9 million Irish Church, Census, and Gravestone records now online

Thanks to Legacy user, Dermot McGlone, for letting us know about these great Irish resources:

The Irish Family History Foundation, a network of county-based genealogical research centres on the island of Ireland, is now making their records available via an online research system (ORS). These centres have computerised just under 9 million Irish genealogical records, including church records, census returns and gravestone inscriptions.

At present 16 of the 32 county genealogy centres have their details on-line, with a further 5 centres coming online in the coming months, and the remaining 11 centres hoping to follow suit in the not-too-distant future. The Irish Roots website (http://www.irish-roots.net/) will eventually hold details of all church records, which in some cases go back over 400 years to 1600. The site contains the largest online, searchable collection of Parish records for the island of Ireland. The complete indexes, which list surname, first name, year and county of ALL records is freely searchable. To view a detailed record you can purchase credit online for instant access for a small fee.

The current status of each county's records (shown here by province) is as follows:

In Connacht:
County Galway - Currently Available
County Leitrim - Currently Available
County Mayo - Currently Available
County Roscommon - Currently Available
County Sligo - Not Yet Available

In Leinster:
County Carlow - Not Yet Available
County Dublin - Currently Available
County Kildare - Currently Available
County Kilkenny - Currently Available
County Laois (formerly known as Laoighis or Leix) - Not Yet Available
County Longford - Available Soon
County Louth - Currently Available
County Meath - Not Yet Available
County Offaly (formerly known as King's County) - Not Yet Available
County Westmeath - Currently Available
County Wexford - Not Yet Available
County Wicklow - Available Soon

In Munster:
County Clare - Not Yet Available
County Cork (north) - Currently Available
County Cork (south) - Not Yet Available
County Kerry - Not Yet Available
County Limerick - Currently Available
County Tipperary - Currently Available
County Waterford - Not Yet Available

In Ulster:
County Antrim - Available Soon
County Armagh - Currently Available
County Cavan - Currently Available
County Derry - Not Yet Available
County Donegal - Available Soon
County Down - Available Soon
County Fermanagh - Currently Available
County Monaghan - Not Yet Available
County Tyrone - Currently Available

Comments

[Andrew]

Although it's encouraging to see Irish records start to come online, the 'free' index entries are not detailed enough to make a rational decision about spending 5 Euros ($8) to view an entire entry. In my mind that is not a 'small fee' as your article suggests - espcially for someone with extensive roots in Ireland.

[John McNamara]

Searching for birth place in Co Mayo of William McNamara abt 1816 son of James McNamara
are there any birth records of both?
regards
John McNamara

[Richard Beem]

Christine Rowland immigrated from Ireland according to census records

[Mary Durley]

The Cornelius Keane married Mary O'Leary and they raised 8 children that I know. They are
Daniel b-April 1829, Cornelius b-Sept 1832, Margaret b-1831,
Hannah b-? , Catherine b- ?,
Mary b-1835, Ellen b-1838 and Dennis b- Jan 1840. Dennis is my direct line.
Records of our people is recorded in Parish book in Dromoleague because we came from Bawnbee, and is in Parish of Caheragh where we all are registered.
Any help with above would be very appreciated.

[Mary Durley]

Searching for records on the Cornelius Keane and Mary O'Leary family at the Parish of Drimoleague because we came from Bawnbee, and is in Parish of Caheragh where we all are registered.

[B. McWhirter]

Searching for records of Thomas Tennant & Judith Butler who eloped abt. 1754. They resided in Co. Carlow. Family lore says that Judith was disinherited by her parents of a large fortune after her marriage. Supposedly she was related to the Kilkenny Butlers. Their sons were Thomas, Robert & Richard + 3 daughters. Thomas & Judith are buried in Aghade church about 1 mile from where they resided. Any info on them would be greatly appreciated.

[Cecilia Gregory]

I'm glad to hear that some of the Irish genealogical records are coming on-line. I'm 81 and hope I have enough time to find my Irish family roots. (I can take my father's family back 8 generations.) I know my gt grandparents- Mary Sinnott and Patrick Leary, and Mary Blake and James Shields- each came from Ireland during the 'potato famine'. The counties they came from were Cork, Wexford, Limerick and ?Waterford?. But I do not know what county to connect with each although I guess Leary connects with County Cork and someone came from Croom, Limerick. I think I can find my gt grandparents birthdates from the Catholic church in Jacksobville, Illinois. Any ideas on how to start? Cecilia Gregory

[Janice]

I agree with an earlier comment. Unfortunately, viewing the records is very expensive and there is not enough information in the index return to make a rational decision to use 5 Euros to purchase a look. Very disappointing.

[katherine beattie]

Glad to hear Ireland has put more records on line I can not find my husbands family after 1800 as all came from Ireland but county unknown
The Beattie's from Ireland - Lanarkshire Scotland before 1800

[Edward T Williams]

I'm looking for roots of James McNamara from Ennis or Quinn in co Clare Ireland.I believe they originated from the castle Knappoque.
James, married Margrat(Mary)Fitzgerald. Margarat was born Feb. 1820 died in South Africa 14 Nov.1894. THey came to South Africa where they had 6 sons and 2 daughters.I believe he(James) and his brother left Island about the same time his brother went to the U>S>A> and his grand G.Grand son is the famous fellow in the government. But I have no proof of this about his brother. Cost of info is expensive especially for us in S>A> @ R16 to your 1 pound.

