Scottish GENES: Ireland

Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts

Thursday, 18 June 2026

RootsIreland adds records from County Tipperary

From RootsIreland (www.rootsireland.ie) by email:

New Tipperary records added!

We are delighted to announce the addition of almost 10,000 new records for South Tipperary to the Roots Ireland database! They are as follows:

Cappawhite RC baptisms, 1815-1900 (7981 records);
Cappawhite RC marriages, 1803-1900 (1844 records).

For an up to date list of sources for South Tipperary and to search these records, go to rootsireland.ie/tipperarysouth

Chris

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Tuesday, 16 June 2026

British Newspaper Archive approaches 105 million pages of content

The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) is approaching 105 million pages of digitised content, with 104,939,032 pages available at the time of writing.

The following are the latest additions for Scotland and Ireland over the last 30 days, with one of the biggest uploads for the two countries in quite some time:

Scotland

Stirling Observer
1836-1843, 1868-1874, 1878-1880, 1893-1901, 1903-1913, 1919-1938, 1946-1960, 1969-1970, 1975-1976

Perthshire Advertiser
1953-1970, 1997-1999

Lennox Herald
1946-1962, 1966-1984, 1999-2002

Hamilton Advertiser
1995-1999

Carluke and Lanark Gazette
1986-1991, 1995-1996, 1998, 2000

Blairgowrie Advertiser
1861-1878, 1881-1884, 1887-1935, 1953-1969, 1996-1999

Aberdeen Evening Express
2006-2007

Rothesay Chronicle
1863-1874, 1878, 1892-1900, 1902, 1904-1909, 1911, 1913

Irvine Herald
2000-2005

Glasgow Observer and Catholic Herald
1885-1894

Dundee Evening Telegraph
1987, 1989, 1994

Dalry & Kilbirnie Herald and Vale of Garnock News
1894-1919

Cumbernauld News
1995-2005

Ayrshire World
2000-2005

Aberdeen People's Journal
1871-1873

Aberdeen Press and Journal
2006-2008

Highland News and Football Times
1918-1919, 1936, 1939, 1950

Dundee Weekly News
2001, 2004-2005

Clyde Weekly News
2001-2005

Edinburgh Evening Courant
1853, 1863, 1871

Aberdeen Herald
1863-1875

Scottish Banner
1862

Reformer (Edinburgh)
1868-1869

Hawick Telegraph and Border Times
1884-1890

Greenock Elector
1884

Glasgow Times
1868

Glasgow Evening Post
1882

Caithness Courier
1986, 1991, 1993

Alloa Advertiser
1912-1919

Ireland

Belfast Telegraph
1984-1985

Longford Journal
1884-1888

Kings County Chronicle (Offaly Chonicle)
1882-1913, 1921-1925, 1927-1963

Dromore Weekly Times and West Down Herald
1932-1939, 1950-1951

Downpatrick Recorder
1878-1899, 1901-1914, 1916-1919

Connaught Journal
1813, 1823-1836, 1839-1840

Ulster Gazette
1845-1849

Roscommon Messenger
1861-1870

Galway Vindicator
1871-1872

Clare Journal and Ennis Advertiser
1897-1917

Belfast Mercantile Register and Weekly Advertiser
1893-1894

Allnut's Irish Land Schedule
1871-1872

Newry Telegraph
1928, 1934, 1966

Kilkenny Journal and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser
1873-1882, 1888-1893, 1895-1900

Irish Templar
1877-1896

Chris

Sunday, 24 May 2026

FindmyPast adds 1926 Irish Free State census

As with Ancestry last week, FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has also added the newly released Irish Free State census from 1926:

Ireland Census 1926

As per Ireland's 100-year privacy rule, the 1926 Irish Census has just been made available to the public. We're delighted to announce that we've made transcriptions of the 2,972,363 census returns available to explore on Findmypast.

From language to workplaces, these records reveal key details about the lives of our Irish ancestors, helping us to piece together a vivid picture of their experiences.

The link to the colection is available via https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/1926-irish-census-irish-templar

Comment: Are we going to see any more Scottish releases on FindmyPast?

Chris

Tuesday, 12 May 2026

Williams Roulston's Researching Ulster Ancestors 1800-1914 now available to buy

From the Ulster Historical Foundation (https://ulsterhistoricalfoundation.com):

Great news! Researching Ulster Ancestors, 1800–1914 is now available to order from our bookstore.

Researching Ulster Ancestors, 1800–1914 provides a comprehensive guide to the rich range of genealogical sources available for the nine counties of Ulster during the “long nineteenth century,” up to the eve of the First World War. It not only identifies what records exist and where to find them, but also brings them to life through carefully chosen examples—demonstrating how they can be used effectively to uncover your family history.

Written by Dr William Roulston, author of the bestselling Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600–1800, Researching Ulster Ancestors, 1800–1914 will become an indispensable resource for Irish family history research.

To order the book, visit https://ulsterhistoricalfoundation.com/shop/products/ulster-ancestors - an ebook version is also available from https://ulsterhistoricalfoundation.com/shop/products/ulster-ancestors-ebook.

Comment: I pre-ordered a copy a few months back, when it arrives I will review it. I'm expecting good things!

Chris

Sunday, 10 May 2026

FindmyPast adds historic Irish republican military nominal rolls

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added the following Irish collection:

Ireland, Defence Forces' Military Archives Nominal Rolls

This new collection from the Military Archives of Ireland contains the names of individuals who served with Irish Volunteers, the Irish Republican Army, Cumann na mBan and Na Fianna Éireann during a transformative chapter in Ireland's history. There are 487,575 records for you to explore.

For a link, and details of other collections added this week, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/irish-military-rolls-guernsey-bmds

Chris

Sunday, 3 May 2026

Ancestry adds 1926 Irish Free State census

In possibly the quickest third party publication arrangement ever by a genealogical platform, Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added the 1926 Irish Free State census, launched online just two weeks ago by the National Archives of Ireland (see https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2026/04/1926-irish-free-state-census-released.html). The following is Ancestry's description:

Ireland, 1926 Census of the Irish Free State
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63564/
Source info: Ancestry.com. Ireland, 1926 Census of the Irish Free State [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2026.
Original data: Census of Ireland 1926. The National Archives of Ireland, Apr. 18, 2026.
This work includes content from records of the 1926 Census of Ireland, made available by the National Archives of Ireland under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Please see further: https://nationalarchives.ie/search-the-1926-census-2/permission-to-reuse-census-1926/ Accessed: Apr 18, 2026. To the extent of any conflict between Ancestry’s terms and conditions and the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence, the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) will prevail.

About Ireland, 1926 Census of the Irish Free State

General collection information
This collection contains an index of information taken from the 1926 Census of the Irish Free State. The index includes a link that connects to images of the original census pages on the National Archives of Ireland website. The original census includes a Household Form A, detailing personal information about each person who was in the house on the night that the census was conducted. It also includes a House and Building Return Form B, which can provide additional information about the size of the house and a more detailed home address.

Using this collection
Records in this collection may include the following information:

Name
Relationship to head of household
Age
Gender
Marital status
Birthplace
Residence
Orphanhood
Language
Religion
Years married
Number of children born alive
Number of children living

Censuses are highly valuable sources of information for family historians because they contain information about multiple members of a family in one document. Learning about where your ancestors lived when the 1926 census was conducted can provide clues that help you look for other records related to their lives. For example, the 1926 census provides information on children's ages, helping you search for their birth records. The collection contains information about the marital status of people aged 15 and older, and also has information about the orphanhood of children younger than 15, indicating if one or both of an orphan's parents were dead at the time of the census. These pieces of information can be used to search for marriage and death records, where relevant.

The column titled "Irish Language" may have information about your ancestor's speaking and reading ability in both Irish and English. You may also find information on the original census image that has not been indexed. The census form has columns that may reveal your ancestor's occupation and the name of their employer. This information may provide insights into your ancestor's role in society and daily life.

Your ancestor's place of residence is listed in a separate section on the right side of the Household Form A and on the House and Building Form B. Residence information may help you discover more about your ancestor in one of the collections featured on Ancestry's Ireland Genealogy & Ireland Family History Resources page.

Further details are available via the link.

* Don't forget that my next Scottish GENES Webinar on May 30th looks at all of Ireland's surviving censuses that are available for release, as well as many alternative censuses and substitutes - for full details, and to book, please visit https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rTFnWym3QNuTWGgie7Kdqw.

Chris

Thursday, 30 April 2026

New Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) website launched

The Belfast based Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has at long last launched its new website.

