125 2023 FIRST QUARTER IrishISSUE Roots NO
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Irish Roots Discover Local Family History Resources For Researching Your County Derry Ancestors! Celebrating Irish Ancestry
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Irish Patriot Eamonn Ceannt’s Uilleann Pipes Secured For Co. Mayo Fleadh. Making The Most Of Your Visit To The National Library, In Person And Online. Using John Grenham's Valuable Surname Database For Your Research. Catch Up With DNA Technology And Updates Rolled Out In The Past Year. Keep Up To Date With The Latest Irish Genealogical Record Releases. News From The World Of Irish Genealogy And Lots Lots More! 1
Irish Roots
2023 Issue 1
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Irish Roots
Irish Roots Issue No 1 2023
ISSN 0791-6329
CONTENTS 4
News
5
And Another Thing
6
Visiting The National Library
8
Tracing Your Irish Ancestors with John Grenham
10 Local Resources For Family History Research:- County DERRY 13 Books Ireland 14 Society Notes 16 Celebrating St. Patrick's Day In O'Neill, Nebraska, USA 18 Surnames Of County Derry 20 What’s New? - Review Keep Up To Date With The Latest Irish Genealogical Record Releases
A few words from the editor Welcome to our spring edition of Irish Roots magazine. I always love the spring season as it seems to usher in the promise of hope, warmth, growth and surprise. Speaking of surprises, I recently received a delightful one in the mail gifted to me by a generous cousin, a substantial amount of family history, pertaining to one of my maternal great great grandparents, James O’Keeffe who married Mary Forrest in 1845 and who lived at Scarteen Upper, Newmarket, Co. Cork. It must have been painstaking, but hopefully rewarding work, to collate and compile some twelve hundred direct descendants of this couple with many of them scattered all over the world. It is a fine compendium of family history information right up to and including 2022. My thoughtful cousin is happy to share this history with interested family members. I am very grateful to him for his hard work and dedication to have compiled such a wonderful treasure trove of family history. This edition has plenty of good news for family history researchers as Steven Smyrl outlines the back story on the long running campaign to release the 1926 Census records, page 5. Dr Mary Hatfield brings us on a visit to the National Library, page 6. John Grenham shows us around his excellent website of searchable Irish surnames and surname distribution maps, page 8. James G. Ryan takes us to Derry to discover Local Resources for Family History Research in Co. Derry, page 10 and Natalie Cook Butterfield shares how St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in O’Neill, Nebraska, USA, page 16 while Seán Ó Murchadha presents lots of wonderful nuggets on the surnames of county Derry, page 18. The above mentioned are just a few of the excellent articles we have for you in this issue as well as the valuable and welcome contributions from our regular writers. We hope that you will find some delightful surprises in this spring issue to help you further your family history research. May the blessings of Ireland's most glorious Patron Saint - Saint Patrick be upon you, your family, friends and ancestors this St. Patrick's Day and always - enjoy the celebrations. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig Oraibh Go Léir.
22 DNA Testing For Genealogy 2022 - A Review One of Ireland's great Patriots Eamonn Ceannt pictured with his treasured Uilleann Pipes - see page four.
25 Fact Checking The History Of The O'Shea Surname Using yDNA 26 Australian Irish Connections Return To Tipperary
Image courtesy of Eamonn Walsh.
28 A Question Of Genealogy 29 Letters To The Editor 30 Ireland Reaching Out
Copyright ©2023 Irish Roots Media Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted or shared in any form or by any means electronic, digital, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the publishers. Personal views expressed in articles and letters are those of the contributor and are not necessarily those of the publishers. We reserve the right to delete from any article, material which we consider could lead to any breach of the law of libel. While we do not knowingly include erroneous information, the responsibility for accuracy lies with those who have submitted the material.
