Prince Edward Island Data Pages

Rootsweb houses many fascinating pages researched and developed by volunteer genealogists. A useful one for those with Irish ancestors on Prince Edward Island (PEI) is the Prince Edward Island Data Pages. This database is a compilation of some records of Irish immigrants to PEI from before 1846.

In all, there are about 1,000 entries. The compiler, Marge Reid, advises that when using the database, “the documentation on the four data pages of the PEI IRISH PROJECT is shoddy. (There are OTHER words that could be used to describe the sourcing, but I wouldn't want to offend anyone!) Use the data as a "finding aid" or a "kick-start", but remember - it's only worth what you've paid for it...”[1] It’s useful advice as we should always try and get from an online database or transcription to a copy of the original record. Some local knowledge will definitely be useful when using this database as the compiler uses abbreviations for sources and local place names.

A considerable amount of the database entries give an Irish county of origin. For example, an obituary (from an unknown, undated newspapers) for Bridget Regan gives the information that she was from Sligo and emigrated in 1844. Her husband was John Butler and she (presumably) lived in Ch’town (Charlottetown). The dates 1825-1900 are also provided, possibly her year of birth and death.[2]

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[1] Marge Reid. Prince Edward Island Data Pages. 25 January 1999.
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mvreid/pei/peirish.html: accessed 11 May 2015.

[2] “IRISH-BORN in PEI before 1846”, database, Rootsweb.com
(http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mvreid/pei/peirish.html: accessed 11 May 2015), entry for Bridget Regan, date unknown; QUINN through WYNN, p. 4.