Press Release: 10 Million Irish Catholic Parish Records Free Forever To Search Online

10 Million Irish Catholic Parish Records Free Forever To Search Online

·         Records span 200 years of Irish history (1670-1900), contain 40 million names, cover 1000 parishes across all 32 counties of Ireland

·         Collection forms the most important resource for Irish ancestors prior to the 1901 census, allowing researchers to trace their roots back to Pre-Famine Ireland

·         Reveal how Great Famine halved the number of Catholic baptisms

·         Findmypast makes entire Irish collection of over 110 million records free from Tuesday 1^st of March until Tuesday 8^th March

Dublin, 1 March 2016

Leading family history site, Findmypast, has announced today the online release of over 10 million Irish Catholic Parish Registers as part of their ongoing commitment to making Irish family history easier and more accessible than ever before. Fully indexed for the first time, the registers from one of the most important record collections for Irish family history and are free to search forever.

Spanning over 200 years of Ireland’s history from 1671-1900, the Irish Catholic Parish Registers contain over 40 million names from over 1,000 parishes and cover 97% of the entire island of Ireland, both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

This is the first time that National Library of Ireland’s collection of Irish Catholic Registers has been fully indexed with images to the original documents linked online. The records can now be searched by name, year and place, allowing relatives and historians the opportunity to make all important links between generations with the baptism records and between families with the marriage registers. 

The indexing of these important documents also allows researchers to witness the devastating effects of the Great Famine (1845-1852) first hand. Using the records to examine baptism rates in pre and post-Famine Ireland has revealed that the number of children baptised across the whole of Ireland dropped by more 50% in the decade that followed. Across all 32 counties, 2,408,694 baptisms were recorded from 1835-1844, while 1,109,062 baptisms were recorded between 1851 and 1860, a difference of more than 1,299,000 baptisms. 

The records also reveal the worst affected regions, with counties Limerick, Wexford, Roscommon and Kilkenny seeing the most dramatic drops in baptism rates.

To celebrate the release of this essential collection, Findmypast is also making its entire archive of over 110 million Irish records, the largest available anywhere online, FREE from 9am Tuesday 1st March to 9am on Tuesday 8th March. Findmypast is home to the most comprehensive online collection of Irish family history records with millions of exclusive records, published in partnership with The National Archives of Ireland, The National Archives UK, and a host of other local, county and national archives.

Brian Donovan, Irish records expert at Findmypast said:

“This important publication marks a further step in Findmypast’s commitment to making Irish family history more accessible. In less than 5 years, we have made over 110 million records (with 300 million names) available online for the first time. Irish research has been transformed from the select pursuit of the few, to a fun and relatively easy hobby for the many. The Irish story of hardship, migration and opportunity is a global story, and in partnership with the cultural institutions around the world we are bringing the fragments of their lives within reach”.

Spring break genealogy adventures with the family

A few weeks back was my kid’s spring break.  We decided to do a long weekend in Williamsburg,

Virginia instead of taking a whole week off and traveling.  Way too much to do around here to be gone that long, which of course the boys hated since I made them clean and icky stuff like that.

We did the usual touristy stuff that we hadn’t done in a couple of years.  Wondered about Colonial Williamsburg and had a picture taken with the boys in stocks.  It was an instant favorite of ours and Facebook.  We also went to the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum in which I almost lost the boys to the gun and sword collections. There was also a day spent wandering around the Yorktown Victory Center plus watching the musket and mortar demonstrations.  Loud booms are always a plus with my family.

My highlight of the trip was dragging the family to meet a distant cousin from my mother’s Drake family line.  She and her husband live in Williamsburg.  We had a lovely evening talking and getting to know each other over snacks and wine.  It was a great time and I have to say she is one fascinating lady.  We share my 6^th great grandfather, James Drake.  In this blog I have written several posts about him and his son Tarleton, my 5^th great grandfather. 

