COUNSEL Your family tree Researching your family history can be a really rewarding pastime and something all the family can get involved with. Consumer Choice shows you how to get started and where to look. Genealogy, to give it its proper name, is Older members of the family may the dates of birth, marriage or death. the study of ancestry and family history. remember distant relatives, and old Once you have some basic This is often accompanied by some sort photographs may have names and dates information the best place to begin for of table or record of the descendants of written on the back of them. Visit someone living around 1901 or 1911 are a family, known as a family tree. family gravestones as these can have the census records; for someone living Before starting a genealogical search, vital clues to your family history, such in the 1840s to 1860s the best starting it is important to gather as much as dates of birth, parents’ names and point is the Primary Evaluation (often information as possible about your where your relatives lived. referred to as Griffith’s Evaluation); and AT A GLANCE family by talking to relatives and for someone living in the 1820s or friends of the family, who may have Where to start 1830s are the Tithe Applotment Books. Genealogy. documents such as birth and marriage The most useful information to have certificates, old letters, photos, and before you start your search is the name Census records Resources. other documentation that you can use of the family, the parish or townland A census of the Irish population was as a starting point for your research. where they lived, and a rough idea of taken every ten years from 1821 until Software. COUNSEL MARCH 2010 consumer choice 61 Useful contacts The National Archives useful resources online Bishop Street Dublin 8 tel (01) 407 2300 Although you may need to visit the mentioned resources to fill in • Laois and Offaly Family History Research Centre 1890 252 424 as many details about your family history as possible, there are (www.irishmidlandsancestry.com) Irish Midlands Ancestry www.nationalarchives.ie numerous other resources available online that allow you to do provides an ancestral research service covering the Midland The National Library of your research from the comfort of your own home: counties of Laois and Offaly. Ireland • Cemetery records online Interment.net is a publisher of • Shaw’s Dublin City Directory 1850 (www.dublin1850.com) Kildare Street cemetery transcriptions for use by genealogists and local This website contains a list of names and addresses from Dublin 2. historians. Visitors can use the online library to help them to Dublin. tel (01) 603 0213 locate burials of family and friends, trace their family history, • UK National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) Irish www.nli.ie and learn about cemeteries in general. genealogy and records of the Irish Constabulary. General Register Office • Census records online (www.census.nationalarchives.ie) • Valuation Office (www.valoff.ie) holds a list of occupiers of Genealogical facility These are currently only available in full for the 1911 census, property for the entire country going back in some cases to 3rd Floor, but it is planned for the full 1901 records to be available within 1846. Block 7, the next three years. This list is by no means exhaustive. There are literally thousands Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, • Clare County Library (www.clarelibrary.ie) features the 1901 of websites dedicated to family history research. Dublin 1 census for county Clare. tel (01) 635 4000 • Ellis Island Family History Centre www.groireland.ie/ (www.ellisislandrecords.org) You can search Ellis Island/ Port research of New York records by passenger first name, last name, Public Record Office of approximate year of birth and gender. Northern Ireland • Genealogical Society of Ireland (www.familyhistory.ie) The 66 Balmoral Avenue, Genealogical Society of Ireland was established to promote an Belfast BT9 6NY. interest in genealogy in Ireland by organising Open Meetings, tel 0044 4890 255905 lectures, workshops and publishing genealogical material. www.proni.gov.uk • Leitrim-Roscommon Genealogy Website (www.leitrim- Representative Church roscommon.com) As well as resources relating to Leitrim and Body Library Roscommon, this website includes census material for Sligo, Braemor Park, Westmeath, Galway, Wexford and Mayo. Dublin 14. tel (01) 492 3979 www.ireland.anglican.org 1911 and manuscript returns for each years). Once you have found the record best resources for those researching Registry of Deeds household survive for all 32 counties you are interested in you can view the family alive at this time. Henrietta Street, for 1901 and 1911. These records are in original form as a pdf file. The Primary Evaluation, also known Dublin 1. the custody of the National Archives of The site is being re-developed to as Griffith’s Evaluation, was