Church records to go online for free

pinkypinky · 09-07-2015 12:34am

Hermy wrote: »

Just curious Pinky - was it invite only or were all welcome?

Invites - names on a list and all. Probably cos of the Taoiseach's presence.

RGM · 09-07-2015 1:55am

Figures that the baptism I most need is not readable. Adjusting the image is a lost cause, it might as well be blank.

Love the site though.

RGM · 09-07-2015 2:55am

I found a page in a Cork register that has subtraction problems written all over, like

1885
-1853

32

It's certainly from looking up birth records to determine someone's age.

Mac222 · 09-07-2015 6:38am

Why is the North Cathedral not there ? , in Cork City there are only 4 Parishes

RGM · 09-07-2015 7:22am

Mac222 wrote: »

Why is the North Cathedral not there ? , in Cork City there are only 4 Parishes

Not all the modern parishes are as old as the records. Isn't North Cathedral St. Mary's?

shanew · 09-07-2015 7:33am

Cork, North Cathedral parish is under St. Mary's on the NLI site

edit - added the maps of chapels for Cork city I have and the NLI map for comparison

shanew · 09-07-2015 8:12am

in case it helps with alternate parish names or chapel names, you can also try the search here, which can search by the parish name, alternate names including NLI name, chapel names or civil parishes - e.g. searches for North, Brickfields, Clogheen, Mary (along with quite few others..), or Shandon would also include the same parish in the results. The NLI name for the parish, along with film details, is shown on the details screen for each parish.

clashburke · 09-07-2015 12:04pm

shanew wrote: »

Cork, North Cathedral parish is under St. Mary's on the NLI site

edit - added the maps of chapels for Cork city I have and the NLI map for comparison

Is there an app you can use to add the churches/places to another map or is it just time and patience?

Would be handy for me to be able to add towns/villages as im on the boundary of 4/5 parishes for alot of my family and its a pain to search 4 books for one specific date

shanew · 09-07-2015 12:18pm

clashburke wrote: »

Is there an app you can use to add the churches/places to another map or is it just time and patience?

Would be handy for me to be able to add towns/villages as im on the boundary of 4/5 parishes for alot of my family and its a pain to search 4 books for one specific date

you can drop the search marker anywhere on the map and then search for the nearest chapels, and parishes see Parish and Chapel Map Search e.g. (the yellow marker is the search point selected)

The default search distance is 20km, but you can also select 10km for more populated areas etc. There's a link with each parish on the right to show further details.

John Mason · 09-07-2015 2:11pm

The site keeps freezing - I cant get passed where you select your parish
boooooooooooooo

RGM · 09-07-2015 2:18pm

John Mason wrote: »

The site keeps freezing - I cant get passed where you select your parish
boooooooooooooo

Seems like an issue on your end. I haven't had any problems.

shanew · 09-07-2015 2:28pm

fine for me too... only time I had any issues was last night when the image refresh slowed down for a while, otherwise the system seems to have handled the load perfectly.

John Mason · 09-07-2015 3:19pm

I restarted the computer and go in, found a marriage I was looking for

Thomas from Presence · 09-07-2015 5:13pm

Practical genealogy - I can now confirm that in my male line there has been a pair of twins in every generation going back 200 years. I'm at the younger end of my generation and no twins yet so the statistics suggest to tread carefully if having more sprogs lest I get a value pack!

This is an amazing project and beautifully executed. Those involved should be very proud.

Hermy · 09-07-2015 9:56pm

The set of records for Denn parish in Cavan is described as being a modern transcript with many large gaps.

Is there a complete set somewhere else or does the NLI microfilm represent all that's left of it?

Thomas from Presence · 10-07-2015 9:51am

Hermy wrote: »

The set of records for Denn parish in Cavan is described as being a modern transcript with many large gaps.

Is there a complete set somewhere else or does the NLI microfilm represent all that's left of it?

According to Grenham the full set is with CGHC which is the local Irish Federation for the Deliberate Obfuscation of Research branch. Perhaps the originals are in local church custody then?

