Limerick Data

Bicycle

There's a lot of Limerick data, easily accessed here including electoral registers, obituaries, heads of households of the 1901 census etc.

Excellent site.

http://www.limerick.ie/library/localstudies/

Bicycle

The Limerick Chronicle in the early years i.e. 1768 onwards can now be viewed online courtesy of the Glucksman Library in UL

http://ulir.ul.ie/simple-search?query=%28supercollection%3Aul_digital_archive%29

Brennans Row

Bicycle wrote: »

There's a lot of Limerick data, easily accessed here including electoral registers, obituaries, heads of households of the 1901 census etc.

Excellent site.

http://www.limerick.ie/library/localstudies/

The city library has changed that link to the local studies website.

http://www.limerick.ie/localstudies/

Brennans Row

I found Margaret Franklin’s book “Tracing your Limerick Ancestors” to be a great help when I started to research my own family tree.

There are lots of practical tips and I found it great value for money (circa €11).

I think it was first published in 2003, which would mean it is now due an updated edition to cover all the new material that has since come online.

pinkypinky

I have the Limerick book too and it was very handy as a beginner genealogist. I know that Flyleaf has updated a couple of their publications (the excellent Church Records and the Dublin tracing your ancestors).

Brennans Row

My own genealogy adventure started two years ago after a visit home to Limerick. I went to Mount St. Lawrence with a cousin of mine and in the course of a conversation with him, he recalled the death of an uncle of ours, who had died as a young child in the 1929.

Our grandparents were in the process of emigrating to the states when he died and therefore he was buried in some relatives’ grave. But where, we did not know. So with the help from one of the cemetery workers, he looked up an old register and marched us off to where he was buried.

Of Course we were very pleased with finding an answer as to where our uncle’s grave was. However the old headstone with our family name on it threw up many more questions as we knew nothing about the other people buried there with him.

So I took some photographs and I spent some winter evenings searching the online cemetery records (Limerick Archives), a service which I’m very grateful for. After scanning through some 70,000 entries, I ended up with a list of names that formed the basis for my research.

So if your folks are from the city then Mount St. Lawrence’s Cemetery is a great starting point.

See link.

Brennans Row

I read in a recent Limerick Leader newspaper article, that Dr. Matthew Potter of the Mary Immaculate College and the City Council are conducting a project on Mount St. Lawrence’s Cemetery.



It will involve . . . .

• information panels and guidebooks
• creating a searchable database
• photography of the headstones for a large archive
• a major book

Obviously I can’t wait to use the new database myself as trawling through 70,000 burial entries is very demanding on one’s sight.

Brennans Row

Following the 1830’s cholera epidemics and the Great Famine in the 1840’s new burial grounds were needed in Limerick. Mount St Lawrence Cemetery was officially opened on 29 March 1849 in a ceremony presided over by Dr John Ryan, Bishop of Limerick.

Mount St Lawrence graveyard was the primary place of burial in Limerick City for all strata of society since its opening in 1849 from the wealthy and influential to those who died in the Lunatic Asylum and the workhouse. An extension to Mount St Lawrence was opened in 1960 and a new burial ground, Mount St Oliver, was opened in 1978.

The burial records begin in March 1855. Few burials seem to have taken place in the early years possibly because people were reluctant to bury the deceased so far from the existing city graveyards. The Burial Register now records that over 70,000 individuals have been interred in Mount St Lawrence between 1855 and 2009. However, the actual number is believed to be much higher.


Source see attachment.

I’m very interested in the Roman Catholic Burial Grounds that would have served the city prior to the start of records at Mount St. Lawrence (1855).

• Killalee Graveyard (Garryowen)
• St Patrick’s Graveyard (Singland)
• St Michael’s Graveyard (Watergate)
• Killeely Graveyard (Thomondgate)

My Great-Great-Grandparents married in the 1850s and raised their family in St. John’s Parish (Irishtown).

I have been looking for sources that might help reveal a previous generation to my family tree.

I suppose it would be wishful thinking but do burial registers exist for these graveyards (pre-1850s)?

pinkypinky

I don't know but Limerick City Library is the place to ask. They're very approachable by email.

Brennans Row

Indeed I always found the staff of the local studies department to be very approachable and very helpful too. I hope to be in Limerick soon and I intend visiting the library as I have a few other queries on my mind.

Though to be honest, I’m not too optimistic about finding any burial register on those four graveyards mentioned above, as I once read that the Catholic Church generally did not maintain burial records pre 1850.

