CHURCH RECORDS The most important source of information for the genealogist is parish records. However, there is much confusion concerning the existence or availability of Irish Church records. The first problem is to identify which records exist for a particular area and the period covered. The parish is an administrative unit, be it ecclesiastical or civil. In general, the Church of Ireland parish boundaries follow those of the civil parish, but in the 18th and 19th centuries new parishes were formed or old parishes were united with others depending on the population of an area, and the religious present in that area. Many of these changes are recorded in Lewis's Topographical Directory (PROPER REFERENCE!!) (1838). Roman catholic parish boundaries are more difficult to define, these have changed over the years and they are often called by names differing from the name of the civil parish in which they may be found. Religions such as the Methodist and Presbyterian do not have parish structures. Some did have their own church areas and these too may have changed in time, such as the circuits of the Methodist church. REGISTERS The information contained in parish registers differs, depending on the person who kept the register. Many registers were simply notebooks and on the death of the person who created the register these were often considered the personal property of that person by their family and kept or destroyed by the family accordingly. Later registers were in a printed format, yet, the registrar may not have filled in all details. For some baptismal registers we find the name of the father and the mother, the mothers maiden name, the townland that they came from, the names of witnesses and where they lived and the fathers occupation. For others, we find simply the names of the people involved in the ceremony, nothing more. Some registers are written neatly, some others are very difficult to read. Marriage registers may contain the names of the parties being married, their fathers names, their ages, their occupations, their townlands and the names of the witnesses. ROMAN CATHOLIC RECORDS There are very few Catholic records which pre-date 1800, a handful were begun in the very late 18th century (1796-98). In general, baptismal and marriage records date from the 1820's-30's, and there are few burial records. Some records are written in English, while others are written in Latin. Roman Catholic parishes often spread through more than one civil parish and so while searching records it is often necessary to read the records of a few parishes. Most Roman Catholic parishes had a parish church and several other churches or chapels in the same parish. Sometimes only one register was kept for the whole parish and then other times each church/chapel had its own register. Quite often, there is no indication of townlands for the persons involved in the ceremony, making it very difficult to identify ancestors. The National Library of Ireland has microfilmed many of the pre-1880 registers for all counties and continues to do so. PRONI in Belfast has microfilm copies for all Roman catholic parishes contained within the six counties of Northern Ireland, it also has copies for most of the parishes in counties Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan and some for counties Louth and Leitrim. The Diocese of Cashel and Emly is the only Catholic Diocese which does not give permission to view its records. CHURCH OF IRELAND RECORDS Until 1871 the Church of Ireland was the state church in Ireland. Disestablishment occurred in 1871 and in 1875 the Parochial Records (Ireland) Act was passed which declared that marriage registers dated pre 1845, and baptismal and burial records pre 1871 were public records and should be deposited in the Public Record Office of Ireland in Dublin. Parishes opposed this Act and there was a further Act passed in 1876 which allowed these records to remain in local custody provided there was provision made for their safe keeping. By 1922, the records of 1,006 Church of Ireland parishes had been deposited in the Public Record Office, 637 parishes kept their records in local custody. All but four of these records which had been with the Public Record Office for safe-keeping were destroyed by fire in the Four Courts in Dublin in 1922. This was a loss to all, not just members of the Church of Ireland, because these registers also contained information on those of other religions. Conditions in Ireland during the time of the Penal Laws 1691-1760, gave the Church of Ireland the exclusive right to administer baptism, marriage and burial ceremonies. A complete list of all parish records which were sent to Dublin can be found in the '28th Report of the Deputy Keeper of Records in Ireland, 1896 and in this is given the period covered by the baptisms, marriages and burials of each parish. Only baptismal, marriage and burial registers were covered by the Parochial Records Act (1875) and it was these types of records which were sent to Dublin, all other records (such as Vestry Minutes) kept by any parish were maintained locally. METHODIST CHURCH RECORDS When John Wesley came to Ireland in the mid 18th century people joined the Wesleyan Methodist Society from all denominations but remained in their own churches. Methodist preachers were not allowed to baptise children (1804) and so Methodists brought their children to the Established Church. There was a split in the Methodist church in 1816 - the Primitive Wesleyan Methodists maintaining a link with the Church of Ireland and the Wesleyan Methodists who allowed their preachers to baptise children. Primitive Wesleyan baptismal registers begin in 1860 and in 1878 the Primitive Wesleyan Methodists and the Wesleyan Methodists united. The Society of Primitive Methodists which began in England in 1812 was also found in Ireland from 1832, and a third branch of Methodism - the Methodist new Connexion also practised here. Methodist churches did not have their own burial grounds and so few burials are registered. Some may have been registered in Church of Ireland registers. Separate baptismal registers do begin in the 1830's and the Methodist Church in Ireland does have a volume of baptismal entries from all over the country, which contains some baptisms from 1815 to 1840. Many Methodist churches in the six counties of Northern Ireland have had their registers and other records copied by PRONI as have those from counties Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan. Methodist registers can vary for a locality depending on the circuit, baptismal registers are usually for a circuit, while churches kept their own marriage registers at least from 1845 onwards, when civil registration of Church of Ireland marriages was introduced. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH RECORDS The Penal Laws applied to all those who were not members of the Church of Ireland, the state church in Ireland and so, while Presbyterianism was introduced to Ireland in the 17th century, it was illegal for a Presbyterian Minister to perform a baptism or marriage, as it was also for Roman Catholics. Information on Presbyterians is also to be found in Church of Ireland registers for this early period. As with Methodist Churches, Presbyterian churches rarely had their own burial grounds and again there are few burial registers. Many places have more than one Presbyterian church, referred to as 1st, 2nd, 3rd. These were the result of dispute over doctrine, the choice of minister, or simply because the congregation had grown too big and needed new accommodation. Many of the churches known under these titles originally began as seceding congregations - congregations who objected to an Act of Parliament in 1712 which accepted patronage as a method of appointing ministers. Seccession congregations were re-united in 1840 into the Synod of Ulster. Presbyterian records are held by the Presbyterian Historical Society for some of the counties of Northern Ireland and also churches in the Republic, particularly those records for churches which no longer exist. PRONI has copied those for the nine counties of Ulster. RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (QUAKERS) This society began in Ulster in the mid-17th century, mainly around Lurgan, Co. Armagh and Lisburn in Co. Antrim. Record keeping was very important, birth, marriage and burial records exist from the 17th century. Documents are maintained by the libraries of the Society of Friends in Antrim and Dublin.