366 Days of Genealogy – March
Once a day on the Blair Archival Research Facebook page a new post is shared. There is a theme for each month and March’s was Ireland. You will get bonus posts relating to the theme but only on the Blair Archival Research Facebook page these will not be posted on the monthly blog review.
March 1
Do you have Irish ancestors? Have you mapped out where they lived in Ireland? Check out my 366 Days of Family History posts for February 1-4 and create your maps.
March 2
A great book for mapping your Irish Ancestors is “A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland” by Brian Mitchell.
March 3
You must have a good gazetteer in your library. I use “Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland” which is dated 1851.
March 4
Two books that are invaluable to the Irish researcher are: “Irish Record Sources for Family and Local History” by James Ryan and “Tracing Your Irish Ancestors” (all three editions) by John Grenham. John Grenham is about to release the fourth edition of “Tracing Your Irish Ancestors.”
March 5
Researching church records? Then I would recommend “Irish Church Records” by James G Ryan.
March 6
Are you just beginning your Irish research or have you been doing it for a while? Either way it is a good idea to attend conferences and lectures on the topic. If you can’t attend conferences then FamilySearch has an online learning centre with free webinars relating to Ireland.
March 7
Another great resource at FamilySearch is the Wiki. They have informative pages relating to Irish research on their Wiki. If there is a record group you are interested in learning more about you can find out more on the Wiki. There are pages that relate to counties, history and many others.
March 8
If you are not familiar with Irish history then it is a good idea to read up on the subject. The history of Ireland affected its record keeping and it is important to know how and when events happened.
Robert Kee has written “Ireland A History” and the three volume set called the Green Flag series. F.S.L. Lyons is the author of “Ireland Since the Famine” which will give you a good overview of the time period.
March 9
Read as much as possible about Ireland’s history, people and keep up to date with the availability of records. A good way to do this is to read blogs. I like The Irish Story blog for information on history. To keep up with record availability try the British & Irish Genealogy blog and Irish Genealogy News. Don’t forget to follow The Passionate Genealogist.
March 10
If your ancestors worked for a large estate in Ireland you may find them in the estate records. A good book on the subject is “The Big Houses and Landed Estates of Ireland” by Terrance Dooley.
March 11
H.V. Morton wrote a book called “In Search of Ireland” which was published in 1930. The book chronicles his first trip through Ireland. It is an interesting read.
March 12
Have you ever browsed the Eneclann website? They are a Dublin based company and they digitize records and items relating to Ireland. Some of their information can be found on Origins and FindMyPast Ireland. They have digitized journals such as The Irish Ancestor and The Irish Genealogist.
March 13
A useful book is “A Visitors’ Guide Irish Libraries Archives, Museums & Genealogical Centres” by Robert K. O’Neill. It lists institutions found in the 32 counties and provides information under the headings: contact information, hours, access and services, contact, description, holdings and location. You may find a small museum that can help you break down that brick wall.
March 14
Do you belong to a genealogical society in Ireland? I highly recommend joining one to help you keep up to date with new information and to learn more about researching in Ireland. You never know you might find a new cousin.
March 15
Are you looking for Irish maps? A good online source is Past Homes. They have a searchable database of Irish Townland maps that were surveyed between 1829 and 1843. They are in colour and show houses, churches, shops, woodlands and other things. It costs $25.00 US to subscribe for one year and then to download or order other forms of the maps costs extra.
March 16
A real treasure for the Irish researcher is Hayes Manuscript which has been available in large university libraries but is now online and searchable for free. The National Library of Ireland has put this publication online, including all the supplements. You can search by name, place and subject.
March 17
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Do you have an ancestor who worked for Guinness? You can read more about the history of Guinness and their archives on their website. There is a section called genealogy where you can fill out a form to search their employee database. It is a transcription with basic details and provides descriptions of what your ancestor did for a living at Guinness.
March 18
Have you visited the Irish government website called Irish Genealogy? You can search transcriptions of parish registers for Dublin City, Carlow, Cork and Kerry. These records include Roman Catholic parish registers. They will soon be putting Roman Catholic records for County Monaghan (Diocese of Clogher) online.
March 19
The 1901 and 1911 Irish census records have been available since the 1960s. A few years ago the National Archives of Ireland, with the help of Library and Archives Canada, digitized and indexed the census records and put them online for free.
March 20
Have you ever visited the Library and Archives Canada website “The Shamrock and the Maple Leaf?” It provides online access to essays, music and a gallery relating to the “Irish-Canadian documentary heritage held by Library and Archives Canada.” They provide a list of published resources to help you with further research.
March 21
You can find more Irish-Canadian resources at Early Canadiana Online.
March 22
The IreAtlas Townland Database can help you find out more about the townland where your ancestors lived. It will provide you with the townland, what other name it might be known as, acreage, county, barony, civil parish, poor law union and province.
March 23
You can search Griffith’s Valuation online for free at Ask about Ireland.
March 24
The Registry of Deeds project is a work in progress. You can browse by many different categories to see if you can find information on your ancestors land holdings. Remember it is an ongoing project so if you don’t find something go back later. You can help by contributing to the project.
March 25
Findmypast Ireland has been in operation for about a year and they have many unique records on their website. They are a pay per view website. One year costs €59.95 and you can also purchase Pay as you go credits. The rumour is that some time this year you will be able to buy a world package from Findmypast similar to Ancestry.
March 26
Ireland Genealogical Project has been putting free information online. They are organized by county and provide links to many useful websites.
March 27
The Irish Genealogical Project Archives are listed by county and have listings of records available to search. These records are put online by volunteers so some might only have one record in the record source. It is still worth going in and seeing what you can find.
March 28
In the Irish Genealogical Project Archives there is a section called cemetery records. Here you will find a transcript of the monument inscriptions in the cemetery. These are still a work in progress. You can also find pictures of some of the grave stones under the title headstones.
March 29
Don’t forget to check out the Ireland GenWeb Project to see what new information they have.
March 30
Do you have Quakers in your Irish ancestry? Then check out Quakers in Ireland and learn more about their beliefs and their history in Ireland.
March 31
Are you planning a genealogical research trip to Ireland? Then my book “Planning a Genealogical Research Trip to Ireland: The Research Trail in Dublin” can help you prepare for your journey and provides some tips on using the repositories in Dublin. You can purchase a copy at the Genealogy Store. You can also sign up for my research trip to Ireland. There is only space for 7 and you can stop at Who Do You Think You Are? Live on the way to Dublin.
To get a new tip each day all you have to do is “Like” Blair Archival Research.
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