Irish Catholic parish registers - which is the best site to search?

It's St Patrick's Day on the 17th, so it's probably not surprising that FindMyPast Ireland chose this month to release its collection of Irish Catholic parish registers. With the same records available on Ancestry, that brings the number of sites - and ways - to search these records to three, which is a giant bonus to those of us researching Catholic ancestors from Ireland.

Free Irish records

In July last year, the National Library of Ireland first released these records, which were warmly welcomed by genealogists all round the world. It's not just that they help us trace our Irish ancestors, a notoriously tricky thing to do (but not as hard as I thought when I started out). The other wonderful thing is that they're free to access.

At the time, I posted on Worldwide Genealogy about my first impressions of using this wonderful resource, which the NLI provided without an index. I wasn't going to look such a ground-breaking gift horse in the gob. But now, with FMP and Ancestry both providing access to the parish registers, it's possible to search them using the methods that many genealogists are used to on these two sites.

So this month I'm going to conduct a genexperiment and try all three out, looking for the same person, and see if any of them will become my favourite for Irish Catholic parish register research. I also want to know if I can search all three for free.

Catholic parish register search

I'll start with the first publishers of the Irish Catholic parish registers, the NLI's own website. Because you need to know which parish you want to search, I'm going to look for Daniel Delaney of the parish of Tomacork (Carnew). He may be related to my ancestor Nicholas Delaney, who was from the same parish. It's a fairly unusual surname in the area.

Shane Wilson has a useful tool on his excellent website for finding RC parishes.

NLI

Going to the home page, I entered the parish name (Tomacork, in this case). This took me to a page offering three microfilms. I needed the earliest:

Selecting any of the categories or the image all took me to the same page, the first image in this collection:

And from then on it was a case of scrolling through the records, looking out for the name Carnew (usually at the right-hand side of the page).

This took a while, and I found Daniel only as a father, here with his wife Mary as parents to Anne in February 1794:

The display's fairly small and I recommend switching to full screen view using the button on the top right. You can also adjust brightness using the buttons, but here I'm just giving you the image as is, for comparison.

Daniel's baptism and marriage must have taken place before these records were compiled, or else he moved to Carnew from another parish.

Ancestry

Next I searched for Daniel in the Catholic parish registers on Ancestry. I've got a subscription, but I wanted to see whether I could find Daniel without logging in. From the Birth, Marriage & Death, including Parish screen I selected Ireland as my collection focus and opened the card catalogue. Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers 1655-1915 is the last collection on the second page, so I hope I've saved you some time!

If you want to just browse, you'll need to know which diocese you're searching for to use Ancestry. I'm looking for Ferns. You then have the option to enter the parish name and year range - for me, it's Tomacork and 1785-1845. However if you just hit the year range it takes you to a page asking you to sign up for a free trial, which I don't need. I still wanted to see how far I could go in searching records which are available free elsewhere. So don't browse if you haven't got an Ancestry sub, you need to actively search.

So going back to the screen above I entered my search. I found that entering the exact diocese brought up a few results but not the one I wanted - but if I didn't enter the diocese I got 240 results and none of them were the one I wanted. That told me that I couldn't search baptisms by parents. So if I hadn't known that I was looking for the father of Anne, I'd have had to browse, just as with the NLI records. So I searched for Anne, and...

The first record! But to check, I hovered over View Record, and...

The right record (though Mary's name in the original is Costolough, not Cossolough). And that's as far as you can go without signing in. I don't know if you can go further by opening a free account because I don't need one. But I wanted to check the quality of the image, so I signed in, and here it is:

It's a slightly lighter image that the NLI's, but (peering at the screen) I think it's not quite such good quality. While using Ancestry, I found it fairly easy to navigate around the record set, so that will save me time researching these records in the future. If I hadn't got an Ancestry sub, I could use it as an index and get the images from the NLI. Or is there an easier way?

FindMyPast

FMP offers its Irish Catholic parish registers for free. Again without signing in, I went to the Ireland Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records screen. But when selecting the record set, I found that FMP has separated the baptisms, marriages and deaths into three different record sets, so unlike with the other two sites, I had to choose.

Luckily, I knew I was looking for a baptism. But this time I got zero results. Once again, it was lucky I knew Daniel and Mary's daughter's name. Searching for Anne, I got zero results again. Was this because I'd gone straight to the record set, which is a method of searching FMP recommended by several genealogists with much more experience than me?