Maureen
Editor/Publisher Maureen Phibbs Irish Roots Media Ltd Blackrock, Blessington, Co. Wicklow, W91 WK35 Ireland Email:- editor@irishrootsmagazine.com Website:- www.irishrootsmagazine.com Printed by Boylan Print Group, Co. Louth, Ireland.
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Irish Roots
2023 Issue 1
NEWS Eamonn Ceannt’s Uilleann Pipes Secured For Connacht Fleadh In Ballina, Co. Mayo “The Jackie Clarke Collection” have secured the loan of Eamonn Ceannt’s set of Uilleann Pipes for the “Connacht Fleadh in Ballina which runs from June 23rd – July 2nd 2023.
Eamonn Ceannt’s Uilleann pipes prior to restoration work for the centenary of the Rising.
Ceannt’s grand-niece Mary Gallagher will present the lecture on June 28th in the “Jackie Clarke Collection” focusing on his Irish cultural legacy. Eamonn Ceannt’s set of Uilleann Pipes will be transported from the Curragh Camp Military Museum on June 28th and put on display for the special event. Curator of the “Jackie Clarke Collection” Annie Marie Forbes said “It will most certainly do wonders for the “Jackie Clarke Collection” and during our own 10 year anniversary, this year it couldn't be more fitting”. The Jackie Clarke Collection is the most important private collection of Irish history material in public hands, comprising over 100,000 items spanning 400 years. It includes artefacts associated with Theobald Wolfe Tone; letters from Michael Collins, Douglas Hyde, Michael Davitt and O’Donovan Rossa. It also contains rare books, proclamations, posters, political cartoons, pamphlets, handbills, works by Sir John Lavery, maps, hunger strike material and personal items from Leaders of the 1916 Rising. https://www. clarkecollection.ie/# Born in Galway in 1881, Eamonn Ceannt was devoted to the Irish language, music and dance and in 1900 he joined the Gaelic League. He became a fluent Irish speaker and began teaching Irish and changed his name to the Irish format. He was an excellent musician and Uilleann Piper. He won a gold medal at the Oireachtas na Gaeilge in 1906. He received a Papal blessing for his performance while in Rome with members of the Catholic Young Men’s Society, participating in an athletics competition to celebrate the jubilee of Pope Pius X in 1908. He founded the Dublin Pipers Club in 1900 which ultimately laid the seed for the formation of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and Na Piobairi Uilleann. On St. Patrick’s Day 1916, Éamonn Ceannt played his Uilleann Pipes for the last time in public only a few short weeks before the Easter Rising. He was sentenced to death for his role in the Rising and was incarcerated at Kilmainham Gaol. He was executed on 8 May 1916, aged 34. He is buried at Arbour Hill, Dublin.
Eamonn Ceannt’s Uilleann pipes following their restoration in 2016. The Pipes are usually on display at the Curragh Camp Military Museum, County Kildare.
