Query re. Parish Records

hblock21 · 06-07-2011 3:10pm #1

How long have parish records been freely available on microfilm in Ireland?

pinkypinky · 06-07-2011 4:10pm

I couldn't give you an exact date but at least 50 years I would think.
The Mormons did the microfilming in the 1950s and they retained copies of the registers (plus the censuses).

hblock21 · 06-07-2011 4:40pm

Well if that's the case then I'd say the next decades i.e. early 1900's are well over due! That means we should have records up to the 1950's on microfilm !

pinkypinky · 06-07-2011 4:45pm

Ah.

It was a one-off thing.
I doubt very much you'd see more recent parish records ever being given over to the National Library.
Almost everyone post 1900 will have a birth cert (of course I realise there are exceptions).

Dun · 06-07-2011 11:19pm

They've been microfilming in the National Archives (at least) since then. Some records in the 2000s. Would love if they would do the rest of the Civil Registration registers, even up until 1920.

pinkypinky · 07-07-2011 10:50am

Oh I know they continue to use microfilm - I just mean I doubt that there'll be any more parish records. The civil registers are not held by the National Archives. As far as I know, the microfilm of the indexes were done by the Mormons and go up to 1958.

The NLI was tendering to get the existing microfilm digitised - with a view to putting them up untranscribed as pdfs on the website. I cannot wait for this! 24/7 access and a computer's ability to blow up images. No more eyestrain from the old microfilm readers.

hblock21 · 07-07-2011 10:53am

pinkypinky wrote: »

The NLI was tendering to get the existing microfilm digitised - with a view to putting them up untranscribed as pdfs on the website. I cannot wait for this! 24/7 access and a computer's ability to blow up images. No more eyestrain from the old microfilm readers.

Yes, I have hear about this. Does anyone know how it is going?

When I queried the NLI they said they would be digitised within the next two years i.e. end of 2013.

pinkypinky · 07-07-2011 11:13am

The last time I asked, they knew nothing about it!

How could that take 2 years?!!

hblock21 · 07-07-2011 11:32am

From: ...........................
Sent: 11 January 2011 11:16
To: Info
Subject: Digitising Parish Records

Hello,

I understand from Tipperary Libraries that the National Library is now looking at digitising the parish records and allowing remote access to those with readers’ tickets. I am wondering if this is true and at what stage this process is at?

Thanks,

...........

Subject: RE: Digitising Parish Records
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:19:24 +0000
From: info@nli.ie
To: ....................

Dear Mr. ..........,

Thank you for your email. This initiative was recently announced just before Christmas and when the project is completed (which I’d imagine will be 2 years minimum at the very least) it will be announced in both the national and internal media.

Kind regards,
Mary Broderick.
Duty Librarian

From: ..............................
Sent: 11 January 2011 11:26
To: Info
Subject: RE: Digitising Parish Records

Thank you for your email.

Will it be free to access the digitised records?

Regards,

.............
From: info@nli.ie
Sent: 11 January 2011 11:35
To: ................
Subject: RE: Digitising Parish Records

Dear Mr. .........,

Please be advised that as this initiative was recently announced none of this information is available as yet.

Kind regards,
Mary Broderick.
Duty Librarian

shanew · 07-07-2011 11:49am

The initial project was a contract just to digitize the existing RC films - there was no mention at this stage of making them available online

I think the initial plan was to make them available as images on computers on-site

Shane

hblock21 · 08-07-2011 3:02pm

Below is an email to received today.

Dear Mr .......

Thank you for your email to info@nli.ie regarding the digitisation of catholic parish registers. The National Library issued a Request for Tenders for this work last year and we are now in the final processes of evaluating and awarding the contract.

With best wishes

Sandra McDermott
National Library of Ireland

pinkypinky · 08-07-2011 3:03pm

Wow - the phrase "snail's pace" is not slow enough.

Query re. Parish Records

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