Category Archives: Church Records

Who Was Christmas Weeks

Just before the Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858 was published I was working with the editorial team. One of my tasks was to search through the original database for possible errors in the transcription of names. If you order all of the entries alphabetically it is easy to see where anomalous names turn up. In this instance, it was not anomalous, but

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Farnham Estate Papers for Newtownbarry

While researching a collection of estate papers for the Farnham Estate in Newtownbarry in Co. Wexford for the late 18th and early 19th century I came across an intriguing document. The estate records were found in the National Library of Ireland and in Ms. 8527 (5), a collection of drafts and memoranda of legal documents concerning the Newtownbarry

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Preacher’s Books

Preacher’s books form part of the collection of Church of Ireland parish records lodged in the Representative Church Body Library in Churchtown, Dublin.   A preacher’s book can be quite a dry and sparse document, but nevertheless sometimes informative. It is a record of the date of and time of the church service, the name of the reader and preacher

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Old Irish Family Letters

Detective work can sometimes be one of the most appealing aspects of Irish genealogy. If you are lucky enough to find old family letters sent from Ireland to emigrant siblings, children, cousins or neighbours, it might be time to put your detective hat on. Old family letters can contain all sorts of clues that could identify your family origins in Ireland.

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Irish Surnames

During a recent search for a Maher family I once again stumbled into the mire of difficulty created by the spelling of Irish surnames in 19th century records.  This is an obstacle that many Irish family history researchers will encounter during the course of their research.  Mass digitization of Irish records has made the issue of the spelling of

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Bryan Cranston – Who Do You Think You Are?

In the most recent episode of Who Do You Think You Are? US Bryan Cranston, star of the TV shows Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle, traced his Cranston ancestry back through American and Canadian records to his great great grandparents, Joseph Cranston and Sarah McLeod. Bryan Cranston’s Irish OriginsDuring the course of his search, Bryan discovered

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Catholic Parish Registers Online

An historic resource has been made available to the genealogical community in Ireland and around the world with the publication of Ireland’s historic Roman Catholic parish registers, online. The collection covers all counties on the island of Ireland and can be found on  National Library of Ireland Website.Origins of the CollectionThe collection

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Irish Marriage Customs

While searching the Roman Catholic parish register for Kilmormoy in counties Sligo and Mayo (NLI Pos. 4231), I came across the following regulation, copied into the first page of the marraige register.  This regulation, decided by the bishops of Killala and Achonry gives us some insight into Irish marriage customs from the early 19th century. Registry

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Two 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,

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Quaker 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

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