Centenary Of A Civil War Casualty Commemorated In West Wicklow Patrick Columba White was buried in St. Brigid’s Graveyard, Manor Kilbride, Blessington, Co. Wicklow on 21st Pictured at the grave of Cadet Patrick Columba White on the January 1923. Sadly, Centenary of his funeral are from left to right:- Aidan Cruise, His 25th birthday Maureen Phibbs (editor), Bill Walsh, Cllr. Gerry O'Neill was the day before (relative of Gen. John C. O’Neill, see pages 16&17), P.J. Goode, Seamus Balfe, Cllr. Patsy Glennon and Paddy Gleeson. on the 20th January 1923. Patrick was Janet Halligan, published in 2009, the wounded in a Civil War ambush near grave of Patrick White was identified Geashill in Co. Offaly on the 7th of with the inscription recorded as: ‘Erected by January 1923 and died from his wounds Simon White Blessington in memory of his at the Curragh Military Hospital, Co. wife Mary, died March 15th 1888 aged 27 Kildare on the 18th January 1923. His years. Also his father Patrick died May 24th rank was a Cadet in the 3 Southern 1872 aged 78. His mother Ann died June 20th Division of Óglaigh na hÉireann 1880 aged 68 years. His brother Patrick died National Forces and he was a member of April 18th 1916 aged 65 years. His son Patrick Tom Watkin’s Flying Column. died Jan 18th 1923 aged 25 years. His wife P.J. Goode author of several local Margaret died Nov 24th 1942 aged 87 yrs’. history books and articles on county Janet Halligan was ably assisted in Offaly organised a gathering of local compiling the valuable local family people from West Wicklow to remember history survey resource together with Patrick White on the exact date of the fellow Society members; Maura and 100th anniversary of his funeral. Patrick Seamus BaIfe, The late Beth Halligan, White’s parents were Simon White, The late Joe Halligan, Valerie Hamilton, Lugnagun, Blessington, and Margaret Stephen Healy, Della Kyne and Kathy McCoy, a native of Co. Westmeath. They Trant. A satellite image of the graveyard owned a small shop on Main Street, was commissioned by the Society and a Blessington, which was later known as map was drawn up and divided into The Mayfair. Patrick had one other sibling, nine sub-sections, each containing a his sister Kathleen who died in 1954. varying number of gravestones. Each The wording on his headstone proved grave was given a reference number and difficult to decipher but on referring to in all 254 were identified of which 240 the excellent survey of the old section of were inscribed. The earliest inscribed Manor Kilbride graveyard compiled by headstone is 300 years old reflecting the Blessington History Society chairperson, antiquity of this hallowed burial ground in picturesque West Wicklow. 4
Irish Roots
2023 Issue 1
The 1926 Census Will Be Published Online And Free To Search From April 2026. Steven Smyrl Brings Us The Back Story On The Long-Running Battle To Gain Access To These Precious Records.
…and another thing… g T
relationship to head of household; age in years and months; marital status; birthplace, including name of parish; ability to speak Irish; religion; occupation; and other details relating to number of years married, children born etc; and acreage of any agricultural holdings.
he announcement of the release of Ireland’s 1926 Census has long been anticipated, and it finally came late last year. At a press conference on 16th November 2022 the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, disclosed that the returns will be “published online, searchable and free of charge in April 2026” at a cost to the state of approximately €5 million.
In the early 1990s the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) lobbied extensively to have the returns for the 1926 Census released, particularly at the time of the passing of the Statistics Act 1993. Initially, at bill stages, CIGO was successful in securing an across-the-board closure embargo of just 70 years, but at a later stage this was unfortunately increased to 100 years.
But therein lies quite a back story about the long-running battle to gain access to these census returns. They represent the first such enumeration by the authorities in the new Irish Free State, which came into being in 1922, comprising all but the six counties of Ireland which were formed into the new, separate state of Northern Ireland. These were Antrim, Armagh, Down, [London]Derry, Fermanagh and Tyrone.
In 2010, CIGO and the Irish Genealogical Research Society convinced the incoming Fine Gael led government’s Heritage Minister, Jimmy Deenihan TD, to amend the 1993 Act and to release the Census returns as a heritage and tourism initiative during the Decade of Centenaries. But when the measure finally reached the cabinet table it met insurmountable opposition from the Department of the Taoiseach which had been advised by the Central Statistics Office that to open these returns early would undermine public confidence in the confidentiality of future census enumerations.
The 1926 Census was taken under a new statute passed by the Free State’s parliament, the Statistics Act 1926. While section 13 provided for the confidentiality of the data collected, it set no time embargo for its eventual release. It’s clear that this had not been a consideration when framing the bill, which was based upon similar legislation passed by the South African parliament. There was of course precedent for census returns to be made available for public inspection. Those for 1821 to 1851 had been transferred to the Public Record Office of Ireland where subsequently they were used heavily for evidence of age for those seeking to claim the Old Age Pension from January 1909, until their almost total destruction in June 1922.