What's even more fascinating for me is the that my mother and I are direct line maternal descendants of Tarleton’s wife Mary.  The fact I have been able to piece this line back is, as many of you know, amazing.  The line goes: Me, my mom, my grandmother, Ila Sanders, Mary Ellen Wildman, Mary Frances Moberly, Delilah Drake, and Mary Unknown.  Last week my mother’s mDNA test came in.  I haven’t been able to look at them yet and it is killing me.  Maybe this will help figure out a piece of the puzzle as to who Mary was.

While that is all fascinating and stuff, there was another little adventure we went on thanks to my Drake Cousin.  She gave us directions to the parish church where James and his Siblings were baptized.  It is still there and still functioning.  How could I pass up a trip to see it?

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in New Kent, Virginia was amazing.  We arrived after services on a Sunday so we were unable to tour the inside, but I am not above peering through windows to see what I can see.  The church has an amazing history and has the honor of being the church that George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married in (the first, first family).

Of course, when I went out to read about the church I did some digging around the website, and much to my glee I found their colonial records are on line.  Yes, I did a happy dance! My Drake Cousin did say that while some of the children from James's parents, William and Sarah are listed, there are a few known children missing.  James is unfortunately one of them.  However, it appears to be due to the fact that the Parish Register was not kept as well up to date as it should have been for a number of years, and there are large holes.  His birth time frame falls into one of these holes.

We spent quite a lot of time wandering around the grounds and looking at the cemetery.  No family was buried there, that am aware of, but there were some very interesting stones.  I and my husband both find looking at gravestones fascinating, and we were not disappointed.

One that was a modern tech and old world charm learning moment was the stone of Willliam Langborn.  Below is the inscription from the stone:

to the Memory of

William Langborn

Son of Robert

And Mary Langborn

Of Fetter Lane London

Born the 21^st of October 1723

And died the 19^th of March 1766

Also Francis Dandridge

Langborn, Son of William

and Susanna Langborn

Born the 9^th of March 1760

and died the 3^rd of September 1760

I could not believe all of the genealogical information I found on this stone.  If he was my ancestor I would have felt like I hit the jackpot.

My husband found this grave first, and to be honest when I saw him with his phone out I assumed he was checking email or doing something for work.  However, next thing I know he is calling us all over.  He began reading the stone to our boys and then stopped when he came to the street in London this gentleman had been born on.  Hubby produced his phone and showed them the map with this street on it.  You should have seen their eyes as they digested this information; that his man had come from there all the way over to where we were standing.  Once again, never underestimate the power of mobile technology.  One other element caught my attention on the stone, and that was a crest.  If you don’t know, I love heraldic display of all types and find it fascinating. Currently I am tracking it down to see if it was his family crest, his and his wife's marshaled together, or if it is a civic type crest.  

Finally there was one other stone that stood out, and that was for Calvin Hooker Goddard.  His tombstone caught me from across the yard as it was one of the largest there and on the back I saw a large coat of arms as well as the words “Order of the Crown of Italy.”  Wow, I just had to find what that was all about.  This man, simply put, was amazing.  In fact, after reading the back of the stone and doing some Googling I couldn't believe I was standing there reading about the man who is the father of firearms identification.  If you don’t know who he was, please take a moment to read about his fascinating life and his contributions to forensic technology.  Oh, and his work on the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, which is by far the most important thing according to my kids.

The inscription reads on the front:

Calvin Hooker Goddard

Colonel, United States Army

Oct. 30, 1891 - Feb. 22, 1955

Son of

Capt. Henry Perkins and Lida Whitman Goddard

of Norwich, Conn.

His Beloved Wife

Eliza Cunningham Harrison

Jan. 25, 1888 - Sept. 24, 1960

The inscription reads on the back: 

Legion of Merit 

Expert Marksman

Crest (my research indicates: heraldic grenade for the ordinance corps, 

crossed pistols for military police, caduceus for medical corps, 

and the quill with parchment for writing.)

Order of the 

Crown of Italy

He held three commissions in the United States Army

In the ordnance corps. the military police corps and 

the medical corps and served in each with distinction.

