Off topic: chat

Mick Tator

I’ve just read CB’s review of Ancestry’s new ‘Pro’ tool. It’s an interesting take, (and a blog worth following). https://cbgeneal ogy.ie/ancestry-pro-tools/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Of late, I’ve been bombarded with Ancestry’s product pop-ups and click-bait exclamation marks to the point of annoyance. It seems that Ancestry’s new owners mistakenly believe that sweating their assets through flogging the ‘Pro’ tool & ‘Pet DNA’ 🙄 has more potential than giving customers what they really want or something innovative.

pinkypinky

Thanks @Mick Tator - Happy New Year.

Mick Tator

Thanks Pinky, same to you and wishing you lots of 'finds' in 2024!

L1011

Took the Ancestry 1 quid/3 months offer - again, not sure why this keeps working for me - and the first DNA match I review is yet another kid from a (different) affair of my great uncle.

That's two now, plus the kids from three marriages. Wonder how many more will turn up!

Jellybaby_1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719858#Comment_121719858

I'm fascinated....do keep us informed about your great uncle's 'exploits'. I don't have anybody in my tree who wandered that much! I haven't been receiving any €1 offers from Ancestry, only €20 for 4 months. I didn't bother.

Mick Tator

The article is more than a little OTT but it's an interesting read. Free search of archive for a while..

Searching for your Irish ancestry? Guinness’ archives could help you reconnect with your roots | CNN

Link to search page https://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/discover/find-your-family

cobham

I had great results from Guinness archives. I was able to make appointment to see the actual files as well which included a lot of detail.

Waitsian

https://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2024/03/new-at-findmypast-irish-land-purchase.html

Has anyone else delved in to this new record set!? I'm having a ball I must admit, searching in Cavan, Kerry and Armagh so far. I haven't touched Louth, Monaghan, Down or Clare yet. Fabulous resource!

L1011

I'm quite interested in that, one great great grandfather was somewhat notable (as in he gets mentioned in newspapers, for something other than his ads for his shop) in the Land League

Then on another side, the place that many generations were living was bought by the Congested Districts Board in one go to get rid of a particularly terrible landlord (bought the estate post famine and did a clearance to the US then to increase farm size; punitive rack rents; had people harshly prosecuted for wandering sheep etc etc etc)

Going to wait for a FMP free period though.

pinkypinky

I'd like more background - how is this a printed record that we didn't already know about?

Did you hear the RTÉ History show is doing another episode on the Land Commission on Sunday. They apparently got inside! Promising good news for researchers - but I wonder if it will just be this FMP release?

55Gem

I don't have a sub to Find My Past but looking at the image on Irish Genealogy News isn't all this free to view on EPPI

Enhanced British Parliamentary Papers On Ireland (dippam.ac.uk)

difficult to search granted but I have found the loans granted to most of my families and their neighbours there.

An example

Enhanced British Parliamentary Papers On Ireland (dippam.ac.uk)

pinkypinky

Aha, so that's where it's come from then.

Transcribing it and making it searchable is always better though. It's fine if you're flipping through a physical book but digital searching like that is tedious. You basically have to look at every page to get a handle on it.

kildarejohn

Tried out the Land Commission Advances - thanks to Waitsian. This is a great resource, particularly since the date is close to 1901 census. So it helps you make the connection between names in census and land records from Griffiths Valn in 1850's. Great if ancestor moved home during this period. To link up to the Griffiths maps you just need to match up the acres/roods/perches of the holding. Similar info can be got from Cancelled Books, but you have to visit Val'n Office in Dublin to see those. great to have info indexed online.

cobham

You need to make appointment to see anything in Valuation Office....

pinkypinky

Yes, they introduced appointments during the pandemic and never went back. They do have a small space but I'd never seen it full.

It bugs me too that they don't have a public loo.

Mick Tator

So MyHeritage finally is getting its act together on its nespaper database. Previously useless (particularly for Ireland) it now has announced the launch of -

‘OldNews.com includes hundreds of millions of historical newspaper pages from around the world, with millions more added monthly.’

I have not tried it yet, will do so when I’ll be able to maximise use of the free trial access for seven days if you register.

pinkypinky

I do like the name.

I've had a look and it's still got limited coverage for Ireland right now, but apparently more coming soon. It's a separate subscription though, like Newspapers.com and Ancestry, unless you go for their Omni tier.

https://blog.myheritage.com/2024/03/introducing-oldnews-com-a-new-website-for-exploring-historical-newspapers/