However there must have been some burial fee charged by the churches back then and if so then surely some accounting journal must have existed to administer the payment of those monies?

shanew

Brennans Row wrote: »

....
Though to be honest, I’m not too optimistic about finding any burial register on those four graveyards mentioned above, as I once read that the Catholic Church generally did not maintain burial records pre 1850.
....

I would push that date even later than that - from what I've seen few RC parishes kept death/burials before the 1900s. Although you might be lucky and find Memorial Inscriptions if the family were reasonably well off.

e.g. none of the Limerick city parishes show burials in the NLI microfilms - i.e. before 1880, and a spot check of a few random Co. Limerick parishes showed just one with burials (Croom) and they were partial.

One reason I've heard suggested for the lack of death/burials in the usual registers was due to the fact that no actual sacrament was involved ?


Shane

pinkypinky

shanew wrote: »

One reason I've heard suggested for the lack of death/burials in the usual registers was due to the fact that no actual sacrament was involved ?


Shane

That is exactly what I've heard too. I'm not sure I've ever seen a burial register for a 19th century RC church.

shanew

I seem to remember (sorry cant remember a source - maybe John Grenham?), that the majority of RC parishes where death/burial records were kept were in the northern half of Ireland - something about north of an imaginary line between Dublin and Sligo...



Shane

Coolnabacky1873

Shanew, that's correct. I've been re-reading Grenham's TYIA over the last few days and that is in there.

The geographic divide is a curious one. Grenham didn't offer an explanation.

If the relevant CofI register exist then it is worth consulting them for 'Papist' burials.

Brennans Row

shanew wrote: »

. . . none of the Limerick city parishes show burials in the NLI microfilms . . .

Thanks for confirming that.

shanew wrote: »

. . . Although you might be lucky and find Memorial Inscriptions . . .

That looks like my best option.

I found an online source of headstone inscriptions for St. Michaels Graveyard at Limerick’s Life website.

davidjcie

Bicycle wrote: »

There's a lot of Limerick data, easily accessed here including electoral registers, obituaries, heads of households of the 1901 census etc.

Excellent site.

http://www.limerick.ie/library/localstudies/[/QUOTE]


I Agree but the data seems to be for
Limerick City only. Any good sources for the county available?
Ta
David

shanew

Bicycle wrote: »

I Agree but the data seems to be for
Limerick City only. Any good sources for the county available?
Ta
David

I dont think there's anything as good for the county - other than the usual websites, familysearch, NAI census, Griffiths etc, the availability of useful local online sources would likely depend on the area of the county you are interested in.



Shane

Brennans Row

Coolnabacky1873 wrote: »

If the relevant C of I register exist then it is worth consulting them for 'Papist' burials.

That crossed my mind especially after reading what the local historian Kevin Hannan wrote in a Old Limerick Journal about the 1832 Cholera Epidemic (see extract below concerning Killalee Graveyard ).

He gave me the impression that the Church of Ireland administered that particular Roman Catholic graveyard.

Was this arrangement typical for that era?

1832 Cholera Epidemic (Extract)

In the summer of 1849, the Limerick Chronicle published an account of two boys, who were bringing ten corpses every day to Killalee graveyard and, as they were unable to bury these, the dogs were devouring the bodies. Some of the animals were killed by their owners, while others were seen taking large pieces of human flesh across the country'. But the poor starving dogs were not the only culprits.

The same newspaper records that 'Constable Nash arrested, in the Irishtown, a woman named Mary Touhy in the act of selling 1 cwt. of human bones which she had removed from the burial ground of Killalee, outside Clare Street. The miscreant had also a quantity of shrouding and caps worn by the dead'. We do not know the penalty paid by this wretched woman, but we do know that she was not the only human exploiter of the ancient burial place.

The Church of Ireland Rector of St. Patrick's was quick to seize his chance of cashing in on the unprecedented demand for the consecrated earth, for he increased the burial fee ~ from one shilling to two schillings!

enfield

I have a digital database of the 1300 Limerick casulaties of ww1 if you need a lookup. The Widows Penny only lists 1012.
Cheers.
Tom.

ZombieBride

There's quite a few transcriptions here too

http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/limerick/index.htm

Brennans Row

Thanks for the link, that site even has a small text file on St. Patrick's Graveyard (Singland) with details of some 20 Memorials.