Back to the Search screen, and selecting only Births & Baptisms as a subcategory, no record set:

And there was Anne, the first record.

Clicking on the image icon brought me to a register/sign in dialogue box. I know that FMP Ireland has promised that the registers will be 'free to search, forever', but there's no mention of whether the images are free to view. Again, I don't want to open a new account just to check this because I already have a subscription to FMP. (How do I afford these subs, you may ask? I grab the special offers.) So I signed in, and here's the image:

It looks very similar to the NLI one. You can navigate using the < and > arrows, but there's no jumping to a page as there is with Ancestry.

So there you have it - three ways of accessing the NLI's Irish Catholic parish registers. Which will I use in the future? Obviously, it's a huge help to be able to search, though you need to know who you're looking for first (eg the daughter's name, not the mother's or father's, in this case).

I think I prefer the NLI site for scrolling through the images, though, as I said, I'll be using full screen. But for jumping around the records, Ancestry's the easiest. I suppose, in the end, it's a very personal choice.

And I'm hugely grateful to all three providers for making these superb records accessible.

It's a long post, so thanks for staying with me. There's so much more to say about these records! 

 

I'd love to know your thoughts if you've used the Irish Catholic parish registers via any of these sites. Have you got any favourites, or tips? Is there a clever shortcut I've missed?

Irish genealogy webinars

PS: There are some free Irish genealogy webinars taking place this week:

Family Search is hosting two sessions a day on Thursday 17th and Friday 18th. Full details over at Claire Santry's unmissable Irish Genealogy News blog.

FMP is holding its webinar tomorrow (Tuesday 15th) at 1600 GMT and the link is available here (this works for the UK; please check for your own area).

Thursday 17 March: Where is That? Finding and Understanding Places in Ireland. Starts 11am MST; 6pm GMT.

Thursday 17 March: Ireland & Census and Census Substitutes. Starts 1pm MST; 8pm GMT.

Friday 18 March: Ireland Catholic Church Records. Starts 11am MST; 6pm GMT.

Friday 18 March: Irish Protestant Records. Starts 1pm MST; 8pm GMT. - See more at: http://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2016/03/family-search-four-irish-genealogy.html#sthash.f3itwe7R.dpuf

Thursday 17 March: Where is That? Finding and Understanding Places in Ireland. Starts 11am MST; 6pm GMT.

Thursday 17 March: Ireland & Census and Census Substitutes. Starts 1pm MST; 8pm GMT.

Friday 18 March: Ireland Catholic Church Records. Starts 11am MST; 6pm GMT.

Friday 18 March: Irish Protestant Records. Starts 1pm MST; 8pm GMT. - See more at: http://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2016/03/family-search-four-irish-genealogy.html#sthash.f3itwe7R.dpuf

A Little Irish Fun

Since it is March and I am posting close to St. Patrick’s Day, I will talk about the search for my Irish family ancestry.

My mother's father and grandmother had died by the time my mother was two months old.  Her mom, a mother of 13, had her hands full raising the six left at home, so there wasn't much sharing of family history. Because of the dire circumstances her mom had to contend with, she had never known any of her father’s family.

I started my research on her father’s mother with just the fact his mother's maiden name was Magill. I was intrigued.  I easily found the book Magill Family Record written by Robert Magill, but could not find a tangible connection to my Magill family.  A cousin of my mother, a Ralph Magill, let me know that Elizabeth Jane Magill was married to Joseph Lester Magill.  He also sent me a copy of a letter he had received from a Magill saying he was related.  I studied the Dear Caleb letter.  I believe every Magill in America has read it. I was sent in all directions to research from the letter, but Caleb was not directly related to my Joseph L Magill in Clark County, Illinois. By process of elimination and places, and times, I finally decided upon the parents for my ancestor Joseph Lester Magill who had died in the 1840's.  

1. I knew he was born in Tennessee from the census's that I found Elizabeth in.  I found a Charles Magill married an Elizabeth Lester in Oct 24 1796.  This became my logical focus. Then I began the search for proofs I needed to have to make it so.  

2. I went to Ancient Irish naming patterns. Irish Naming Patterns, gives a basic pattern as listed below, although depending on circumstances these would sometimes vary. 