This was somewhat of an empty argument given that the 1993 Act provides for an insuperable 100-year embargo on all (future) enumerations take under that act. Whereas there had never been any such embargo on censuses taken under the 1926 Act, and the 100-year embargo to which the 1926 Census is now subject was retrospective, applied almost seventy years later under the 1993 Act.
However, later returns were taken under a different statute, and a bureaucratic bungle in the 1880s saw advice from the Registrar General in England that the Irish authorities should follow the same pattern as their counterparts in England & Wales and destroy the original returns once statistics had been compiled. But this advice had been given in the mistaken belief that Ireland also followed England’s policy of first transcribing all the data from the original returns into a series of Census Enumeration Books. This wasn’t the case, but nevertheless it was an error that consigned to destruction Ireland’s census returns for 1861 to 1891.
But that was that. Despite a few futile attempts by others in the years following to publish bills to enable the opening of the 1926 Census, it was clear to the wider genealogy community that the 100-year embargo was here to stay. But did that mean that the campaign had in itself been unsuccessful? I would wager not, because what it definitely did achieve was to bring this issue into the public consciousness and to see it widely debated. Minister Catherine Martin’s announcement that the 1926 Census returns are to be conserved, catalogued, indexed, digitised and published online for free immediately at the expiration of the 100-year embargo has its roots firmly in CIGO’s long-running, high-profile campaign. Sometimes success has to be measured in other ways.
The earliest full set to survive are those for 1901 and 1911 and these have been available to public inspection since May 1961, which is only fifty years after the 1911 Census was compiled. In more recent times these returns have been digitised and published online by the National Archives of Ireland (the successor body to the Public Record Office). The 1926 Census runs to 700,000 individual household sheets contained in 1,344 boxes. For each person enumerated, where relevant it records the following: name and surname; 5
Steven Smyrl is former President of Accredited Genealogists Ireland. www.accreditedgenealogists.ie and chairman of the Irish Genealogical Research Society. www.irishancestors.ie
Irish Roots
2023 Issue 1
Visiting The National Library ield
ary Hatf
By Dr. M
In 1877 the Dublin Science and Museum Act provided for the establishment of an Irish national library and museum. The Royal Dublin Society was integral to the establishment of this new national library, donating a valuable collection of books, prints, music and manuscripts to form the core of the new library’s offerings.
T
he Royal Dublin Society was formed in 1731 by a group of men interested in improving the state of Ireland’s science, agriculture, and industry. Their philanthropic work was augmented by a royal charter in 1750 and the provision of government grants to promote Irish farming, forestry, arts and manufactures in Ireland. The RDS housed the nascent library’s collections until construction of the national library’s premises on Kildare street was completed in 1890. The national library sits perpendicular to Leinster House and horizontal to the museum of natural history, visually signifying its centrality to the state, and its importance as a national repository of Irish history and culture. A further east wing was added in 1925/26 and the current manuscripts reading room was opened in 1990.
Since 1927 the NLI has operated as a legal deposit library, meaning it has a right to a copy of every book printed in Ireland. As an institution, the NLI aims to collect and maintain items related to the history and culture of Ireland; books published in Ireland, books by Irish authors, or any
books with content related to Ireland fall within the library’s purview. The NLI is a non-lending library, so all of its holdings are only available for viewing on the premises. Three areas of the NLI’s extensive holdings are of interest to family researchers. The Catholic parish registers, the landed estate manuscript collections, and city directories are excellent resources particularly for ascertaining information prior to the 1901 census. In addition, the NLI holds official government publications from the 17th century to the present day, a large collection of photographs, ephemera, and music.