Brennans Row

Brennans Row wrote: »

He gave me the impression that the Church of Ireland administered that particular Roman Catholic graveyard.

Was this arrangement typical for that era?

Maybe I should reread the book that I recommended on the previous page. It seems the Anglican & Roman Churches had more in common than what differed them.

Chapter 8 Grave Records and Inscriptions
In Ireland it is important to note that Catholics and Protestants were often buried in one graveyard. So the older Church of Ireland can be a source for some Catholic families.

The same chapter gave some tips about what to do when the legibility of old headstones is poor.

The legibility of the headstones can vary especially as some stones weather easily. Time, weather and tree roots may all have taken their toll on the stones. In order to read old inscriptions chalk or clumps of wet grass rubbed along the lines are all that is required.

I observed by chance that the morning sun shining on an old gravestone greatly enhances its legibility.

Coolnabacky1873

Brennans Row wrote: »

That crossed my mind especially after reading what the local historian Kevin Hannan wrote in a Old Limerick Journal about the 1832 Cholera Epidemic (see extract below concerning Killalee Graveyard ).

He gave me the impression that the Church of Ireland administered that particular Roman Catholic graveyard.

Was this arrangement typical for that era?

I'm working from the depths of my memory with this one but the relevant legislation that allowed for local authorities to have and maintain graveyards came in sometime in 1895-1898.

As the CofI was the established Church up to 1871 then they might have had legal authority to record burials. As for the lack of completeness, I don't have an answer for that.

Brennans Row

Having started my own family tree research at Mount St. Lawrence’s Cemetery, I needed to make sense of a list of unknown relatives that I had compiled, who were also buried with my uncle (1929) as mentioned on the previous page.

The cemetery burial register has one drawback in that the address of the deceased was the place of death and not necessarily where he/she had lived. Despite that I could still make out a rough family tree when I checked my list of names with those on the 1901/11 census. It was then clear to me that this grave was opened by my great-great-grandparents.

However I needed more information to prove how all those relatives buried there, were related to each other. To do this I needed to get their death certificates. So I took a stroll out to St Camillus Hospital where the civil registration office is situated.

Luckily enough for me the office was quiet that afternoon and a member of staff kindly took some time to answer my queries. She explained that firstly they don’t have research facilities there. Secondly a large selection of records had been digitalized but I think those pre-1921 were in the work-in-progress stage.

Basically, she informed me that they can issue full certified death certs for a €10 fee or online at www.certificates.ie. Alternatively they also issue uncertified certs for research purposes at a cheaper fee of €6. See attachment below.

So when I returned home from Limerick, I made up a new list and mailed it off back to that particular staff member. About a week later she informed me that it was finished and I made arrangements in Limerick to have it collected and paid for.

Facet I was very pleased with the research certs and they were professionally well done.

mari2222

Coolnabacky1873 wrote: »

I'm working from the depths of my memory with this one but the relevant legislation that allowed for local authorities to have and maintain graveyards came in sometime in 1895-1898.

As the CofI was the established Church up to 1871 then they might have had legal authority to record burials. As for the lack of completeness, I don't have an answer for that.

Twas the Public Health (Ireland) Act of 1878 that set up sanitary authorities (forerunners of county councils) who were authorised to provide burial grounds.!

Coolnabacky1873

Thanks very much Mari!

Further to this I had a look again at the source that I was confusing with something else and in the pre-1878 period there were Burial Boards that were sub-committee's of the Poor Law Unions.

The source document is in relation to county Galway and seems to discuss what happened in that county from 1889 onwards (but possibly in other counties too?).

Mari, or anyone else, able to shed any light on the Burial Boards?

I wonder if their records, if any, are at NAI. Maybe.

shanew

Other than Church and Local Authority graveyards were the privately setup like Mount Jerome in 1836, .... dont know if this applies to any in Limerick though.

Extract from Thom's 1848 entry for Harold's Cross, Dublin.

"The principal attraction at this place is Mount Jerome Cemetery, the second of the kind established in the environs before that of Glasnevin was formed. It is managed by a company of shareholders, under Act 4 and 5 Wm. IV..."

I'm not sure exactly what the status of Glasnevin cemetery (1832) was initially - but dont think it was either church or local authority run.


Shane

Hermy

Thanks to Brennans Row for resurrecting this thread I've found a couple of obituaries .

Brennans Row

Historical Note

Smallpox has been one of humankind's greatest scourges which affected all ages and socioeconomic classes.

