Irish records

[Christopher]

Hiya to everyone who has been posting on this thread.

A few of us had a brief discussion about searching for Irish ancestors on another thread this week. I feel that the records in Ireland are not too bad. We get a lot of assistance from organisations that keep archives ... family history societies, general record offices, libraries, people such as ourselves on other websites, parish priests and their parish secretaries, public record offices ... the list is endless. I got assistance this week from the Masonic Order archivist at the Grand Lodge of Ireland in Dublin.. and a few days before that from the secretary at the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society in Belfast.

The problem as I see it is that there are not enough local people (now when I say that I mean RootsChatters) out there replying to our posts. We need a lot more RootsChatters in Ireland. A team per Province if not a team per county. The ones I know in the north of Ireland do sterling work. It amazes me where they find the time as most are family people and have various domestic problems like everyone else but they post regularly and give everyone lots of help. The few in the Republic of Ireland are every bit as good as the ones in the north. We could do with three or four times the number of RootsChatters in Ireland than we have at the moment as large numbers of people have Irish ancestors.

Tees, I noticed your comment about Parish Priests. If there was a RootsChatter in his town or in his county a phone call would gee them up a wee bit. I phoned a priest near Ennis this year and that did the trick. The person looking for the information sent me a message telling me she was smiling all day when the postman brought her the details she required.  Local knowledge is extremely important ... it does no harm to say "Sorry I can't help but try this person" Today I phoned PRONI as I'm looking for a family of Russian Jews .. some went to Scotland (at the end of the 19th century / beginning of the 20th century) and one appears to have been in Belfast. The guy who answered the phone gave me the name of a Jewish historian in Dublin who has done a lot of research on Jewish families throughout Ireland. Most people when asked to help are usually delighted to offer assistance. Any of you who have travelled to Ireland will probably confirm that if you go to a small village in Ireland and tell them you are there to look for ancestors .. before you know where you are half the village know all about your search and you have several willing helpers. I can't remember who posted the message about a Parish Priest spending a large part of the day driving them around the parish but that is very typical. People will go out of their way to help.

I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of you in Dublin next summer and hope many more post a message to say they are coming too.

Chris

[goggy]

A BIG ,Thank you! To all who contributed to this thread.
Frustration is a terrible thing,and personal interest added to it can cause mayhem!
There are quite a few people in the same boat on both sides of the discussion,some desparately seeking,some really willing to help,but the thread between seeker and helper can't be established due to dearth of info:
I speak as one who know's,not as an onlooker.
Patience,good humour,plain old fashioned never say die,is the way to go.
            Goggy.