The new website is available at www.proni.gov.uk, a much simpler web address than its predecessor to remember, and if memory serves me right, an address that it used to have many, many years ago.

Everything looks slick, but whilst the catalogue is easily accessible from the main home page, one change that is immediately obvious is that you cannot access the digital records from the main home page, as with its predecessor - you instead have to go to the Explore Archives Online tab on the main menu at the top of the screen, and select Family and Local History Archives from the drop-down menu. Each collection's home page has a slight redesign, but it looks like the actual search screens are the same from the previous version of the website. One thing that is nice to see is the hierarchy of links that you go through under the main menu bar, ensuring you know how to get back to the home page or other parts of the trail to the collection of interest.

The biggest change is perhaps how the guides are now accessed, and I think this may take a bit of getting used to. I tried to locate the PRONI Guide to Church Records and ended up all over the place, so ended up just typing the name of the guide into the search box, and soon discovered it - but having done so, I still can't identify which collection the guide is contained within, or how to access it other than by the search box, so I think there may be an element of retraining needed here!

Needless to say, all the links on the new site are completely different, so you will need to remark any bookmarks that you have on your PC.

Chris

Thursday, 23 April 2026

Irish Land Commission's Keane Index cards now online

Something I only discovered tbis week is that the catalogue cards from the Keane Index from 1891-1909 are now available to view via the National Library of Ireland's catalogue at https://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000923169?recordID=vtls000929125, thanks to the efforts of the library and the Irish Manuscript Commission.

The Keane Index provides the only current means to identify information held within the records of the Irish Land Commission, which the Irish Government has stubbornly locked away in a warehouse in Portlaoise, where they currently remain out of the reach of researchers. The Land Commission papers details the acquisition of lands by the general public from the landed gentry after the collapse of the landed estates system following An Gorta Mór from 1845-1851. Amongst the papers are deeds, wills, and other extraordinarily useful records for family history purposes.

The Keane Index comprises of 36,000 cards, that leads to information about properties contained within 35 bound volumes, all at about 400 pages each. The index allows researchers to search by county, estate, or individual name.

You can read more about the partnership with the NLI and IMC at https://www.nli.ie/news-stories/stories/tracing-irelands-land-history-digitisation-keane-index.

And maybe, one day, when the Irish Government wakes up on this, we'll get to see the actual Land Commission records themselves (many for the north after Partition are already accessible at PRONI)...

** For more on the Irish Land Commission, see my book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, available from Pen and Sword in the UK at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Ancestors-Through-Land-Records-Paperback/p/19283 and the USA via https://www.penandswordbooks.com/9781526780218/tracing-your-irish-ancestors-through-land-records/.

Chris

New Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) website to go live on April 30th

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland announced a while back that they were developing a new front of house website, but today they have confirmed on their Fwcebook page when it will go live:

PRONI is delighted to announce that our new website will be launched on Thursday the 30th of April. The redesigned website will offer clearer navigation that makes it easier to explore our collections, plan a visit, and access a wide range of resources!

This was first raised several months ago at the PRONI Stakeholder forum, where it was confirmed that the new site will mean several new URL addresses for web pages.

I look forward to seeing the new site!

Chris

Saturday, 18 April 2026

1926 Irish Free State census released by the National Archives of Ireland

The day has come - the 1926 Free State census for Ireland has finally been released after 100 years at https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-1926-census/. I have already made several searches in this today, uncovering various situations for my family and that of my wife, and it has been a pleasant search experience, with no site crashes, and an excellent presentation of the resources, which are free to view. This is one area where the Republic of Ireland really does trump the UK, in making its public documents available free of charge, as can also be witnessed through its birth, marriage and death records platform at https://www.irishgenealogy.ie.

The equivalent census for Northern Ireland, taken on the same night, has sadly not survived, but something that I learned during the week is that even if it had done so, it may well have not been released. This is because, unlike the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland astonishingly does not have a 100 year census rule for privacy, thanks to an act of the Stormont parliament from 1969. The same fate awaits the 1937 Northern Irish census, which means that unless a specific law is passed for it to be released, it just won't be. If we want to see it, we'll have to start lobbying our politicians to get their acts together! You can read more about this in an interesting blog post from Professor Marie Coleman of Queen's University Belfast at https://blogs.qub.ac.uk/qpol/the-lost-northern-ireland-census-of-1926.

