A false rumor has been circulating among genealogists for years — Finding Irish ancestors is impossible because all the records were burned in 1922. While there was a fire in the Public Record Office in 1922, many records were not stored there. For instance, Catholic church records were all locally held, and therefore survive. Although the pre-1901 censuses were destroyed, genealogists can use census substitutes, such as Griffith’s Valuation. Irish genealogists have become so adept at maneuvering around the obstacles, that many have successfully traced their ancestors back to the late 1700s. Most of the brick walls actually occur in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when church records, estate records and deeds peter out. But since many Irish-Americans trace their forebears to mid-to-late nineteenth century immigrants, they would be often satisfied just to find the village or farm from where their ancestor fled the famine.

Many people call NEHGS and say that they are leaving for Ireland in two weeks, and want to find their ancestor’s birthplace. They have only a little information, for example that his name was Charles McCarthy and he was from Cork. But Irish surnames and given names are very common, and discerning this ancestor from all the other Charles McCarthys in County Cork is a daunting task. So Irish-American genealogists must determine the exact origin, i.e., parish or townland, of their ancestor. For the most part, that search for the exact origin is carried out in New World records, not Irish records.

NEHGS has a large collection of materials to help in the process of identifying immigrants. A good place to begin your research is the 1900 or 1920 census, both of which are indexed by the soundex system. These census records provide the year of immigration and the citizenship status, and the 1920 census recorded the year of naturalization. In addition to the 1900 and 1920 censuses and soundexes, NEHGS has a large collection of other American census records, street directories, passenger arrival lists, newspapers such as The Boston Pilot, the Missing Friends series, banking records (such as the Immigrant Savings Bank of New York), and civil registrations (births, marriages and deaths) for all of the New England states.

Once you have determined the exact origin of your immigrant ancestor, you will be ready to “make the jump” to the other side of the Atlantic. But before you actually travel to Ireland, you can accomplish much research with Irish records here at the Society.

Although most people know about the wonderful collection of early New England records at NEHGS, the extensive collection of Irish records has been largely a well-kept secret. The types of information available for the Irish-American genealogist range from general guides and “how-to’s,” to indexed censuses and census substitutes, maps and atlases, local histories, church records, tombstone inscriptions, county historical journals, newspaper records, and directories. By performing much of your research here in the United States, you can use your time in Ireland more productively and more enjoyably, i.e., visiting your ancestors’ birthplaces, seeing where they came from, and possibly meeting descendants of relatives left behind.

In addition, many people have used the heritage centers in Ireland with mixed success and satisfaction. By researching as much as you can on your own, you can increase your chances for a successful search. By furnishing good detailed information to the heritage centers, you can make their searches more focused, and the results more pertinent to your ancestor.

Several general guides on Irish genealogy can help you begin your search through Irish records. These books will help organize your search, and relate the availability of specific records by county.

After consulting the general guides, the next step should be to identify the place-name of your ancestor’s origin. NEHGS has several reference books which will help you identify place-names. Within the thirty-two counties which are familiar to most people, Ireland is divided into baronies, which are old administrative divisions arising out of medieval territories; poor law unions, which are nineteenth century administrative divisions; civil parishes, which approximate in size an American township; and townlands, which are the smallest unit and usually contain only a few hundred acres. Fortunate genealogists will have identified the townland or parish of origin.

A good place to start is the General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland: 1851 Census (Baltimore: GPC, 1992). This reference book will identify in what parish, poor law union and barony a townland lies, as well as providing the ordnance survey map number. This information is crucial in using census substitutes such as Griffith’s Valuation, explained in more detail later.

Once the townland or parish, barony and poor law union have been identified, the next step is to locate these places on a map. A useful reference is Brian Mitchell’s A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland (Baltimore, GPC, 1988), which displays the subdivisions by county. You should make note of the surrounding parishes for later reference. You may discover that there was no church in your ancestor’s parish until the later nineteenth century, and that you will have to research the adjacent parishes for earlier dates.

NEHGS also has townland maps for most counties in Ireland, either on microfiche or in printed form; see Parish Maps of Ireland (depicting all townlands in the four Ulster Counties of Armagh, Donegal, Londonderry and Tyrone) (Apollo, PA, Closson Press, 1988). Also on microfiche are the townland maps for counties in Connaght and Munster provinces. On the sixth floor in the reference area, the research library has an excellent printed source, Ordnance Survey of Ireland: Indexes to the 1/2500 and 6-inch Scale Maps. This work includes a complete set of townland maps, with the corresponding ordnance survey maps numbers (discussed below).

NEHGS has just received a complete microfiche set of ordnance survey maps with scales of 6- inches-to-1 mile. Each fiche has only one map on it, so the resolution is finer than that of other sets which have six maps on each fiche. With our microfiche printer’s ability to enlarge, you can make close-up copies of your ancestor’s townland. These maps show the location of details such as houses, trees, streams and narrow country lanes. The ordnance survey map number is provided in the Townland Index mentioned earlier. These are not the Valuation maps (available only in Dublin), which correspond with Griffith’s Valuation coordinates, and show which house or farm an ancestor occupied. But these ordnance survey maps give you a good perspective of your ancestor’s life back in the old country.

NEHGS also has a number of special Irish atlases which will give you excellent descriptions of specific areas. Published by the Clogher Historical Society in conjunction with the Irish Studies Department at Queens University Belfast, Landscapes of South Ulster, by Patrick Duffy, displays excellent and detailed parish maps for areas in the Catholic Diocese of Clogher. This diocese stretches from Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal on the west coast, through Counties Fermanagh, Tyrone and Monaghan to County Louth on the east coast. Not only does the atlas display the maps; it also assembles a collection of parish descriptions published over the last 400 years.

These are just a few of the many resources NEHGS has for identifying place-names in Ireland. Besides specific county and parish histories, there are numerous books devoted to place-names in Ireland. Among these are Place-Names of Northern Ireland, 6 vols. by Gregory Toner and Micheál B. Ó Mainnin (Belfast: QUB, 1992-96); Irish Names of Places, 3 vols. by P. W. Joyce (Dublin:1920), and Toponomia Hiberniá, 4 vols. by Breandán Ó Cíobháin (Dublin: An Foras Duibhneach, 1978).

Once you have located the place-name in Ireland, you should research the history and description of the area as thoroughly as possible. Being knowledgeable about the locale will help you use the genealogical resources, such as census substitutes, more wisely and productively. For instance, townland names and boundaries may have changed over time, ancestors may lease land parcels straddling townland and parish boundaries or the Catholic parish name and boundaries may not correspond with the civil parish. A description listing the major estates and industries within a parish will help you make use of estate records, rental rolls and other local records. Descriptions of ecclesiastical structures and history will help identify church records and cemeteries.

Many researchers use A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 2 vols. by Samuel Lewis, available on the sixth floor reference area, to learn about the history of particular parishes or towns in Ireland. In addition to John Grenham’s Catholic parish maps in Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, Lewis’ dictionary gives verbal descriptions of Catholic parishes. Lewis usually starts by providing population statistics from the 1831 census, topographical, archaeological and geological information, a brief history of the parish, a list of the major estates and their owners and a list and location of the churches of each denomination.

For genealogists with Ulster province roots, the Ordnance Survey Memoirs and related documents provide a detailed and fascinating glimpse of individual parishes in the 1830s. Published by the Ulster Historical Foundation, the Ordnance Survey Memoirs, vols. 1-48 (located on the fifth floor at NEHGS), give excellent local descriptions of the parishes in the counties of Down, Antrim, Fermanangh, Londonderry, Donegal and Tyrone. Not only do the books furnish even more detail than Lewis’ dictionary, they sometimes delve into highly subjective descriptions of a parish’s population.

Another series relating to the Ordnance Survey was published on mimeograph paper in the 1920s by Rev. Michael O’Flanagan. NEHGS has a three-volume set of Letters Containing Information Relative to the Antiquities of the County of Galway, Collected During the Progress of the Ordnance Survey (Bray, 1928). Volumes for other counties may be found in other libraries, including the Boston Public Library.

Townlands in Ulster. Local History Studies by W. H. Crawford and R. H. Foy, (Belfast, 1998) provides an in-depth examination of particular townlands in Northern Ireland, and includes Griffith’s Valuation and the corresponding Valuation Maps. This book is extremely valuable if you are lucky enough to have an ancestor from Forttown, Co. Antrim, Scolbow, Co. Antrim, Ballymagee, Co. Down, Cranfield, Co. Down, Drumskinney and Montiaghroe, Co.. Fermanagh, Gallon, Co. Tyrone, Hollyhill, Co. Tyrone or Owenreagh, Co. Derry.

