British Newspaper Archive approaches 103 million pages of content

The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) is approaching 103 milion pages of content, with the current total at 102,949,401 pages aavilable online.

The following are the latest additions for Scotland and Ireland:

Scotland

Protestant Vanguard 
1931-1932

Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express 
1986-1999

Kelso Chronicle 
1882

John o' Groat Journal 
1985, 1995-1999

Highland News 
1994

Gourock Times 
1915-1966

Dundee Evening Telegraph 
1996, 1999-2000

Barrhead News 
1919

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald 
1919

Alloa Journal 
1918-1919

Govan Press and Weekly Advertiser for Govan & Kinning Park 
1884-1888, 1890

Fife Herald 
1996-2005

Dundee Weekly News 
1885, 1893-1950

Deeside Piper 
1995-2004

Inverness Courier 
1939-1941, 1993-1994

Sunday Post 
1986-2005

Port-Glasgow Express 
1965-1966

Montrose Standard 
1965-1966


Ireland

Westmeath Independent 
1919

Weekly Irish Times 
1917-1918

Tyrone Constitution 
1919

Strabane Weekly News 
1919

Strabane Chronicle 
1919

Nenagh Guardian 
1919

Munster Tribune 
1966

Limerick Leader 
1893-1905, 1909, 1919

Irish Field 
1919

Evening Irish Times 
1919

Coleraine Chronicle 
1919

Roscommon Messenger 
1871-1886, 1888-1903

Roscommon Journal 
1865-1925, 1927

Dundalk Examiner and Louth Advertiser 
1881-1883, 1885-1892, 1894-1901, 1916-1929 

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.

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 

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.

MyHeritage offers new Family Infographics tool

MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) has introduced a new tool that allows you to create infographics about individuals within your family tree, which may be of some interest to readers. The tool, called Family Infographics, is located under the Family Tree menu option at the top of the page.

I've had a quick go, and have to admit that the result looks very much like an AI driven project in its infancy, as the image I uploaded bears little resemblance to the graphic displayed. I actually created two different infographics about my great grandfather, and the image is wildly different between each, despite being drawn from the same source photo, as can be seen.

Nevertheless, the potential is there, and in time it can only be hoped that the image realisation improves, without the hallucinations that often accompany AI software!

(With thanks to Daneil Horowitz)

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.

Ancestry adds Edinburgh, Scotland, Mortcloth Records for St Cuthbert Burial Grounds, 1780-1854

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added a new Scottish collection:

Edinburgh, Scotland, Mortcloth Records for St Cuthbert Burial Grounds, 1780-1854
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63248/
Source: "Provided in association with The City of Edinburgh Council"

General collection information

This collection contains mortcloth records dated between 1780 and 1854 for St Cuthbert’s Parish and Burial Ground in Edinburgh, Scotland. A mortcloth was a ceremonial cloth that people would rent and drape over a coffin at a funeral. The records are in the form of registers arranged chronologically.

Records in the collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Age
• Death date
• Burial date
• Purchase date
• Name of spouse
• Names of parents

The information in these records can help you learn more about your ancestor’s life and burial. Mortcloth rental records can be used as a substitute for death records, and these records may be especially useful because they predate the start of civil registration of deaths in Scotland in 1855. Though it’s important to keep in mind that the date of payment may not be the exact date of death.

By browsing the record image you may be able to learn more about your ancestor’s burial or their family’s financial status. Some records include the quadrant and section of the burial location, diseases the person may have had, and the amount paid by the family. You may also be able to use the information from this collection to find more records for your ancestor in Scotland, like birth records, censuses, or electoral rolls.
 

For further details, please visit the link.

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.

Angus Archives re-opens on appointments basis

Angus Archives (https://angusalive.scot/local-family-history/visit-us/) has reopened this week on an appointments only basis for now. The following is the announcement on its website:

Angus Archives will be reopening on a by-appointment basis starting Tuesday, 6 May 2025! We are now ready to welcome you back to explore our fascinating collections in our new location. This arrangement will be in place to allow us to get back onto our feet following the move from Restenneth, and to accommodate the upcoming refurbishment of Arbroath Library.

We will be accommodating up to 4 visitors at a time, and items from our archives and local history collections will be available by request only.

To schedule your visit or for more information, please contact us on 01241 465563 or email angusarchives@angusalive.scot.

We can’t wait to welcome you back and continue sharing our local heritage with you! Thank you again for your continued support.

(With thanks to Angus Archives)

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.

DUP removes funding from Placenames NI site triggering latest themuns versus usuns spat

Those of us from Northern Ireland won't be surprised at the latest depressing 'themuns versus usuns' spat, with the Democratic Unionist Party Communities Minister Gordon Lyons now removing funding from the popular The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project website at www.placenamesNI.org as he states "is it something that is necessary"? 

The fact that the site is used to help councils with Irish-English street name translations is of course coincidental, and his actions clearly have nothing to do with the DUP's hostility towards the Irish language in Northern Ireland, which one of their foolish representatives once called a "leprechaun language". This is the same party that hijacked the Ulster Scots language for political purposes during the Troubles in exactly the same way that Sinn Féin hijacked the Irish language for its purposes - "themuns have their language, and usuns have ours". The actions of both sides did untold damage to both languages, and like kids in a schoolyard still not getting their way, the arguments continue to this day. 

