NIFHS Cemetery Inscriptions

Following on from last week's post about genealogy organizations outside the U.S and Canada that have relevant records and resources, this week's post looks at the North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS). NIFHS "is a voluntary not-for-profit organization encouraging an interest in family history with particular reference to the nine counties in the historic Province of Ulster."[1]

One of their offerings is an index to graveyard inscriptions extracted from journals that the society subscribes to. The usefulness of the index is that you can quickly find out if a family name is included in the listing of inscriptions from a particular cemetery that you are interested in. Members of the NIFHS can avail of a lookup service if there is a cemetery of interest among the extensive list. This list includes transcribed information from some cemeteries in both the United States and Canada.

You can learn more information about this index and the NIFHS on their website.

IR[2]	Article Title	Journal
043/002	Memorial Stones in the USA	Galway Roots Vol 2 Page 79
043/003	New Brunswick, St. John County Alms & workhouse	Galway Roots Vol 4 Page 125
050/005	Andover, Mass. USA emigrant burials	Irish Ancestor Vol 1 Page 23
055/001	Tombstone Inscriptions of Irish interest in British Columbia	Irish Family History Society Vol. 2 1986 Page 59
055/002	St. Mary’s Cemetery, Lee, Mas., U.S.A.	Irish Family History Society Vol. 3 1987 Page 32
055/005	Irish graves in Ontario, Canada	Irish Family History Society Vol. 6 1990 Page 39
055/009	Irish Burials in St. Augustine’s Catholic Church Cemetery, Hamilton – Wentworth region, Ontario	Irish Family History Society Vol. 10 1994 Page 61
055/009	St. Joseph’s R.C. Church Cemetery, Bimbrook, Hamilton – Wentworth region, Ontario	Irish Family History Society Vol. 10 1994 Page 62
055/009	Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Catholic Church Cemetery, Freelton, Ontario	Irish Family History Society Vol. 10 1994 Page 63
055/009	St. Thomas R.C. Cemetery, Waterdown, Ontario	Irish Family History Society Vol. 10 1994 Page 64
055/022	Bakerville Cemetery & Richfield Cemetery, B.C., Canada	Irish Family History Society Vol. 17 2001 Page 119

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[1] North of Ireland Family History Society. North of Ireland Family History Society. Available online at http://www.nifhs.org: accessed 27 January 2016.

[2] There is no indications as to what this acronym stands for but it likely to be internal reference.

Interesting Ulster Historical Foundation Databases

Genealogical and historical societies outside of the U.S. and Canada often have records and resources about people who immigrated to both countries. These records can be of use to those doing research in the U.S. and Canada as they can provide evidence of an ancestor's passage to North America, or where they came from in Ireland/Northern Ireland, if certain details are known about their life in the U.S./Canada.

The Ulster Historical Foundation (UHF), for example, has a number of such interesting databases on their website. The UHF is "an educational non-profit organisation [whose] aim is to encourage an interest in the history of the province of Ulster; promote a positive image of Northern Ireland overseas; strengthen the links between Ireland and those of Ulster descent; broaden access to historical documents and records for Irish and Scots-Irish genealogy; and to inspire pride in Irish and Ulster heritage and culture.[1]

The databases below can be accessed by UHF Guild members. More information about each database is available on their Irish Genealogy Databases page.

• Emigrants from Coleraine Workhouse to Canada, 1849
• Emigrants from Killeshandra Parish, 1831-1841
• Emigrants Cited on Troy, New York, Gravestones
• Emigrants Cited on Co. Down Gravestones
• Emigrants from Counties Antrim & Londonderry, 1830s
• Passenger Lists, 1803, Newry, County Down to USA
• Passenger List: Athenia
• Passenger List: Dorcas Savage Portaferry to New Brunswick, 1819
• Passengers to America, 1773, 1789-93, 1796
• Preliminary Research in the USA: Naturalization Records from Vermont, 1839-1900
• Derrynoose Emigrants, County Armagh, 1840-50

Sidenote: the annual Ulster Historical Foundation tour of North America begins next month on 5 March. They will visit Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Lessburg (Virginia), Chicago, Salt Lake City, Portland, Chehalis (Washington), Fountaindale (Florida), Memphis, Pittsburgh, York County (Pennsylvania) and Halifax. You can get all the information from the Irish Genealogy News blog.

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[1] Ulster Historical Foundation. About Us. Available online at 

http://www.ancestryireland.com/about-us: accessed 21 January 2016.

