Celtic Welding Links

Once you know the name of the civil parish of the town or 
townland, it
is possible to look for existing church registers within that parish. If
you know the denomination to which the ancestor belonged you can narrow
your search at this point. A useful book for finding the available
register is A Guide to Irish Parish Registers by Brian Mitchell (FHL
941.5 K23m). This publication gives the date of commencement of the
available registers of the several denominations in Ireland. Of course,
all registers have not survived the rigors of time. Some, but not all by
any means, have been lost to fire, water, rodents and human
carelessness. There are county Family Heritage Centers who have indexes
to the registers and will do a search for a fee. In 1992 The Irish
Family History Society printed a Directory of Parish Registers Indexed
in Ireland (FHL Ref. 941.5 K23d). The records of smaller denominations
may be kept at their individual church headquarters. The National
Library of Ireland has filmed all the Roman Catholic registers. Most of
them begin in the very late 1700 s or the first part of the 1800 s. A
few Catholic diocese still require that you request permission from the
diocesan authority before a search can be made. Irish Church Records
edited by James Ryan (FHL 941.5 K27rj) is a guide to existing registers
in each county for each denomination and gives information regarding
availability.

The Irish Census is unfortunately a lost record until 1901. 
A few scraps remain of earlier census returns for some northern counties and these
are precious indeed. Early censuses of 1831 exist as fragments for three
Baronies and the City of Londonderry. The 1841 census was used as
evidence of birth and a some copies of returns are found in applications
for Old Age Pensions in the early part of the twentieth century. County
Antrim has some returns for the 1851 census. The first census to survive
in complete form is that of 1901. The 1911 census of Ireland is also
available to the public. A Register of film numbers for the 1901 is
available at the Family History Library. The census of 1911 is being
prepared for library use with counties A to C already available.

A Registry of Deeds (FHL 941.5 R23c) was commenced in 1708 and continues
to the present time. There are both surname and county indexes. It can
be used to localize surnames in Ireland. Until Catholic Emancipation in
1829 the deeds were mainly those of Protestant land holding families
since Catholics were not allowed to own land. The deeds have been found
to contain marriage settlements, leases and mortgages and a few wills.
(FHL 941.5 P22e). Registry of Deeds, Abstracts of Wills by Beryl Eustace
(FHL 941.5 P22e).

The Church of Ireland required that couples who wished to be married in
that church obtain a marriage license from their Bishop or from the
Archbishop of Armagh. The other alternative was to have their local
minister announce their intended union in their parish church for three
consecutive weeks. The Banns have not survived but the marriage license
indexes still exist. When obtaining a license an Allegation was made
which named the couple and gave their ages as well as the place where
the marriage was to take place. A Bond was then made. A diocesan index
has survived the centuries between 1629 and 1864.

It is well to become acquainted with Hayes Manuscript Sources for the
History of Irish Civilization (FHiL REF Q 941.5 ASh). It is an eleven
volume series with a supplement of three volumes. The volumes are
divided into sections for Persons, Subjects and Places. The manuscripts
named in this work are found in over thirty countries as well as in
Ireland. See Guide to Irish and Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research by
Margaret Dickson Falley for information about other collections. A Card
Index to Collections in the Genealogical Office is a surname index to
various family names in Ireland, includes pedigrees. A Card Index to
Collections in The Public Record Office ofNorthern Ireland is by name
and subject from widely varied sources.

When the sought after ancestor can be identified with a place of origin
such as a town or towniand, it may be obvious that spelling has been
fractured. An Index to the Baronies, Parishes, Towns and Townlands of
Ireland (FHL 941.5 K22g) should be consulted. This index will put the
place-name into the correct county, barony, civil parish and poor law
union. Since Irish place-names have usually been interpreted as heard by
the recorder this index is essential. A Gaelic place-name will be
different from the Anglo-Irish version. When you have correctly
identified the place-name you can proceed to search for relevant records
for the right civil and/or ecclesiastical parish. If a place-name cannot
be found in family records, then U.S. sources must be exhausted in an
effort to find a residence in Ireland. A New Genealogical Atlas of
Ireland by Brian Mitchell (FHL 941.5 E7m) gives maps for the several
divisions in each county.

The probates suffered greatly in the Civil War of 1922. The building in
which they were stored was blown up and papers scattered throughout
Dublin. The indexes to the wills has survived and some abstracts that
were made previously are now of great value. Will Abstracts by Sir
William Betham and Sir Arthur Vicars are among those available at the
Family History Library. An index to 7,500 wills in the Genealogical
Office was compiled by Beryl Eustace (FHL 941.5 P 22eu). Sir Bernard
Burke compiled will abstracts into pedigrees. Wealthy families had their
wills proved in The Prerogative Court of Armagh or in an English court.
There were twenty-eight diocesan courts and parishes were assigned to a
particular court. In 1858 the system of probating wills was changed from
an ecclesiastical to a government system. The Principal Probate court
was set up in Dublin and eleven district courts were made available
throughout Ireland. The will copies for Dublin & Kildare were lost in
1922 but copies at the other registries have been collected and
deposited in the P.R.O. A Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters
of Administrations Made in the Principal Registry and Several District
Court Registries is the general index to these wills. The Calendar and
The London Inland Revenue indexes and wills have been filmed. They are
available at The Family History Library.

There are lesser known records that can assist the researcher in
searching out Irish sources. The National Schools of Ireland opened in
the early 1900 s. Registers were kept for boys, girls and infants. Their
names were recorded along with the name of the mother or father of the
pupil. The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has made available A
Guide to Educational Records. This publication lists the name of the
schools and the years covered by the records. (The Family History
Library has them on film). In the Irish Free State, efforts have been
made to collect the registers into the Public Record Office. In time
they will be put on film and will be made available. The school
registers provide interesting clues to the lifestyle of the people in
different districts and parts of the country. For more information on
school records see an article of mine entitled The National Schools of
Ireland, The Irish at Home and Abroad, Volume 3, Number 2. 1995/1996.
See The National School System, 1831-1924, facsimile documents/compiled
by Ken Hannigan (FHL 941.5 J2ns).

The Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of
the Dead has published Memorials from 1888 to 1897 and they are available on 18 microfiche.
(FHL #6342711, 6342712,6342713). They are arranged by years. The Committee of the Irish
National War Memorial compiled.Ireland s Memorial Records 19 14-1918 with the names of Irish soldiers
who died in the First World War (FHL #1279333).

The records of those who emigrated to America, Australia and elsewhere
are mostly found in the records of the adopted country. The Poor Law
Unlon records of Irish counties contain some information for those whose
passage was paid by the Union. Those Estate owners who participated in
emigration schemes recorded the names of tenants who emigrated. Some
Estate Papers are still in private hands.,