"He was an historian and a prolific writer."

with vision and imagination, he developed firearm 

identification and pioneered in scientific criminology 

thus serving his country and his fellowman well

and for all time.

Adventures in Genealogy: Finding James Drake

Richmond, Virginia
Image from Wikimedia Commons

Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you decide to have an adventure.  Of course, if you have a particularly ingenious spouse, they may suggest the adventure.  So let me tell you a story...about what I did today.

One night, a few weeks back, I was out poking around on Find-a-Grave, as I am sure many of you have done.  This particular night I got a hit for the possible burial location of James Drake, my 6^th great grandfather.  It gave me a lead that he was at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia.  He died in Powhatan County but who knows, he could have been buried here since he was a prominent figure.  Also, this church is a national historic site because it was where Patrick Henry gave his “give me liberty or give me death” speech.  All I could think was how exciting it would be to stroll around the grounds, take some pictures, and if I was really lucky see his tombstone.

Days passed and I was getting ready to go to Richmond for an errand this morning when my husband suggested that I stop by the church.  I was going to be in the area after all, why didn’t I just pop on over there and see what I could find.  Yeah, that sounded like a plan, how hard could it be?  Just a few minutes, maybe an hour, perusing the area and then I would drive home.  Well, best laid plans and all that, this is not quite what happened.

St. Johns Church
From wikimedia commons

I strolled up to the visitor’s center and boldly asked for help.  Enthusiastically I explained that I was looking for information on internments and that I thought I had an ancestor located in the cemetery.  A very nice woman, dressed in colonial attire, gave me a very fat old book to look through.  It was the index of the internments, and James was not in it.  I was crushed.  Another member of the church staff gave me the number for the church office and said I should talk to them.  Maybe they could give me a lead or I could talk to their archivist.  It was at this point that I realized I had only put half of my new found knowledge of cemetery research into practice.  However, I was doing this on a whim and not nicely planned out.  Next time I would be on top of my game.

After perusing the bookstore (I couldn’t help myself) I went out to the street and called the number written on the piece of paper.  I repeated my story to the lady on the phone and she asked me if I was standing outside on the corner.  Well, they could have told me the office was just across the street.  In I went, and sadly they had no information for me either.  However, she suggested I drive over to the Virginia Historical Society.  They had the early parish records there and maybe, just maybe, they could help me locate him. 

15 minutes later I was there, checked in, and asking my questions to the reference librarian.  She was stumped too.  There were no parish death records for the time frame I was looking for.  However, we found him listed in the “VirginiaWills and Administrations 1632-1800.”  I was told this was a good thing, but that the Historical Society could not help me.  To get this information I would need to go to the Virginia State Library, back the way I had come. Yes, I had already driven by it…twice.  Well, off I went.

To be honest, I have been meaning to go to the Library of Virginia for, well, a couple years but I have just never got around to it.  Since I was there I went ahead and got my library card so I can do more research there and from home.  I was giddy!  Looking at the clock I had an hour, just an hour, until I had to leave so that I would make it home in time to get my kids from school.  No pressure.

Once again the research librarian pointed me to the microfilm for the wills of Powhatan County, Virginia.  Those from 1797 were on book 2 of the reel.  Great!  This will take no time.  30 minutes later I still hadn’t found him.  Back to the desk to ask for more help, and I get taken to the index.  THE INDEX!  I could have saved 30 minutes of my life because it told us…he didn’t have a will.  Perplexing a librarian seems to be the name of the game today, however after a quick computer search he found that James Drake was listed in the deed books for that year.  Lesson:  don’t assume that your record is where it should be.  There wasn’t a will, but an inventory of the estate at the time of his death on page 375-7 of deed book 2.

I downloaded the three ledger pages to my thumb drive and got the heck out of dodge.  Best of all, I made it home in time to meet the school bus.  Whew!  Now to go through what I saved since there was no time to look through it then.  Wonder what I will find?  Also, I still need to find out about the James Drake who is now MIA from the cemetery.