Irish Genealogy Tips, Techniques, Tales, and Lessons Learned
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The workshop presentation is an entertaining, beautiful pictorial presentation of Mr. Healy’s extensive Irish genealogy research experiences. He will discuss proven research methods for finding your Irish ancestors’ origins and historical records.
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Irish Genealogy Tips, Techniques, Tales, and Lessons Learned
- 1. Irish Genealogy Tips, Techniques, Tales and Lessons Learned ! Michael Healy, M.Sc. 1 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 3. Topics Background – Irish government and church documents Lessons Learned – – 3 Irish Emigration 1840 - 1920 Birthplace Locations, Databases, Translations, Names Nuggets Baltimore Irish Immigrant Life Wrap-up & Questions Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 4. Irish Emigration 1840 - 1920 4 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 5. Irish Emigration 1840 - 1920 5 > 4 million Irish people emigrated > 3 million to America! Entry ports: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore Today, over 35 million Americans claim Irish ancestry! Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 6. U.S. 2000 Census Map Extract Irish 6 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 7. U.S. 2000 Census Map Extract No Surprise Here ! Irish 7 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 8. U.S. 2010 Census Data 8 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 9. Irish Documents 9 Birth Certificates Baptism Certificates Marriage Certificates Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 10. Irish Birth Certificate 10 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 11. Irish Baptism Certificate 11 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 12. Irish Marriage Certificate 12 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 13. Lessons Learned 13 Birthplace Locations Online Database Errors Translations Children’s Names The O’ & Mac Factors The RIC A “Brick Wall” Study “Nuggets” Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 14. Birthplace Locations 14 Found in 1901 & 1911 Irish census records Mother’s childhood home town/village Document searches beyond census recorded home location are required Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 15. 1911 Irish Census Record Margaret Daly, Age 14, line 6 15 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 16. 1911 Irish Census Record – Transcription Error Martin & Mary Healy (“Kealy”) 16 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 17. Translations: Place Names Early 1800’s government translation project results: – – Anglicized Irish place names Different English spellings of same place name Example: – – – 17 Irish “cean” = head Irish town Ceanearagh = “head of valley” Ooops! Same town is recorded Canearagh on census record and Keanearagh on birth record for same place Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 18. Children’s Name Patterns 18 1st son was named after the father's father 2nd son was named after the mother's father 3rd son was named after the father 4th son was named after the father's eldest brother 1st daughter was named after the mother's mother 2nd daughter was named after the father's mother 3rd daughter was named after the mother 4th daughter was named after the mother's eldest sister Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 19. Latin First Names Complication of 19th Century Recording of First Names in Latin in Record Books Some Common Latin-English First Name Translations: – – – – – – – – 19 Carolus - Charles Demetrius - Jeremiah, Diarmuid, Darby Gulielmus - William Honoria - Nora Jacobus - James Joannes or Ioannes - John Petrus - Peter Thaddeus - Timothy Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 20. The O’ and Mac Factors! O’Grady, O’Reilly, MacMahon, MacDonald,etc. O’ = “grandson of” & Mac = “son of” Surname prefixes dropped in America Search for both variations – with and without prefix If available, use wild card * search – 20 For McCarthy or MacCarthy, search for M*Carthy Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 21. A “Brick Wall” Case Study Search for “Thomas Hogan” A “Brick Wall” Search for “Hogan” Eureka! Found “Thos. Hogan” the correct one! Lesson: Searchable electronic databases today contain same abbreviations taken from old handwritten forms 21 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 22. 