Hermy · 10-07-2015 11:16am

So at least there's the possibility of filling in the gaps if needs be.

Thomas from Presence · 10-07-2015 11:24am

Hermy wrote: »

So at least there's the possibility of filling in the gaps if needs be.

I am a reluctant account holder with said group if you want me to check something on the website just drop me a message.

Jellybaby1 · 10-07-2015 2:26pm

I also came across a message saying a parish's records were still in local parish hands. Can't remember which parish it was now though. Why would a parish hang onto such old records for so long....I hope they are safe.

clashburke · 10-07-2015 4:23pm

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I also came across a message saying a parish's records were still in local parish hands. Can't remember which parish it was now though. Why would a parish hang onto such old records for so long....I hope they are safe.

AFAIK most RC records are still in the local parishes with the NLI having just the microfilms.

CassieManson · 10-07-2015 5:18pm

clashburke wrote: »

AFAIK most RC records are still in the local parishes with the NLI having just the microfilms.

Does anyone know why they only microfilmed up to th 1880's? Does this mean that all records since that date are still with the parishes - with no copies anywhere?

Are there any plans to copy the later records and make them available? Maybe now that the civil indices are available on line this is enough for us? My main concern would be to ensure that the church records are somehow protected and preserved.

This is a great resourse and I have found a few interesting facts -including that my gggrandparents got married one month after the birth of their first child(!) but it would be great to have access to the records after 1880's.

pinkypinky · 10-07-2015 5:22pm

They did the microfilming in the 1950s/60s, so from a data protection point of view, people born in the 1880s would likely have been still alive then, so it was adopted as a cutoff point.

shanew · 10-07-2015 5:56pm

from the NLI docment on Parish Records ..

"...The year 1880 was taken as the cut-off date for the
microfilming of parish registers. By that date, civil or State
registration was well under way and post-1880 genealogical
information should be available from the General Register
Office...."

I dont have a link to hand but the full filename is : NLI_FamilyHistory_ParishRegisters.pdf

I'd say that and the privacy considerations were both considered when deciding a date to cut off at

pjproby · 10-07-2015 6:37pm

Is it possible to download more than one image at a time?

shanew · 10-07-2015 6:44pm

the download option seems to be of the current page - if you are borderline between two pages it picks one. I didn't see any option to bulk downland images

Catsmeow · 10-07-2015 8:00pm

I'm so delighted with the way this site is laid out, particularly the map showing neighbouring parishes. What a great resource. I envisage spending quite a lot of time on it over the next while.

theloniusplonk · 11-07-2015 3:04pm

I have logged on to the Parish Registers for the first time today. And what a disappointment! Most entries were illegible and some may as well have been totally blank. It seems to have been a total waste of money to me - unless someone knows some trick that I don't. Maybe they are written in secret ink.

clashburke · 11-07-2015 3:37pm

Its seems great to me. I've found numerous ancestors, even a great great great grandparents marriage.

Yes its tough to read and tedious work in a big parish, but I've found I can read almost everything given enough time fiddling with the brightness/contrast and inverse image buttons.

Money well spent; better to have it online than to rely on roots Ireland transcripts!!(which I have found several mistakes with since the register where put up)

The Kurgan · 11-07-2015 3:39pm

@theloniusplonk
I get your frustration , but the legibility of the records (or lack their of) is part & parcel of geneaology I think , some times you strike gold sometimes not.
I've been blessed so far that the records I was searching for were very legible and also had Birth Dates but there are records which I know won't be legible or just not available.

If you've ever sat and tried to scroll through the Registers @ the NLI then trust me this resource is a Godsend.These registers are going to open up both a revived interest in geneaology but also Tourism and that's fact.
Money very well spent if you ask me.

theloniusplonk · 11-07-2015 4:24pm

Thank you for replying So promptly. I have taken heart from both of your very positive responses and will endeavour to have more patience and struggle on.
I have since copied pages and endeavoured to enhance them in Photoshop and also fed them into a large TV screen. Both have helped but only a very little. I suppose we have become spoilt by the ease of using search engines.