first tel (01) 804 8429 www.irlgov.ie/landreg Ireland. The 1901 and 1911 manuscripts include a full transcription of all of the published between 1847 and 1864. A are the only surviving full censuses of data on the household forms for 1901, valuation book was printed for each Presbyterian Historical Ireland open to the public and cover including religion, occupation, barony or poor law union. These books Society the island of Ireland. relationship to head of family, literacy show the names of the people living on Church House, They were released to public status, marital status, county or country land and in different buildings, the Fisherwick Place, Belfast BT1 6WD. inspection in 1961 because of the of origin, Irish language proficiency, names of the people the land was tel: 0044 4890 322284 stream of requests for information specified illnesses, and child survival leased from and the amount and value www.presbyterianireland. about people’s ages, particularly those information. of the property. Members of the public org born before civil registration of births The 1911 census asked a significant can consult these books on microfiche began in 1864. As well as allowing additional question: married women in the Reading Room of the National Religious Society of Friends Library people to carry out genealogical were required to state the number of Archives. Stocking Lane, research, the census records from both years they had been married, the Rathfarnham, 1901 and 1911 represent an extremely number of their children born alive and Tithe Applotment Books Dublin 16. valuable part of the Irish national the number still living. The Tithe Applotment books were tel (01) 495 6890 heritage. Within the next three years, Some partial records still exist for compiled between 1823 and 1837 in www.quakers-in- ireland.ie the complete 1911 and 1901 census other censuses taken in previous years; order to determine the amount which returns for the 32 counties of Ireland contact the National Archive (see Useful people living on farms should pay in Irish Jewish Museum will be available freely at Contacts) for more information on tithes to the Church of Ireland, which 3-4 Walworth Street, www.census.nationalarchives.ie. which years and areas of the country are was the main Protestant church at the South Circular Road, You can currently search and browse covered. time, and the church established by the Dublin 8. tel (01) 490 1857 the full 1911 census returns. You may State until its disestablishment in 1871. search the census using surname, Griffith’s Evaluation There is a manuscript book for almost forename, county, townland/street, As no full census records exist prior to every parish, giving the names of district electoral division (DED), sex 1901, Griffith’s Evaluation and the residents, the amount of land held and and age in 1911 (plus or minus five Tithe Applotment Books provide the the sums to be paid in tithes. The books 62 consumer choice MARCH 2010 COUNSEL for Northern Ireland are in the Public TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL SEARCH Useful websites Record Office of Northern Ireland 1911 Census (PRONI) but there are microfilm copies To get the most out of your search keep the following points in mind. www.census. in the National Archives. • Watch for the spelling of names and places, as these were often misspelled in nationalarchives.ie records or simply spelled in several different ways. Some websites will have options The National Archives Commonwealth War for ‘alternative spellings’. First names may also be shortened. The mission of the National Archive is Graves Commission • Transcription errors can also occur because of the difficulty in reading handwriting or www.cwgc.org to secure the preservation of records documents that have faded or become marked over time. relating to Ireland which deserve Genes Reunited preservation as archives and to ensure • Don’t forget the war records. Many young Irish men went to fight in foreign wars, and www. that appropriate arrangements are there will be a record of this. Try searching the Commonwealth War Graves genesreunited.co.uk made for public access to archives. Commission website at www.cwgc.org. The National Archives hold the • Remember, not all records are online yet, so pay a visit to your local library or Church records of the modern Irish state which or graveyard for further information. document its historical evolution and the creation of its national identity. Databases include Government records are held at the General Register type for family trees and allow you to departments and agencies, Ireland- Office, which has a family history save and transfer your files between Australia transportation database, research facility in Dublin. different programs. national education records and Famine The research facility can be used to Relief Commission Papers, 1845-1847 search indexes of births, deaths and Family tree software among others.