It's pathetic, because the Irish, English, and Scots languages belong to all of us, and should not be scrapped over by part-time talentless politicians who keep taking a break every few years when they get a bit tired and uncreative, continually failing to agree on the most simple of things because of a pathetic culture war initiated centures ago.

The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project has been active at Queen's University since 1987, and researches placenames across Northern Ireland, irrespective of whether they derive from English, Scots, or Irish backgrounds. There are similar platforms in other parts of these islands, with Logainm (www.logainm.ie) doing similar work in the Irish republic, and Ainmean Àite na h-Alba (www.ainmean-aite.scot) doing similar work in Scotland (specifically for Scottish Gaelic placenames). Their ongoing academic work adds to our understandings of our historic environments, and is priceless in contributing to our sense of ourselves in our respective regions.

The following note is now displaying on the PlacenamesNI website:

The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project has now reached the end of its current funding period. As a result, the project team is in the process of winding down activities. At this time, we regret that we are no longer in a position to respond to new enquiries or requests for information or translations. We appreciate your understanding as the project concludes this phase of its work.

Any update will be shared here should the situation change in the future. 

Northern Ireland deserves so much better, it's been failed by its politicians for far too long, on both sides of a divide that is long past its sell-by date.

For more on the story visit the BBC's coverage at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g5prgq7eeo and The Journal's coverage at https://www.thejournal.ie/-7031294-May2026/. 

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.

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

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.

New monumental inscriptions publication from ANESFHS

Aberdeen and North East Scotland Family History Society has a new monumental inscriptions publication out, entitled The Kirkyards of Monquhitter and St. Luke's Cuminestown. The book is £4.40 plus p&p.

You can order the book from the society at https://anesfhs.org/publications/anesfhs-titles.

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.

TheGenealogist makes parish records accessible via its MapExplorer tool

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist Brings Parish Records to Life with Church Pins, Historic Images and Surname Heatmaps

TheGenealogist has transformed the way family historians explore parish records, now pinning baptisms, marriages and burials directly onto its MapExplorer tool. This powerful update allows users to pinpoint the exact location of over 6,000 churches where their ancestors’ key life events took place, even when those buildings have long since disappeared.

For the first time, researchers can move beyond names and dates to uncover the precise locations behind the records, tracing ancestors to specific churches, chapels and parishes across the landscape. Whether standing, rebuilt or lost to time, these places can now be rediscovered through an intuitive, map-based experience.

Adding a rich new visual layer, TheGenealogist has also boosted its Image Archive with the addition of over 3,000 historic church photographs and paintings. Where available, parish records pinned on MapExplorer™ have been linked to the Image Archive, revealing what the church looked like and offering a rare opportunity to see the setting of an ancestor’s baptism, marriage or burial.

The update also introduces the ability to map search results, giving researchers a powerful new way to explore patterns in their family history. Users can visualise results as a heatmap, revealing concentrations of records across towns, villages and regions, before zooming in to explore individual entries in detail.

This is particularly valuable for surname studies and research before the census era. What may appear as scattered results in a list can quickly form clear geographical clusters when mapped, helping to uncover migration patterns, family groups and hidden connections that might otherwise go unnoticed Parish records remain one of the most important sources for tracing generations before civil registration began in England and Wales in 1837. By anchoring these records to real-world locations and enabling them to be explored visually, TheGenealogist is helping researchers build a deeper, more meaningful connection to their past.

Mark Bayley, Head of Online Content at TheGenealogist, said: “Family history is about more than just names on a page. With this update, you can discover exactly where your ancestors’ life events took place and, in many cases, even see the church itself. Combined with the ability to map your results and spot patterns across places and surnames, it opens up entirely new ways to understand your family’s story.”

MapExplorer™ already allows users to view historical maps alongside modern mapping, helping them locate streets, villages, farms, churches and other places linked to their family tree. The addition of parish record pins, historic church imagery and mapped search results makes the tool even more powerful for uncovering the stories behind the records. 

The new parish record mapping feature, heatmap visualisation and enhanced image archive are available now to TheGenealogist’s Diamond subscribers. Within these newly pinned records is the baptism of the Victorian heroine Grace Darling. Read her story here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2026/amazing-grace-8995/ 

Comment: There is some Scottish content on this layer, but it predominantly covers England and Wales.

(With thanks to Paul Bayley)

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.

Delay with Pen and Sword books spring royalties

This one is for my fellow Pen and Sword book authors:

Dear Author

I am writing to let you know that we continue to experience issues with the software that we use to calculate royalties and this has delayed us in issuing royalty statements and payments during April 2026.

We know what the problem is and we know how to fix it, but unfortunately it’s not a quick fix and therefore payments might not be made until the end of May 2026.

We apologise for this inconvenience and will continue to do all we can to ensure that statements and payments are issued as soon as possible.

I would like to thank you for your patience and understanding with this matter.

Best wishes

Charles Hewitt
Managing Director

Comment: Sigh... The royalties are late this year, so I emailed them yesterday to ask what was going on - this is the first that I have heard of any software issues at the firm. Let's hope this gets sorted asap.

 

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.