PRESS RELEASE

Monday 1st December 2014

FREE ONLINE ACCESS TO HISTORICAL IRISH CATHOLIC RECORDS WARMLY WELCOMED BY XO

The National Diaspora Programme, (Ireland XO), warmly welcomed today the announcement that the National Library of Ireland is to give free online access to its Catholic Church records collection. This unprecedented move will, according to Ireland XO Chairman , enable many millions of people to successfully trace their roots to Ireland.

The National Library of Ireland has announced today that it will give free online access to its archive of Catholic Church records, the earliest of which dates back to the 1700s. The records are considered the single most important source of information on Irish family history prior to the 1901 Census. They cover 1,091 parishes throughout Ireland, and consist primarily of baptismal and marriage records.

Currently, the National Library provides free access to its microfiche records at its research rooms in Kildare Street in . However access has been hampered in recent years by high demand and increased pressure on resources. The only online access to date has been through a third party paid genealogical service.

Responding to the announcement, Ireland XO Founder & Chairman Mike Feerick stated that “Ireland XO has been campaigning for free online access to these valuable records since the organisation was founded five years ago. Every Ireland XO volunteer knows how important it is that these records are freely available to everyone. The fact that these records have been available online only through an expensive paid service has meant that a huge number of people of Irish descent worldwide have been unable to trace their roots in Ireland.”

He added “It is a truly exciting development for all involved in the Diaspora and Heritage sectors. It will have a profound impact on the number of people arriving in Ireland to trace their roots, and will allow the building of greater contacts between the and their parish communities of origin in Ireland.”

Clare Doyle, Heritage Resource Manager at Ireland XO added that “the impact of charging for online access to these records has been greatly underestimated and, in many cases, prohibited the advancement of genealogical research by the Irish Diaspora. A huge number of Irish descendants living abroad are there as a result of famine and pre-famine emigration. To trace so far back, you simply have to look at a lot of records, and if you have to pay for each, the cost of your research simply becomes too expensive."

Since 2009, Ireland XO volunteers have been tireless in their quest to uncover ancestral origins for the thousands of Irish descendants who get in contact each month through irelandxo.com. The digitisation of records from the National Library is a great boost to their research resources and will mean real in creating the online Irish Diaspora community.

With the launch of its new website in March, and the online release of the Church archives in summer, 2015 promises to be a very exciting time for Ireland XO. It currently has 70,000 members worldwide and over 3,500 thousand parish-based volunteers across Ireland, north and south. Ireland XO volunteers help connect Irish Diaspora to their communities of origin in Ireland, welcoming them back when they visit and extending membership of the “virtual” parish community worldwide. Online access to the 18th and 19th century Church Records is expected to stimulate a huge interest in Irish genealogical research and as always, Ireland XO will be there to help engage with the Irish Diaspora in discovering the story of their ancestors, and strengthen their relationship with the Ireland of today. PRESS RELEASE END

About Ireland Reaching Out

Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO) is a multi-award-winning programme based on a simple idea; instead of waiting for Irish descendants and their global counterparts to come back to Ireland to trace their roots, they go the other way. Working through voluntary effort at a townland and parish level, local Irish communities identify who left, tracing them and their descendants worldwide inviting them to become part of an extended “virtual” community with their place of origin. In this way, the entire Irish Diaspora of 70 million can be systematically reunified.

The Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO) programme won the special award at the national “Pride of Place” Awards in Nov 2011 and in February 2012, was voted the “Best Community” initiative nationally by the Local Authorities Members Awards (LAMA). The project was founded in South-East by tech entrepreneur Mike Feerick in 2009 and is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Heritage Council, Atlantic Philanthropies, the Ireland Funds, Galway County Council, Galway Rural Development (GRD), and Irish-American sources. Sponsors include , Guinness, An Post, and the National Library. In Dec 2011, the project launched a global partnership with the GAA, agreeing to link newly identified members of the Irish Diaspora to the network of nearly 500 GAA clubs worldwide. Well-known broadcasters and economists David McWilliams and George Lee have been prominent supports of Ireland XO pointing out the extraordinary economic potential of the programme, which rises well beyond the immediate and obvious tourism opportunity.

The Ireland Reaching Out programme is currently active in the 32 counties across Ireland. The programme has its headquarters in Galway and its HQ team is supported by 3,500 volunteers at parish level. In August, Ireland XO welcomed its millionth visitor to its website.

For Further Information Contact: Follow Ireland XO on Facebook: www.facebook.com/IrelandXO Follow Ireland XO on Twitter @IrelandXO For further information on getting involved, please contact [email protected]

For further information regarding this press release please contact : Laura Colleran [email protected] 089 472 7860