Oldest son named after the Father's father

2nd son named after the Mother's father

3rd son named after the Father

4th son named after the Father's oldest brother

Oldest daughter named after the Mother's mother

2nd daughter named after the Father's mother

3rd daughter named after the Mother

4th daughter named after the Mother's oldest sister

3. Joseph Lester Magill's apparent oldest son who appeared on the 1850 census was named after him.  The Daughter Elizabeth Jane could be after either the mother of John or Sarah.  They were both Elizabeth.

The apparent second son was John Davidson Magill which was the  name of Sarah's oldest brother.  Joseph Lester was also the name of Elizabeth Lester Magill's oldest brother.    Still, to prove this, I needed a Charles and an Archibald. As Joseph’s father was thought to be Charles Magill and Sarah’s father was Archibald Davidson. If they were born before 1850 and died I was up a creek without a paddle unless I could find family evidence.  It was about this time my mother's cousin finally broke down and sent me copies of the family bible. 

 

Marriages Sheet from Joseph Lester Magill Jr's bible

Deaths Sheet from Joseph Lester Magill Jr.'s bible

There was a Charles Andrew Magill first born, and a William Archibald the second born.  I knew I had my family.  I had a probate of when Joseph died in 1844 that named a William Magill along with John Davidson as executors.  William turned out to be Joseph's older brother.  

Then a "distant" cousin researching Charles Magill in Sullivan, Indiana found the land records that involved the heirs of Charles Magill.  My great grandmother was named with her brothers as heirs of Joseph Lester Magill, son of Charles Magill. 

BLM-GLO Image of Charles Magill land patent

BLM-GLO summary

I still wonder what happened that the first two sons died as toddlers, and what happened to Joseph. That will be a different search.

Now you have the story of the method I used to pull my Irish family together… I know, I know, I have not really crossed the pond, but it is known that the father of Charles Magill goes back to William Magill who is spoken of the Chronicles of the Scots-Irish Settlement in Virginia.  So, I claim Irish heritage even if it was only for a 100 years between Scotland and America. J  

Happy Belated St Patrick’s Day!

Books glorious (emigration) books

The (mostly) Irish migration and history section of my library.

For her Worldwide Genealogy post earlier this month, Tessa Keogh wrote about a Baker’s Dozen of Genealogy/Family History Books. In a Google+ discussion, Tessa gave me the green light to appropriate her idea and write about the books that are among my own “Top of the Pops”. So this month my post is about my favourite books on migration, especially Irish migration to Australia, a topic near and dear to my heart. I hope some of these will be new to you and offer you some great reading opportunities. Don’t make the mistake of thinking they only apply to Australia as much of the information/research can also be applied to research elsewhere. Either way, it gives a better understanding of where our Irish ancestors’ migration fits into the bigger picture.  

Farewell My Children: Irish Assisted Emigration to Australia 1848-1870, Reid, R. Anchor Books, Sydney 2011.

Dr Richard Reid is one of Australia’s foremost Irish, and military, historians as well as a speaker on Unlock the Past Cruises. If you have Irish ancestry in Australia you absolutely must get your hands on this book: buy it or borrow it from the library or a friend, if they’ll let it go. Based on Richard’s PhD thesis it is an analysis of the Irish migration to Australia in its peak period, revealing the nuances within that movement. I first read it as a thesis and was thrilled when he published the book…from my point of view it’s research gold! I wrote a review on it soon after it was published and it is worth reading even by non-Australian researchers who have Irish ancestry or an interest in migration history.

  

Richard Reid is also co-author or contributor to a couple of small collaborative publications for which the content vastly outweighs their slight appearance.

Visible women : female immigrants in colonial Australia. Richards, E (ed), ANU, Canberra, 1995

Poor Australian immigrants in the nineteenth century. Richards, E (ed), ANU, Canberra, 1991

Neglected sources for the history of Australian immigration.  Richards E; Reid, R; Fitzpatrick, D, ANU, Canberra, 1989.

Emigration and the Labouring Poor: Australian Recruitment in Britain and Ireland 1831-1860. Haines, R, St Martins Press, Basingstoke, 1997.

Life and Death in the Age of Sail: the passage to Australia. Haines, R, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2003.

I find both these books by Dr Robin Haines to provide an invaluable understanding of the background to our ancestral families’ migration. It would be interesting for north American readers to compare and contrast the management of migration to Australia with that to the America. Aimed primarily at the academic readership they offer many insights for family historians. Sharon from Strong Foundations blog has recently reviewed the latter book.

