How to research your Irish family - first post updated.

Scoobydoobydoo · 30-11-2009 12:23pm

pinkypinky wrote: »

The other way to get the cert is to go into the Research room in the Irish Life mall on Abbey St in Dublin which is a branch of the GRO. It is an expensive place so it’s best to have your references already. They have forms you can fill out with the same details as above. At a cost of €4 per cert and a limit of 5 certs a day, you can have your cert in about 10 minutes. It’s very frustrating to be limited to 5 so if you can co-opt friends to order some for you at the same time.

You don't need to bring people with you to order extra certs, if you need to get any more than 5 certs, you can simply get them to post them to you when you're in there.
I believe the limit came about because there had previously been professional researchers taking over the place, which made things more difficult for your average person looking into their family tree. It only prevents you walking out the door with more than 5 in one day , but you can order as many as you like and have them arrive at your house in a couple of days, so it's not a big deal really.

pinkypinky · 30-11-2009 1:53pm

You can of course ask them to post out certs but there is a significant backlog at the moment.

I had more than 5 on Friday, 20/11 and they said they would post out the remainder but they have not yet been received, which is a frustratingly long delay.

Scoobydoobydoo · 04-12-2009 4:15pm

Wow, that is a backlog - I think that's very unusual though. I've had certs posted probably about 20 times, and they've always arrived in 2-3 days.

pinkypinky · 04-12-2009 9:08pm

It took 13 days in the end!
It's the curse of "who do you think you are?"

Tableman · 13-12-2009 2:34am

I think the records in the valuation office are often overlooked & underestimated. They are a really good source for people who come from a farming background. They give you a nice history on the land you might own as well (EG When your ancetor took the land over from the landlord)

godon · 13-12-2009 12:43pm

Hi Just saw your post.
RIC records are in the Irish National Archive.
I recently found my Grandad's record there.

they are quite helpfull there.

Good luck.

davidjcie · 13-12-2009 6:56pm

Hi
I (of course

) have a problem. I am researching me family(Treacy) in Limerick.

I have found 3 Treacy families in adjoining farms in Griffiths.
In the census 1901 I have 2 families (Treacy ) in the same townland.

I can go back to the Census for my grand father born in 1863 in house number 2. but cant connect him to either farm. His father was too young to have the farm and cant find a birth cert for his father.

Is there anyway of connecting the Census number to an actual house/farm?

Thanks
David

pinkypinky · 13-12-2009 11:33pm

That's a good question. There would be a birth cert for anyone born prior to 1864. Would the naming patterns be of use? The chances are that the families will be related themselves. You would need to look at a map from 1901 and compare with the map used with Griffiths. The National Archives have lots of historical maps.

Another option would be to look at the parish records in the National Library for the 3 families and see if you can bring forward their line.

davidjcie · 14-12-2009 6:59pm

Tableman wrote: »

I think the records in the valuation office are often overlooked & underestimated. They are a really good source for people who come from a farming background. They give you a nice history on the land you might own as well (EG When your ancetor took the land over from the landlord)

Are any of these records online? Living in West Cork it can become very costly to go to Dublin to get a particular record. Its great that the 1911 census is now online.

David

pinkypinky · 14-12-2009 9:03pm

Not yet but I believe they are working on it. You could possibly commission a search?

#15 · 02-01-2010 11:26pm

Can anybody tell me where I could find records for the RIC, British Army and the IRA?

I am currently searching for ancestors in those organisations.

Online access would be preferable, but other suggestions are welcome.

Would really appreciate the help.

Simarillion · 03-01-2010 12:25pm

RIC records are held by the #National Archives in Dublin,

British Army records are in the archives at Kew, but many regiments have their own website and sometimes their own museum and records office. I contacted one of these regarding a officer from 1795, unfortunately he couldn't help because he (A) had no record of him, (B) the records of him were too old and would be at Kew. Haven't made it over yet.

I don't know if there is such as thing as an IRA archive or record. You would probably be relying on government and police records or files held on individuals involved in this group. Alternatively many IRA men and women applied for a pension for their actions. Whether they were granted the pension or not, these applications still exist with a list of the area they fought in and any direct actions or conflicts they were involved in. Sometimes includes a handwritten letter from said applicant.

pinkypinky · 03-01-2010 1:40pm

For the IRA records, Simarillion is right. Cathal Brugha Barracks may be able to help you. You will need to permission of the nearest direct descendent to get access to any records. If this is you, you'll need to prove your connection to the person with birth certs, etc.

I have the name of a good research in Kew that I used - I can pm you the details if you wish. He was very reasonable.

There's also an RIC index on Ancestry but I don't think it gives you much. There's also a book version of it, which should be in most libraries.

#15 · 03-01-2010 10:01pm

Thanks for the help guys. I didn't have any particular relative in mind. I just wanted to do a little research on my ancestors.