The critical step towards the eradication of smallpox occurred when Edward Jenner and English physician noticed that milkmaids who developed cowpox, a less serious disease, did not develop the deadly smallpox. By 1796 he had developed a vaccine (from vacca, the Latin word for cow).

Efforts at immunization in Ireland in the first half of the eighteenth century were generally unsuccessful until the1864 Compulsory Vaccination Act. Parents were fined if they did not have their children vaccinated while Registrars responsible for the registration of births deaths and marriages in dispensary districts were responsible for registration of vaccinations and were paid per entry. This ensured success of the first mass vaccination scheme in Ireland.

Limerick City Archives holds Records of Successful Vaccinations for Limerick City and part of county Limerick which list the names and ages of children aged between 4-9 months, and the names and addresses of their parents. The World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared smallpox eradicated in 1980.

Did women fib about their age in the past too?

Well my great grandaunt seemed to have done so. At a stage of my research where I had no birth / baptism certificates, I simply estimated the year of birth from the age given in the 1901 / 1911 census, burial register, death certificate or headstone. In the case of my great grandaunt I estimated five different years of birth for her. Such inconsistencies simply wreck my head!

Luckily enough I came across the vaccination registers from the Limerick Archives and I found a record entry dated 1869 where she at the age of five months was vaccinated. Thankfully at that tender age she no capacity to fib. I also found other siblings of her which helped expand my family tree.

Facet, these registers are a little gem of a resource.

Brennans Row

When I had exhausted all my freely available sources for my family tree research a year ago, I decided it was time to approach a professional genealogist to fill in the missing gaps or if possible at all, go back even a further generation. The staff at the civil registration office had recommended to me the services of Limerick Genealogy in Dooradoyle and so I rang them. Unfortunately it was closed for the Christmas vacations but I did find their website. Its list of genealogical sources was impressive and their commissioned service products on offer looked very good too. What caught my interest was an option to search online on a pay per view at Roots Ireland - Limerick Genealogy.


List of databases online for Co. Limerick

• Baptismal / Birth Records - 660,368 Records
• Marriage Records - 310,222 Records
• Burial / Death Records - 179,669 Records
• Census Records - 151,516 Records
• Griffith’s Valuation Records - 34,842 Records

Their price structure has since changed, but in my case the search index was free and to see the details it was € 5 per view. To be honest I had to grapple a bit with their search index at first before I started to get the optimal filtered results. I made screenshots of my index research results and then compared them to my own list of relatives before viewing them. It’s the only way to avoid wasting money on irrelevant records.

Brennans Row

Pauper Limerick, The Register of the Limerick House of Industry, 1774-1793

Edited by: David Fleming and John Logan

The register of the Limerick House of Industry contains information on the age, sex, place of origin, religion, medical condition, admission and discharge, amongst other details, of 2,747 inmates for the period 1774-1793. Of the twelve houses of industry established under the Irish poor law of 1771-2, this is the only admission book known to have survived and is unique for Ireland.

While revealing the mechanisms employed to administer a significant institution, the register also provides a singular record for a social group whose history is necessarily elusive. It also provides evidence of individual strategies for dealing with poverty, infirmity, disease and lunacy.

This source will be invaluable to scholars of poverty, social provision, medicine, urban life, institutions and gender in the early modern period.

Genealogists researching families in Limerick, Clare, Tipperary and Cork (the places in which most of the inmates originated) will also find it useful as will those historians interested in the history of those counties.

ISBN: 978-1-906865-10-8

A truly fascinating book.

Brennans Row

Searching the online source at “Roots Ireland” is the fun part of doing one’s own research, but a very expensive one.

In my case, I found circa 200 records concerning my surname from 1790 to 1900.

From those 200 records, I viewed only 22 of them at a cost of €5 per view (old price) i.e. my total spend was €110.

However to do a full comprehensive research of my family tree I would need to view all those 200 records which would have set me back €1000 (old price)!

The new price structure would cost €500 plus extra charges for each search.

In my opinion, that online pay-per-view service is not suitable for people like me trying to do a comprehensive research on one’s own family tree.

So I approached the Limerick Genealogy and after two telephone conversations I commissioned them to finish off my research.

Their report costs circa €175 + VAT to do and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of their work when I received it.

It was professionally well done, it was comprehensive, it filled the missing gaps in my research and more, the 40 pages or so were well written, structured layout which makes for good reading.

