New Irish Genealogy Online Resources

New England Historic & Genealogical Society reports:

A Note from the Editor: New Irish Resources


by Lynn Betlock, Editor

Researchers tracing Irish ancestors will be pleased to note that new Irish resources have recently been made available online

National Archives of Ireland Website

In November, the National Archives of Ireland launched a new genealogy website, which offers access to Census Records for 1901 and 1911, Soldiers’ Wills from 1914 to 1917, and Tithe Applotment Books (head-of-household substitutes) from 1823 to 1837. (FamilySearch has Tithe Applotment Books from 1814 through 1855.) In years to come, the Archives plans to add the following collections: Calendars of Wills and Administrations, 1858–1922; nineteenth-century census survivals, 1821–51; Valuation Office House and Field Books, 1848–60; and census search forms for the 1841 and 1851 censuses.

Irish Military Records

The Military Archives is responsible for the records of Ireland’s Department of Defence, the Defence Forces, and the Army Pensions Board. The website features the Military Archives Image Identification Project and the Irish Army Census Collection, 1922 (which is in its third and final phase). (An Irish Times article provides background information on the 1922 census.) According to the website, “the Military Archives holds only the personnel records of those who served in the military of the Irish Free State from 1922, as well as material pertaining to the Irish Volunteers and the Independence movement, 1913–1921.”

British Army records, including those for Irish regiments, can be obtained at the National Archives of England. An article entitled “Information Document on the Irish Regiments of the British Army up to 31st July 1922” can be a useful guide. Other sources of military records in Ireland are “The National Library, which holds a number of lists of Irish Personnel in the British Army from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, or Dublin City Library and Archive . . . which is the point of contact for the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association."   posted by mb