FYI: Here's something that might be interesting to some of you. You'll need to be a member of NEHGS, but this -- in addition to the other stuff available ther -- might make it worth the $$. Or you could just join otherdays.com. NOTE: Please do NOT contact me for further info! This is *ALL* I know about this resource! Insert usual disclaimers here. ------------------- */ Otherdays.com/* – *Premier Online Irish Resource Now Available to NEHGS Members!** Explore your Irish roots and the Ireland of your ancestors! NEHGS and /Otherdays.com/ have teamed up to allow NEHGS members* access to the unique content of /Otherdays.com/ at no extra charge! The new partnership between the New England Historic Genealogical Society and /Otherdays.com/ gives all individuals with NEHGS research, family, associate, patron, and life memberships access to this valuable online research tool. This benefit is not available to Institutional Members at this time. /Otherdays.com/ normally charges $44 per year for this access. NEHGS members will now receive the same access for no extra charge above the normal NEHGS membership fee. Anyone tracing their Irish ancestry will find /Otherdays.com/’s offerings invaluable. The site offers not only a unique set of databases but also collections of maps and photographs and a number of other tools and resources for the Irish researcher. In addition, the site’s collections include an archive of general background and historical information. There are currently over 100 databases on /Otherdays.com/. The databases include Griffith’s Valuation; Placenames of Ireland; census and census substitutes; a variety of different types of directories; newspapers; gravestone inscriptions; vital records; wills and deeds; and land and property records. One new database is being added every week. The centerpiece of the genealogy databases is the /Griffith’s Valuation of Ireland/ from 1847 to 1864. As described on the website, it is a comprehensive listing of persons who rented land and property throughout the country and is the most complete record of heads of household for Ireland during this period, as most census records for the nineteenth century were destroyed. Through this database, /Otherdays.com/ provides a comprehensive online index to Griffith’s Valuation. The database covers all thirty-two counties. The records provide the following information: townland name, Ordnance Survey Map number, plot number, name of land/house holder, immediate lessor, description of holding, acreage, and valuation. The results are linked to images of the actual pages. Each entry in Griffith’s Valuation is linked to the relevant /Ordnance Survey Map/. Ordnance Survey Maps show the county, barony, parish and townland boundaries, and the cities, towns, and villages throughout Ireland. These maps are detailed enough to allow one to identify individual houses and other structures. The /Placenames of Ireland/ database has more than 80,000 place names and covers all towns, villages, townlands, and streets. Each place name is linked to the corresponding entries from Griffith’s Valuation and to the relevant Ordnance Survey Map. A significant number of the databases on the site may be found under the /Census and Census Substitutes/ heading. These databases include records extracted from city directories; lists of clergy of various denominations in a variety of locales; hospital applications and departures; lists of people in various occupations; and crimes and victims of crimes, to name a few. There are also historical /Newspaper/ databases on the site extracted from three early newspapers—the /Belfast Newsletter/, 1801; the /Freeman’s Journal/, 1775-1776; and the /Dublin Penny/ /Journal/, 1832-1836. A number of other resources and tools are available on the site. They include Genwizard, an interactive guide to tracing Irish roots; Timelines; the Galleries of Photographs; Maps; and Genealogy Workshops, a series of articles providing information on Irish sources, research services and using the website’s tools. The site also has a Personal Portfolio feature whereby users can assemble and organize the sources relevant to the families they are researching into specific folders. This website offers much more than what appears in this article. There is an inestimable value to having Griffith’s Valuation with links to the corresponding Ordnance Survey Maps at your fingertips. /Otherdays.com/ is a tremendous resource for anyone tracing Irish ancestry! * Please note that this benefit is not available to Institutional Members at this time. *Explore /Otherdays.com/ at www.newenglandancestors.org/research/database/Individual/default.asp <http://rd.bcentral.com/?ID=1931625&s=46351870>.* -- --- Richard A. Danca, Newton, MA mailto:rdanca@ix.netcom.com ----