1. Irish Genealogy: Working With Vital Records
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Class Handouts
17 Nov 2012
Vermont Genealogy Library

2. Administrative Divisions of Ireland
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17 Nov 2012

3. Grenham’s Surname Distributions Across Ireland
Search for a surname by county and civil parish (1851 or 1890)
Search against frequency of 2 surnames in a location
NOTE: This CD is available at our library in the computer room
Vermont Genealogy Library
17 Nov 2012

4. Reference Books at VT-FCGS Library:
Tracing Your Irish Ancestors by John Grenham, 3d Edition, 2007
Richard Griffith & His Valuation of Ireland by James Reilly, 2000
Irish Famine Immigrants in the State of Vermont by Ron & Janet Murphy, 2000
A Guide to Irish Parish Registers by Brian Mitchell, 1988
A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland by Brian Mitchell, 2d Edition, 2002
A General Alphabetic Index to Townlands in 1851, Genealogical Publishing Co.
A Guide to Irish Family History by Larry O’Keefe
Tombstones of Ireland by Joanne Schmidt
The Great Hunger by Cecil Woodham-Smith
In Search of Your British & Irish Roots by Angus Baxter
A Guide to Your Irish Ancestors by J. Anderson Black
Databases on CD:
Grenham’s Irish Surnames
An Index to Griffith’s Valuation
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

5. Abbreviations Used In Many Reference Books
ROI & NI – Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland
NLI – National Library of Ireland (Dublin)
NAI – National Archives of Ireland (Dublin)
GRO – General Records Office (Dublin)
GRONI – General Records Office, NI
PRONI – Public Records Office (Belfast, NI)
RC – Roman Catholic
P, COI, M, Q, B – Presbyterian, Church of Ireland, Methodist, Quaker, Baptist
PLU – Poor Law Union
FHL, FHC – Family History Library (Utah) & Family History Center (Local)
IFHF – Irish Family History Foundation (website is RootsIreland.ie)
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

6. 1845 for Protestant marriages 1864 for Protestant births & deaths
Civil Registration
1845 for Protestant marriages
1864 for Protestant births & deaths
1864 for Catholic births, marriages & deaths
Parish Registers
Church of Ireland (COI) - some parish records begin in 1600’s
- most
Presbyterian (P) – most after 1800
Methodist (M) – 1816 kept with COI
– 1878 kept in Methodist churches
Quaker (Q) – begin in 17th Century & continue uninterrupted
Roman Catholic (RC) - some in late 18th Century
- most by 1850
Civil Registration usually contain more detail than parish records, especailly some Protestant records.
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

7. Locating Civil Registrations in Ireland
1864 to 1921 (All of Ireland):
All records at General Record Office (GRO) in Dublin
Index of all Ireland (each 5 yr period = €2.00/$2.62)
Microfilm of original registers (copies €2.00/$2.62)
1921 to Present (Republic of Ireland):
Same as above
1921 to Present (Northern Ireland):
Manual search of B/M/D at the GRONI (£5.50/$8.69)
Computerized search of index up to 6 hrs(£10/$15.80)
Certified copies are (£11/$17.40)
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

8. Online Access To Civil Registration Data
FamilySearch.org
Index of names with Registration District and FHL Film Number
Order for local delivery to FHC in Essex ($7.50, 2-3 weeks)
Ancestry.com
Irish Family History Foundation (
Excellent Index to the records
Immediate transcript of original document
Cost of about $8.50 (compared to $7.50 & 2 week wait for film)
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11/11/2018

9. Irish Family History Foundation
Vermont Genealogy Library
17 Nov 2012

10. Some Tips on Civil Registration Research
When using the GRO indexes (located in Dublin)
order is alphabetical by surname
keep spelling variations in mind!!
When searching for births
if looking for a Catholic and you know the location
start with parish register first
use that data to find the civil record
Searching for marriages
if both surnames known & you avoid spelling traps
look in Registration District for both surnames
start w/ 1st child and work back
the surnames should be only ones w/ same vol. & page numbers
Civil Registration usually contain more detail than parish records, especailly some Protestant records.
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

