More of the Irish census online: Counties Antrim, Down & Kerry

A little over a year ago Small-leaved Shamrock shared the news that the National Archives of Ireland was beginning digitization of the 1911 and 1901 censuses of Ireland. The process started with Dublin and a schedule was posted for the planned digitization of the rest of Ireland.

I am happy to share that you can now search the National Archives of Ireland website for 1911 census records for counties Down, Kerry and Antrim in addition to Dublin.

Me, personally, I'm looking for Tipperary and Cork in particular. Hopefully we'll see those counties and more online within the new year. Thanks for putting in the effort to get this data online, folks at the National Archives of Ireland!

Thanks to the Irish Family history blog for sharing the news.

Here's hoping: The quest for access to the 1926 Irish census

Doing genealogy in Ireland? Join the campaign to request access to the 1926 census of Ireland. Originally scheduled to be released one-hundred years after its creation, there is hope that it might be made available to researchers in the near future.

The Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) is calling for signatures on a petition to request access to these records immediately, instead of after the currently required one-hundred year waiting period. According to their website:

"CIGO is not alone in regretting that the State’s [Ireland's] access policy to census records does not follow the U.S. model, which releases records after seventy years rather than one hundred. This approach appears to work well and is generally accepted by U.S. citizens."

The census is of interest to many researching the genealogy of their Irish families, and both Irish and non-Irish citizens are requested to sign the petition. As CIGO states on their webpage explaining the value of the census data, "a very large percentage of the people enumerated would have been born before civil registration began in Ireland in 1864." The 1926 census was the first one taken in the Irish Free State.

Sadly, Irish researchers will find that Ireland's census records available for research are few and far between. The 1910 and 1911 census returns are currently in the process of being digitized by the National Archives of Ireland. However, Ireland's censuses for the years 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851 were destroyed by fire in 1922 during the Irish civil war. Censuses for the years 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 were destroyed because of a bureaucratic oversight.

For more details about the 1926 Irish census visit CIGO's webpage Current Campaigns - The 1926 Census or go directly to sign the petition to open access to the 1926 census of Ireland.

Thanks to Margaret Jordan's Cork Genealogist for sharing the news about the petition.

Getting to the roots of your Irish family tree: Part 1

Want to get to the bottom of your roots in Ireland? First, you need to get your foot in the door and learn your ancestors' counties of origin.

Here are a few ideas of where to start outside of Ireland in order to trace your family back to Éireann herself.

Note: No room for tunnel-vision here. It's important to not only focus on your direct ancestor, such as a great-great-grandfather, but his wife, siblings and other relatives who might have even immigrated to other places. Even his children may have records indicating their father's birthplace or homeland. Don't forget close friends! I'm planning on doing a little research on the groomsmen in my great-great-grandfather's wedding and the witnesses listed on his naturalization papers to see if their place of origin in Ireland might be of help in finding his.

For all family members and others that might be of help, check the following sources for possible information about where the family originated:

• Letters, journals and other written family documents - If you are lucky enough to have access to these, scour them for clues as to the possible place of origin for your family. You'll probably find other gems along the way.
  
  
• Naturalization records - The official papers for the new citizen may have information about his county of origin in the old country. This is how I learned that my great-great-grandfather Patrick Tierney hailed from County Tipperary. Check the court where naturalization would have occurred. In my case, I found naturalization records at the National Archives.
  
  
• Obituaries & newspaper articles - Read the obituary columns and search for other articles on all family members for information about where they began or spent their lives.
  
  
• Death certificates - These sometimes offer the town or county which was the birthplace of the deceased.
  
  
• Tombstones; cemetery & burial records - These don't always list birthplaces, but if yours does you will be glad you checked.
  
  
• Immigration records and passenger lists - Another item to check for at the National Archives. According to John Grenham's Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, 3rd Edition records from 1820 (Customs Passenger Lists) only list county of origin. Records 1883 and later (Immigration Passenger Lists) also include details about previous place of residence that might be helpful to your search.
  
  
• Military and pension records - These can offer a wealth of information about your ancestor and his family. Another good one to look for at the National Archives.
  
  
• Church records - Marriage records in particular can be of help in finding place of origin. Check the church or diocesean archives for these, particularly when the couple had just immigrated from Ireland.
  
  
• History books - Historical works describing migrations from different parts of Ireland to particular places, and similar titles focusing on the place of immigration may be helpful in gaining clues to your ancestors' origins. If you have Irish relatives that immigrated to Boston, you may find The Irish in New England by Thomas O'Connor and Marie Daly to be a helpful reference. Their research allowed them to break down particular Boston neighborhoods into various origins in Irish counties, since many friends and neighbors settled together in the new country.
  
  
• Books about Irish surnames - If you are researching an uncommon surname, such as the Cowhey family's, you may find help from Edward MacLysaght's classic work Irish Families: Their Names, Arms, and Origins and the "index" for it and his accompanying books: The Surnames of Ireland The Irish Families book helped me to learn the Gaelic version of Cowhey name - Ó Cobhthaigh - and to know to focus on the southern province of Munster for locating my family's origins.
  
  
• The DNA project for your family's surname - While relatively new on the scene, DNA research is providing valuable information for those interested in tracing their roots. If your surname is relatively rare, you may find some clues to the more recent history of your family along with information about deeper ancestry. Read my post about the Coffey/Cowhey DNA project, the Tierney DNA project, or the Carnival of Genealogy on genetic genealogy for more information.

If like me, you have been successful at finding the county of origin in Ireland and but don't know where to turn next, check out Getting to the roots of your Irish family tree: Part 2 for some ideas to get you started.

It may be a long way to Tipperary (or wherever your family originated), but hopefully these tips will make the trip home to your Irish roots a little easier.

Many of the above suggestions primarily apply to research in the United States. See John Grenham's Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, 3rd Edition for sections on searching in Canada and Australia for your Irish roots. You may also find Dwight Radford & Kyle Betit's Discovering Your Irish Ancestors: How to Find and Record Your Unique Heritage to be a helpful resource.

Tombstone image above courtesy of the William Kennedy family tree website.

Your Irish ancestors are online

...or they may be soon.

The Irish Times has announced the National Archives of Ireland's digitization of the 1911 census for Dublin, and is working to add all counties of Ireland for both the 1911 and 1901 censuses.

This is great news for Irish genealogists! Particularly interesting is the fact that, unlike census returns of the U.S. and other English-speaking countries, the records are actually the forms filled out and signed by the head of household, not the census enumerator.

Had your ancestors all emigrated before 1901? You may still find the project relevant to your search for family history. As mentioned by Megan of Roots Television, siblings and other family members often remained behind. Personally, I'm looking forward to searching for any of the elusive Cowhey family members who might have remained in County Cork or neighboring counties. Looks like Cork is one of the first counties on the planned digitization schedule. Thanks to the National Archives of Ireland for making research easier on us long-distance cousins!

Thanks to Chris Denham at The Genealogue for announcing this exciting Irish genealogy news in such a timely manner.