Ireland’s New Worlds: Immigrants, Politics and Society in the United States and Australia 1815-1922. Campbell, M. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison Wisconsin 2008.

Now readily available on Kindle as an ebook, or electronically if you have university access, this is an excellent book for its cross-comparison between two Irish migration streams and how their experiences differed. Definitely worth reading by Irish historians in both hemispheres.

Atlas of the Great Irish Famine. Crowley, J; Smyth WJ; Murphy M (eds), Cork University Press, Cork, 2012.

This comprehensive study of the Famine’s impact is excellent but I find its weight a deterrent to settling down to read it. I rather wish they’d issued it in two parts or alternatively that it was available as an ebook or two ebooks.

Mapping the Great Irish Famine. Kennedy L, Ell P S,  Crawford, E M, Clarkson L, (eds), Four Courts Press, Dublin, 1999.

I have had this book for some time. More spatial geography in relation to the Famine allowing a focus on townland or barony in comparison across census returns. I used it for a long time before the Atlas was published.

Oceans of Consolation: personal accounts of Irish migration to Australia. Fitzpatrick, D. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne 1995.

Enjoyable and insightful this book of rare letters between emigrants and their families in Ireland opens a precious window into how early emigrants responded to their new country. Although focused on Australian emigrants, the stories would still interest readers from elsewhere in the Irish diaspora. This is one of my favourite reference books. I referred to it in this post a while ago.

Richard Griffith and His Valuations of Ireland. Reilly, J R. Clearfield Company, Inc, 2000

A book no Irish researcher should be without. There’s so much more to the townland pages which we see when we search the valuations. Reilly explains what those cryptic annotations mean in terms of your family research. If you can’t get your hands on the book, this summary article will help.

The End of Hidden Ireland. Scally R J. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996.

The story of the residents of the Ballykilcline townland after they are dispossessed from the land. Scally has done a remarkable job of bringing them into the light and demonstrated possible strategies for those interested in One Place Studies.

Migration in Irish History, 1607 – 2007. Fitzgerald, P and Lambkin, B.  Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, 2008

I confess that I have yet to launch myself into this book but I offer it here because it addresses Irish migration across the centuries rather than the narrow timeframe we tend to focus on as family historians.

Have you read any or all of these books? What do you think of them? Would you recommend them to others?

PS Apologies for the weird formatting...I'm a wordpress blogger and sometimes Blogger defeats me.

A Baker's Dozen of Genealogy/Family History Books

A few from my list - you can find many of these at your local library!

Last month at this time I shared ten books (well I cheated a bit with some series books but hey, what is a bibliophile to do) that have had an impact on my life. I promised that I would be back this month and share ten books that have had an impact on my genealogy life (could not fit all that in the title - too long!). That might seem like a tall order, but I think I can handle it. So let's get sharing (if you have a book that has impacted you, please share it so we can all benefit!).

(1)  Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills - this book is simply the best! If you want to understand how citations work and why they are important, look no further than Evidence Explained. Ms. Mills not only explains the reasoning behind various citations, she also shares examples of most every type of source citation. And if you read the beginning chapters and pay attention, you will be able to craft you own source citation for any work for which she did not provide an example. I am a huge fan of "watching/reading and learning" and Ms. Mills' writing is clear, concise, and gently nudges genealogists and family historians to reach for the next level. Every genealogist needs to own this book.

(2)  Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills - what can I say, this woman is on a roll! Whether you want to take your hobby, passion, or profession seriously and understand all the important business, financial, and ethical requirements or you simply want to understand how to make the best use of a genealogy professional, this is the book for you (put it right next to Evidence Explained). Professional Genealogy serves as the textbook for ProGen Study Groups. You will definitely wring everything out of this book if you join a ProGen group. Whether you join a ProGen group or go it alone, you need Professional Genealogy.

(3)  Destination America: The People and Cultures That Created a Nation by Chuck Wills - do you want to understand how all of the people who came to America shaped and added to our nation's rich tapestry of multiculturalism? This gorgeous book (spoiler alert - maps and lots of photos - you won't be able to put it down) was the basis of a PBS series by the same name put together by David Grubin. Destination America contains amazing stories of where immigrants came from and why they left their native lands, lovely photos and maps (oh yes maps!) and the chance to gain a better understanding of how our freedoms (freedom to worship, freedom from oppression, freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom to create) have been strengthened due to the efforts of all our people. Destination America introduces us to the original native Americans as well as most religious or ethnic groups that joined them here. As a country, we don't always get it right (and sometimes we get it very wrong) but we do aspire to be better. Destination America will remind you of what your own group(s) went through and help you appreciate the stories of other groups of your fellow Americans.