1913 Ellis Island Passenger List Margaret (‘Margt.’) Daly, Age 19, line 8 22 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 23. Miscellaneous “Nuggets” 23 Irish Courtship “Train Immigration” Striking Gold ! Illegible Writing Down on the Farm A Defining Moment Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 24. Miscellaneous “Nuggets” Irish 24 Courtship “Train Immigration” Striking Gold ! Illegible Writing Down on the Farm A Defining Moment Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 25. Miscellaneous “Nuggets” Irish Courtship “Train 25 Immigration” Striking Gold ! Illegible Writing Down on the Farm A Defining Moment Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 26. Miscellaneous “Nuggets” Irish Courtship “Train Immigration” Striking Gold ! Illegible Writing 26 Down on the Farm A Defining Moment Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 27. Miscellaneous “Nuggets” Irish Courtship “Train Immigration” Striking Gold ! Illegible Writing Down 27 on the Farm A Defining Moment Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 28. Miscellaneous “Nuggets” Irish Courtship “Train Immigration” Striking Gold ! Illegible Writing Down on the Farm A 28 Defining Moment Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 29. Bibliography 29 Grenham, John, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, 3rd Edition, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2006. Grenham, John, Irish Ancestors, A Pocket Guide to Your Irish Ancestors, Gill & Macmillan, 2004. McCourt, Malachy, History of Ireland, Running Press, 2004 Mitchell, Brian, A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland, 2nd Edition, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002. Ouimette, David, Finding Your Irish Ancestors, A Beginners Guide, Ancestry, 2005. Woulfe, Patrick, Irish Names and Surnames, Genealogical Publishing Company,1993. Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 30. Irish Citizenship Citizenship by Descent is Irish Law since 1930’s A Person Born Outside Ireland Qualifies: – – – 30 Has At Least One Grandparent Born in Ireland Provides Documentary Evidence Completes Application Process Foreign Births Register (FBR) Dual Citizenship Including Irish Passport More Info at www.MyAncestorsRecords.com Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 31. Certificate of Irish Heritage New Irish Government Initiative in 2011 A Person Born Outside Ireland Qualifies: – – – Shows Connection to any Irish ancestor Provides Documentary Evidence Completes Application Process More 31 Info at www.HeritageCertificate.ie Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 32. Irish Ancestor’s Data Full name ( First, Last ) Ancestor’s Siblings’ Names Relationship to Requestor Church, Parish of Baptism Birthplace (Town, County) Church, Parish of Marriage Birth Date (mm/dd/yyyy), or Ancestor’s Spouse’s Name Approximate Birth Year Ancestor’s Children’s Names Approx. Year Arrived in America Ancestor’s U.S. Address (street, city, state) Religious Denomination Ancestor’s Occupation Ancestor’s Father’s Full Name U.S. Naturalization Year Ancestor’s Mother’s Name Ancestor’s Mother’s Maiden Name 32 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 33. Web Sites & Facebook TheIrishPortal.com GoBallycastle.com MyAncestorsRecords.com MyIrishAncestor.com www.Facebook.com/IrishAncestors www.Facebook.com/IrelandPhotos www.Facebook.com/IrishAncestryTour 33 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 35. Published eBooks - Genealogy M.D. Healy 35 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 36. Published eBooks – Ireland Mosaic M.D. Healy 36 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 37. Published eBooks – Irish Pubs M.D. Healy 37 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
- 40. Wrap-up & Questions 40 Ballycastle Enterprises, LLC
Editor's Notes
- My grandfather's brother James arrived in Boston on 20 Apr 1884 aboard the SS Catalonia. She was a 4,841 gross ton ship, length 429.6ft x beam 43ft, one funnel, three masts (rigged for sail), iron construction, single screw and a speed of 13 knots. There was capacity for 200-1st and 1,500-3rd class passengers. The Catalonia sailed from Glasgow, via Liverpool and Queenstown. (Queenstown, Ireland is now known as Cobh and is located just ESE of Cork, in southern Ireland.) There were 648 passengers on the Catalonia; 4 Scots (3 males and 1 female), 402 Irish (195 males and 207 females), and the remaining were immigrants from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. The Boston port was a busy place. On 22 Apr 1884, the SS Canadian (1,869 tons) arrived from Glasgow, Blacksod, and Galway with 759 Irish and 70 Scots. On 28 Apr 1884, the SS Marathon (1,552 tons) arrive from Liverpool and Queenstown with 517 Irish immigrants. Thus, in a week, 2000 immigrants had passed through Boston. This was 40 years after the coffin ships. They still packed them on board. Money was to be made in transporting people. I could find more on the 'coffin ships' but I'd have to do more searching of my records. As a comparison, today's cruise ships are in the 90,000 gross tons range (i.e., 30 times bigger) but the passenger range is only about twice as much, i.e, 1,700 - 2,000.