Irish Townlands. Studies in Local History by Brian Ó Dálaigh, Denis A. Cronin and Paul Connell, (Dublin, Four Courts Press, 1998) is the companion book for the Irish Republic, and cover the townlands of Drumcavan, Co. Clare, Dysart, Co. Westmeath, Ballynahalsik and Sweet Rockmills, Co. Cork, Kilmacud, Co. Dublin, Cloonfush, Co. Galway, Eskerbaun, Co. Roscommon, Cloncurry, Co. Kildare, Lacken, Co. Wicklow, and Kildoney, Co. Donegal. Although this book thoroughly examines the localities, the corresponding Valuation Maps are not included.

In addition to these sources, NEHGS has many county and parish histories which give details about specific septs and families within their boundaries, and help to guide your research toward specific records.

After determining the location of your ancestor’s birthplace, the next step is to research genealogical sources available for that area. Ireland began collecting census data in 1821, and by 1851 had expanded the data collection to include all members of a family. Unfortunately most of these early records were destroyed. There are census fragments available for certain parishes in certain counties, most notably the southern parishes of County Derry in 1831, a few parishes in County Cavan in 1841, and four parishes in Kilworth Union, Co. Cork in 1851. The Society has copies and indexes for these census fragments available in book form, microtext and on CD. Although the Society does not have the 1901 census of Ireland, you can order the census from the LDS library in Salt Lake City. In addition, the Society has a number of indexes to the 1901 census, such as County Longford and its People: An Index to the 1901 Census for County Longford by David Leahy (Glenageary, 1990), and the 1901 Census Index, Volume 1, County Fermanagh, and Volume 2, County Tyrone, by Linda K. Meehan.

The record most people use in researching their ancestors is Griffith’s Primary Valuation of Ireland, which is a mid-nineteenth century, head-of-household census of land occupiers. The valuation includes not only land owners, but people who rented or leased land also. NEHGS has a complete set of the Valuation and the accompanying Householders Index on microfiche, as well as an complete surname index on CD. Since all of the indexes have some omissions, you can go directly to the parish valuation record and search all the townlands, if you know the parish of origin. You should always keep a wide focus when trolling through records. Even if your ancestor’s name is Charles McCarthy, you should make note of other McCarthys within the parish, since they could be relatives. Others with the same surname within the same townland are very likely related. Some people exclude checking Griffith’s Valuation because their ancestors emigrated before the Famine. Although the data for Griffith’s seems to have been collected around 1848, the census takers may have started in some areas years before 1848. In fact, genealogists have come across many cases where their families were listed in Griffith’s Valuation, even though they emigrated or died years before.

The next most comprehensive census substitutes available at NEHGS are the Tithe Applotment Books, available on microfilm.. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, all land occupiers had to pay tithes to the Church of Ireland, regardless of their religion. The collectors kept records of land acreage and valuation, and the amount they collected from each head-of-household. Dating from about 1825 to 1840, the books document the generation from the time of Griffith’s Valuation.

For researchers with Northern Irish roots, the Old Age Pension Claims Index, Part 1 may help fill the gap left by the destruction of the 1841 and 1851 censuses. With the passage of the Old Age Pension Act of 1908, persons age 70 or over had to show proof of age to collect a pension. Since the civil registration in Ireland began for most records after 1864, applicants for pensions had to use the 1841 and 1851 census for proof. The records provide the name and age of the applicant, their parents names, including in some cases the maiden name of the mother, and their address. In some cases the applicants gave the names of their brothers and sisters, and other records, to prove their age. Located in the fourth floor microtext department, the index consists of 9 microfiche of 39,000 records created between 1908 and 1922 and held in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. They cover only the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone.

Another source in the NEHGS microtext department, the fiche index to the 1796 Spinning Wheel Tax of Ireland, may prove useful to some researchers. As part of a scheme to promote the production of linen, the number of spinning wheels in each household were reported. The lists of head-of-households by parish are more comprehensive for counties most heavily involved in the linen trade, such as Armagh or Mayo. The original lists are located in the Linen Hall Library in Belfast, but the surname indexes are available at NEHGS on microfiche.

Most Irish church records are accessible only at the local level, the National Library of Ireland, the Church Representative Body Library in Dublin, the National Archives of Ireland or the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. However, NEHGS does have some published Church of Ireland registers for the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including from Dublin the churches of St. John the Evangelist, St. Patrick, St. Michan, St. Catherine, the Union of Monkstown, St. Peter and St. Kevin, St. Marie, St. Luke, St. Werburgh, St. Andrew, St. Anne, St. Audran, St. Bride, and St. Nicholas Without; and from Derry, the records of the Derry Cathedral.

