I found the following information on digitisation of library material, in Ireland on the:

Askabout Ireland website.

Under Resources it states:

“This page contains links to the technical guidelines for digitisation that were created by the team at An Chomhairle Leabharlanna and the participating institutions during the first phase of the Cultural Heritage Project.”

It is a pity the digitisation progress is so slow.

Also, I have seen various comments about the slowness of the roll-out of the 1911 Census by the National Archives.

In December 2007, the Dublin 1911 Census was launched online with promises that the rest of the country would follow in planned stages and that the 1901 Census would also be put online and that both censuses would be online by mid-2009! So, far by July 2nd 2008,only the 1911 Census for Dublin in online. Like many people who are waiting for a broadband connection in their area, we wait.

There is an article on Eastman’s Genealogical Newsletter about the Council of Irish Genealogical Association (CIGO) petitioning to have the 1926 Irish Census which was the first Census since Ireland became Irish Free State, in 1922, opened before a 100 years. If you want to know more see below!

The petition is at CIGO Petition.

Apparently, there is now access at the National Library of Ireland to microfilm of Catholic Parish records of Cashel & Emly, Cloyne and Kerry.CIGO News.

More access to records can only be good! Thanks go to the APGI (Association of Professional Genealogists of Ireland).Well done!

Another voluntary effort at making genealogy accessible is being worked on by volunteers at www.irelandgenweb.com.

The WorldGenWeb Project was created in 1996 and the IrelandGenWeb Project started in 1997.

I quote “The IrelandGenWeb Project is committed to providing FREE access to resource and reference information for Ireland. Our dedicated group of volunteers (some local and some throughout the world) are active in Irish research - each hosting a country that they have a research interest in.”

What will save Irish Genealogy is the efforts of volunteers worldwide. There is so much data available and it time we got past the myth that the fire in 1922 is the reason for the lack of access to genealogical data. The Irish diaspora is using LDS microfilm from these LDS centres around the world and making the information available to us all. Thank you to everyone concerned.

Yesterday (March 12th 2008), saw the official launch of an Irish website where you can access church records of genealogical value…at a price….€5 (initial offer) per go. Is this a bit steep?

I quote: “The Irish Family History Foundation is the coordinating body for a network of county based genealogical research centres on the island of Ireland. These centres have computerised millions of Irish genealogical records, including church records, census returns and gravestone inscriptions.”

The site is: www.irish-roots.ie but it is listed as www.irish-roots.net on the site…..so take your pick.

Some counties do not yet have records available online. Let’s hope the digitizing process speeds up too as it has been slow sometimes due to the lack of co-operation of the holders of the original records. But, even when records have been digitized, they often have not available in a useful way to the public. I welcome the initiative of making the records available online but I think the price is a bit off putting.

See alsowww.jamesgalvin.com for comments.

I just saw a reference in a British genealogical magazine to Transportation Records 1788-1868 which an online database listing Irish convicts transported to Australia (I spotted a New Zealand one in there too so there might be more). This database is provided by the National Archives of Ireland and is a searchable online database compiled from transportation registers and petitions to government for pardon. The results provide name, age, sex, place of imprisonment, trial date and description of their crime (often petty).

It is great to see another online database being provided by the National Archives of Ireland. it gives me hope!

Samuel Lewis’s Topograhical Dictionary can be found online at Library Ireland.

Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary is very useful for a description of parishes in Ireland in 1837. Notables who had “seats” are listed too. There is also a list of subscribers to the book which is searchable alphabetically by surname. It is worth noting that Samuel Lewis originally produced maps to go with the counties as well.

The Library Ireland website also has other useful genealogical information such as 1862 Dublin street directory.

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) website PRONI has a searchable wills index and other genealogical resources. Details of what is available are listed on the website at History of Probate.

I was interested to hear (on the radio) of a new exhibition in the National Library of Ireland Exhibition. The exhibition is entitled “Strangers to Citizens: the Irish in Europe, 1600-1800″ and it opens 12 December 2007 and runs throughout 2008.

The Irish migrated to continental Europe as soldiers, students, priests, professionals, and merchants etc. Many thousands emigrated to Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Sweden and elsewhere. Over time they integrated into these Eurpean societies and often becam leaders and peopleof distinction. Apparently, this exhibition tells their story.”

I’m sure it will be of great interest to people who have relatives who migrated to Europe in the various capacities listed above: Wine Geese, Irish Regiments, religious, merchants etc. Some names that come to mind are: Hennessy, Coppinger, Shea.

On RTE 1 News, I just heard that the Dublin 1911 Census is now searchable online at Irish 1911 Census
That is wonderful news. Happy searching….

Just heard:

Additional counties will be added in the following order:

• Kerry
• Antrim & Down
• Donegal
• Cork
• Wexford
• Galway
• King’s County (Offaly)
• Limerick
• Mayo
• Waterford
• Armagh
• Carlow
• Cavan
• Clare
• Fermanagh
• Kildare
• Kilkenny
• Leitrim
• Londonderry (Derry)
• Longford
• Louth
• Meath
• Monaghan
• Queen’s County (Laois)
• Roscommon
• Sligo
• Tipperary
• Tyrone
• Westmeath
• Wicklow

The 1901 census will follow after that. The entire project is scheduled for completion by mid 2009.