- In some cases, Irish emigrants from one parish in Ireland settled in only one American town in the late 1800’s. For example, Cleveland, Ohio is the twin or sister city of Achill Sound, Achill Island, County Mayo, because the great majority of Irish emigrants from that village settled in Cleveland when they emigrated to America. In another example, Irish emigrants from Bellmullet, County Mayo settled primarily in Holyoke, MA when they emigrated to America.
- In some cases, Irish emigrants from one parish in Ireland settled in only one American town in the late 1800’s. For example, Cleveland, Ohio is the twin or sister city of Achill Sound, Achill Island, County Mayo, because the great majority of Irish emigrants from that village settled in Cleveland when they emigrated to America. In another example, Irish emigrants from Bellmullet, County Mayo settled primarily in Holyoke, MA when they emigrated to America.
- While recently working with a client and searching for the client’s mother’s Irish birth certificate, I spoke with a representative from one of the many Irish Family History centers in Ireland. From these conversations, I learned that it was not unusual for the mother-to-be to travel to her parents’ home village or town to give birth to her baby. Consequently, an infant appearing on a census record may not have been born in the village of record at the time of the census. The family may have moved there after the child was born, prior to the census, or the mother returned to her parents’ home to give birth to her baby. Therefore, in either case, document record searches in locations beyond the census recorded home location are necessary and required.
- The English translations of Irish village and town names have taken different spellings over the years. In the early 1800’s, engineering and map surveyors traveled throughout Ireland, translating Irish place names into English, with varying results (see subsequent posting about Translations: The Play). The Irish word for “head” is “cean”. Irish village names starting with “cean” translated to “cane” or “keane” in the English versions. In the 1901 Irish census, the grandfather of one recent client lived in Canearagh in County Kerry. The same man’s 1878 birth certificate spelled his birthplace as Keaneiragh. Both of these spellings are correct spellings for the same place. Discovering and knowing these spelling differences make Irish family document searches that much more satisfying and interesting to do.
- One interesting aspect of Irish children’s first names, is this name pattern tradition that a large number of Irish families followed in the 1800’s and 1900’s: 1st son was named after the father's father2nd son was named after the mother's father3rd son was named after the father4th son was named after the father's eldest brother 1st daughter was named after the mother's mother2nd daughter was named after the father's mother3rd daughter was named after the mother4th daughter was named after the mother's eldest sister I’ve seen this tradition in the numerous Irish family document searches that I’ve conducted, while examining Irish records from 1850 through 1920.
- One interesting aspect of Irish children’s first names, is this name pattern tradition that a large number of Irish families followed in the 1800’s and 1900’s: 1st son was named after the father's father2nd son was named after the mother's father3rd son was named after the father4th son was named after the father's eldest brother 1st daughter was named after the mother's mother2nd daughter was named after the father's mother3rd daughter was named after the mother4th daughter was named after the mother's eldest sister I’ve seen this tradition in the numerous Irish family document searches that I’ve conducted, while examining Irish records from 1850 through 1920.
- Many Irish surnames begin with O’, such as O’Grady, O’Sullivan, O’Neill, O’Reilly, and O’Brien. An O prefix on a surname translates to “grandson of”, whereas a Mac prefix translates to “son of”. It was not uncommon for Irish immigrants coming to America in the 19th century to lose the O’ or Mac, when they processed through U.S. Immigration, whether by choice or not. When searching for an Irish ancestor’s records in Ireland, it is wise to not only look for the surname without the O’, but also the surname with the O’. For example, in addition to looking for your grandfather James Sullivan in Ireland, you should also look for James O’Sullivan. You may find that your Irish family name originally had an O’ prefix long ago, before your ancestors traveled to America.
- To trace the Irish origins of a client’s Irish grandfather, I recently searched a number of government record databases. The Irish grandfather’s name was Thomas Hogan. Feeling confident in pinpointing the specific person, I entered the first name, Thomas, and the family name (surname), Hogan, in the search fields of the searchable database. My confidence quickly diminished, when, unfortunately, the search results did not produce the one and only Thomas Hogan I was looking for. Being patient and persistent, I took a chance and broadened the search by simply entering the family name (surname), Hogan, in the search field. Although, as you can guess, this wider search produced hundreds of records, I hoped that it might uncover the correct Thomas Hogan. Eureka! Lo and behold, the “Hogan only” search produced a record for a “Thos. Hogan”, the correct one, the grandfather I was looking for. The lesson learned: before giving up and suspending your search for a specific first name-last name combination, broaden your search to include an abbreviated first name. You may ultimately find the person you are looking for! Footnote: To quicken the creation of a written form or record, a government official sometimes abbreviated the first name of a person in that form or record. Today, searchable electronic databases contain those same abbreviations.