Births, Marriages, And Deaths For researchers looking for information about family births, deaths and marriages prior to the 1901 census, the Catholic parish registers are the traditional starting point. The NLIs’s collection houses 3,500 registers from 1,086 parishes across Ireland and Northern Ireland. The start dates of the registers vary. Records from the 1740-50s can be found for some city parishes in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick, while 6
registers for parishes along the western seaboard tend to start from the 1850-60s. The library microfilmed these records in the 1950s and they are available for online viewing. https://registers.nli.ie/ The collection is organised by parish, so some background research may be required to find out the names of local churches perhaps no longer in operation.
Links To Local Place During the eighteenth and nineteenth century around three-quarters of the Irish male workforce was engaged in farm work. a majority of this population lived as tenant farmers on estates. The administration and management of these large estates generated a huge amount of paperwork including records of leases and deeds, account books, maps and correspondence. If you know where your family were based, it may be possible to find more details about their precise tenancy agreement or other significant details. The most extensive landed estate records are Ormond, Lismore, Inchiquin, Clonbrock, Coolattin, Fingal, and Monteagle, but there are many other smaller collections
Irish Roots
which can be found. Each landed estate Access To The Archive has a collection list, available online, where it is possible to word search for In order to access the NLI you need your family name or the locale you are a readers ticket. The application can seeking more information on. Cast your be done online or in person, valid search terms widely though, as the detail photographic identification is required. included in each listing may differ. It’s The family history room is located at also important to think sideways, while 7-8 Kildare street. This is also where your direct ancestors may not have leases the main reading room is located, or wills in their name, perhaps there are uncles, aunts, or cousins who can yield some indirect insight or further leads.
2023 Issue 1
There is a great selection of photographic and map collections available. They also maintain a Flickr account where users can comment on images, and lots of information has been crowdsourced about individuals or places pictured. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ nlireland/. For example, the Poole collection contains approximately 70,000
Directories Almanacs and directories were first published in the eighteenth century as a tool for trade and merchant classes to find locations for businesses. Early editions have alphabetical lists of merchants and traders supplying name, address, and occupation. John Watson’s The Gentleman’s and Citizen’s Almanack was first published in 1736 and continued until 1844. The first trade directories were published for Dublin by Peter Wilson beginning in 1751 and continuing until 1837, with a break from 1754 to 1759. From the outset these were considered as supplements to Watson’s Almanack and were regularly bound with it. Pigot and Slater directories offer providing access to online and manual glass plate negatives of family and country-wide lists of merchants and catalogues, copying services, reference individual portraits taken at the end were published at intervals during the assistance, and open access reference of the nineteenth century. There are nineteenth century. Pigot’s Commercial works such as the city directories. The two main indexes for 60,000 images, Directory of Ireland (1820) goes through computer terminals in the main reading dating 1884-1899 and 1899-1946, these towns alphabetically, supplying the room provide access to a number of provide client names and subjects in names of nobility and gentry living in websites which require subscription fees rough alphabetical order. It would be a or near the town and arranging the including Ancestry, Find my Past, Irish great boon to discover a photo of a longtraders of each town according to their Ancestors and more. lost family member among these images! trade. Hardcopies of the directories The library is open Monday to Friday 9:30are available in the main reading room, 5:00, with occasional Saturday morning Along with the National Archives, the paired with online resources it is possible hours. The library is open later, till 7pm National Library of Ireland is an essential to find a full print run of these city on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Check first stop for beginning genealogy directories. It may just take a bit of effort the website for up to date opening hours. projects and a great place to explore your family connections as well as the history as certain years were digitised while The library introduced a number of of your unique homeplace. others have not. measures during the Covid-19 period Dr. Mary Hatfield the author of Newspapers and currently require pre-ordering of Growing Up in Nineteenth-Century Newspapers