Waitsian · 11-07-2015 5:57pm

theloniusplonk wrote: »

Thank you for replying So promptly. I have taken heart from both of your very positive responses and will endeavour to have more patience and struggle on.
I have since copied pages and endeavoured to enhance them in Photoshop and also fed them into a large TV screen. Both have helped but only a very little. I suppose we have become spoilt by the ease of using search engines.

Do persevere; I hope you can manage eventually. If not, ask us for help and we'll see what we can do (there's a separate thread for that).

And as I said in an earlier comment - in time, some resourceful companies and/or volunteers will transcribe and index some or hopefully all these images.

KildareFan · 11-07-2015 6:10pm

Oh dear, someone's not happy about the registers - see letter in Irish Times today http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/paying-for-catholic-parish-registers-1.2280832

Sir, – In the 1980s, the then taoiseach, Charles Haughey, succeeded in getting funding from the EEC amounting to more than £1 million for the purpose of setting up genealogy centres in each county in the country, for the main purpose of developing rural tourism.

Through Anco, and later FÁS, all church records were indexed. It was the intention that the overseas visitor, by paying a nominal charge for the genealogical service, would thus recoup the cost to the State for the indexing. In our experience the visitor from abroad was always willing to pay the nominal fee demanded.

It has now come to notice that the Government intends to make the church records available free of charge.

This is disgraceful as it will mean the cessation of many centres which will become unviable.

Already this Government has made significant cut-backs in national heritage and museum facilities.

– Yours, etc,

JUDE FLYNN,

Secretary,

Genealogy Centre/Longford

Roots Centre,

17 Dublin Street,

Longford.

Aineoil · 11-07-2015 6:40pm

I am so thrilled that the records are online and free. It's a brilliant resource.

L1011 · 11-07-2015 6:51pm

The cost was never returned to the state, so that point of his argument is completely baseless.

Hermy · 11-07-2015 10:05pm

Hermy wrote: »

...but they seem to have excluded my relatives.:(:p

I wish to withdraw this remark as one or two items of interest have turned up.:pac:

Nothing too startling and a number of key record sets were illegible but if this trickle of info continues I'll be very happy.

Hermy · 11-07-2015 10:19pm

KildareFan wrote: »

Oh dear, someone's not happy about the registers - see letter in Irish Times today http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/paying-for-catholic-parish-registers-1.2280832

Sir, – In the 1980s, the then taoiseach, Charles Haughey, succeeded in getting funding from the EEC amounting to more than £1 million for the purpose of setting up genealogy centres in each county in the country, for the main purpose of developing rural tourism.

Through Anco, and later FÁS, all church records were indexed. It was the intention that the overseas visitor, by paying a nominal charge for the genealogical service, would thus recoup the cost to the State for the indexing. In our experience the visitor from abroad was always willing to pay the nominal fee demanded.

It has now come to notice that the Government intends to make the church records available free of charge.

This is disgraceful as it will mean the cessation of many centres which will become unviable.

Already this Government has made significant cut-backs in national heritage and museum facilities.

– Yours, etc,

JUDE FLYNN,

Secretary,

Genealogy Centre/Longford

Roots Centre,

17 Dublin Street,

Longford.

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!

Hermy · 11-07-2015 10:26pm

theloniusplonk wrote: »

I have logged on to the Parish Registers for the first time today. And what a disappointment! Most entries were illegible and some may as well have been totally blank. It seems to have been a total waste of money to me - unless someone knows some trick that I don't. Maybe they are written in secret ink.

Don't despair Thelonius. If you can find scans of records that might be relevant to you then there's a good chance that the originals of these scans might just be available somewhere and may not be so hard to read.

Time and patience must be applied liberally with these records but they will reveal themselves gradually.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 12-07-2015 12:31am

The one bloody parish I wanted to search isn't included!

Any idea why that might be? Lost records, haven't gotten round to it yet?

pinkypinky · 12-07-2015 12:50am

I've merged these 2 threads because they're on the same topic.

