An important step to selecting the correct record.
07 April 2016With online searching now the order of the day, often records are chosen at random and you are left wondering well, have I selected the correct record.? So, for example, based on a 1901 or 1911 Census, entry, you might select a marriage of say, Patrick and Mary. But that...
Irish Record sets: the highways and byways and the paths that connect
01 April 2016One thing that becomes second nature when conducting genealogical research on a daily basis are the highways and byways of Irish record sets, and the ‘paths’ that connect each. Knowing these paths and how to use sources consecutively can save a lot of time and keep research more focused. Below are but a few examples of...
Tracing ancestors in the arts in Ireland.
01 March 2016It is a week and year for remembering all those who died in 1916 and we have had many queries relating to people who were involved in or whose lives were affected by the events of the Easter Rising. With conflict our first thoughts are with the tragic loss of...
Catholic parish register
01 March 2016With the great excitement now of the indexing of the parish registers, we are all more enthused than ever about tracking down our families. Of course these records have been on microfilm in the National Library for the longest time, and since last summer images were on the Library’s website....
Catholic parish regester
01 March 2016With the great excitement now of the indexing of the parish registers, we are all more enthused than ever about tracking down our families. Of course these records have been on microfilm in the National Library for the longest time, and since last summer images were on the Library’s...
What the RC parish registers tell us about Marriage customs in Ireland
01 February 2016At the Expert Workshop in February, Aileen Wynne asked us all to talk about our favourite source, for one minute only. This is much harder than you might think, and it led to an interesting exchange of ideas and a lot of laughs. My favourite source is whatever I’m working...
Saint’s Days and Baby’s Names.
01 January 2016Genealogists place a great importance on the naming patterns within a family, they can give us clues as to the names of the paternal and maternal grandparents. It’s also worth bearing in mind, however, that children were often named after a saint if they were born on or close to...
How to Avoid an Illicit Marriage: Marriage Banns
01 January 2016The tradition of marriage in Ireland has evolved significantly over the years. By the 17th century, there was more than one process for entering into marriage, including the reading of marriage banns. Reading wedding banns is an ancient legal step involving the public announcement of an upcoming marriage. This is...
Marriage Records.
01 January 2016Recent searches have put the spotlight on recorded addresses on marriage records. Over a number of separate cases, the question arose as to how much weight we might attach to the address given for the bride or groom as to its being their likely place of origin. One of the...
Searching for a clue in a phone directory
01 December 2015For the most part genealogists are immersed in 19th century newspapers, parish registers, estate papers, etc., in the hunt for an elusive ancestor. Sometimes however a search can be in the not too distant past, and often that search can be just as difficult! So where do we turn to if...
Marriage Settlements
01 October 2015A recent search had as its starting point a prerogative marriage license bond from 1780. A prerogative marriage license bond indicated that one or both of the parties had substanial resources. The next step for us automatically led to the Registry of Deeds, a potential goldmine for the determined researcher. We...
lease of lives
01 September 2015We recently had an 18th century search at the Registry of Deeds which involved land that a family held for a lease of lives. Any genealogist will rub their hands with glee when they see the words ‘lease of lives’. Put simply what it meant is that the person taking the...