- Having courtship transportation limitations in the early 19th century, Irish men wooed and courted Irish women living in close proximity to them. Men traveled as far as existing modes of transportation (e.g. walking or cart) would take them. The invention of the bicycle increased the distances men were willing to travel to court their ladies. The car increased the distances, yet again. Today, I understand that the low cost European air carriers are the bicycles of the 21st century! Some Irish men are regularly traveling on low cost flights each week to European cities, to maintain long distance romances and to court their women with the same fervor and passion of their male ancestors on bicycles long ago. A client asked for our help to locate and retrieve her Irish grandfather’s birth certificate to add to her file for an Irish citizenship by descent application. To start, our client only had her American born father’s 1910 birth certificate with her Irish grandparents’ names and ages on it. Over the years, through family conversations, our client heard that her Irish grandparents came from County Kerry, near Tralee. Through some patient and thorough “detective” work, we first gathered information about the Irish grandfather from passenger lists and U.S. census data on this side of the Atlantic. Then we traced the Irish grandfather to his origins in Ireland. Putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, we were able to successfully find and retrieve our client’s Irish grandfather’s Irish birth certificate. This demonstrates that even with limited information about an Irish ancestor, it is feasible to “strike gold” with a bit of persistent fact finding and evidence gathering.
- Having courtship transportation limitations in the early 19th century, Irish men wooed and courted Irish women living in close proximity to them. Men traveled as far as existing modes of transportation (e.g. walking or cart) would take them. The invention of the bicycle increased the distances men were willing to travel to court their ladies. The car increased the distances, yet again. Today, I understand that the low cost European air carriers are the bicycles of the 21st century! Some Irish men are regularly traveling on low cost flights each week to European cities, to maintain long distance romances and to court their women with the same fervor and passion of their male ancestors on bicycles long ago. A client asked for our help to locate and retrieve her Irish grandfather’s birth certificate to add to her file for an Irish citizenship by descent application. To start, our client only had her American born father’s 1910 birth certificate with her Irish grandparents’ names and ages on it. Over the years, through family conversations, our client heard that her Irish grandparents came from County Kerry, near Tralee. Through some patient and thorough “detective” work, we first gathered information about the Irish grandfather from passenger lists and U.S. census data on this side of the Atlantic. Then we traced the Irish grandfather to his origins in Ireland. Putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, we were able to successfully find and retrieve our client’s Irish grandfather’s Irish birth certificate. This demonstrates that even with limited information about an Irish ancestor, it is feasible to “strike gold” with a bit of persistent fact finding and evidence gathering.
- Having courtship transportation limitations in the early 19th century, Irish men wooed and courted Irish women living in close proximity to them. Men traveled as far as existing modes of transportation (e.g. walking or cart) would take them. The invention of the bicycle increased the distances men were willing to travel to court their ladies. The car increased the distances, yet again. Today, I understand that the low cost European air carriers are the bicycles of the 21st century! Some Irish men are regularly traveling on low cost flights each week to European cities, to maintain long distance romances and to court their women with the same fervor and passion of their male ancestors on bicycles long ago. A client asked for our help to locate and retrieve her Irish grandfather’s birth certificate to add to her file for an Irish citizenship by descent application. To start, our client only had her American born father’s 1910 birth certificate with her Irish grandparents’ names and ages on it. Over the years, through family conversations, our client heard that her Irish grandparents came from County Kerry, near Tralee. Through some patient and thorough “detective” work, we first gathered information about the Irish grandfather from passenger lists and U.S. census data on this side of the Atlantic. Then we traced the Irish grandfather to his origins in Ireland. Putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, we were able to successfully find and retrieve our client’s Irish grandfather’s Irish birth certificate. This demonstrates that even with limited information about an Irish ancestor, it is feasible to “strike gold” with a bit of persistent fact finding and evidence gathering.
- Having courtship transportation limitations in the early 19th century, Irish men wooed and courted Irish women living in close proximity to them. Men traveled as far as existing modes of transportation (e.g. walking or cart) would take them. The invention of the bicycle increased the distances men were willing to travel to court their ladies. The car increased the distances, yet again. Today, I understand that the low cost European air carriers are the bicycles of the 21st century! Some Irish men are regularly traveling on low cost flights each week to European cities, to maintain long distance romances and to court their women with the same fervor and passion of their male ancestors on bicycles long ago. A client asked for our help to locate and retrieve her Irish grandfather’s birth certificate to add to her file for an Irish citizenship by descent application. To start, our client only had her American born father’s 1910 birth certificate with her Irish grandparents’ names and ages on it. Over the years, through family conversations, our client heard that her Irish grandparents came from County Kerry, near Tralee. Through some patient and thorough “detective” work, we first gathered information about the Irish grandfather from passenger lists and U.S. census data on this side of the Atlantic. Then we traced the Irish grandfather to his origins in Ireland. Putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, we were able to successfully find and retrieve our client’s Irish grandfather’s Irish birth certificate. This demonstrates that even with limited information about an Irish ancestor, it is feasible to “strike gold” with a bit of persistent fact finding and evidence gathering.
- Having courtship transportation limitations in the early 19th century, Irish men wooed and courted Irish women living in close proximity to them. Men traveled as far as existing modes of transportation (e.g. walking or cart) would take them. The invention of the bicycle increased the distances men were willing to travel to court their ladies. The car increased the distances, yet again. Today, I understand that the low cost European air carriers are the bicycles of the 21st century! Some Irish men are regularly traveling on low cost flights each week to European cities, to maintain long distance romances and to court their women with the same fervor and passion of their male ancestors on bicycles long ago. A client asked for our help to locate and retrieve her Irish grandfather’s birth certificate to add to her file for an Irish citizenship by descent application. To start, our client only had her American born father’s 1910 birth certificate with her Irish grandparents’ names and ages on it. Over the years, through family conversations, our client heard that her Irish grandparents came from County Kerry, near Tralee. Through some patient and thorough “detective” work, we first gathered information about the Irish grandfather from passenger lists and U.S. census data on this side of the Atlantic. Then we traced the Irish grandfather to his origins in Ireland. Putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, we were able to successfully find and retrieve our client’s Irish grandfather’s Irish birth certificate. This demonstrates that even with limited information about an Irish ancestor, it is feasible to “strike gold” with a bit of persistent fact finding and evidence gathering.
- Having courtship transportation limitations in the early 19th century, Irish men wooed and courted Irish women living in close proximity to them. Men traveled as far as existing modes of transportation (e.g. walking or cart) would take them. The invention of the bicycle increased the distances men were willing to travel to court their ladies. The car increased the distances, yet again. Today, I understand that the low cost European air carriers are the bicycles of the 21st century! Some Irish men are regularly traveling on low cost flights each week to European cities, to maintain long distance romances and to court their women with the same fervor and passion of their male ancestors on bicycles long ago. A client asked for our help to locate and retrieve her Irish grandfather’s birth certificate to add to her file for an Irish citizenship by descent application. To start, our client only had her American born father’s 1910 birth certificate with her Irish grandparents’ names and ages on it. Over the years, through family conversations, our client heard that her Irish grandparents came from County Kerry, near Tralee. Through some patient and thorough “detective” work, we first gathered information about the Irish grandfather from passenger lists and U.S. census data on this side of the Atlantic. Then we traced the Irish grandfather to his origins in Ireland. Putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, we were able to successfully find and retrieve our client’s Irish grandfather’s Irish birth certificate. This demonstrates that even with limited information about an Irish ancestor, it is feasible to “strike gold” with a bit of persistent fact finding and evidence gathering.
- Some well known books on Irish genealogy and Irish history.
- Before we wrap up, I want to leave you with two final points: Celebrate your Irishness, like these young people at the annual May Cuckoo festival in Kinvara, County Galway, Ireland…… And McCarthy’s Eighth Rule of Travel. never pass a pub with your name on it. If anyone needs directions to any of these pubs, I’d be glad to give them to you.