Excise and Inland Revenue Records Despite the amount of genealogical and family history records either freely available or though pays sites online, the national repositories of the United Kingdom and Ireland still hold a vast amount of material that can only be consulted on site. The British National Archives, Kew, has over the past number of years
Read MoreAssisted Emigration from Ireland
Two fascinating accounts of assisted emigration from Ireland have recently been inspected; State Aided Emigration Schemes from the Crown Estates in Ireland and Assistance to Emigrate from the Castlecomer Board of Guardians. The first of these, without provenance, relates to the Castlecomer Poor Law Union (Kilkenny) for the periods 1847-1853. This
Read MoreTwo Unusual Irish Emigration Records
Irish Emigration Records represent a real challenge for those searching for evidence of the departure of their family from Ireland. Passenger lists were usually deposted a the port of arrival and many of the surviving records can now be found online at Ancestry. Arrivals in America can also be found at Ellis Island and Castlegarden. There are,
Read MoreDeceased Irish Seamen
Following on from our previous post on Deceased Irish Seamen, some interesting information has come to light regarding the monthly returns made during the war periods of 1914-18 and 1939-45, which include deceased Irish seamen. The Returns of Deaths of Seamen Reported to the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen under the Provisions of the Merchant
Read MoreEjectment Books
Have you ever wondered why your ancestors may have suddenly and seemingly inexplicably left their family farm? The Ejectment Books might provide an answer. The Ejectment Books contain information on cases brought before a judge at county Quarter Sessions concerning the ejectment or removal of tenants from the landholdings by their landlords or agents.
Read MoreThe Settlement of the Ashe Family in Cavan
The following is an account of the settlement of the Ashe family in Cavan. Sir Thomas Ashe and his brother, John Ashe, began to develop their respective estates in Ireland in earnest from the beginning of the 17th century and before the plantation of Ulster. In a recently-published account of the Ulster Plantation in counties Armagh and Cavan it was
Read MoreValuation Office Revision Books
With the exception of Parish Registers and Civil Births, Deaths and Marriages, the Valuation Office Revision Books are amongst the most useful sources available to the Irish genealogist. The Revision Books are a continuation of Griffith’s Valuation of Ireland – officially the Primary Valuation of Tenements. The purpose of this survey, conducted
Read MoreQuaker Records
Birth, marriage and death records for the Society of Friends or Quakers are amongst the most accessible and systematic for any religious denomination in Ireland. The Quakers arrived in Ireland in the seventeenth century and from their date of arrival clear and concise records were kept for the life events of members of the Society. Although the Quakers
Read MoreBetham’s Sketch Pedigrees
In a previous blog, the work of Sir William Betham and his collection of Genealogical Abstracts held at the National Archives was discussed. In conjunction with the Genealogical Abstracts, Betham compiled an extensive collection of sketch pedigrees. In large part these pedigrees were sketched from the material extracted from the Betham’s abstracts
Read MoreBetham’s Genealogical Abstracts
Sir William Betham (1779-1853) was appointed deputy Ulster King of Arms in 1807 and Ulster King of Arms in 1820. Betham spent a lifetime collating indexes and abstracts of the manuscripts held in the Record Tower of Dublin Castle. Although Betham was a polymath, it is his work in the Records Tower for which Irish genealogists and family historians
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