What's the parish you're looking for? The NLI does not have every RC parish.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 12-07-2015 12:52am

pinkypinky wrote: »

I've merged these 2 threads because they're on the same topic.

What's the parish you're looking for? The NLI does not have every RC parish.

Urney in Co. Tyrone/Co. Donegal.

jos28 · 12-07-2015 12:56am

pinkypinky wrote: »

What's the parish you're looking for? The NLI does not have every RC parish.

Can't find mine either - I'm looking for Clontarf prior to 1879. The family I'm looking for lived in Drumcondra which was part of Fairview parish from 1879 onwards. According to the registrar at Fairview, Drumcondra was previously part of Clontarf. I knew that those records were not available at NLI so I'm not surprised they are not online. Not having any luck accessing them, I've emailed and written to Clontarf several times without success.
Just my luck that the area they were living in (Tolka Cottages) don't show up in the 1901 census either

shanew · 12-07-2015 8:24am

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Urney in Co. Tyrone/Co. Donegal.

The The NLI dont seem to have films for Urney/Castlederg, and PRONI dont seem to either. No dates for the parish are mentioned in Ryan's but John Grenham/Irish Ancestors shows baptism and marriage records going back to 1856 available on Donegal Ancestry, although I dont see the parish on their list of sources on RootsIreland for either Donegal or Tyrone.

ozmo · 13-07-2015 1:55am

Couple questions if anyone can help...

From familysearch - I have many records that say "Dublin South District"

Is there any way to narrow these to a particular parish from the microfilm numbers?

On one of them - I've tried I think all the South Dublin City books on the nli site - and I cannot find the record mentioned... any ideas?

RGM · 13-07-2015 3:52am

ozmo wrote: »

Couple questions if anyone can help...

From familysearch - I have many records that say "Dublin South District"

Is there any way to narrow these to a particular parish from the microfilm numbers?

On one of them - I've tried I think all the South Dublin City books on the nli site - and I cannot find the record mentioned... any ideas?

Are you sure the familysearch records are from parish registers? Sounds like they could be from the civil index, which is something else entirely.

shanew · 13-07-2015 7:37am

ozmo wrote: »

..From familysearch - I have many records that say "Dublin South District"

Is there any way to narrow these to a particular parish from the microfilm numbers?..

Civil Registration district of Dublin South covers the south city, so parishes such as St. Andrew, St. Catherine, St. Nicholas, St. James, etc., plus parts of south west Co. Dublin - so Rathmines, Rathfarnham, Crumlin, Clondalkin, Saggart etc

Depeding on dates there may be corresponding extracted records which may mention a registration sub-district office, e.g. Grand Canal St, or High St., which can help narrow the search.

Hermy · 13-07-2015 4:13pm

Thomas from Presence wrote: »

I am a reluctant account holder with said group if you want me to check something on the website just drop me a message.

Couldn't send you a message but I wonder could you check this for me.

Ignatius Michael Moore baptism Co. Dublin 1862

It's something I took note of from Roots website a long while back but never noted the parish.

Thanks.

Hermy · 15-07-2015 10:14pm

I have a civil record for the marriage of Francis Monks and Margaret McGrath in Fermoy in 1874 so I thought finding the corresponding church record would be straightforward. However, there's no sign of it.

Might it simply not have been recorded or could there be another explanation for it's absence?

shanew · 15-07-2015 10:23pm

either missed out on being recorded, or could it have been a registry office marriage ?

What's the name of the priest and the chapel on the cert ?

Hermy · 15-07-2015 10:33pm

It's one I posted before with the mystery fathers occupation.

Priest is William Rice according to your good self Shane.

EDIT: I've since checked the surrounding parishes but no joy.

shanew · 16-07-2015 7:47am

I can see a number of marriages during 1874 including several by William Price, and although there's a possible gap around Lent, and then what seems to be at least one marriage in April (the 26th), but not by William Price.

Unless there are records added in out of sequence, which I have seen - possibly added in later from notes, it looks like that marriage never made it into the register.

Church records to go online for free

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