(4)  Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto - American history is often taught through a prism of British history, but that is only a part of our story (think about the Native American population, as well as French, Russian, and Spanish interests). Our America serves as a reminder that the United States' history is just as much the story of Spanish colonization as any other group's colonization. Our America reminds us of the Southwest and West regions' rich history. Our Hispanic past is just as important as any discussion of the Pilgrims and the 13 colonies.

(5)  Geography and Genealogy: Locating Personal Pasts edited by Timothy Dallen and Jeanne Kay Guelke - this one is a bit hard to find (go to your college and university libraries) but is worth the trouble. Geography is such an important aspect in genealogy and it usually gets short shrift. I recently took several courses in cultural and physical geography and they opened my eyes to all the factors that affect people, culture, and place. Whether you want to understand the questions of why people settled where they did, how they lived, how natural and man-made barriers affected their lives, what migration patterns were and how they have changed over time, the push-pull factors of migration, and a host of other topics - the study of geography provides the answers. This book provides an introduction to the field of geography as it relates to genealogy. Combine Geography and Genealogy with a few classics like Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sorbel and Geography: Realms, Regions and Concepts by Harm J. De Blij and Peter O. Muller (the newest edition is available as a rental eBook!), as well as the very readable newer entries that combine history and just plain fun, including The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself  by Daniel J. Boorstin and Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks by Ken Jennings - and you will see our world in a whole new light.

(6)  Tracing Your Irish Ancestors: the Complete Guide by John Grenham - this book is an excellent primer on Irish family history research. It is important to understand the history of a place, its physical layout and system of record-keeping and, of course, what is available (offline and online). For anyone serious about researching their Irish ancestors this is the book. Mr. Grenham has a number of other publications (in both book and CD-ROM format) that are also especially helpful - Clans and Families of Ireland, Grenham's Irish Surnames and Grenham's Irish Recordfinder. Combine Tracing Your Irish Ancestors with A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland by Brian Mitchell and Irish Records: Sources for Family and Local History by James G. Ryan, and you will have your Irish research resources covered.

(7)  Finding a Place Called Home: A Guide to African-American Genealogy and Historical Identity by Dee Parmer Woodtor - for African-Americans researching their genealogy and family history and for all those wanting to understand the family history of African-Americans in our county, this is the book. An excellent resource to find out about how slavery (and the concept of people as property) affects our research from as early as 1790. Finding a Place Called Home is not only a genealogy resource but a fascinating history of a people through time - slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, WWI, WWII, the Civil Rights movement, and migration resulting from these events. African-American history is American history and African-American genealogy is American genealogy - it touches all of us and this book is an excellent introduction.

(8)  The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy by Loretto Dennis Szucs and The Red Book: American State County & Town Sources edited by Alice Eichholz are essential genealogy reference books, so much so that Ancestry.com puts them front and center on their learning page (in front of their pay-wall - run don't walk there - okay use the magic of the internet!). If you want to figure out what records are available - whether on the Federal or local level, where those records are located in various State and County repositories, and how to get your hands (real or virtual) on them, these two books are the place to start. A note: researchers need to take the contact information and update it as more information becomes available online and datasets and office information change - but these books provide the history, the guideposts, and those all important breadcrumbs for further research. These books are at many libraries and sit happily alongside my copies of Evidence Explained and Professional Genealogy - they are that good and that useful.

(9)  Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America by David Hackett Fischer - a look at four waves of immigration to America: the Cavaliers to the Atlantic Southeast (Virginia), the Puritans to New England, the Quakers to Pennsylvania, and the Scots-Irish or Borderers to the Appalachians. This is an interesting book that speaks to English culture and its impact on populating the colonies in the 1629-1775 time-frame. I would encourage readers and researchers to take Mr. Fischer's conclusions and generalizations with a grain of salt - I don't think everything is so neat and tidy, but Albion's Seed does provide lots of information on the cultural and social history of these groups, together with references and suggestions for additional reading.