can be a great resource for research materials. It’s important to Ireland: A Cultural History of Middle-Class family history especially some of the do so ahead of your visit. There are Childhood and Gender. She has lectured smaller regional papers. Death notices, only two deliveries of material each day at Trinity College Dublin, Oxford trade advertisements, and assize records 9.30am and 2.00pm, you can order up to University, and University College can mention names and events and 8 items per delivery time. Dublin and her research focuses on are word-searchable online. The NLI Digital Access To The Archive the history of education and medical has excellent coverage of many of the care for children in nineteenth and Irish papers that had smaller regional One of the great accomplishments of the twentieth-century Ireland. She is on readerships, or relatively brief print runs. NLI has been creating an online catalogue the history team for the Museum of Larger papers are available online via which pulls together manuscripts and Irish Childhood. For more information the Irish Newspaper Archive, readers records of Irish interest from archives about the museum and its work can access this site for free if visiting the and libraries all over the world into visit:- https://museumofchildhood.ie/ one place. http://sources.nli.ie/. This is library in person. a hugely valuable tool and can help you Pictured opposite page the Reading Room of Family History Service find materials in smaller archives and the NLI reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland The NLI offers a free service for beginning regional libraries. and experienced family researchers. You The NLI’s digital collections have been Above image:- postcard of the National can book an in-person consultation or integrated into its online catalogue, so Library of Ireland, date unknown. Source: email genealogy@nli.ie to begin your with a basic search you may be able to joyceproject.com search. This is an excellent way to get access the material you need without a started on your family tree. visit to the library. 7
Irish Roots
2023 Issue 1
Tracing Your Irish Ancestors With John Grenham
at JohnGrenham.com
The old Irish Times “Irish Ancestors” site ran from 1998 to 2016 and was the forerunner of the current incarnation. The main difference is the visual presentation of information. Inspired by Edward Neafesy’s Surnames of Ireland (2002), which comprises 200 surname distribution maps based on 1992 Irish telephone directory listings, I realised that my parish-by-parish Griffith’s household numbers could be used to create heat sink maps on the fly, showing detailed distributions of surnames across Ireland 1847-1864. After much banging of my head off the monitor, I eventually figured out how to do it using Javascript and Google Geocharts.
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ith a visual representation, all sorts of insights begin to leap off the screen: the two origins of the McMahon surname, one in Dál gCais in Clare, the other in Monaghan; the surname Buggy confined exclusively to Kilkenny; above all just how rich and peculiar and local is the ecosystem of minor Irish surnames – Minnock, Scahill, Lavin, Parlon, Tarleton, Mattimo, Shreehane, Huggard, Kissane, McWha, Crumlish …
Having done it with one data-set, I really wanted to do it again. Luckily, by 2014 the 1864-1913 birth indexes were freely available on IrishGenealogy. ie. So I mapped the six million or so births against their Superintendent Registrar’s Districts. Then a wonderful fellow-obsessive called Dermot Balson contacted me about collaborating on the 1901 and 1911 censuses. He had downloaded the entire National Archives online transcripts and very generously shared them with me. So I mapped the surnames of the heads of household against the District Electoral Divisions they appear in. Then in 2017, after FindMyPast and Ancestry had transcribed the National Library Catholic register microfilms, I approached Brian Donovan at FMP about doing similar maps for Catholic baptisms and he very kindly agreed. Those maps went live in early 2018. The following
McMahon in Griffith's year FMP agreed to share their Catholic marriage records and we mapped those. And in 2022, FamilySearch.org agreed to share their transcripts of civil registration death and marriage indexes and we’ve now mapped them. We now have visual representations of all four of the universally relevant sources: 1901 and 1911, GRO BMD, Catholic parish registers and Griffith’s. Whoopee. Caveat: There are some peculiarities all the maps share. First, in order to create a point to represent a civil parish (or any other administrative 8
McMahon in 1901 area), we have to designate an exact spot and supply its latitude and longitude in the map-making code. Some geographical skewing is inevitable, with the result that the maps can’t be taken as absolutely geographically precise. Second, all of the maps allow some form of click-through to the original data on which they’re based, with some variations. Third, all of the maps use the same surname variants system and provide links allowing research to go on to other variants of the initial name. The system