I also received interesting interpretations and tips which opened up more leads to follow up.

For me, it was really great value for money.

Brennans Row

1. Ryan
2. O'Brien
3. Fitzgerald
4. Connors
5. Hayes
6. Walsh
7. Sullivan
8. Moloney
9. Bourke
10. Murphy

mari2222

Coolnabacky1873 wrote: »

Thanks very much Mari!

Further to this I had a look again at the source that I was confusing with something else and in the pre-1878 period there were Burial Boards that were sub-committee's of the Poor Law Unions.

The source document is in relation to county Galway and seems to discuss what happened in that county from 1889 onwards (but possibly in other counties too?).

Mari, or anyone else, able to shed any light on the Burial Boards?

I wonder if their records, if any, are at NAI. Maybe.

Sorry for late reply, best I can come up with is the establishment of burial boards under UK Burial Acts 1852-57 (and later)........their role was more "health" than "local government"

Brennans Row

Thanks ShaneW for highlighting those Irish Times links regarding the Roman Catholic parish registers for Limerick (west, east and city).

It was most interesting to read that there is the possibility to research Limerick baptism and marriage records at the National Library of Ireland for free.

This of course is very convenient if you live in Dublin but if you have to travel up from Limerick, one would probably want to plan one’s visit to the NLI well beforehand.

I had a look at the NLI website and there are 8 microfilm reels for the parishes of Limerick City.

I wonder how much time does a person need to trawl through one such reel?

Any tips as to how to get the maximum out of one’s visit there, as there seems to be limits on the number of media one can access per day?



Limerick City Parishes

• St. Patrick’s Parish: (NLI Reference Pos. 2410)
• St. John’s Parish: (NLI Reference Pos. 2411 + 2412)
• St. Mary’s Parish: (NLI Reference Pos. 2412 + 2413)
• St. Munchin’s Parish: (NLI Reference Pos. 2413 + 2414)
• St. Michael’s Parish: (NLI Reference Pos. 2415 + 2416 + 2417)

shanew

Brennans Row wrote: »

I wonder how much time does a person need to trawl through one such reel?

Any tips as to how to get the maximum out of one’s visit there..

not an easy question to answer - all depends on the range of dates you want to search, size of of the parish (i.e. population), how clear the handwriting is, the condition of the register etc etc

Some registers have surname indexes (often by first letter of surname rather than true alphabetical), but quite a few do not, so you have to scroll through the films searching for your dates. Some films contains several registers - not always of the same parish.

If you've never searched these particular 8 films before I'd probably allow a day to find your way around them to start with, get used to the layout and start an initial search.

It's also worth double checking if record of these are available anywhere locally - I say it's quite possible that a local library has copies.

The limits you mentioned apply to items you need to order... this doesn't apply to RC parish films as they use a different self-service system. One more detail - bring a list of christian names in Latin..

updated : I had a quick look at Limerick city and county library websites, but didnt see any mention of RC records.


Shane

Brennans Row

Thanks Shane.

I’ve never used library microfilm viewers before. My plan is to look first at the original records of my known relatives, thereafter I intend looking at all the city records containing my surname (1745-1880).

The limits you mentioned apply to items you need to order... this doesn't apply to RC parish films as they use a different self-service system.

That’s good.

It's also worth double checking if record of these are available anywhere locally - I say it's quite possible that a local library has copies.

I’ve just done that by posting a query on the City Library’s thread here on Boards.ie.

Brennans Row

The Irish Ancestry Research Centre (IARC) is a leading provider of research, education and training in History of Family and Irish ancestry. The centre also provides digitisation services for local and national repositories with a particular focus on genealogical sources. It is based on the campus of the University of Limerick.

The IARC team of researchers and education professionals is available to you at our walk-in centre in the Tierney Building in Limerick, Ireland. Alternatively browse our services online, and complete our research request form online for genealogical research assistance. As a UL campus company, IARC is a not-for-profit organisation, established in 2011.

Coolnabacky1873 has already started a thread on IARC, but I thought I’d mention it here since it is based on our doorstep in Limerick.

The interesting part about IARC is that you have the opportunity to discuss with someone on a face to face basis about researching one’s own family tree.

The personal contact to Limerick Genealogy can only be made through the phone which can be a downside.

IARC's education programme looks promising too.

See links to their research and education pages.