(10)  Organizing Your Family History Search: Efficient & Effective Ways to Gather and Protect Your Genealogical Research by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack - if you are anything like me you would like to know that you are on the right track and that you are approaching your genealogy and record-keeping in an efficient and effective manner. Simply put, genealogists want to know how to put all the information we gather together. Well Ms. Carmack does a fine job of helping us out in an easy to read and incorporate way. Sometimes you will nod your head (done that) and other times you will have an "aha moment." The best method of organizing our research and results is the method that we will actually use day in and day out. Check out Ms. Carmack's suggestions and get organized!

(11)  The Surnames Handbook: A Guide to Family Name Research in the 21st Century and DNA and Social Networking: A Guide to Genealogy in the Twenty-First Century both by Debbie Kennett - these areas of research are relatively new to most of us. Both DNA and Social Networking and The Surnames Handbook are well-written and contain a wealth of website links and resources to assist us in our studies. Ms. Kennett's clear and concise explanations of DNA studies (so much has changed since my university biology classes!) and social networking (how to best use all the tools at our disposal and not be overwhelmed by them) help genealogists and family historians understand how to make the best use of both. Ms. Kennett's guide to surname research is thorough and quite readable. Surname research, as a facet of family history, is expanding on a worldwide basis and Ms. Kennett's guide is an especially helpful introduction.

(12)  Seven Pillars of Wisdom - The Art of One-Name Studies edited by the Guild of One-Name Studies and Putting Your Ancestors in their Place: A Guide to One Place Studies by Janet Few - those of you who know me, know that I am working on a one-name (surname) study and a one-place (location) study. At some point I hope to encourage enough Keoughs to join the existing Keough-DNA study (but that is still a future thought). While our own family history and genealogy is interesting, I do think that putting those who share our surname or our place in context is a fascinating area of specialized family history research. The methodology and projects suggested in Seven Pillars and Putting Your Ancestors in Their Place are incredibly helpful to the family historian who wants to take her/his research further and connect it to the bigger picture or puzzle out possible connections.

(13)  A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present by Howard Zinn - what can I say - a history of the United States told from the viewpoint and in the words of the people who have made this country and who are not often heard from - the women, the Native Americans, the immigrants, the factory workers, the farmers, the laborers, and the working poor. This is not the history you learned in your unwieldy and cursory high school or college textbooks. This is not the history told by the establishment. Be sure to take Mr. Zinn's A People's History with a grain of salt, but also realize that history is written by the winners. It is important to understand our past and look at all sides of the story. Wear your critical thinking eyeglasses with this one, but it is just as important to not wear our rose-colored glasses while we read either.

(14)  And because I am a bit of a cheat (I am sure you have counted more than my baker's dozen here) EVERYTHING by Ken Burns & Company is, in my humble opinion, brilliant and shines a light on our American family history. We and our extended families exist in a time and place and our experiences affect other people and other countries as well as our own. Be sure to check out these books which serve as companions to the Ken Burns for PBS documentary films. Although the films are wonderful, these books include much more detail (no time constraints, unlike film productions), provide additional resources, and explore the American experience from a variety of events or topics, large and small. My choices include the following:

• The Civil War: An Illustrated History by Geoffrey C. Ward, Ric Burns and Ken Burns
• Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
• The National Parks: America's Best Idea by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
• Jazz: A History of America's Music by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
• The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945 by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
• Mark Twain: An Illustrated Biography by Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan
• Not for Ourselves Alone: the Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony by Geoffrey C. Ward and Kenneth Burns
• The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God by Amy Stechler Burns and ken Burns
• Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
• The Roosevelts: An Intimate History by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns

Books - Glorious Books! (image made with wordle.net)

Okay - there you have it! Did I miss anything that you think is a must read? You will notice that I have a bit of an American bent (hey I'm American), but I hope I have included enough varied topics and types of genealogy and family history books so that there is something you know and agree with and something that is new to you. Please share your choices of genealogy or family history books that have had an affect of you in the comments section. 

Cheers and Enjoy!

Tessa 

The Emigrants from East County Clare

Since all those who are, or wish to be, of Irish descent have just celebrated St Patrick’s Day it seems appropriate that my topic this month is my Irish migration research. While I have Irish ancestors from Clare, Kildare, Offaly, Wicklow and Wexford, this project broadens the research lens.

This project focuses on the emigrants from East County Clare to Australia in the mid-late 19^th century, from the Famine era to pre-1900. How have I defined East Clare? Well it is a little subjective, but I’ve used the baronies of Tulla Upper and Tulla Lower, and visually on the map, the area to the east of Ennis. It’s worth remembering too, that the people from parishes in the south-east corner, were part of the Limerick Union so when looking at workhouses, for example, one needs to look at the Limerick Workhouse rather than a Clare one.

While the emphasis is on Australia, it doesn’t mean I have no interest in the emigrants to North America (USA and Canada) but there’s only so much you can focus on without becoming completely befuddled. What I believe from my research is that the emigrants were not as powerless as we sometimes tend to think. Perhaps not during the Famine when survival and just finding a new life were the main goals, but certainly outside that horrific time.

Research by Pauleen Cass 2006. Data is sourced from Irish Census consolidated stats.
It shows quite clearly the impact of the Famine, and subsequent migration, on the parish of Kilseily where Broadford is situated.

For the period 1848-1870, Australia has generally excellent immigration records often (but not always) revealing parents’ names, whether alive or dead, literacy and whether they had relations in the colony. What it omits to mention is just how often each ship carried friends and neighbours from the same place, and it’s all too easy for a novice researcher to not realise that a brother/sister may also have been on board, because adult single men and women were listed separately from each other and the family groups.

Of course, inevitably, the very person you’re looking for may not be among those listed anywhere. This was the case with my Mary O’Brien (later Kunkel) whose immigration I’ve been pursuing for decades, and for whom I’ve only recently found a tentative result. 

The bonus of this is that it sent me down many paths trying to find anything about those who emigrated from the same place, Broadford, in the east of County Clare. This kicked off my East Clare project trying to learn more about them and whether they were typical of their age peers at home, or if there were differences.

One of the greatest (nigh impossible?) challenges of studying migration history is finding why people left their home place. You have the obvious impetus like the Famine (An Gorta Mór) but why did some siblings depart for Australia, others for North America, and yet others remain at home. Mostly it seems it was the older “children” who made the move, and Irish women were atypical of migration in general in that they were often the migration leaders. They would go ahead then bring relatives out in what is called chain migration.

© Copyright 2014 Pauleen Cass. Analysis of data from personal database drawn from Australian immigration records.

So your ancestors came to Australia? Or North America? Please don’t assume that all of the family who emigrated went to the same place. I’ve seen many cases where some of the siblings go to Boston or New York while others came to Australia (or New Zealand). Why would they choose a place so very far from their homeland? Well, the Australian colonies were offering generous government subsidies to attract workers to the colony, especially young women due to the gender imbalance. I have also concluded that the emigrants were more than capable of deciding that one lifestyle suited them better than another eg the opportunity to own their own land and farm in Australia vs a more urban lifestyle in an American city.  

I’ve also seen instances where one child in a family is born in the States and another in Liverpool before the family emigrated to Australia – an example of stage migration. There are cases where parents are already living in the USA, or Scotland, yet the young family chooses Australia as their destination. People are complex and quite capable of making decisions in their own interest when it comes to migration as to all else.

It’s likely that I’ll be back on this hobby-horse in posts to come, but today I also wanted to let you know about a new blog I’ve started (blatant self-promotion?). It’s called East Clare Emigrants and I’m hoping it will provide a locus for researchers with ancestors who came from the eastern half of Clare.

I just had to buy one of these badges
...jealousy got the better of me.

My posts on the blog will predominantly draw on stories and obituaries from our wonderful digitised newspaper site, Trove. It’s now possible to uncover the emigrants’ life stories in a way which would have been impossible until just a few years ago. We could find our own ancestors, or those for whom we had specific dates of death, but had no hope of this kind of general search. No wonder Trove is top of the pops for Aussie researchers and it really is a world-leader with its facilities. I particularly love how these obituaries give us a sense of their lives post-migration. No doubt a sanitised or glorified version, as obituaries tend to be, but offering a human depth to the story.

But will it help those from around the world? Well yes, I think it will because I’ve already come across some obits with references back to family in Ireland or the States.

I’d also be happy to include guest posts from those who have East Clare emigrants in their ancestry, wherever they ended up. So if your ancestors fit the bill, please get in touch via my email, or  have a look at some of the posts. There’s been a time-delay as I regroup after the cruise but hopefully I’ll be posting at least one a week, and often two.

© Copyright 2014 Pauleen Cass