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Straight
to the Irish Source
Genealogical
Records: Irish Source Records, 1500s–1800s
(CD 275)
Reviewed by Marthe Arends
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Once again the folks at Genealogy.com have gathered together
some excellent resources from the Genealogical Publishing Company,
and put them on a CD that will make the hearts of Irish researchers
sing with joy. Irish Source Records, 1500s-1800s contains
no less than nine volumes (images of the actual volumes, not just
text from them!) with references to approximately 190,000 individuals.
The volumes cover a variety of sources, mostly census records,
marriage records, probate records, and land records.
The CD's introduction points out that which most Irish researchers
know — that most of the pre-1901 census records were destroyed
by fire in 1922, leaving a dearth of census resources. The resources
on this CD go a long way to help researchers use other sources
of information to compensate for the missing censuses.
Included within the CD are the following nine volumes:
County Cork, Ireland, a Collection of 1851 Census Records
by Josephine Masterson. This volume contains a transcription of
"a little-known surviving census fragment for County Cork. This
particular fragment deals exclusively with Kilcrumper and Kilworth
parishes in County Cork and includes all of their townlands. The
Union of Kilworth is also represented and you’ll find record
for all but four townlands in Leitrim as well as five of Macroney’s
sixteen townlands."
A Guide to Copies and Abstracts of Irish Wills by Rev.
Wallace Clare. Note: according to the CD's introduction, the information
included in this volume is "made possible by the fact that they
were copied or abstracted prior to the 1922 fire. The guide references
the testators and whereabouts of 4,000 Irish wills."
Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland 1536-1810 by
Sir Arthur Vicars. Another wonderful resource, this volume contains
information abstracted before the 1922 fire, with abstracts from
wills dating between 1536 to 1800 (more than 40,000 individuals
are mentioned).
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August
3, 2000
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Indexes to Irish Wills (Volumes I-V) by William P. W. Phillimore
and Gertrude Thrift, eds. These volumes are extremely valuable, containing
"more than 30,000 Diocesan wills proved in the Consistorial Courts of
Ireland between 1536 and 1857"
Ireland: 1841/1851 Census Abstracts (Northern Ireland) by Josephine
Masterson. This volume contains a partial reconstruction of the 1841
and 1851 censuses of Northern Ireland, with mentions of approximately
23,000 individuals.
Ireland: 1841/1851 Census Abstracts (Republic of Ireland) by
Josephine Masterson. This volume contains a partial reconstruction of
the 1841 and 1851 censuses of the Republic of Ireland, with mentions
of approximately 5,800 individuals.
Irish Marriages by Henry Farrar. A collection of marriage records
from "Walker's Hibernian Magazine, 1771-1812."
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Quaker Records, Dublin, Abstracts of Wills by P. Beryl
Eustace, and Olive C. Goodbody.
Return of Owners of Land in Ireland 1876 (organized by
the British Government). According to the book description, in
1873 a "local Government Board in Ireland set about to determine
the number and names of individuals who owned one or more acres
of land in Ireland. Clerks of the various Poor Law Unions drew
up lists of landowners from their property valuations and rate
books. Returned to the Local Government Board by the end of 1875,
the information was then arranged into counties, alphabetized,
and published in 1876. Since the returns include the names of
owners of modest acres as well as great estates, this collection
of returns acts as a census substitute of the 1876 population
of Ireland."
The CD contains the usual searchable electronic index of
all individuals mentioned, as well as the original book
title pages, introductions, and indexes. I have to admit
to a partiality to the CDs created in conjunction with the
Genealogical Publishing Company, since they invariably offer
researchers a wonderful way to own valuable research resources
at a fraction of the price it would be to own the print
volumes. This resource is no different — it offers
Irish researchers an excellent selection of valuable resources
that should go far in furthering their hunt for information.
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Marthe Arends has
been involved in genealogy for 18 years. She has lectured on computers and genealogy
to many groups, has been the SysOp of a Fidonet genealogy BBS, has written articles
for a variety of genealogy publications, and currently writes fiction. Marthe has also written Genealogy
Software Guide and Genealogy
on CD-ROM, both published by the Genealogical
Publishing Company.
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