ZombieBride

The transcriptions for 1850s Mount St Lawrence Cemetery with obituary links are here:

http://limerickslife.com/mount-saint-lawrence-cemetery/

Brennans Row

ZombieBride wrote: »

The transcriptions for 1850s Mount St Lawrence Cemetery with obituary links are here:

That’s pretty neat linking the Limerick Archives with the Library Local Studies.

Imagine if the city council had the resources to interlink all their historical databases like that (i.e. archives, local studies and museum).

For example that website linked the burial record of John Fitzgerald who died April 1860 with his obituary in the Limerick Chronicle.

On Saturday last, John Fitzgerald, Esq. T.C. proprietor of
the Garryowen brewery, a gentleman whose death is deeply and
deservedly regretted by his family and friends. He was of mild
and unassuming manner, a kind and affectionate husband,
a fond parent, and a sincere friend. His remains were this day
interred at Mount St. Lawrence Cemetery, attended by the Corporation
and civic retinue. The funeral requisites were supplied by
the firm of Slattery & Co., George’s Street.

Below is an image of Fitzgerald’s Garryowen Brewery from the Limerick Museum.

ZombieBride

Limerick's life is doing the same with Street names, though it isn't complete yet, it's a fascinating resource. http://limerickslife.com/street-names/
Tying all the resources together with those in is a great idea, but a whole lot of work

Brennans Row

The idea of compiling a local history for any particular house is really interesting too, like 100 years of 22 Cecil Street Upper. :cool:

I can from my own experience appreciate the fact, the amount of work and time involved in researching anything like that.

Who knows maybe the city council (archives, library, museum) could explore the idea of starting a project where people could volunteer their time by compiling (linking) available local history onto one platform similar to the concept behind Wikipedia?

pinkypinky

I'm pretty sure that the John Joyce mentioned in that Cecil St article is my great-great grandfather's brother.

Brennans Row

pinkypinky wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that the John Joyce mentioned in that Cecil St article is my great-great grandfather's brother.

‘Tis indeed a small world here on boards.

Brennans Row

Limerick City Street Names ~ Gerry Joyce

Have you ever wondered who the streets of our city are named after? Did you know that almost one hundred and twenty of our streets and lanes underwent a change of name at various times in the past? Or that a staggering three hundred and fifty or so have been demolished in the course of various developments.

When you consider that most of those old streets and lanes were once inhabited, it is important to be able to locate them. The history of both the properties on them and the people who lived in them demand it of us.

If a city’s past is part of its soul, this book is important; it preserves the memory of old street names and, looking beyond to the origins of the names, puts faces on places.

The city library has a pdf version online. :cool:

This book was a great help for me to solve a mistake made by some civil servant in the 1901 census. We were looking for relatives who once lived in a small lane off Queen Street. Apparently the name of this particular lane existed twice in Limerick and thus the whole lane was transferred from the Shannon Ward into the Custom House ward. Searching for that lane wrecked my head but thankfully Gerry Joyce’s book clarified the matter.

The 3rd part of this book deals with streets or lanes that have vanished due to demolition / Development. Unfortunately it can only give an approximate location of where a lane once existed. This book needs a complimentary map to pin-point exactly where all those vanished lanes once were. Incidentally I’m still looking for a map where this lane is named.

Brennans Row

Why is Griffith’s Valuation important for Irish Genealogy?

The focus of the Griffith’s Valuation was taxation, not family or demographic information, and any genealogical or local historical information it supplies is purely incidental. So why is it of such importance for Irish research?

The simple reason is the destruction of The Public Record Office of Ireland in 1922. The Office had been part of the Four Courts complex for more than five decades when, on April 13th 1922, forces opposed to the Treaty with Britain occupied the entire compound. The occupation aimed to be a direct challenge to the authority of the Provisional Government by paralysing the centre of legal administration for the entire island. It continued for more than two months as both sides struggled to avoid direct confrontation.

The time was put to good use by the occupying forces in organising their logistics. In particular, for their munitions dump they chose the most heavily built and therefore the safest part of the complex, the strong room of the Public Record Office.

On June 28th, under intense pressure from the British government, the Provisional Government began an assault. After two days of shelling, a number of huge explosions destroyed the Public Record Office. Fires started as a result of the shelling had ignited the stored munitions and the destructive force of the blasts had been magnified by confinement within the reinforced walls of the strong room. A giant mushroom cloud rose over the city. Everything in the strong room was destroyed.

