Getting to the Roots of Your Family - RootsWeb - Ancestry.com

Tools for Finding Place Names: Gazetteers/Maps
• Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland – www.libraryireland.com/topog
• Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland – online at Google Books; use other search engines
• New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland – www.visionofbritain.org.uk/uk/descriptions
• General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns of Ireland – www.seanruad.com
• Maps and Gazetteers – www.genuki.org.uk – check under both country & county level
CIVIL REGISTRATION
The Irish government registration of all births, marriages and deaths
• April 1, 1845 -- Registration of non-Catholic marriages began
• January 1, 1864 -- Civil Registration of all births & deaths and Catholic marriages began
• Indexes to civil registration
o www.familysearch.org - Indexes 1845-1958 (no images) at Record Search Pilot
o International Genealogical Index (IGI), especially for early years
o British Vital Records Index (BVRI) - CD-ROM at local FHC or order online
o www.brsgenealogy.com - indexes & transcriptions for some counties - index free
• Registers available through Family History Library (FHL)
o Births: 1864 to March 1881; 1900-1913. Republic: 1930-1955. No.Ireland 1922-1959
o Pre-1871 marriage/death records; marriage/death for No. Ireland 1922-1959
• All registers available in Ireland - Office of Registrar General for Republic, www.groireland.ie; General
Register Office for Northern Ireland, www.groni.gov.uk.
Things to Remember
• Never trust the birth date; 1/3 parents lied about child’s birth date (avoid paying late fee) NOTE: Baptism
dates may pre-date the birth date!
• “Mc” and “O’” may be dropped off surname. Search with/without & try interchanging them
• Estimated that about 15% of events, particularly births, were not registered in early years.
• Births 1864-1876 & marriages 1845-1870 - indexed in IGI & BVRI - not complete
• More help: http://wiki.familysearch.org > Ireland > Civil Registration
CHURCH RECORDS
Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic records were not lost in 1922 fire; more lost through careless record keepers; may be in Latin
• Most parishes did not keep registers until 19th century with exceptions for urban areas
• Roman Catholic records at Family History Library (FHL):
o About 30% of Catholic parish registers on microfilm -FHLC > Place/Keyword search
o Transcripts of other Catholic parish registers
o Casey Collection - covers Upper Blackwater River—North Cork and East Kerry
• Roman Catholic records not at FHL:
o National Library of Ireland (www.nli.ie) - virtually all RC parish registers pre-1880
o Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI – www.proni.gov.uk) – Northern Ireland
o www.irishtimes.com/ancestor
o www.irish-roots.ie or www.rootsireland.ie
o Heritage Centres have indexed many RC records (see section below).
o For local custodial information - Google parish name, county & Roman Catholic – Write a letter or
telephone - be courteous & offer donation for time.
o Grenham’s - www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/index.htm - list of records
Church of Ireland
The established Church was the Anglican; less than half of records destroyed in 1922 fire
• These records were only ones legal in court of law until 1800’s – other religions may appear
• Church of Ireland records at FHL: