublin, 2006.
________________________________________________________________ IGSI Resources
H604 – D’Alton’s History of Dublin
(IE0019), Eneclann, Dublin, 2006.
H605 – Hickson, Selections from
Old Kerry Records (2 vols 1872-74) (IE0020), Eneclann, Dublin, 2006.
H606 – Enniskillen Long Ago, 1878
H607 – Statistical Survey of County
Cavan, 1802 (IET0069), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2007.
Clare, 1808 (IET0042), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2006.
H609 – Statistical Survey of County Cork, 1810 (IET0028), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2006.
Donegal, 1801 (IET0036), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2005.
H611 – Statistical Survey of King’s
County, 1801 (IET0052), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2006.
Mayo, 1802 (IET0063), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2007.
H613 – Carrigan’s History of the
Diocese of Ossory [Kilkenny area]
& New Index, 4 vols (IE0016), Eneclann, Dublin, 2005.
K096 – Complete Catholic Registry,
Directory, and Almanac, Vol. 1, 1836
K096 – Complete Catholic Registry,
Directory, and Almanac, Vol. 2, 1837
K099 – The Register of Derry Cathedral 1642-1703 (IET0068), Eneclann,
Dublin, 2007.
S018 – Matheson’s Special Report on
Surnames in Ireland 1894, (IET0047),
Eneclann, Dublin, 2006.
Periodical: The Journal of the Irish History Roundtable [New York], Volumes
1-17, 1986-2003. Published by America’s
Book CDs, San Antonio, TX, 2005.
The following print titles have
also been added:
A-146, Vol. 8 – Place-Names of Northern
Ireland. County Fermanagh I, Lisnaskea
and District: The Parish of Aghalurcher,
by Patrick McKay. Published by Clo
Ollscoil na Banriona, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, 2004, 260 p., maps,
including a map of the Parish of Aghalurcher showing the townlands. L098 – Real Book of Kelly Marriages in
the Greater Quebec Area, by Marianna
O’Gallagher. Published by Carraig
Books, Sainte-Foy, PQ, 2003, 33 p.
L099 – Real Book of Murphy Marriages Greater Quebec, by Marianna
O’Gallagher. Published by Carraig
Books, Sainte-Foy, PQ, 2003, 49 p.
N008 – The Hibernian. Official Journal of
the parent body of Ancient Order of Hibernians in Ireland, Vol. II, No. 45, New Series. Printed by Flynn-Obrien, 1916, April 15
(week before uprising), 8 pp. (copy). Interesting piece of history.
S084 – MacCarthy People and Places,
by Alicia St Leger. Published by Ballinakella Press, Co. Clare, Ireland, 1990,
79 p., illus. [See Book Sales]
S085 – (O) Kelly People and Places, by
Joseph M. Kelly. Published by Ballinakella Press, Co. Clare, Ireland, 2003,
98 p., illus. FH – The Descendants of Patrick Cavanaugh 1832-1917 and Mary Ryan 1831-1912,
by Maureen Cavanagh Brown. Descanso, CA. Published by author, 2007, 12
p., photos, indexed.
MGS – Church of St. John, St. Paul,
MN. Marriages 1886-1993 and Deaths
1914-1993.
DONATIONS –
G058 – Kingwilliamstown/Ballydesmond
Census of Families on the Crown Land of
Probal O’Keefe in the County Cork, 24
September 1834 and Ballydesmond Census
1830. Unpublished, unpaged. Donated
by Kay Blaha, Northfield, MN with
permission from Mr. Gerard Murphy. H514 – Philip Brennan’s Clare. 73 unique
images of the artist’s native County Clare. Published by Ashfield Press, Dublin, IR, 2002, 143 p., ill. Paintings. Introduction by Hugh Weir. Contacts: www.philipbrennan.com and Philip@
philipbrennan.com or Philip Brennan,
The Crag, Stonehall, New Market on
Fergus, County Clare, Ireland.
H595 – Philip Brennan’s Wanders. A
County Clare artist’s year. Published by
Linden Publishing Services Ltd., Dublin, IR, 2006, 157 p., ill. Paintings. Introduction by Cormac MacConnell.
FH – The Early Cantwells of Ireland:
Origins and Descent, by John Cantwell
‘Library Acquisitions’ continued on page 137
Page 210
Gleanings
‘Library Acquisitions’’ continued from page 112
GLEANINGS
by Beth Mullinax
July, August, Sept 2007
Roberts, Ed. Published by Author,
2007, 66 p. (This booklet takes the
Cantwells back to the 11th C. Contact
Edward Law, Kilkenny Archaeological
Society, Rothe House, Kilkenny Ireland, for a copy $10.00 USD) Donated
by John C. Roberts, Rome, NY
MGS – Church of St. John, St. Paul, MN,
Baptisms 1886-1993. Microfilm donated
by Kay Blaha, Northfield, MN
MGS – Church of the Immaculate Conception, Watertown (Carver County),
Minnesota. Baptisms 1882-1992, Marriages 1882-1992 and Deaths 1908-1992. Microfilm donated by Kay Blaha, Northfield,
MN.
Beth Mullinax is IGSI past president and has
held various other
Board positions since
1983. She lectures
on various research
topics, basic and advanced, throughout
Minnesota and several other states. She
led four genealogy
research trips to Ireland and has been a
