Dear Fellow Researchers; I am sending on account of a journey to Ireland that appeared on another list(Genire). It is not often that I run across an account of someone who has been doing Irish research "out in the field so to speak." I am probably not going to Ireland next week (Big Grin), but I did think there was a lot of information in this letter that is helpful to those of us who are trying to search from a distance. The information specifically concerns research in County Tipperary (someone wrote into the Genire list and said that it was too bad we didn't have information like this from every county). However, maybe this will inspire other list members who have gone to Ireland to write in and tell about their experiences. I do know that there are several Fianna members besides me whose ancestors come from County Tipperary. "Heloo, All! I just wanted to check in and let you all know how the search went while I was in the homeland. Spent a day or so at the National Library searching for ancestors from Moycarkey Catholic parish in County Tipperary. Much thanks for the advice from all who contributed! The unfortunate thing about the NL is that they have rather limited resources in terms of people who can help you. There was a single nun (her name escapes me, but under the circumstances, she was a complete saint) who ran the desk in the reading room and she could tell you where certain things were if you knew what to ask for, but didn't have the time to get into any specifics on individual searches. Some of the other helpers were a bit snippy... The most unfortunate outcome of that day was the realization that all the records for the Diocese of Cashel and Emly in Co. Tipperary (which constitutes about 2/3 of the county, in a big swath across the middle) are unavailable for viewing at the NL. Darn. And there seemed to be some doubt as to exactly who had which records. Bru Boru? Northern Tipperary (in Nenagh)? Turns out the records are spread out between these two and the Tipperary Heritage Unit in Tipperary town proper, but mostly in the latter. There is a listing of just who has what at the NL, according to parish. The Bru Boru mostly only has cemetary inscriptions for the region (as they were read off the stones themselves, so it's a bit sketchy and anything but complete). The search of the Tithe Applotments and Griffiths Evaluation records were somewhat helpful, but I hadn't quite done my homework on what the differences were between the civil and Catholic parishes. There is Moycarkey Catholic parish, which is large, and Moycarkey civil parish, which is small and contained within the catholic parish along with Fertians, Galbooly, and a couple others. A word to the wise - make sure you know whether the parish you're searching in is the religious or civil. The Tithe Applotments and Griffiths Evaluation records are according to civil parishes and the townlands therein. By far the most valuable experience I had was at the county library in Thurles. If anyone wants my advice, skip the NL altogether and just go there. The woman who works in the genealogical room there (her name is Mary) was so incredibly helpful I'm thinking about submitting her name for canonization. She helped me get my arms around the civil/catholic thing and also how to really make effective use of the Tithe Applotments and Griffiths and their respective indexes. Furthermore, they really didn't have anything at the NL that wasn't at the county Library. What they did have that wasn't at the NL was originals for the 1840 Ordinance Survey Maps (the microfilms at the NL are terrible) plus the originals for the Rate Books (similar to Griffiths in content, but covers years from 1846 through 1899) for the area. Mary also helped me figure out exactly who had the proper Church records for the area. My last stop was at the Tipperary Heritage Unit in Tipperary. They are affiliated with a separate organization that the Family Heritage group under which the Northern Tipperary and Bru Boru fall, so if you were thinking that all the information for Co. Tipperary was in the latter two, as their Internet sites would have you believe, you'd better give them a call. The people there were nice enough but very young, so I didn't exactly have confidence that they knew entirely what they were doing, though they did their best. Unfortunately, the farther back you get in the records, the more scanty they get, and there are significant gaps. If you want my advice, when having them do a search, make sure that they send you a Xerox copy of the entire set of listings for a particular surname rather than just information on a single first name. In some cases, there is information on townland of origin which can help you make associations with other possible family members you may not have been aware of. The cost to have them do a search was 15 pounds for two parishes to 45 pounds for all 46 parishes in the diocese. Few parishes have records going back farther than 1795, so you may find your genealogical search coming to an abrupt end after this experience. I hope this little travelogue helps some people who are doing searches in County Tipperary. There are probably some other things that I found out but failed to mention, so if you want to e-mail me, please do so. Good Hunting! Tim Gorman"