U.S. Consular Registration Records, 1907-1925

The Ancestry databases U.S., Consular Registration Certificates, 1907 - 1918 and U.S., Consular Registration Applications, 1916-1925 contain records pertaining to "naturalized or native born American citizens who intended to stay in a foreign country for a protracted length of time."[1] Records from these databases have a lot of information about the individual who was requesting to stay outside the United States. 

There are almost 800 entries across the two databases for people who were born in Ireland, became a citizen of the United States when they moved there, and then were required to file registration with a U.S. consulate when they resided outside the United States. In almost all examples for Irish born people, their county or area of birth was recorded. The majority of these people moved back to Ireland for various lengths of time but some also moved to Great Britain.

Denis Barry was born in Sunday's Well, County Cork on 15 May 1860.[2] At some point in his life he moved to the U.S., naturalized, and lived in Washington D.C. He arrived back in Ireland in 1900 to reside at 17 Friars Avenue, Cork City. His reason for returning to Ireland was 'health failing and it is my intentions [sic] to return to the United States, if health improves." His Certificate of Registration of an American Citizen is dated 18 September 1907. A search of the 1901 Census of Ireland shows Denis Barry residing with his two unmarried sisters at the address he provided.[3]

Page from Consular Registration Certificate of Denis Barry, 1907

If you find a person of interest in these databases, be sure to look at the pages either side of the relevant image as there will usually be more than one page in a person's application. Typically, a witness who believed the applicant's statements to be correct is also listed on the document. In the case of Denis Barry, William Ellis of 11 Douglas St, Cork, verified the information provided by Barry. Other records from applicants provide the name of a spouse, any children and all their birth places, if the applicant was married and had children. 

These databases are an interesting example that shows a small subset of Irish people who returned to Ireland from the United States, either temporarily or permanently. Access them at:

U.S., Consular Registration Certificates, 1907-1918
U.S., Consular Registration Applications, 1916-1925

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[1] Ancestry.com, U.S., Consular Registration Certificates, 1907 - 1918. 2013. http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2995: accessed 7 February 2016.

[2] United States, Department of State, Bureau of Citizenship, Certificate of Registration of an American Citizen, Number 48774, Denis Barry, dated 1 September 1907; digital image, U.S., Consular Registration Certificates, 1907 - 1918, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed 6 February 2016.

[3] The National Archives of Ireland, 1901 Census of Ireland, County Cork, DED Cork Urban No. 4, Townland/Street Friars Avenue or Granbraker Road, house 4, Form A , Denis Barry; digital image, The National Archives of Ireland, http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000518111: accessed 7 February 2016.

Prince Edward Island Repeal List 1843

The Act of Union came into effect on 1 January 1801 and created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Various efforts at repealing the act occurred both within and outside Ireland. Those who were of this mindset became known as repealers and many Repeal Associations were established in the United States and Canada. One such example was in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada in the 1840s.

In the 1980s, Terrence M. Punch (more about him in a recent blog post) wrote  in The Island Magazine about finding newspaper articles from 1843 that listed the names of Irish repelaers in PEI. Importantly, an Irish place of birth was also provided for many of the men. The newspaper in questions was the Halifax-based Register and the lists of names were published in various editions from October and November of that year.

Punch's first publication[1] provides the names of 149 men and over 100 Irish places of birth. His second[2] lists 253 men with the majority of names also having an Irish birthplace provided. You can access both publications on the website of the University of Prince Edward Island, as they have digitized old editions of The Island Magazine, or click the links below.

A Prince Edward Island Repeal List for 1843 (pdf)

A Prince Edward Island Repeal List for 1843 Part Two (pdf)

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[1] Punch, Terrence M. A Prince Edward Island Repeal List for 1843. The Island Magazine. 1986, no. 20 Fall Winter. pp. 29-31. Available online at http://vre2.upei.ca/islandmagazine/fedora/repository/vre%3Aislemag-batch2-266: accessed 31 January 2016.

[2] Punch, Terrence M. A Prince Edward Island Repeal List for 1843. The Island Magazine. 1987, no. 21 Spring Summer. pp. 33-36. Available online at http://vre2.upei.ca/islandmagazine/fedora/repository/vre%3Aislemag-batch2-281: accessed 31 January 2016.

History Of The Fire And Police Departments Of Minneapolis

History of the Fire and Police Departments of Minneapolis was published by The Relief Association Publishing in 1890. It provides an historical overview of the city's fire department from about 1850 and the police department from 1855. Traditionally, many Irish immigrants and their descendants joined both departments throughout the United States, making this publication very useful if you had such as ancestor in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The detailed history of both departments provides a vivid idea of what it was like to work as a fireman or policeman in the city. The majority of the publication is given over to the fire department and there are many illustrations of the tools they used, as well pictures of those who occupied the higher ranks of both institutions.

Of particular interest to genealogists will be chapter 16, Date of Organization of Companies (p. 163), and chapter 17, Company Quarters and Fire Apparatus (p. 172). Both chapters list the members of each engine company in the city as they existed at the time of publication. Name, rank, age, country of birth, and previous occupation are provided.

The example, below, shows the strong Irish influence in Engine Company no.1, with nearly all members born in Ireland, or U.S./Canadian born with traditionally Irish surnames.[1]

 The publication of this book was timely as it can serve as a census substitute for the destroyed 1890 U.S. Federal Census. It is a  niche resource, but incredibly useful for those with ancestors in that niche. 

Access the book on Internet Archive.

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[1] History of the Fire and Police Departments of Minneapolis. Minneapolis, MN: The Relief Association Publishing. 1890. Available online at https://archive.org/stream/historyfireandp00costgoog#page/n168/mode/2up: accessed 16 January 2016.

Opinion: Funding Available For U.S./Canadian Irish Genealogy Groups

The application process for the 2016-2017 round of the Emigrant Support Program (ESP) was recently opened. The main focus of the ESP is the welfare of Irish emigrants abroad and the majority of funding goes to a broad coalition of emigrant support organizations. However, a sizable portion is also allocated to organizations that focus on Irish culture and heritage. This is because of some of the key objectives of the ESP[1]  

• celebrate, maintain and strengthen the links between Ireland and the Global Irish
• foster a more vibrant sense of community and of Irish identity

The ESP is particularly interested in supporting projects that  focus on "heritage and community activities that promote Ireland’s identity and maintain vibrant Irish communities abroad."[2]

The many societies across the United States and Canada that partly or exclusively focus on Irish genealogy clearly fall under this remit (see my GSI map to find them all). No doubt, many of them would like to offer more services, transcribe or digitize local genealogy documents, or expand the ability of their members to trace their Irish ancestors. One of the main stumbling blocks to doing this is probably funding. Therefore, I strongly encourage such organizations to consider the ESP as a way to access such funding.

The total amount available has increased year-on-year since 2013. The money allocated to organizations in the United States jumped sharply in 2014, the year for which the most recent figures are available (table 1).

Table 1: 2013-2016 Emigrant Support Programme Funding
Year	Total Funding	Allocation to U.S. organizations
2016	Figures not yet published	Figures not yet published
2015	€12,595,000[3]	Figures not yet published
2014	€11,595,000[4]	€3,058,913[5]
2013	€10,539,850[6]	€1,571,726[7]

Of that 3.058m euro that went to U.S. organizations, just under 10% went to those in the cultural/heritage area. However, funding for cultural/heritage organizations increased by almost 29% when comparing 2014 to 2013.

Table 2: U.S. Cultural/Heritage Organizations Who Received Funding in 2014[8]
Organization	Location	Amount Received
American Irish Historical Society	New York, NY	€49,287
Battery Heritage Foundation	New York, NY	€11,921
Irish-American Crossroads Festival	San Francisco, CA	€7,947
Glucksman Ireland House, New York University	New York, NY	€27,946
Greater Danbury Irish Cultural Foundation	Danbury, CT	€3,791
Hudson Valley Irish Festival	Peekskill, NY	€6,824
Irish American Heritage Center	Chicago, IL	€8,011
Irish American Heritage Museum	Albany, NY	€7,583
Irish Cultural Center of New England	Canton, MA	€103,557
Irish Heritage Centre Charitable Foundation, Inc. (Irish Heritage Center of Greater Cincinnati)	Cincinnati, OH	€15,894
Irish Heritage Club	Seattle, WA[9]	€10,331
Irish Heritage Society of Milford	Milford, CT	€7,947
Society of Commodore John Barry	Philadelphia, PA	€8,972
The University of Montana	Missoula, MT	€27,815
TOTAL		€297,826