contributor to The Septs to just name of few of
her jobs around IGSI.
Having been the IGSI librarian since its inception, she is instrumental in building the Irish
research collection housed at the Minnesota Genealogical Society’s Library to its status as one
of the best in the USA.
Page
211
HERE –
You are still coming to the library from
all over the U.S.! Welcome! Giving us
notice of your trip can not only help us
plan, but we can sometimes have at least
part of your research done for you. If
there are any questions on the library,
please let us know. Don’t forget the IGSI Annual Conference, Saturday, October 27, 2007. Watch our website and The Septs for
further information.
November 10th is opening day at the
new location for the MGS Library. It is the last Irish Saturday of 2007. Come to
the new library and help celebrate the
IGSI Open House. Lots of help and
fun planned from 9:00-3:00, Get more
information at http://www.IrishGenealogical.org,
Minnesota – FAILTE Minnesota is
an organization that is raising funds
to establish an Irish Community Center in St. Paul. It was formed about
10 years ago and is still working on the
funding. Their second annual Green
Tie Event will be held on November 17,
2007. I went last year and it was a great
experience. For more information g to
http://www.failteminnesota.org. Support your local Irish!
base has vital records for County Armagh. They hope to launch databases for
the remaining counties over the next 18
months. Visit them at http://armagh.
brsgenealogy.com/.
NOTICE: Per Irish Roots magazine,
Issue No. 2, 2007, the following information was gleaned:
“The process of digitising (sic) and indexing the 1901 and 1911 census returns
is now well advanced. The records for
the city of Dublin will go on line in the
autumn. By 2008, the returns for both
censuses should be available on-line and
free to all.” Good news!
CANADA – Nova Scotia has announced its historical vital statistics is
now online. For further information
visit: http://www.novascotiagenealogy.
com or contact Lois Yorke, Director
Public Services at [email protected]
CLANS TOO!
Moriarty Clan – Still very active with
their newsletter, The Moriarty Clan,
published by Thomas Moriarty and
Associates, Inc., 9836 S. Turner Avenue,
Evergreen Park, IL 60805. E Mail: [email protected] Contact them
for a free newsletter.
THERE –
Irish Tourist Board – If you are interested on any travel in Ireland, check
their official web-site: http://www.ireland.travel.ie/home/
The Tierney Clans Society, Naomh
Antoine, 1 Oaklawn, Castleknock Road,
Dublin 15, Ireland. E-Mail: [email protected] Website: http://
homepage.eircom.net/~thetierneyclan
The Irish Family History Foundation
recently launched a new website with
searchable records. The initial data-
It is not too early to send in your 2008
reunions!
____________________________________________________________ Annual Conference
2007
Location
Coon Rapids Minnesota 55448
Cost
$30.00
The 2007 Searching for Your Family History Genealogy Conference
is designed for beginners and intermediate researchers of any ethnic
group and Irish researchers of all levels.
Certified Genealogists and experienced researchers will share research
techniques and answer your questions to help you find that elusive
ancestor and get past those brick walls.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Conference Classes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Advanced Irish Research
Griffith’s Primary Valuation
Presbyterian Records in Irish Genealogy
Emigrant Savings Bank, Search for Missing Friends, PIP,
and PERSI: An Overview
The 1900-1934 Minnesota Birth Certificate Index Online Anoka County Research
Minnesota Newspapers
Indexing the Women in Industry Survey of 1918/1919
Are You Really Stuck? Probably Not! Suggestions for
Increasing Your Success
Census: How To Get The Most Out of Them!
Family Legends are Sometimes True: Using Irish
sources to Solve a British Military Service Problem
The GEO in Genealogy: Maps and Geography for the
Family Historian
How to Evaluate Genealogical Information. Which
record is correct?
• OCLC, NUCMC, WorldCat, MNLink, Oh My! Finding
Books and Manuscripts Online
• Research Records of Government Transfer of Land to
Individuals - Session 1
• Finding and Using Private Land Transactions and Tax
Records - Session 2
• Military Research
• Photojournaling: Write the Stories Behind Your Photographs
• The Stories Behind Your Genealogy
• Electronic and Digital Devices: New Tools for the Family Researcher
• Using Indirect Evidence to Solve a Family History
Problem
• Your PC and the Internet: How to Get The Most From
Available Technology
For more information
http://www.IrishGenealogical.org/IGSI_Annual_Conference.asp
Consider starting a friend in genealogy. Invite them to join you for the day.
Page 212
Book Store
Page
213
___________________________________________________________________ Book Store
James G. Ryan, Editor
Register of the Church of St. Thomas,
Lisnagarvey, County Antrim
Irish Methodists: Where Do I Start?
This book details the
records of each of the 8
major Irish denominations
and their value for family
history, and for church and
local history. The locations
for each church and
guidelines for their access are provided.
(208 pp) Order Book #K022 $35.00
This is the published list of
the Church of Ireland’s parish registers of the Church
of St. Thomas, Lisnagarvey
in County Antrim for the
years 1637-1646 from its
repository of archives and
manuscripts. (34 pp) Order Book #K042
$8.00
This book gives a background on the Methodist
Church in Ireland and
is a straightforward and
practical guide to explain
what records survive, the
content and where these
records are located. (31 pp) Order Book
#J119 $6.00
Memorials of the Dead:
Counties Galway & Mayo
Memorial Inscriptions of
Castlegar Graveyard
The Memorial Inscriptions and
Related History of Kiltullagh,
Killimordaly, and Esker Graveyards
Irish Church Records
Eneclann CD
This CD includes
full transcripts of
the surviving 3000
memorials found in
the 128 graveyards
in the western half of
counties Galway and
Mayo. There are 8,000 names, detailed
maps and indexes of names, addresses
and occupations. IBM compatible.
Order CD #C124 $69.95
A New Genealogical Atlas of
Ireland. Second Edition
Brian Mitchell
This new 2nd Edition is not
only invaluable for tracing
your pre-1864 ancestors in
church records but also for
locating your post-1864
ancestor in civil records, for
this volume provides descriptions and maps of the parochial and
civil administrative divisions to which
all major Irish record sources are linked.
In addition, the book describes all of the
major record sources of Ireland. (123 pp) Order Book # A011 $20.00
Raymond Refausse, Editor
Galway Family History Society (West)
Listing of the memorial
inscriptions in this cemetery in Galway, Ireland.
Book includes maps,
pictures and drawings.
(154 pp) Order Book
#C117 $15.00
Counties in Time
Documents and commentaries from
the National Archives of Ireland
The records chosen in
this CD-ROM cover
the period from the
late sixteenth century
to the mid-twentieth century. The CD
contains almost 1000
documents, scanned images of the documents and transcripts for those which
are difficult to read. The CD is easy to
navigate and user-friendly. Order CD
#J156 $29.95
Exploring Irish Genealogy – No. 1
Steven C. ffeary-Smyrl
Con Mulvey
The book is a compilation of names and
inscriptions of those who
died in the parish. Sources
are memorial inscriptions
at the graveyards, Roman
Catholic death records,
civil death records and knowledge
of the cemetery caretakers. (142 pp)
Order Book #C018 $15.00
Irish Records: Sources For Family
And Local History
James G. Ryan, Ph.D.
Irish Records is the most
comprehensive and easyto-use resource for Irish
historical records. It
provides the researcher
with a comprehensive
listing of all available
sources for Irish written
records. Organized by county, this unique
and detailed list helps you to find your
ancestors’ occupations, relatives and more.
(Hardcover, 668pp) Order Book #J056
$49.95 Page 214
Minnesota Genealogical Society (MGS)
Home of the Irish Genealogical Society International Research Library
Location of IGSI Classes, Quarterly Meetings and Irish Days
Minnesota Genealogical Center
and IGSI Library
Northwest of Highway 100 and
Highway 55 intersection on
the north frontage road
Daytime Hours
Wed, Thurs & Sat: 9 am to 3 pm
Evening Hours
Tues & Thurs: 6:30 to 9:30 pm
Closed Sunday and Monday
If traveling any distance, call
first to check schedule
Branch of Minnesota Genealogical Society
5768 Olson Memorial Highway
Golden Valley, MN 55422-5014
Minnesota Genealogical Society
5768 Olson Memorial Highway
Golden Valley, MN 55422-5014
763-595-9347
The library is a self-supporting
research library staffed by volunteers. If you are a member of the
IGSI and are coming from out of
town, contact Beth at Research@
IrishGenealogical.org so we can
try to have an Irish researcher
available to meet you.

October 2007 - Irish Genealogical Society International

Transcription

Similar documents

One Sheet - CMI Entertainment

Digital Marketing Trends 2015 - Dundalk

MCTEGGART IRISH DANCERS Saturday, July 28

The Other Paper - Historic Dublin Restaurants

Flyer of this event

MPH Jarveys Irish Night web

Grand Canal Theatre - Theatre Forum Ireland

An Allegory - Crawford Art Gallery

I have lived one of the best years of my life

dinner - Oliver St. John Gogarty