Genealogy: How to Locate a Relative
Born in Ireland in 1870
By SUSAN-MARY SMITH
Thank you so much to all the people who e-mailed me in response to the first Family History column. I want to share with you two similar questions that came up just this morning. In both cases, people wrote asking how on earth they could locate their relative, born in Ireland in 1870 (they knew the exact date and place) who had subsequently moved to the United States.
One myth amongst some family researchers is that the Irish records all burnt, so it is really no good even looking. While researching your family in Ireland does require a certain diligence and creativity, civil records do exist and can be searched and even purchased.
The fire in the Public Record Office in 1922 was truly regrettable for genealogists because many valuable records, included 19th-century censuses, were destroyed. However, due to the introduction of civil registration in Ireland in 1864 certificates of birth, marriage and death are still available. In total, the Registrars in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland hold approximately 28 million entries.
The state registration of marriages, other than Catholic marriages, began on April 1, 1845 and 6,114 were recorded for that year. By January 1, 1864 all births, marriages and deaths were recorded by authorities: 136,643 births, 94,095 deaths and 27,373 marriages.
The originals of the civil registration records were not in the Public Record Office at the time of the fire. Because of the particular jurisdiction of the records, the originals exist still with indexes in various repositories.
Local registrars then sent the records to Dublin where they were copied and subsequently sent back to the local office. Because the origins of the documents still remain with the local Health Boards, all that exists in Dublin are the indexes (available for public research) and the microfilms of all of the copy registers (available for purchase.)
The British Isles Vital Records CD set produced by the Church of the Latter Day Saints has a useful index of the civil registration of Ireland, but the registers themselves cannot be seen using this source.
To put your family in context it is more useful to search the entire register, which will show family groupings, something the index does not. The Latter Day Saints have copies of almost all the General Register Office indexes and registers available for loan through their Family History Centres.
Go to www.familysearch.org, click on Library, then family History Library Catalogue and type "Ireland" in the place box. A long list of Irish resources that have been filmed will come up on the screen. On the second page the Irish church and civil records film numbers are listed.
Click on the highlighted record you want, make a note (or copy it directly into a text document) of which films you wish to order. Contact your local Family History Center for details on how to order and view the microfilms.
Once you find the entries for your ancestors, you can then buy the appropriate certificates through the General Register Office. You can download an application form from their website and either mail it or fax it back to them.
The records are searched manually by Register Office staff, so supply as much information as possible: first and last names; the date (or at least the exact year); location; parents' names, including maiden names.
The more information you supply, the better chance you have of success. Payment must be in euro and they can be reached by mail at: General Register Office, Government Offices, Convent Road, Roscommon. There are no postal codes in Ireland.
As yet, no on-line database exists for searching the entire record base of Irish civil records, though some are listed on the International Genealogical Index, on the Latter Day Saints website, listed above.
In my next column, I'll give you some hints on how to find your elusive ancestor's emigration record, passenger ship record and records in the immigrant country.
SEARCHING FOR: James Monaghan, born December 10, 1871 Ballintogher, Oldcastle, Meath, Ireland. Moved to the United States in 1890, last heard of by Irish family members in 1951.James died in the U.S. around that time. Please contact the columnist who will put you in touch with the people searching for James.
Susan-Mary Smith is a family history researcher from Quesnel, British Columbia. For information on fees for service, please contact her directly at susmith@lycos.com. To submit your family history questions for the column (free of course!) please email information to her for inclusion.
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