This week’s prompt
is "challenge” which is not an unusual thing in genealogy. It seems that our
ancestors are always trying to thwart us. They hide in the records, they change
their names and ages, and are less than forthcoming about their place of birth
among other things.
I have dealt
with all these things but the biggest challenge I have had so far has been
dealing with Irish records.
 |
| National Library of Ireland map |
We have all
heard about the burned records from the time of the “troubles” during the period
between 1918 and 1925. Yes it happened but many local parish records survived
and have been put online for free by the National Library of Ireland (NLI) .
They are not indexed, and you need to read them page by page.
Challenge
number one: you need to know the name of the parish where the event took place.
Challenge
number two: you know the naming pattern to expect but how many aunts and uncles
did the subject have who all used the same names for their children? A subject
might have six or seven first cousins about the same age with the same name.
Challenge
number three: Did the event actually take place where the family lived?
Challenge
number four: What information might a record provide?
Challenge
number five: Will the record be legible?
An example:
I am looking for a marriage record for John Hennessy and Mary Hayes who I know were
Catholic and lived in Limerick, Ireland. Limerick, Ireland has in excess of 50
parishes. I also know that Bulgaden is a parish in Limerick which has been
mentioned in connection with the Hennessy family. I believe the marriage to
have occurred between 1804 and 1813 based on unsourced information obtained
from others. The marriage records before 1812 are not available so now what?
I have
developed a work pattern. I will go to Find My Past on a free Friday and do a
name search for John Hennessy born about 1785 (+/- 10 years) in County Limerick
and note any marriage events. If I see one that appears to be what I am looking
for, I will note the parish and then move over to the NLI records to scroll for
the record.
If I do find a record and it is legible, it will show the names of
the two parties who married and where they each lived. It will also show the
names of the witnesses present who were usually a member of each family. It may
also show the groom’s occupation depending on the priest. The record may be in
either Latin or English again depending on the priest.
So far in my
quest for the marriage record of John Hennessy, I have search the records of ten
parishes in Limerick with one more to go before I switch to the adjacent counties
of Cork and Tipperary. I have encountered about twenty John Hennessys
and probably fifteen of them married a Mary.
To help with
my search I have printed a map of Limerick showing all of its parishes which I
have marked as “searched”. I am also keeping a research log so I can keep track
of where I’ve been.
If you come across
a John Hennessy and Mary Hayes of County Limerick with children named James,
Thomas, Patrick, John, Michael, Winifred, Mary, Alice, Margaret please let me
know I’m looking for them.
