Have anyone tried the Mallow Heritage Centre?

[Tees]

Hi Rootschatters,

I am wondering if anyone on this website had experienced the service(s) from the Mallow Heritage Centre of Co. Cork, Ireland.

Were they quite helpful with your requests?? How successful were they in finding parish records for you?

How long did they take to complete your request?

Was it a good value for your money?

I would appreciate your sharing the experiences of using their facilities and whether it is worthwhile or not.

Thanks,

Tees

[magsbutler]

Hi
I only contacted them once, with a query as to whether they could search for a particular baptism for me, and had a very abrupt reply that was of no help at all. However, this could be explained by them being overworked etc etc.
I know of someone who did have research done, which was satisfactory, but rather expensive.

Cheers
Mags

PS Which area are you researching? Mine is Kilbehenny, in the Galtees.

[Tees]

Hi Mags,

It sounded like you caught them at the wrong time? Nevertheless, they could take a time to tell you that they are having too many requests at the moment and all.

I am sorry that you did not get that baptism you were after.

Oh, as for me, I am not sure as to where my great-granny was born but I think she was born in Slievereagh, Co. Cork. The last known residence of her "mother" (I was not sure if she was a real mother or not.) was in Cahirbrane, Carrignamaggy, Co. Clare.

It looks like I am going to have a long wait for any result to be gotten from there--I hope they have something for me!

Thanks for replying to my post. Hope to hear a positive experience if anyone had with this centre.

Kind regards,

Tees

[magsbutler]

Hi Tees,
Hope you get your info from Mallow eventually.
Found this on rootsweb archive, may be of use to you?

Mags

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/CountyCork/1999-12/0944616055

[Tees]

Hi Mags,

Thanks for the website--I already got a 1911 Census on her "parents."

But not 1901 Census...

Appreciate your finding this website--hope it would be useful to other Rootschatters!

Thanks,

Tees

[jennyM]

Hi,
I used them about 2 months ago I gave them DOB (acurate) for my Father in Laws Dad plus parents names.
It cost me about 62 pound for a list of dates of birth/baptism & names for his siblings and confirmed mothers name. They then suggested I send for marriage cert for parents and then get back to them to see if any more info could be traced.
I was a little dissappointed that for an extra 20 pounds it said you could get 1901 & 1911 census info, which I paid for and only received 1901. I felt this was slightly misleading as it did not specify that you only got one or the other for your money!
They were quiet helpful and quick to respond to my request I think the info came through in 14 days after payment.
It is expensive to think that a typed list of names & DOB's plus the 1901 census cost me 80.00 pound ,but I had no other way of gaining that info so it was a case of having to shell out to make progress.
I would use them again but only if I could not find the info more cheaply somewhere else.
Hope this helps.
Jenny

[magsbutler]

Hi Jenny
A lot of these heritage centres charge lots of money for census info, but you can in fact obtain it for very little, if you go to your local Family History Library (Latter Day Saints), and order the relevant microfilm.I think it costs about £4 a film.
 Then when it arrives not many weeks later (sometimes only a couple of weeks or less) you can take your time and go through the whole film of that townland's census returns. This way you might also find other relatives living nearby or neighbours who were sponsors at baptisms etc etc etc.
When I first started researching I got some census info for nothing from a Local Studies Dept at an Irish Library; the nice lady there just sent me photocopies in the post.
So there are other ways and means.
I think it's always worth trying to go 'local' first, ie local registrar's office for bdm's; local library, local priest etc etc. I have also been lucky enough to find local researchers who do genealogy of the local area just as a hobby...

Enough from me for now!

Mags

[Tees]

Hi Jenny,

Thank you for sharing your experiences using the centre. My reply would be: WOW! to the costs being involved.

Sounds not so cost-effective for any researcher--but on other hand, you are correct that if you could not find a way to access to the sources. What a dilemma!

At least you have some more information to go on now. That is something you have to think about.

I just need someone to look up if my g grandmother was born to the parentage that she always put down on various documents yet I found her with the parents slightly different from what she stated. That is my main goal right now.

I was not sure where she may have born in Co. Cork exactly--but some clues are there for me to follow up.

Let's hope they did not try to pump me for more money before doing any further research!

Again, thank you so much for taking time to share your experience with me.

Kind regards,

Tees

[Tees]

Hi Mags,

Well, as to using the local area/sources, in my experiences, it did not yield any positive responses or friendly help.

Actually, I have been waiting for the parish priest to get back to me--never get around to my request (same with one church in America). It usually means two things: 1) My letter and donation was lost in the post or 2) They kept my donation and did not bother to reply to my request. To this date, one year and half---complaining to the diocese, did not help much.

So much for the Christian spirit and all.

Oh, well...

Right now, I am hoping for the best...I will find out whenever I hear from the centre or the parish priest.

One library in other country replied with my request but quite negatively.

Ireland is not exactly good with the records and other things-England did more with the records--and there is many record offices across the country. It makes it easier for me to access to the records there--that is how I got my baptisms/marriage records from there. One Rootschatter even went to the record office for me to look up on my rellies--he got them for me.

The record offices are cost-effective--I got many records for one fee.

Perhaps you would tell us how did you get the local help?? Any tips--I will try to follow up on them.

Once again, thanks for taking time to share with us!!

Kind regards,

Tees