Athenry News & Views Winter 2025

Athenry News & Views

Useful ways to trace your Family History

By Rena Cloonan

Winter has arrived and you may find yourself indoors in the evening with some free time. If you have a laptop handy and have an interest in your ancestors, perhaps now is a good time to do a little research into your family. There is quite a lot of free information available when you know where to look. A good starting point for any family research is to write down all you know about your family – your parents’ names, ages and places of birth, your grandparents’ names, ages and places of birth, and details of great grandparents if available. Burial places can be important too as they may distinguish your ancestors from people with similar names. In Ireland, four free websites are available to budding genealogists. Census returns can be found at https:// nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-census/ Full census records are available for the years 1901 and 1911 and partial returns are available from 1821 to 1851 and you may find grandparents or great grandparents on some of those censuses. More information was recorded about citizens as the nineteenth century progressed and the 1901 and 1911 censuses contain information about the houses people lived in, out-offices and farm buildings. From census returns it is possible to calculate the year of birth of an ancestor. The keeping of civil records became compulsory from 1864 (though some parishes kept records before this) and details of births, marriages and deaths are available on https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/ Birth records usually include date of birth, parents’ names (including mother’s maiden name), address and possibly the father’s occupation and sponsors’ names. Marriage records may include, besides details of the couple, the fathers’ names and the witnesses’ names. Death records may include the name of the informant, who may be a son or daughter of the deceased. Any of this information may bring you back to another generation when another free website is available to you. In the mid 1800’s, Richard Griffith on behalf of the Government, carried out a valuation of all property in Ireland, to calculate a fair valuation of property for rent purposes. This valuation is known as Griffith’s Valuation and is available on https://www. askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ As it is a valuation of property, it only records the names of

the lessor and lessee, but does include acreage of land owned or leased and a valuation of the land and buildings. Another record which contains the name of the head of family only is the Tithe Applotment Book. Records were taken between 1823 and 1837. The tithe was a payment to the Church of Ireland based on the produce of agricultural holdings of one acre or more. Details include surname, forename, county, parish and townland and can be found at https:// titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/ It is important to remember that spelling of names and addresses can vary, but websites offer tips on how to search. You may find townlands appear to have relocated to different parishes. In early records, the parish was usually the Church of Ireland or Civil Parish but in later records a townland may be in the Catholic Parish whose name may differ from the Church of Ireland or Civil Parish name. A townland may also be in a different DED (District Electoral Division) as electoral boundaries sometimes changed. Between 1901 and 1911, an Old Age Pension was introduced and it is remarkable how many people aged in that decade. Age may also be incorrect on death records as an approximate age may have been given by the informant. Occasionally a birth or death was not recorded or is not on any of the above websites. Be aware too that forenames were likely to be repeated in families – the first son was likely to be called after his paternal grandfather, the second son after his maternal grandfather, the third son after his father and the fourth son after his father’s eldest brother. A similar pattern was followed in the naming of girls – the first daughter after her maternal grandmother, etc. If a son or daughter died in infancy, the name was likely to be used again for another child. The above free websites are useful starting points for research into family history. Other paying websites are available too, if you find that you would like to take a deeper dive into your family history. Family history is not just about a list of names – it is nice to place your ancestors in context of what was happening around them. History books, especially local history books, can make very interesting reading. Happy researching!