New York State Naturalizations 1802 - 1814

Thomas Addis Emmet was a lawyer who was heavily involved in the United Irishmen organization in the 1790s. Born in Cork, he was arrested on the eve of the 1798 rebellion and eventually settled in New York City, where he lived out the remainder of his days. He died there in 1827.[1] His grandson, Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, amassed a considerable collection of important documents and the collection was donated to the New York Public Library in 1896.[2]  

One of those documents is a list of immigrants naturalized in New York State between 1802 and 1814. Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet was known for his pro-Irish independence sympathies and the vast majority of the 115 names on the list are for men from Ireland. Importantly, the Irish county of birth is provided for almost every entry.

Early New York Naturalizations

The names were transcribed and published in a 1963 edition of the Bulletin of The New York Public Library.[3] This edition of the bulletin was digtized by Internet Archive and is freely available online. Click here for access.

The Emmet Collection was digitized by the New York Public Library and is available to view here.

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[1] Thomas Addis Emmet, born 1764, died 1827 in New York City, buried Saint Mark's Church in the Bowery, New York, New York, memorial number 6813864; digital image, Find A Grave (http;//www.findagrave.com), accessed 24 September 2016.

[2] Thomas Addis Emmet collection, Archives and Manuscripts; The New York Public Library (http://archives.nypl.org), accessed 24 September 2016.

[3] Wolfe, Richard J. Early New York Naturalization Records in the Emmet Collection With a List of Aliens Naturalized in New York 1802-1814, Bulletin of the New York Public Library, Volume 67, Number 4, April 1963, pp. 211-217; accessed Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/earlynewyorknatu00wolf), 24 September 2016.

Documentary On One - A Genealogical Perspective

One of the best radio documentary series is the simply but aptly titled Documentary on One on RTE Radio 1. A full back catalog of hundreds of hours is available to listen to on the RTE website. Over the years, many documentaries have focused on migration from Ireland to North America and other topics that will be of great interest to genealogists. I have compiled a list below of such titles. Enjoy.

Migration

The McGraths (2000) - McGrath family reunion in Lanesborough, County Fermanagh. Members of the family first emigrated to the United States in 1827.

My Dear Cousin  (2012) - Letters sent between two cousins in Ireland and the United States between 1917 and 1971.

The Cons (2009) - The annual visit of the Smith family from America to County Cavan.

The Anaconda Road Massacre (2015) - The murder of Irish immigrant Thomas Manning in Butte, Montana 1916. Includes back story on Irish immigration to the town.

Kenmare Street (2012) - The story of Tim Sullivan, the son of two assisted emigrants from the Lansdowne Estate in County Kerry to New York City's Five Points.

The Newfoundland Connection (2003) - The links between south east Ireland and Newfoundland.

Other documentaries of genealogical interest

Strangers in Ireland (1985) - The Huguenots who settled in Ireland.

Battle of Carrickshock (1983) - Includes the history of the 1823 Tithe Composition Act, Tithe Applotment Books, and tithe defaulters.

The Murder, Me and My Family Tree (2015) - A member of the Haskins family 

uses DNA and documents to see if he is related to the last man hanged in Wicklow jail.

Lost Children: Children in Irish Workhouses (1982) - The story of children in Irish workhouses in the 19th century.

Bound By Regulations (1995) - The history of the hiring fair, which resulted in internal migration of agricultural laborers within Ireland.

Going Beyond US WDYTYA

Who Do You Think You Are (WDYTYA) is the flagship show for genealogy in the United States. In each episode, the ancestry of a celebrity is explored, with prominent narratives from their family history investigated. It first aired in 2010 and began its fifth season last week.

Those in the U.S. who have Irish ancestry might be disappointed with the relative lack of focus on celebrities with Irish ancestry. In the first four seasons there has been 35 episodes. Four participants had their Irish ancestry partly or fully investigated, with three episodes showing research in Ireland. They are:

Chris O'Donnell  season 4, episode 5         Did not do research in Ireland

Rashida Jones season 3, episode 10           Dublin

Rosie O'Donnell season 2, episode 3         Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Offaly 

Martin Sheen      season 3, episode 1         Tipperary, Dublin

This is a small return, considering Irish is the largest ancestry grouping in the U.S. after German. Personally, I think there are two reasons for this. Firstly, it can be difficult to find the Irish place of origin. Other celebrities might have been considered, but their Irish place of origin might not have been found. Secondly, the Irish ancestors of some celebrities might not have been involved in something that was considered worthwhile for a TV show. Leaving a poverty stricken rural part of Ireland, living in a densely crowded tenement and dying of tuberculosis at age forty-five is not exactly going to see audiences flocking to watch the show. This could be called 'Cherie Blair syndrome.'

So, where can you get your fix of Irish genealogy on TV? Well, the US WDYTYA has an older British sister, as the show is also aired in the UK. The UK version is actually the original and has been on TV since 2004. The 11th season will begin in August, starting with a special show to mark its upcoming 100th episode. 

The close proximity of Ireland to the UK has seen many Irish celebrities move to the bigger British market and many British-born celebrities have Irish parents, grandparents, and other ancestors. So, the UK version can be a great place to get your fix of Irish genealogy TV. Below, I have YouTube links to some of these episodes:

Graham Norton                Cork, Antrim/Belfast, Wicklow

Dervla Kirwan                  Cork, Dublin

Chris Moyles                      Dublin, Mayo

John Hurt                            Sligo

David Tennant                  Derry/Londonderry

Amanda Redman             Cork/Wexford (parts of the episode)

Nick Hewer                        Antrim/Belfast (could not find video of episode)

The Irish Genealogy News blog reports that the upcoming 11th season of the UK WDYTYA will have two Irish-focused episodes. While you may have know about the UK version of the TV show, you might be surprised to learn that there was also an Irish version of Who Do You Think You Are. It broadcast for two season in 2008 and 2009. I managed to find one episode knocking about on YouTube:

Ryan Tubridy                      Galway/Mayo/Dublin

Assisted Emigration To St. Andrews

A guiding principle of Irish genealogical research in the U.S. and Canada is to exhaust all records on this side of the Atlantic to find the place of origin in Ireland. However, there are two main types of records, created in Ireland, that are also suitable to use. One is certain passenger list records created in Ireland, such as those highlighted by the work of Irish genealogist Brian Mitchell. The other is assisted emigration records. They are useful because the place of origin is given as well as the port they arrived at in North America.

The Fitzwilliam Estate Emigration Books, 1847-1856 record the names of 6000 emigrants from Wicklow who were sent across the Atlantic. Three hundred and eighty three of them were settled in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada.[1] You can access a database of these names here.

Jim Rees has written extensively about this migration and you can read about it in his document, The Surplus People. He has also compiled names of migrants from the townland of Coolattin on the Fitzwilliam Estate.

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[1] Rees, Jim. Fitzwilliam Estate Emigration Books, 1847-1856. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, available online at http://archives.gnb.ca/Irish/Databases/Fitzwilliam/Default.aspx?culture=en-CA: accessed 22 August 2013.