The returns from 1861, 1871, 1881, and 1891 had already been destroyed by official order, so the biggest loss was the 19th-century census returns of 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851. If these had survived, Griffith’s would be a footnote in most research; as things stand it is the only comprehensive, or near- comprehensive, account of where people lived in mid-nineteenth century Ireland. It covers over a million dwellings, and nearly 20 million acres, recording around 80% of the population. Because the Valuation was published (and has long been out of copyright) it is by far the most widely available record used for Irish research.

Ask about Ireland - John Grenham

In my case, there were only three people with my surname listed in the 1850 Griffith’s Valuation.

One person in particular had the exact same name as that of my great-great-grandfather, was renting a house and garden and subletting a number of houses on Edward Street in the parish of St. Michael’s.

Sounds good.

However my great-great-grandfather would have been only twenty years old then and he worked as a labourer in the 1860s and 1870s.

It even seems unlikely that this person listed in Griffith’s with his various properties would have even been the father of my great-great-grandfather.

On the other hand I have the impression that this person (landlord/Lodger) was not the real property owner at all but acted as an agent for a nearby Doctor who in turn had a portfolio of larger properties on the same street.

Another lead for me is name of John McCawley who is also listed with a property just across the road on same street.

This is interesting, because a certain John McCawley was a witness at the marriage of my great-great-grandparents a couple of years later.

The name McCawley is unusual for Limerick as it appears only once in the valuation and I have never found any other references to it in Limerick.

That’s my problem, in that I keep coming back to this lead over and over again because I just can’t prove if it is a valid link or not.

I wonder where can one see property deeds dealing with ownership (1850s) for Edward Street?

Brennans Row

The Griffith's Valuation map for Limerick City shows the dwellings as numbered in the valuation sheets.

Alas the “Ask About Ireland” website's link for the city map above has not been working for some months now.

On top of that the quality of map is not great i.e. blurred and tattered.

One of my favourite maps is a 1840 reconstruction done by RIA because its great on detail.

It would be a cool project for someone like the Limerick Civic Trust if they took that map a stage further and add all the GV dwelling numbers to it.

Below a 1840 RIA map extract of the numerous lanes (like Hunts Lane) that don't exist any more.

blackwarrior

Brennans Row wrote: »

One of my favourite maps is a 1840 reconstruction done by RIA because its great on detail.


Below a 1840 RIA map extract of the numerous lanes (like Hunts Lane) that don't exist any more.

Hi BR - where is that map available online? Or did you have to buy it? That RIA work on Limerick looks great.

I'm digging around my family tree too - all based in Thomondgate for 5 generations - I'm still trying to find out what year my great-great grandfather was born ....

Brennans Row

Hi BW, that particular 1840 map is not online as far as I know.

I bought the “Irish Historic Towns Atlas No. 21 Limerick” two years ago and it contains a book, printed maps and drawings of the city, plus the same again in pdf format on a CD-ROM.

If any one is really interested in the local history of Limerick City, then I can only highly recommend it and it's great value for money too.

There is an OSI public viewer which is freely available.

They have modern and historic maps online.

By zooming in on Limerick, the (Preview Map Series) legend on the right hand side enables one to select various maps of Limerick at different periods of time, like ….

• Street Map = 2012 map
• Historic 25” = 1900 map
• Historic 6” = 1840 map

blackwarrior

Brennans Row wrote: »

Hi BW, that particular 1840 map is not online as far as I know.

I bought the “Irish Historic Towns Atlas No. 21 Limerick” two years ago and it contains a book, printed maps and drawings of the city, plus the same again in pdf format on a CD-ROM.

There is an OSI public viewer which is freely available.

They have modern and historic maps online.

Much appreciated. I often use those OSI historic maps - my friends can't believe when I show them "sliding" into view over modern streets! But I often wondered what were the approximate years they represented - thanks for that too.

I'll get the RIA book -it looks really interesting. And I think I'm going to commission Limerick Genealogy to finish my research - it's too easy to waste money on Roots Ireland now.

Brennans Row

Brennans Row wrote: »

It would be a cool project for someone like the Limerick Civic Trust if they took that map a stage further and add all the GV dwelling numbers to it.

Fat chance of this happening now.

Last weeks Limerick Post reports that the historical research and publishing project with the Limerick Civic Trust, which has produced scores of publications, books, maps and historical reference material, has been ended and the two people behind it (Dave Lee, Debbie Jacobs) made redundant.

That's really bitter.