Updated GRO

Hermy

dido2 wrote: »

Does anyone wish they went backwards with the records instead of forwards, like including mothers maiden names back from 1927 to 1864, this to me is what we need in genealogy, it's the older records, the newer ones past 1960 aside from the deaths were of any use really... But they are probably all gone now because there won't be any finances to fix it...

I'd have to say the ones past 1960 were a great help to me as I'm just as interested in following all lines forward to living relatives.
Also, for those of us attempting to trace our birth families this resource was gold. At least I got one new lead for someone I'm helping with a trace before it went down.

dido2

Thats what I figured Hermy, that the records past 1958 were of benefit to finding living relatives and for those who were trying to trace birth families, which was great....

In terms of normal genealogy though most of us are working backwards from our own parents and grandparents....

Hermy

Well aside from the adoption stuff, I consider the recent events just as relevant to normal genealogy. As my focus is on all descendants of my g-g-g grandparents this site was fantastic for that purpose despite my many criticisms of how it worked.

desbrook

dido2 wrote: »

Thats what I figured Hermy, that the records past 1958 were of benefit to finding living relatives and for those who were trying to trace birth families, which was great....

In terms of normal genealogy though most of us are working backwards from our own parents and grandparents....

Yes and no to your last point . In my case it was only partially fulfilling to find out about ancestors . More fun was to be had locating other living decendants in the locality - in some cases 5th cousins who were living less than 5 minutes walk away . Fulfillment also comes from getting in contact with second cousins who have a hazy knowledge of a relationship to a family name and are delighted to get the facts . The new records were (are ??) great for that .

dido2

I suppose like everything else we all have our different parts we look for.... I suppose I looked at the newer info as a bonus...

I have made contact with second cousins, and other relatives moving forward all over the world and have enjoyed filling in the blanks with them, but i don't think i'd have used the newer info to track down living people no matter how related I was to them! But everyone is different...

Hermy

I wouldn't always be looking to make contact with distant living relatives but it is nice to be able fill in those blanks on my charts where they exist. Also, where I've run into brick walls those distant living relatives may be a way of getting around said wall. And just occasionally you find a distant cousin who has a shared interest in the past.

dido2

Thats the beauty of genealogy it brings you in contact with other people and also family that sometimes share an interest in knowing where they came from and it's a huge help to find out more about the family to have more family lines involved...

I would love to know though what will happen with the records, will they just remain off line or will they be able to pick a date to display from...

AnCiotog

I'm so disappointed that it's gone. I was using it just last week and found a family secret I never knew about. and had filled in some blanks on dates too. Grrrrrrrrrrr!

L1011

The mother's maiden name back further managed to let me fill in quite a few cases where I had nothing after birth or the 1901 census for girls as they'd disappear in to the ether once married due to the surname change. Find kids with that maiden name; look for a family on the 1901/1911 census with those kids names and a correct first name for the mother, then try find a matching marriage for both of them. Worked extremely well with the more obscure surnames - but I wasn't finished dammit. They should be able to just backup and then truncate the database tables to records older than 100 years as an interim measure.

Waitsian

The GRONI website records rules (100, 75, 50) works very well and other than those seeking living relatives is quite sufficient for genealogical purposes. However, full details our provided, it isn't just an index (at a small cost of course).

Why can't the records for the Republic be the same? Instead of having to order photocopies at 4 Euro each through the post, couldn't we access each cert via the Irishgenealogy.ie website for a fee - for example, 2 Euro? Or even, dare I say it, free?

pinkypinky

I'd be happy to have a similar system to GRONI. My understanding is that this requires a change in legislation, which is scheduled under the Civil Registration Amendment Act 2014.

Jellybaby1

I just wanted to get to the 40's and 50's which I did for quite a few records. I'm not really interested in anything more recent. I will leave that to the genealogists of the future, if there ever be any in my family.

Waitsian

pinkypinky wrote: »

I'd be happy to have a similar system to GRONI. My understanding is that this requires a change in legislation, which is scheduled under the Civil Registration Amendment Act 2014.