In the meantime, what details are included in the 1926 Free State census? You can find the answers to this at https://nationalarchives.ie/search-the-1926-census-2/census-1926/. It's not quite as detailed as the 1911 census, but it is nevertheless another very useful document for family history research.

Have fun exploring!

Chris

Saturday, 11 April 2026

What to expect from the 1926 Irish Free State census

We are now just a week away from the release of the 1926 Irish census by the National Archives of Ireland, the first census to be recorded by the Irish Free State after its foundation in December 1922. The census revealed that the population of the state (today the Irish republic) at that time was just under 3 million people, standing at 2,971,992. The census will be searchable at https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-census/, alongside the 1901 and 1911 censuses, and the surviving census fragments from 1821-1851.

Details on the questions asked by the census are included at https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-census/about-the-census-collections/census-1926/, with blank examples of the forms also available to view. Note that there will be two forms to consult, Form A, the householder's return, and Form B, the enumerator's return.

I am very much looking forward to the release, to discover information about my wife's family in counties Tipperary and Kilkenny, but also branches of my own family in Donegal and Dublin.

There was an equivalent census recorded on the same night in 1926 by the recently established Northern Irish government, but these returns have tragically not survived. The next census for the north was recorded in 1937, whuch means we still have eleven years to consult that. However, the 1939 National Identity Register for Northern Ireland, recorded two weeks into the Second World War in September 1939, can be consulted by sending an enquiry to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/forms/submit-enquiry. There is no charge for the service, but you may be required to submit evidence of the death of those you are seeking details for, to protect privacy for those still alive.

The next census in the Irish Free State was recorded on April 26, 1936. The following is therefore the list of censuses for Britain and Ireland to be released over the next 25 years:

1931 Scottish census (the English and Welsh returns have not survived)
1936 Irish Free State census
1937 Northern Irish census
1939 UK National Identity Register (already available)
No UK 1941 census (Second World War)
1946 Ireland (Republic) census
1951 UK census / 1951 Ireland (Republic) census

Every census release is a big occasion - happy hunting!

Chris

Saturday, 28 March 2026

Ulster Historical Foundation is hiring genealogical researchers

From the Ulster Historical Foundation:

GENEALOGICAL RESEARCHERS REQUIRED

Ulster Historical Foundation would like to broaden its pool of genealogical researchers and is compiling a register of individuals interested in part-time research work and assisting delegates during our family history conferences. The work also offers the possibility of data input and validation as part of the Foundation’s role in compiling databases of genealogical records for our members and the general public.

To find out more: https://ulsterhistoricalfoundation.com/about/researcher-post

Application Deadline: Friday 17 April, 2026.

Good luck if applying!

Chris

Easter closures for the NRS and PRONI

The National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) and the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh will be closed on Friday 3 April and Monday 6 April for Easter.

Belfast based PRONI (https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/campaigns/public-record-office-northern-ireland-proni), however, will be closed on Monday 6 April and Tuesday 7 April for Easter, as well as on Saturday 4 April as part of the Easter holidays. Their extended opening hours will resume with a late-night opening on Thursday 16 April.

Please take note, no-one likes to make a long journey only to find the door closed!

Chris

Saturday, 21 March 2026

British Newspaper Archive passes 101,000,000 pages with massive Irish newspaper upload

The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has passed 101,000 pages, now sitting at 101,001,747 pages. The recent releases over the last 30 days are exclusively Irish:

