I have been reading with interest. I do not wish to touch the fragile books containing the originals. As it is they are probably decaying quite well by themselves. I only wish they would photocopy them before that happens. These could then be transcribed as it is being done in other countries. One of my search areas is Wales. I have the records from the parish churches of my RC Irish that were married, died and buried there. They were transcribed by volunteers and I was able to purchase the booklets. The place was Myrthyr Tydfil and is far from being a tourist spot but I have been there 4 times to visit and do more research. I have met living cousins, spent money there and without these records available would never have gone there. Another case in point is now we have better access to the BMD's the GRO still will not accept credit cards online and I do not think faxing them is safe. I say wake up Ireland there is money to be made here. But we know these points have been raised many times on this list and others and we are still at a standstill. Joan ----- Original Message ----- From: "donkelly" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 11:50:06 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: Free availability of Irish Records Don't desire to get into a difference of opinion, but I have some information about old books that may not be common knowledge: 1. It is said that the Archbishop of Emele closed the books after one researcher tore two pages out of the book, closed it and walked out, thus depriving thousand of other researchers the pleasures of reading what was on those two stolen pages. 2. The old books must be opened in controlled circumstances, often with white, soft, acid free gloves. 3. Even the natural acid on your hands damages the paper. 4. Even a flash camera tends to fade the paper. 5. In conclusion, these old books, to last another century, must be kept in a habitat, low light, constant temperature, and controlled humidity. Anything less means no old books left even during our lifetimes. 6. Digitizing by professionals is the only way to go, then the books can be protected for a long time to come. So in a way it is control freaks who do this, but for the greater good. Profit is a motive too, but not at the risk of losing the books forever. donkelly ----- Original Message ----- From: Cliff. Johnston <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:11:56 +0000 (UTC) Subject: Re: Free availability of Irish Records You can do away with the volumes that you all have written and explain it simply with 2 words, "control freak". Cliff. "May the best you've ever seen,  Be the worst you'll ever see;" from A Scots Toast by Allan Ramsay ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Steitz" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 9:26 PM Subject: Re: Free availability of Irish Records > Bill- > I respect and I am thankful for all you have done to bring light to the > west > Cork region. I do not wish in any way to disrespect your thoughts. > > However, I have a different opinion. I cannot accept the Church's silly > argument of protecting something that happened in the 19th century. It > should also be considered most of us; who do not know our origins, are > products of a people who left under extreme durress. As a result our > families could not communicate those origins. It was simply behind them. I > can respect, albeit I may not agree with, a 100 year rule or something > similar but complete non transparency is simply wrong. If the Church felt > it > is was important for the people to record their faith, it is equally > important for the Church to report those records to the family. It is no > wonder why the Catholic Church has lost my generation. They have > constricted > and excluded to the point of self strangulation. > > I have been to Dublin once and will never go back. I am a person who > avoids > any city in any way, manner or form possible. Libraries give me the > creeps. > I want to walk the fields amongst the sheep. I want to meet the residents > where we once were. I want to lift a stone and replace it in a wall. I > want > to listen to the music of a local musician. I have zero interest in > Dublin. > > Let me compare apples and apples. I also have Bavarian Catholic ancestors. > I > have accessed that data. Yes, I paid a fair sum for it and that is ok. I > can > share that. Two wasted nights in Dublin is a lot more expensive. Not only > did they give every BMD detail possible, they listed the date the family > hitched the horse to the wagon to go to America. They gave me details of > family I did not even know about in the same town my family had settled. I > could not ask for better. Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese was equal to that > Bavarian disclosure. So now I ask what details over 100 years old, I > should > add, could the Irish Catholic Church be afraid to disclose in BMD records? > > My goal has been to give my family a target, a place in Ireland for them > to > visit. Currently, they all stay home, waiting for that chance to visit a > home their elders never wanted to leave. This is not claims to ownership, > this is a vacation. They will do other things and spend a vacation sum of > money but it is only worth coming if they can visit the special land. > Those > are the facts. I wish the Irish Catholic Church would be more reasonable > and > attempt to understand these simple needs of the products of their former > faithful. > Respectfully > John (son of a Buckley) > > On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 8:18 PM, William P. Fahy <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Monica, >> >> The Bishop of Cork does not ban you seeing the records. They are in the >> process of digitising them. >> >> The microfilms for religious are available for research at the National >> Library and National Archives free of charge up to about 1880. >> >> For Church records after 1880 you must contact a cooperative Parish >> Priest >> or staff and they have the time or the incentive to look something up for >> you. >> >> You must have a religious or civil parish to narrow down the church area >> you >> wish to have a look at. >> >> If you look at my web site www.westcorkgenealogy.com and click on Church >> of >> Ireland Resources or Roman Catholic Resources you will find the records >> that >> are >> >> available in the various parishes of West Cork. Civil records are also >> available at www.familysearch.org and Birth, Marriage and Death record >> Indexes at >> >> http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start. These will >> indicate the the year or the quarter& year plusVolume & Page number to >> help >> you get records from Ireland >> >> or you can use the same information to look up the microfilm number for >> copies of the original documents whether they be Birth, Marriage or Death >> records and if they have been filmed by >> >> the LDS church. The microfilm indicated in the records at the pilot >> search >> is only an Index, the Volume & Page number and the year of the event will >> get you what you need under Birth or >> >> Marriage records. >> >> >> Bill Fahy >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message   ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message   ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message