As was alluded to by the Tánaiste, including the viewing of the actual certs themselves. Maybe the government can get that through the Dáil as soon as possible.


http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=26658&&CatID=59

Waitsian

http://www.merrionstreet.ie/index.php/2014/07/tanaiste-publishes-civil-registration-amendment-bill-2014/?cat=78


The relevant section:

Finally the Bill will provide for access to historical registers of life events to allow on line access via the Department of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht’s genealogical website to important information regarding our heritage. The material which will be available is as follows:

Births more than 100 years;

Deaths more than 50 years;

Marriages more than 75 years.

The Tánaiste said “The Government recently launched its Irish Genealogy website which allows for online access to the indexes to the registers of the General Register Office Civil Records. This represented the first big step in the online availability of historical records which is essential for the development of modern genealogical services. This Bill provides for the next big step which is to make available online births more than 100 years old, marriages more than 75 years old and deaths more than 50 years old. I look forward to this phase being made available which will allow us and future generations to access our important information from our past.”

I don't know enough about Dáil procedure to know how long it will take.

desbrook

Well the new records led me to a discover a new second cousin of mine and possibly more. The lady is about 70 now. She told me that a fortnight before she was at a local graveyard with her grandchildren visiting HER grandmother's grave. She passed by other graves which she knew to be of her grandmother's maiden name. She would have loved to have been able to explain to the children who exactly the people were . By me getting in touch she now can. In fact all six of her grandmother's siblings are buried in that graveyard as well as the mother and father. All info she would never have known only for these new records becoming available ( and Facebook admittedly) .

So glad I got in early. Sorry though because there was more contacts to make

Jellybaby1

I'm still nervous, but pleased to see the message just now:

"Civil Records Search temporarily unavailable - further update will be provided"

mickmackey1

Surely they can just remove the day and month while leaving the rest.

Jellybaby1

Several options for them already mentioned here by others for those with the power. Have to wonder why it hadn't been thought out properly in the first place. Anyway we've all been weeping and wringing our hands and there's naught else to do I suppose but wait, patiently! I really like the word 'temporarily'.

kitchenkid

Wouldn't bank on it coming back. shame.

desbrook

How much did the project cost?

( lights blue touchpaper and runs!)

shanew

desbrook wrote: »

How much did the project cost?

( lights blue touchpaper and runs!)

The index was already created and available for internal use by the GRO, so should only have been IT costs

CassieManson

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I'm still nervous, but pleased to see the message just now:

"Civil Records Search temporarily unavailable - further update will be provided"

I don't think the message has changed at all since last Friday. And there have been no futher updates. Not too hopeful about the word "temporarily".

Jellybaby1

I really hoped you wouldn't say that!

pjproby

At the very least, one of them, should issue a comprehensive statement, explaining the issue.

Waitsian

http://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2014/07/latest-on-irishgenealogyie-bmd-indexes.html


Nothing new really but at least she's trying to get answers. As was stated previously we shouldn't have to go looking for update news, someone should issue a clarifying statement.


Edit: I see RootsIreland are soon to have a shiny new website. I don't suppose there's any chance they can stop ripping off their customers to go along with it? :rolleyes:

Ponster

mod9maple wrote: »

Edit: I see RootsIreland are soon to have a shiny new website. I don't suppose there's any chance they can stop ripping off their customers to go along with it? :rolleyes:

€5 for an instant cert compared to €4 + fax for one that you'll have to wait over a week for isn't take bad IMHO. If you purchase €50 credit then each cert works out at about €2.80

pinkypinky

Ponster wrote: »

€5 for an instant cert compared to €4 + fax for one that you'll have to wait over a week for isn't take bad IMHO. If you purchase €50 credit then each cert works out at about €2.80

Well that would be fine if it was a digital copy of the cert and not an unverifiable transcript.

Waitsian

Ponster wrote: »

€5 for an instant cert compared to €4 + fax for one that you'll have to wait over a week for isn't take bad IMHO. If you purchase €50 credit then each cert works out at about €2.80

Their search facility for church records leaves a lot to be desired and means you're shooting in the dark looking for records, and end up wasting money on certs you don't want.

shanew

you can often narrow down a lot of detail on the RootsIreland Index without having to pay for a full transcript - e.g. the denomination/parish or district, parents names on RC baptisms etc.

Hermy

Having paid for a transcript on Roots I see that is only available for a limited time.
No other website I know of does that.