Ireland:
Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner
1966

World (Dublin)
1840-1851

Westmeath Guardian and Longford News-Letter
1835-1840

Waterford News
1872-1880, 1882, 1884, 1886-1896

Waterford Mirror and Tramore Visitor
1808-1809, 1813, 1827-1836, 1841-1843

Waterford Mail
1870, 1886, 1888-1893, 1895-1896

Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail
1902-1909

Tuam Herald
1873-1878, 1883-1909, 1911

Skibbereen & West Carbery Eagle
1870, 1872-1874, 1876-1882, 1884-1885, 1887-1921

Saturday Record (Ennis)
1899, 1901, 1903-1904, 1907-1908, 1911

PAT (Dublin)
1881-1882

Northern Standard
1872-1880, 1882-1884, 1887-1890, 1892-1896, 1914, 1916-1919

North Antrim Standard
1890-1906, 1908-1920, 1922

Nenagh Guardian
1878-1879, 1885-1899

Morning Mail (Dublin)
1871-1879, 1896

Magee's Weekly Packet
1777-1785, 1787-1790, 1792-1793

Larne Reporter and Northern Counties Advertiser
1885

Kilkenny People
1895, 1898, 1905-1919

Irish Textile Journal
1886-1892, 1895-1896

Irish Field
1870-1880, 1888-1896, 1911

Galway Weekly Advertiser
1830-1839

Evening News (Dublin)
1863-1864

Evening Irish Times
1918

Eastern Post
1926

Dublin Hospital Gazette
1845-1846, 1854

Dublin Evening Telegraph
1883-1885

Cork Weekly Herald
1874-1881, 1883-1884, 1887-1896

Cork Free Press
1914

Catholic Standard
1963

Blarney
1886

Belfast Telegraph
2017-2018

Belfast Linen Trade Circular
1855-1856, 1858

Anglo-Celt
1850-1857, 1871-1873, 1890-1896

Western People
1913-1920

Chris

Wednesday, 18 March 2026

Ancestry adds 1659 Irish census

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added a database version of the 1659 Irish census, sometimes referred to as Pender's Census, following its publication by Séamus Pender in 1939:

Ireland Census, 1659
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63257/

Collection in context
The images in this collection were taken from A Census Of Ireland, Circa 1659 with Supplementary Material From The Poll Money Ordinances (1660-1661) edited by Séamus Pender and published in 1939. The book is a secondary historical source that presents information taken from census records that are primary historical sources.

The 1659 Irish Census was directed by Sir William Petty as a side project to the Down Survey, which mapped all the baronies where land was forfeited following the English Commonwealth’s invasion of Ireland between 1649 and 1653. These lands were to be given as rewards to soldiers who fought for England. The census reflected the devastation of a war that led to the deaths of one fourth of Ireland’s population from famine and disease. Because the census was a side project of a larger endeavor, errors in both names and numbers were made during the information collection process. Petty kept the census records for his personal library, and the records were discovered among his family papers in the late 1800s.

For further details visit the link.

Comment: The records are largely statistical in nature for the most part, providing the names of parishes and their townlands, a total of the number of people within that townland, how many of them were English and Scottish, and how many were Irish. The only names given are those of the 'titualadoes', the definition of which is given in the published volume as follows (Introduction, page v):

The term "Titulado", which appears throughout the returns, is best explained as referring to the principal person or persosn of standing in any particular locality; such a person could have been of either sex, a nobleman, baronet, gentleman, esquire, military officer or adventurer; that from other sources we learn of a particular Titulado, being also a landowner need not surprise us: the landowner is normally the person of standing in a district. Still, it miust not be forgotten that "Titulado" and "Landowner" are not necessarily synonymous terms.

There are indexes of places and of persons named at the end of the book. The book itself can also be browsed, rather than searched.

Chris

Sunday, 15 March 2026

Free access to Irish records on MyHeritage for St. Patrick's Day

From MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com):

From March 14–18, 2026, MyHeritage is offering free access to 145 million Irish historical records.

These collections include birth, marriage, and death records, parish registers, newspapers, passenger lists, and court records that document everyday life in Ireland. Together they can help people discover relatives, trace migration stories, and learn more about the communities their families came from.

To gain access visit https://www.myheritage.com/research/catalog?location=Ireland

For further details visit the MyHeritage blog at https://blog.myheritage.com/2026/03/celebrate-st-patricks-day-with-free-access-to-irish-records-on-myheritage/

(With thanks to Daniel Horowitz)

Chris

Friday, 13 March 2026

Irish newspaper additions to British Newspaper Archive and FindmyPast for St. Patrick's Day

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has noted the following Irish newspaper additions this week in advance of Saint Patrick's Day, mirroring the additions made to the British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.com):

Four new Irish newspapers for St. Patrick's Day

There are over 200,000 new pages to explore this week, with four new titles and updates to a further 21 covering the entire island of Ireland.
New titles:

Cork Free Press, 1910-1913, 1915
Saturday Record (Ennis), 1898, 1900, 1902, 1905-1906, 1909-1910, 1912-1929, 1931-1936
Ulster Times, 1836-1843
Western News and Galway Leader, 1878-1892, 1899-1903, 1905-1926

Updated titles:

Belfast Linen Trade Circular, 1852-1854, 1859-1877, 1880-1884
Belfast Telegraph, 2015-2016
Donegal Vindicator, 1950
Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal, 1860
Drogheda Independent, 1950
Flag of Ireland, 1873, 1877-1880
Free Press (Wexford), 1950
Kerry News, 1930
Limerick Chronicle, 1768-1770, 1776-1778, 1780, 1790
Meath Herald and Cavan Advertiser, 1860
Munster Express, 1871-1880, 1882-1885, 1887-1896, 1899-1910, 1912, 1914-1915, 1917-1919
Munster News, 1890-1905, 1907-1909
Northern Whig, 1858-1928
Penny Despatch and Irish Weekly Newspaper, 1868-1875
Tipperary Free Press, 1871-1881
Ulster Weekly News, 1873-1881
Waterford Mail, 1872-1887, 1894
Weekly Freeman’s Journal, 1889
Westmeath Independent, 1860-1879, 1881-1896
Wexford and Kilkenny Express, 1901
Whiskey Trade Review (Dublin), 1896

Further FindmyPast additions this week are noted at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/surgeons-medical-books.

Chris

Tuesday, 10 February 2026

Departmental bunfight in Ireland over 1864-1870 death records?

I commented the following on the Irish Government's Department of Culture, Communications and Sport's Facebook page yesterday (https://www.facebook.com/DeptCultureCommsSport):

"What about the 1864-1870 death records? Sporadic death indexes, absolutely no images. Come on lads, it can't be that difficult to put them online!"

And I received a response:

"This week’s release includes the annual update of records, adding an additional year of civil records to the website. The Irish Genealogy website now provides access to Civil birth records from 1864–1925, marriage records from 1845–1950, and death records from 1864–1975.

"Please note that while death records from 1864–1970 are indexed on the website, the associated images are not yet available. These images remain with the General Register Office (GRO). The Department has informed the GRO that we will prioritise uploading these records to the Irish Genealogy website as soon as they are provided."

First of all, the indexes are absolutely not complete for death records from 1864-1870. But secondly, have we been unable to see this small group of records for all this time because one Irish governmental department is simply not collaborating with another?

I'll repeat the last line again:

"Come on lads, it can't be that difficult to put them online!"

Chris

Wednesday, 21 January 2026

Update on Irish RASCAL local archives platform

The following update is available concerning the Research and Special Collections Available Locally (RASCAL) platform in Ireland, normally available at www.rascal.co.uk, which allows you to look for local holdings of collections, but which has been down for many months:

RASCAL is an electronic gateway to research resources relating to Ireland. It is administered by Special Collection & Archives, Queen's University Belfast. The site is currently undergoing redevelopment and will be back online in 2026. All information from participating institutions has been saved and will be reinstated.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

(Source: https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/InformationServices/TheLibrary/SpecialCollections/DigitalResources/RASCAL/)

Don't forget that the Irish Archives Resources site at https://iar.ie is another very useful finding aid for finding Irish resources across the island.

Chris

Thursday, 8 January 2026

MyHeritage is now searchable in Irish (and Welsh)

MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) has added nine new languages to its website, including the Irish language and Welsh, bringing the total number of languages to fifty that users can now employ to search records on the platform. I think this is the first time that any of the major commercial genealogy websites has offered a facility for records to be searched in an Insular Celtic language.

It should be noted that many state based genealogy websites created in the Irish republic can also be searched in Irish (Gaeilge), for example IrishGenealogy.ie, with its gaelic version accessible via at https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/ga/ - simply toggle between the words English and Gaeilge located at the top right of the screen.

Note that the Irish census website at https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-census/ shows a toggle option between the two languages, but in fact only has an English version available at present, with a small message written as Gaeilge at the top:

Cuirfear aistriúchán ar fáil go luath

Ár leithscéal as an míchaoithiúlacht. Cuirfear aistriúchán Gaeilge ar an leathanach seo ar fáil go luath. Go raibh maith agat as do chuid foighneachta agus muid ag obair ar leagan uasdátaithe.

Translated as:

Translation coming soon

We apologize for the inconvenience. An Irish translation of this page will be available soon. Thank you for your patience while we work on an updated version.

For more on the MyHeritage story, visit its dedicated blog post at https://blog.myheritage.com/2026/01/myheritage-expands-to-50-languages/.

I look forward to hopefully seeing Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) added st some point in the near future! (Hint!)

Chris

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