NEHGS also has a 15-volume set of Albert Eugene Casey’s O’Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and Upper Blackwater in Ireland (Birmingham, 1952-1971). Casey collected all kinds of records from the area where his ancestors originated, along the Cork-Kerry border. They include indexed copies of Catholic church records, some of which date back to 1789. The volumes encompass the area between Killarney, Tralee and Castleisland in Kerry, and over to the baronies of Dunhallow and West Muskerry in Cork. Each printed volume has an index. Many of the baptisms and marriages have been included in the IGI, so researchers can also use the IGI as an index. Of course, you should not just rely on the IGI for information, but consult the original transcription in O’Kief for additional information. Furthermore, as the case with any transcriptions, the original records are more accurate and authoritative. You should follow up your research in O’Kief with research in Ireland if at all possible.

Since most of the Irish population before the twentieth century lived in rural areas, street directories of cities and towns are not a major source of information. The Society does have some directories on microfiche for all of Ireland 1811-1877, and for Belfast, Cork, Dublin and Waterford. The people who appear in Irish street directories are most frequently the landed gentry and prominent merchants.

Newspapers are another underused source since most of the information in them has not been indexed. Because the ancestors of most Irish-Americans came from the middle and lower classes of Irish society, they are more likely to be found in the reports of county assizes (criminal cases), rather than in biographical notices. But you may find the following periodical and newspaper sources useful: Irish Marriages, Being an Index to the Marriages in Walker’s Hibernian Magazine 1771-1812, Index to Newspaper Biographical Notices for Limerick, Ennis, Clonmel, and Waterford 1758-1821, and Biographical Notices Relating to Cork and Kerry Collected from Newspapers 1756-1829 by Rosemary Ffolliott. The Society also has some indices (without the actual newspapers) for some Northern Irish newspapers: Index to the Down Recorder and Index to County Down and Lisburn Items in the Northern Ireland Herald, by Jack McCoy (Ballynahinch: Southeast Education and Library Board, 1987 and 1992).

You may find the extensive collection of genealogical and historical magazines more useful than Irish newspapers. NEHGS holds runs of fifteen Irish genealogical magazines. These periodicals contain compiled genealogies, vital records extracts, tombstone inscriptions, articles on sources and methods, and more. Some of the more notable ones are Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review, The Irish At Home and Abroad, Irish Family History, The Irish Link (Australia and New Zealand), Irish Roots and North Irish Roots.

NEHGS also has a broad collection of Irish historical magazines, many associated with particular counties. These periodicals include much information useful to genealogists: tombstone inscriptions, military records, family and clan histories, local and county histories, and eighteenth and nineteenth century local descriptions and travelogues. The areas covered are Westport, Co. Mayo, the diocese of Clogher (Fermanagh, Tyrone, Monaghan and Louth), Donegal, Dublin, Antrim, Cork, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Upper Ards (Down), Kilkenny, and Ulster.

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To demonstrate how to use the Irish sources at NEHGS, a sample biographical summary was taken from the History of South Boston, by John J. Toomey and Edward P. B. Rankin (Boston, 1901), located on the fifth floor. These late nineteenth century “mug books” were published to validate the more accomplished business and political leaders in many communities. The biography states that Dennis F. Brennan was born in Kanturn, Ireland, in 1844, the son of Michael and Mary (Callaghan) Brennan. This is a typical example of how Irish place-names are corrupted on records, such as obituaries, tombstone inscriptions and naturalizations. The place-name is most certainly Kanturk, a small town trisected by the parishes of Clonfert, Castle Magner and Kilroe in the barony of Dunhallow, County Cork.

According to his biography, Dennis Brennan’s mother was Mary Callaghan. Kanturk lies near the territory of the Pobal Uí Cheallacháin, whose occupation of the Blackwater River area began in the thirteenth century. The O’Callaghans were subchiefs of the McCarthy clan, and their principal castles were at Clonmeen and Dromaneen. Although their lands were confiscated during the seventeenth century and their status sank, some Callaghans remained at least middle-class. In 1814, the nearby village of Clonmeen belonged to the Viscount Lismore (O’Callaghan). In Biographical Notices Relating to Cork and Kerry Collected from Newspapers 1756- 1829, Rosemary Ffolliott abstracted several notices concerning Daniel O’Callaghan, Esq. of Kanturk, and Cornelius Callaghan, victualler of Kanturk, from Cork newspapers 1811-1814. In addition, Historical and Topographical Notes on Buttevant, Castletownroche, Doneraile, Mallow and Vicinity by Col. Grove White (reproduced by Albert Casey, 1969), has a chapter entitled, “Pedigree of O’Callaghan, Chieftains of Popul-i-Callaghan, County Cork from Cahir O’Callaghan to 1830.” None of these sources involve the particular genealogy of Mary O’Callaghan, but they do provide some historical background on this family in the Kanturk area.

