>From the New England Historic Genealogical Society current online member newsletter: Research Recommendations: Irish Ancestors by Michael J. Leclerc I've just returned from an eight-day cruise of the Caribbean with The Irish Ancestral Research Association <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102420773318&e=001-c-eN0vbQ5GG4DCgQqlzXBuE32r8W8h I4i84ZShmBcROm2f7HN1jYJKcYkcpONdu5_Fa1sSbrSLqxs4j7hx41KHm-uSUqYZ3l0Hb8nMvUFU => (TIARA). While it is nice to sleep in my own bed, I do miss having someone clean my room for me every day! The trip included top-notch speakers from TIARA as well as from Ireland. I learned more about Irish resources in three days than I have in quite some time. Among the speakers were noted Irish specialist George Handran, who had the participants understanding what Griffith's Valuation is (and isn't) in ways they never imagined. Gregory O'Connor from the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) in Dublin and Valerie Adams of the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Belfast introduced us to a mountain of source material housed in these repositories. Both NAI and PRONI have active programs for reviewing collections and making materials available online. The PRONI website, www.proni.gov.uk <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102420773318&e=001-c-eN0vbQ5FYNHNOwGcWRq79Ffw-hIv XEGT-FBf1vJLnorOODQYXLz3qhmDg-ybUbSa7dL1p0CAEixnfGwZ3Nr1EB07jp7dLlZCOk-PTqRl kGVyWWHSmSQ==> , provides a great introduction to family history research in Northern Ireland and materials held at PRONI. In addition to their online catalog, PRONI currently has three major databases for genealogists. The Ulster Covenant was signed on September 28, 1912, in protest of the Third Home Rule Bill, which would have established a Home Rule Parliament in Dublin. The Covenant was signed by 237,368 men. The accompanying Declaration was signed by 234,046 women. Together they represent almost a half million adult residents of Ulster. Also available from PRONI are the Freeholders' Records, records of pre-1840 voters in Northern Ireland. The register books include details of those who registered to vote, while the poll books are lists of voters and the candidates for whom they voted. There is also an explanation of what the requirements were to be a voter in different time periods. PRONI is also working to digitize the wills from the District Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast, and Londonderry between 1858 and 1900. You can currently search the index to the will calendar entries. You will soon also be able to view images of the wills themselves online. NAI does not yet have as many records online as PRONI, but there are a large number of finding aids on their website, www.nationalarchives.ie <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102420773318&e=001-c-eN0vbQ5ELt-Xo1TB2VL-FOLYKdkX 6Ks21cXQJSjPOtQxwPK7PGYoQHGiIU_duBpwk0A5CXmzQL3M1t256RPLnb2pKvXzhFAySmTVqtXs HnfkzzbKT6Q==> , that will help you to understand genealogical research in the Republic, and what records are and are not available at NAI. Their major online database project at the moment is the digitization of the 1901 and 1911 census records. The returns for the 1911 census in the counties of Dublin, Antrim, Down, and Kerry are currently available. The rest of the counties are scheduled to be released over the course of the next six months or so. The census project is a joint effort of NAI, PRONI, the National Library of Ireland, Dublin City Library and Archives, the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, the Irish Railway Records Society, the Fingal County Council Archives, and Library and Archives Canada. TIARA president Mary Choppa gave an excellent overview of the history of Ireland and vice-president Mary Ellen Grogan gave us a number of excellent resources for Irish research. My particular favorite was the Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF). IFHF is a network of county-based genealogical research centers across all of Ireland. Their main website, www.irish-roots.ie <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102420773318&e=001-c-eN0vbQ5E9wJTmUUT-f0mERVbgiLm RqG0xeeIGLNnF7YRBTseh5ziMZvXk0A7Py6D-oDLtTUmzkmo5hCXWYlvyOICMKH_rGY7nGNTr36s Ho150qB0Iww==> , contains information about IFHF and the research centers, as well as resources for Irish research. The centers have an ongoing project to make records available online through a pay-per-view site, www.irish-roots.ie/pay-per-view.asp <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102420773318&e=001-c-eN0vbQ5Gj0TayJ7ONTAP7LgAZCKD ckscK4TpJHV6L5h7YHDJgVRflzqbN8WKOOiDt-dz5HnXwwBOCd0wueN9fmPk08P8Oo4lzpohoR0o Pf_uHesqY9t0d5QXKgIZ6ylhHz0teQbw=> . Searching the index is free (you must register as a user first). If you find records you want to look at, you can view and download images for a fee. You can search individual counties, or search all counties. The counties that are currently available are Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Cork, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyron, and Westmeath. TIARA did an excellent job with this genealogy conference at sea. If you are researching your Irish ancestors, look for more programs from this group in the future. Many thanks to George, Gregory, Valerie, Mary, and Mary Ellen for sharing their incredible knowledge and expertise. James P. Murphy Princeton, NJ 08542 <mailto:jpmurphy@jpmurphy.com> jpmurphy@jpmurphy.com

Hello James. I have had other competing priorities for the last several weeks, and only just now got to read the item which you forwarded below. Thank you very much for sharing it with us -- especially with all of its included links. I cannot recall having seen others writing back to the list to say thank you; so I wanted to ensure that you did receive a public thanks for your posting. Likewise, in going over accumulated messages from the list over the past few days, I have seen many other postings by list-members, with the aim of helping the rest of us; and again I thank each such poster; and hope that others might have thanked you either publicly or privately for your thoughtfulness in sharing your knowledge and gleanings with the rest of us. Regards to all. Ray in oz. ----- Original Message ----- From: "James P. Murphy" <jpmurphy@jpmurphy.com> > >From the New England Historic Genealogical Society current online member > newsletter: > Research Recommendations: Irish Ancestors > by Michael J. Leclerc > > I've just returned from an eight-day cruise of the Caribbean with The > Irish > Ancestral Research Association > <http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102420773318&e=001-c-eN0vbQ5GG4DCgQqlzXBuE32r8W8h > I4i84ZShmBcROm2f7HN1jYJKcYkcpONdu5_Fa1sSbrSLqxs4j7hx41KHm-uSUqYZ3l0Hb8nMvUFU > => (TIARA). ...