11. Some Tips on Civil Registration Research
“Late Registrations”
not unusual for people to avoid registering events
later in life they need proof of registration
they come forward after 10 – 20 years (or later)
How Late Registrations Were Recorded
generally recorded in the original volume they would have used
births & deaths were recorded in the back of that book
marriages were written in the body of the book on that date
Civil Registration usually contain more detail than parish records, especailly some Protestant records.
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

12. Some Precautions When Working With Parish Registers
The complexities of historical, political & ecclesiastical land divisions
Civil parishes (COI) very often are not identical with Catholic parishes
New divisions were often not consistent with pre-existing boundaries
Unlike civil registers these parish records are kept in many different places
NET: Know the religion, the time period & the geography before starting
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

13. Where to Travel for Protestant Records
Church of Ireland
A Table of Church Of Ireland Parochial Records (NAI, NLI)
Only definitive list of which parish records still exist
830 parish registers at the Representative Church Body Library
Microfilm of records from 9 counties of Ulster at PRONI, Belfast
Presbyterian (scattered in 3 locations)
Registers exist at local parish, PRONI & Presbyterian Historical Society
Microfilm copies of most local records kept at PRONI
PRONI has list of records at PHS
Methodist (it’s complicated)
PRONI - list for 9 counties of Ulster - surviving registers, dates & locations
Quaker
Libraries of The Society Of Friends (Dublin & Lisburn, N.I.)
FHL as microfilm of ROI copies; PRONI has microfilm of Ulster
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

14. Where to Travel for Roman Catholic Records
National Library of Ireland (NLI)
Microfilmed 1,066 of 1,153 parishes
Diocese of Cashel and Emly do not permit use of the records
Diocese of Cloyne and Kerry require permission (usually granted)
Family History Library (FHL)
Microfilmed 398 of 1,153 parishes
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

15. Online Sources of Parish Registers
Ancestry.com ($)
Index to FHL records – links to FHL film numbers for ordering (398/1153)
FamilySearch.org (Free)
Index of 398 parishes on microfilm with link to order
Ancestry’s index is easier to use
RootsIreland.ie ($)
Indexed transcriptions of RC & COI records as well as some B, M, P & Q
By far, the largest collection (same $8.50 for immediate results)
AncestryIreland.ie ($)
Many RC, COI & P registers from Counties Antrim & Down (NI)
IrishGenealogy.ie (Free)
Indexed transcriptions for counties Carlow & Kerry + Dublin City & part of Cork
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

16. Other Online Vital Records Collections
O’Kief, Coshe Mang (16 vols)
FamilySearch.org has 12 RC parishes from Kerry & NW Cork
records of five Longford RC parishes
interment.net/Ireland
volunteers have added gravestone inscpriptions (no data on completeness)
Fermanagh Gold has a good collection of inscriptions
has a good selection, mostly from Tipperary
(Source: Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, 3d ed., 2007, by John Grenham (pp ), Genealogy Pub. Co., Baltimore)
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

17. Gravestone Inscriptions
Less effort made to capture inscriptions & photos than in USA
Some good collections exist – varies by county
Many buried without headstones
Headstone data often extensive
name
age
date of death
other deaths in family
townland
Often earliest records (pre-1800)
In North – &
In ROI – check ($)
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018

18. Some Final Thoughts
Effective use of Vital Records requires knowledge of land divisions, religion & history
Surnames in Ireland are tied to the land – find the distribution in your target county
- use Grenham’s Irish Surnames CD (available at the library)
Don’t forget to check for databases by local/regional entities
Searching for ancestors in VRs is best done w/ help from census data
- Ireland’s 19th Century census records were destroyed
Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith’s Valuations are the best census substitutes
- both are covered in Lecture 3 (on December 15th)
Vermont Genealogy Library
11/11/2018