Dennis would have been a child when Griffith’s Valuation was gathered (ca. 1848), so the CD index for Griffith’s was searched for his father, Michael Brennan. The index showed two Michael Brennans in the parish of Clonfert: in the townland of Island and the townland of Duarrigle. The actual Griffith’s Valuation on microfiche was then searched, and the two Michael Brennans were found in the respective townlands. In both cases, they lived adjacent to and shared land with Callaghans (the maiden name of Dennis mother). The Island Michael rented two parcels of land totaling a little over 11 acres from Richard Oliver Aldworth, but he did not live in any houses on his land. In fact, Michael Brennan sublet small portions to Timothy Callaghan and William Drislane, Jr. Each of these tenants lived in houses worth only 4 shillings, which would have been mere one-room huts. Given the poor valuation of these huts, they may have been booley houses (small huts away from the main farm where youngsters often stayed to tend the cattle on summer grazing lands), or tenements for young married couples with small families.

Griffith’s Valuation for Duarrigle showed a townland occupied by nineteen families, and two unoccupied tenements. On map reference 10 a, Michael Brennan rented 18+ acres of land, and lived in a house worth £1 (probably an above-average, multi-roomed farmhouse with a thatched roof) from John Townsend. He lived adjacent to Daniel Callaghan, who rented 63+ acres of land, and whose house was also valued at £1. Nearby is Daniel Brennan who rents 4 acres of land from John Townsend. So this data suggests that there was only one Michael Brennan, that he lived in Duarrigle adjacent to his in-laws, and that he subleased land to a relative(s) in Island.

The ordnance survey map numbers are displayed just under the title of the townland in Griffith’s Valuation. The map reference numbers in the left column relate to Valuation maps located in Dublin. (You can send for copies of these valuation maps, which will show exactly where on the map your ancestor’s farm was located.) The townland of Island is located on OS Map #22, and the townland of Duarrigle is on OS Map #14, 15, 22, and 23. Island is located a few miles west of the town of Kanturk, near the village of Boherbuoy. Duarrigle is located a short distance north-west of Kanturk. The map shows a number of farms located along a tree-lined main road, and other clusters of buildings off smaller lanes. The map of Island shows a “fairy-ring” on one of the parcels. These were prehistoric ring forts, left undisturbed by superstitious farmers.

Microfilm copies of the tithe applotment books are located in the fourth floor microtext department at NEHGS. So the tithe applotment book for the parish of Clonfert (also labeled Newcastle on the book) was next researched. The book was dated February 14, 1826, so it predates Griffith’s Valuation by over twenty years, and may actually show the previous generation in Clonfert. In the townland of Duarrigle, the records indicate that a John Brennan was renting about 17 acres of arable and pasture land, but does not show any Callaghans in the townland. In the twenty years after 1826, some parcels had been consolidated and others subdivided.

In the townland of Island, the 1826 Tithe Applotment Book shows a Michael Brennan renting 16 acres of land, but again there are no signs of any Callaghans. A similar process of consolidation and subdivision has also occurred in the subsequent twenty years. These records raise more questions than they answer. Was the Michael Brennan in Island the same person as the one in Duarrigle? Was there a relationship between Michael and John Brennan? Where did the Callaghans come from? The guidebooks indicate that the Catholic parish registers for Kanturk date from 1822. Since Kanturk is located in the diocese of Cloyne, the next step may be to have its records searched by the heritage center in Mallow.

Since Cork was not a major center of the linen industry in the late eighteenth century, this source will greatly under-represent the population of the Kanturk area. Nevertheless, the index lists a Dennis Brennan in the parish of Kilmeen, adjacent to Kanturk.

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Marie E. Daly is the chief financial officer of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and is the author of Inscriptions of Mount Auburn Catholic Cemetery, Watertown, Massachusetts. She co-founded The Irish Ancestral Research Association in 1983, and in 1998 appeared in the PBS-TV series “The Long Journey Home.”

Reprinted by permission of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Marie E. Daly, “Irish Research Sources at the New England Historic Genealogical Society,” New England Ancestors 1 (Premiere 2000): 9-15.

www.NewEnglandAncestors.org • nehgs@nehgs.org