Table 3: U.S. Cultural/Heritage Organizations Who Received Funding in 2013[10]
Organization	Location	Amount Received
American Irish Historical Society	New York, NY	€55,535
Glucksman Ireland House, New York University	New York, NY	€24,421
Hudson Valley Irish Festival	Peekskill, NY	€6,800
Irish American Heritage Museum	Albany, NY	€7,347
Irish Cultural Center of New England	Canton, MA	€82,863
Mission of our Lady of the Holy Rosary Heritage Project at Watson House	New York, NY	€18,737
Society of Commodore John Barry	Philadelphia, PA	€6,759
The University of Montana	Missoula, MT	€28,852
TOTAL		€231,314

Some of the heritage centers that received funding have occasional genealogy events. However, none of the funded organizations have genealogy as a core part of what they do.  Only two excellent examples stand out. The Irish American Heritage Museum has a resident genealogist who is available to assist people with their research.[11] The Mission of our Lady of the Holy Rosary Heritage Project in New York City digitized ledgers that are very useful for Irish genealogy research in 1880-1920 New York City and made them freely available online. They received funding in 2014.

There are two relevant categories under which Irish genealogy groups in the U.S. and Canada can apply:[12]

• Capital - Projects involving the construction, refurbishment or purchase of capital assets. This includes projects related to website development/software acquisition.
• Heritage - Project involving the promotion and maintenance of Irish heritage and identity overseas.

Full details of how to apply are available on the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

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[1] Irish Abroad Unit, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  Overview of the Emigrant Support Programme. 2016. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/ourrolesandpolicies/theirishabroad/2016-Overview-of-the-Emigrant-Support-Programme.pdf: accessed 23 January 2016.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Department of Foreign Affairs. Global Irish: Irish Diaspora Policy. 2015. p. 26.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 2014 Emigrant Grant Summary. 2015. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/ourrolesandpolicies/theirishabroad/2014-Emigrant-Support-Programme-Funding.pdf: accessed 23 January 2016.

[6] Dept. of Foreign Affairs. 2013 Emigrant Grant Summary. 2014. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/ourrolesandpolicies/ESP-Funding-2013.pdf: accessed 4 March 2015.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Dept. of Foreign Affairs. 2014 Emigrant Grant Summary. 2015. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/ourrolesandpolicies/theirishabroad/2014-Emigrant-Support-Programme-Funding.pdf: accessed 23 January 2016.

[9] No location information was provided in the Grant Summary document. The only organization with this exact name is in Seattle, WA. There is also the 'Irish Heritage Club of Bakersfield' in California.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Disclosure: this genealogist is Lisa Walsh Dougherty who has written posts for this blog.

[12] Irish Abroad Unit, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.  Overview of the Emigrant Support Programme. 2016. https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/ourrolesandpolicies/theirishabroad/2016-Overview-of-the-Emigrant-Support-Programme.pdf: accessed 23 January 2016.

Review: Finding Your Roots - The Irish Factor

This review contains plenty of spoilers, although the focus is more on the records used in the show than the stories.

The most recent episode (Tuesday, 12 January 2016) of Finding Your Roots was stylized as the Irish Factor, as it featured Bill O'Reilly, Bill Maher, and Soledad O'Brien. If the title isn't enough of the clue, their second names leave you in no doubt that this episode focused on researching Irish ancestors.

Bill O'Reilly was born on Long Island, New York and his ancestor, Irish-born great-grandfather John O'Reilly, was a part of the storied Irish immigration to New York City. A huge part of finding where your ancestors are from in Ireland depends on when they immigrated to the U.S. Luckily for O'Reilly, his immigrant ancestor was born after 1864. By that year, civil registration of birth records began in Ireland and almost every Roman Catholic parish maintained baptismal registers. In the show, a brief clip is shown of an Irish civil birth record, showing his great-grandfather's birth in 1868 in County Cavan.

Moving forward one generation, World War I records, in the shape of John O'Reilly's (son of John O'Reilly, immigrant from Ireland) military file and a letter written by an infantry colonel, shed light on the activities of O'Reilly's grandfather, including that he fought in the Battle of the Argonne Forest.

The show's researchers were unable to find the place of origin in Ireland of Bill Maher's paternal immigrant ancestors, who ended up in New Jersey. Presumably, every record found for them just mentioned Ireland as a place of origin. 

Instead, they focused on his maternal lines with one of my favorite record sets, that of the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank in New York City, pointing the way home to Killury, County Kerry, for his ancestor Denis Greany.