My grandparents are dead and my parents don't know anything about such things!

Seems like a difficult task.

davidjcie · 03-01-2010 10:53pm

fifilarue wrote: »

I've been researching how to research members of the RIC and am totally confused-got names and numbers from Jim Herlihy's book but now looking for more info-so, my question is, where do I go next?

Hi
Jim can be contacted by e-mail. He can get the details from the UK. The details will show what Co the person was stationed in when pensioned etc. He doesnt supply the actual barracks he was in.
David

silent1 · 03-01-2010 11:48pm

Just a couple of notes for anyone researching. Tallaght Library has a large number of Thoms Directories on open shelves in their local studies section.

http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ are online searchable newspaper archives ~ very expensive though. I did get some records that I would otherwise not have got. I found a court appearance of a maiden aunt of my fathers. Also the for sale notice of a family business which took place in the 1930's. Also found funeral notices, which gave burial places.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission http://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp?menuid=14 seem to have updated their site since I visited it last and I found the date and place of burial of a grand uncle who was in the army in 1914.

Hope this helps.

ergonomics · 31-01-2010 4:49pm

This is probably a really stupid question but I've only been at this for a month! With regard to looking at church records, can you just call into a church and ask to see their records or do you need to ask in advance? Is the church even the right place to go?

Thanks!

pinkypinky · 01-02-2010 10:34am

Ergonomics,

Read the first few posts on this thread. It will depend on what records you want to look at and what period. If you're talking 19th century, you should go to the National Library and use their microfilm registers. Some churches are not there, and that's really only when you should bother the actual church. A polite email or phonecall, not expecting to get the results immediately, should be first in that case. If you're not back before civil registration yet, go down that route first via the census.

That said, I do know someone who never looked at anything other than church records, and in person, I feel her work isn't documented enough for my liking, but I like to have detailed records.

Pinky

piggin steve · 10-03-2010 12:24am

Does anyone know where to find information on the Connaught Rangers. I believe my GGGrandfather served with them in the 1860/70's

Thanks

pinkypinky · 10-03-2010 12:30am

For military papers, you want the UK National Archives.

Search on Ancestry.co.uk to see if they have anything (it's most likely too early but just to be sure) under his name.

The UK NA have a lot online now but I don't think there's anything that early, so you'd be looking at going over there yourself or hiring a researcher. I hired one for significantly cheaper than going myself, but my people were later than that. I can pm you details of the researcher if you're interested.

piggin steve · 10-03-2010 11:58pm

Thanks Pinkypinky!

Could you forward on the name of the researcher, thanks

Sundew · 22-03-2010 1:42pm

piggin steve wrote: »

Does anyone know where to find information on the Connaught Rangers. I believe my GGGrandfather served with them in the 1860/70's

Thanks

Would also be worth checking out the Military Museum in Renmore Barracks in galway if you have not already done so
You have to make an appointment in advance:
Phone:[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1][FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1][FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]091 751156
[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1][FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1][FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]brian.smyth@defenceforces.ie[/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]

Alicat · 18-04-2010 3:12am

If the Civil Registration Index for a birth cert doesn't have the maiden name on it, does that mean it's not on the cert?

It's from 1924.

pinkypinky · 18-04-2010 11:45am

No, I would definitely go check the original. The LDS records are fantastic but they are not perfect. By 1924, the maiden name is usually in the index too but it could just be transcribed wrong.

Alicat · 18-04-2010 1:14pm

pinkypinky wrote: »

No, I would definitely go check the original. The LDS records are fantastic but they are not perfect. By 1924, the maiden name is usually in the index too but it could just be transcribed wrong.

Thanks Pinky! Think I may have found the birth cert of my Nana who was abandoned as a really young child so I really really want this cert to have some names on it!

Dazzler88 · 23-04-2010 4:37pm

Hey guys.I am trying to trace a realtive of mine who moved to Australia in 1923?

Anyone any ideas?

I spent ages on google and cant get anywhere..

Alicat · 25-04-2010 2:06pm

Is the LDS Index site not working for anyone else? I haven't been able to access it for two or three days now. No matter how much information I put in, it keeps throwing up this message saying there were too many results. But the very same searches worked perfectly last weekend

shanew · 26-04-2010 9:12am

definitely something going on with the Civil index on the familysearch website.. lots of records have disappeared, and the search doesn't even seem to be reliable. Sometimes I can get some of the results by searching all of Ireland (instead of selecting a county) a then filtering the results..

They do seem to be doing some sort of update as the format of the results seems to have changed slight also..

Shane

pinkypinky · 03-05-2010 9:54pm

Agreed. I'm getting different results for the same queries today than yesterday. Frustrating but can't complain too much about a wonderful free resource!!

Ponster · 09-05-2010 10:06pm

edit : messed up for me also...

How to research your Irish family - first post updated.

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