[Yvette Campagne]

I just wasted €10 as the search results only show the County - way to broad in Irish research. I will not use this resource again. If they would show the PLU, the Parish, or (dream on) the townland, it would be an excellent resource.

[sallyfactor]

I have searched for years to solve the mystery of two John Bannons in the same town of Killyculla, Fermanagh in Griffith's. Also, one Catherine Muldoon from Coolcran the next town, as the only copy of the Immaculate Conception Church records was burned in the Four Courts Fire, maybe I will find a lead here. It would be worth the money as I have already tried Irish Origins and others. John III (that I know of) came to Connecticut, USA and married Catherine Muldoon. I am the last of the chain. John and Catherine married in 1896. John said he came in 1888 at age 13. Sally

[Kay Harris]

I signed up for E40 and then I looked to see what years were available oops! Most of the records that I would be interested in have not been transcribed or don't exist because they are from the late 1700 early 1800 County Tyrone. You might want to check before you sign up.
Names I'm Interested in are Foster, Wallahene, Mccullough,Hutchinson

[Sharyle Kingston]

Could the two persons who have referenced Bawnbee, (Bawnbue),in Drimoleague explain your connection? This is a farm in Drimoleague, and if you can explain a connection, I may be able to help connect with the local Keane family. My connection is that I was married in the Church of Dromore, Bantry, Parish of Caheragh, to one of the sons of the family that owns this farm. As far as I know there is I know, there is only one Bawnbee.

[dianne mcfall]

Can you tell me exactly when the Antrim and Down 1901 census will be available? Also will it be long till the Derry and Sligo details are released?

[les atkinson]

I am rather dismayed with the lack of information, the site should contain, date of birth, place of marriage/death, and maiden name of partner, if you are going to charge 5 euros per visit, then make it worth it, we have been waiting an awful long time for irish records

[j p lambert]

I think this is ridiculously expensive. For example one of many names of interest to me is Bridget Higgins, born in Mayo about 1848. The index for Mayo shows 19 such born within 4 years of 1848. It would cost me 95 euros to check them out. (There are 8 of that name born within 2 years of 1848 and checking only those would be 40 euros.) And again this is just one of many names that I would like to check.

[Ann Lamb]

In order to make this useful, and encouraging enough to risk 5 euros ($8) on a look at the records, the index should either provide a full date or a parish (or both)so one could discriminate between the many possibilities. Otherwise it is just gambling, and I have never enjoyed that past-time.

However, I have recently received enthusiastic reports from two friends to whom I forwarded a copy of this article. I believe their names were unique enough to make the index useful to them.

[Susan Spangler LeGassick]

Looking for the church records for Jane Burn 1836 birth in Castlewellen, co Down Ireland. Does anyone know where these records are kept?

[Angela Rodoni]

Hi Ann Lamb, Ros davies helped me to find my ancestors in Kilkeel you might google her name and see what response you get back. Good luck

[Ros O'Shaughnessy]

€5 may not be expensive if you find what you're looking for. But the site is very confusing and you've no way of knowing if you're on the right track or not. I reckon you could be spending a lot of money to tease out relevant information. Why not charge a daily or weekly fee. so that when one search fails you could try another...

[Danielle James]

Maybe I am missing something? Where are these 'Fabulous' "9 million Irish Church, Census, and Gravestone records now online"?? I cannot seem to find the webaddress... I am certainly keen to log on and see if I can locate some of my irish ancestors. However I have to agree with the above individuals with regards to 5 euro seeming steep. I am from NZ so 5 Euro will be $10 or more per record which I can see clocking up quickly when trying to filter through records - especially as my ancestors seem to repeat the same name constantly throughout the branches!!...Dani

[Susan Daily]

I would recommend that all users who are dismayed at the lack of more detail in the index to narrow your search down to a list, then write to the local Centre for Genealogy (each county has a Centre). Provide the list, then tell them the exact details you DO KNOW so they can determine which records are the ones that will be of use to you. This will cost you a research fee, so find out in advance how much it will cost. If you end up with the correct records and spend 25 euros instead of 90 euros, it may be worth it to you in the end. Especially as that is cheaper than flying to Ireland and doing the research yourself (which isn't always possible).

County Genealogy Centres Around Ireland: http://www.irish-roots.ie/counties.asp

By the way, this comments section is not the place to ask for look up help. Instead, post a message on your Rootsweb Surname or County of Ireland message board - you will more likely get a reply there than here!

Find a board: http://boards.rootsweb.com/Default.aspx?o_iid=33216&o_lid=33216

I did use this web site, by the way, to purchase 40 euros worth of records for one of my Surnames of interest. By doing other research prior to this, namely with census records and civil registration records on microfilm at the LDS' family history centers, I was able to narrow down which church records would most likely be the ones I needed. I was correct with each one and obtained useful information, including fathers' names and wives' maiden names.