Soledad O'Brien's Irish ancestry was particularly interesting, in that her father was born in Australia to descendants of people who left Ireland for the Antipodes. The show highlighted just how good Australian records can be. An 1884 marriage record showed that her great-grandfather Patrick O'Brien was from Miltown [Malbay], County Clare and her great-grandmother Ellen Fitzgerald was from Bantry, County Cork. The names of their parents were also included.

A newspaper obituary was also used to show the death of Patrick O'Brien. What was not highlighted was that the obituary also contained the detail that he was from Miltown Malbay, County Clare. 

The debt owed to Richard Griffith by the descendants of every mid-19th century Irish person was again highlighted as O'Brien's paternal ancestor, Anthony O'Brien, was found in the Doonsallagh East townland, County Clare.

After talking about O'Brien's Irish ancestry in Australia, the presenter of the show, Henry Louis Gates, began to discuss how difficult it would be to find where her ancestors were from in Ireland. It was unfortunate that he said "the vast majority of Ireland's records were lost in the early 20th century. By and large, all that remain are Church and county records."

Obviously, a lot of very important records were destroyed during the Irish Civil War in June 1922, but it was not the vast majority. Also, there are practically no Irish genealogy records that are created at the county level.  It is also usually easier to trace back to Ireland from Australia when compared to the United States. Therefore, it might have been better to highlight this difficulty, with, for example, Bill Maher's paternal linage.

When it was found that Ellen (Fitzgerald) O'Brien was born in Bantry, County Cork to Michael Fitzgerald and Hannah Sullivan, it was stated that no more information could be found about her. This was surprising, considering she was born about 1858, which is not that early. Even though the names are common, a quick look at the Roman Catholic records for Bantry on irishgenealogy.ie turned up her baptism.[1]

Despite these quibbles, it was a very good show. A lot of information and records were covered in 52 minutes and it is a good episode to watch for those at the beginner to intermediate level of genealogy research.

You can watch the episode on the show's website (US only).

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[1] Bantry Roman Catholic Parish, Cork, Ireland, Baptisms, Ellen Fitzgerald, 20 December 1857; digital image, Irish Genealogy http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details/2b5b000016549 : accessed 16 January 2016.

In Praise Of Dr. Terrence M. Punch, FIGRS

Dr. Terrence M. Punch, FIGRS is the expert when it comes to genealogy research in maritime Canada (the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island). Since the 1970s, he has published numerous books on Scottish, Irish and French immigration. Of particular interest to this blog is his series of books concerning Irish immigrants to Canada. 

Maritime Canada highlighted in green[1]

At least seven of his books cover this topic and they, along with his guide books to research in the region, are an indispensible resource for anyone with Irish ancestry in that part of Canada. His publications to date include:

• Montbeliard Immigration to Nova Scotia, 1749-1752. Revised Edition (2015)
• North America's Maritime Funnel: The Ships that Brought the Irish, 1749-1852 (2012)
• Some Early Scots in Maritime Canada. Volume IIII (2012)
• Some Early Scots in Maritime Canada. Volume II (2011)
• Some Early Scots in Maritime Canada. Volume I (2011)
• Erin's Sons: Irish Arrivals in Atlantic Canada to 1863. Volume IV (2010)
• Erin's Sons: Irish Arrivals in Atlantic Canada, 1751-1858. Volume III (2009)
• Erin's Sons, Volume II (2009)
• Erin's Sons: Irish Arrivals in Atlantic Canada, 1761-1853 (2008)
• Genealogist's Handbook for Atlantic Canada Research (1997)
• Religious Marriages in Halifax, 1768-1841, From Primary Sources (1991)
• Research in Atlantic Canada (1989)
• In Which County?: Nova Scotia Surnames From Birth Registers, 1864 to 1877 (1985)
• Genealogical Research in Nova Scotia (1983)
• Nova Scotia Vital Statistics From Newspapers, 1769-1812 (1981)
• Irish Halifax: The Immigrant Generation, 1815-1859 (1981)
• Some Sons of Erin in Nova Scotia (1980)
• Nova Scotia Vital Statistics From Newspapers, 1813-1822 (1978)

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[1] "Canada Maritime provinces map" by QuartierLatin1968 - user created. 2012. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canada_Maritime_provinces_map.png#/media/File:Canada_Maritime_provinces_map.png: accessed 9 January 2016.