LONDONDERRY RESOURCES & LINKS

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If anyone can supply other links that will help other Rootschatters please let me know by PM or in a new post (a link as well as an explanation as to contents please). The contents of your topic will then be edited into to the relevant category topic and your original posting will be deleted.  (This may result in you receiving a "deleted" notification e-mail but will keep this thread tidy and easy to use)

Resources and Links in this Section organised by the following catagories:
General sources for research
Census Records
Land Records & Maps
Directories
Places
People & Families
Libraries, Museums & History Groups
Schools, Workhouses, Institutions, Occupations
Books, Newspapers, Magazines
Misc. & General Sources

Irish Genealogy Project- Derry- lots of links NEW

Various Co. Londonderry links NEW

Derry GenWeb project- http://londonderry.wordpress.com/

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GENERAL SOURCES for Londonderry/Northern Ireland/Ireland research:

PRONI (Public Records of Northern Ireland): www.proni.gov.uk
Freeholders Records, Will Extracts, 1912 Ulster Covenant. Also guides to records, etc.
New e-catalogue has lots of material and is well worth searching with names, places, etc.

LDS (also known as Mormon) website: www.familysearch.org
IGI (International Genealogical Index) has some, not all, Irish births 1864-c1882.
LDS records both submitted and extracted so need to be verified.
Online catalogue (using place search) can help find if there are any surviving church records for a particular area.

Index to Irish Civil Registrations (LDS Pilot site):
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=collectionDetails;t=searchable;c=1408347

Magherafelt Registry Office marriages broken link

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LONDONDERRY CENSUS RECORDS & census substitutes
1630 Muster Roll- Ironmongers' Estate (Aghadowey area)
1659 Census
c1663 Hearth Money Roll- Aghadowey Parish
1820 Nominal Census of Fishmongers Estate
1831 Census- Dunboe Parish

1841-1851- Old Age Pension Claims: the introduction of old age pension (min. age 70) c1909 meant 1841 and 1851 census returns were checked as claimants were born before civil registration of births started in 1864. Extracts from these census searches are in the pension claim files (PRONI).
It is sometimes worth checking for people slightly younger than pension age (surprising how many people weren't as old as they said!) or older siblings whose details can fill in family details such as names of parents and year of marriage, townland, etc.

1901 Census- North West Liberties, Templemore Parish (heads of household)

1901 Census- Co. Londonderry- available on microfilm at Ballymena Library:
www.ni-libraries.net/libraries/ballymena-library
1901 census NOW ONLINE 3/6/2010

1911 census NOW ONLINE

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LONDONDERRY LAND RECORDS & MAPS
Townlands, Parishes, etc.
Counties are made up of parishes and parishes are made up of a group of townlands. If you are doing any research in Ireland these divisions become extremely important.
For further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townland
http://www.ancestryireland.com/database.php?filename=townlands
To find Townlands, Parishes, etc. in Ireland: www.thecore.com/seanruad
(be sure to change default setting from exact match to find part of a word)
www.logainm.ie/?menuItem=about&uiLang=en
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Griffith's Valuation:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
www.failteromhat.com/antrim.php

1778 Taylor and Skinner maps of Ireland

Map of Ireland
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There are several different systems of land measurement in place in Ireland at various times.
Statute acre (or English acre) = 4840 square yards
Cunningham acre = 6250 square yards
A Scottish measurement. Cunningham acres need to be multiplied by 1.29 to convert them to English, statute acres. www.clancunningham.org/photos/Settlement6.html
Irish acre = 7840 square yards
www.sizes.com/units/irish_acre.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acre_(Irish)
conversion table: www.convertcenter.com/convertunit.aspx/area/irish_acre/all/56/0/1
This may explain the differences in the acreage of a farm which seems to have changed in size.
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The Northern Ireland Valuation and Lands Agency gives the names of the District Councils throughout the Province, the names of the Wards in each Council and the names of roads and streets within those Wards.  broken link

Current road maps and aerial views of Co. Londonderry (Derry city particularly good in places in
bird's eye view).

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LONDONDERRY DIRECTORIES

1824 Pigot's Directory
1843 Belfast & Province of Ulster Directory
1846 Slater's Directory
1852 Belfast & Province of Ulster Directory
1861 Belfast & Province Ulster Directory
1877 Belfast/Ulster Street Directory
1880 Belfast/Ulster Street Directory
1901 Belfast/Ulster Street Diretory
1907 Ulster Towns Directory
1910 Ulster Towns Directory 
1913 telephone directory- Londonderry

Some Directories added to PRONI site- see here for contents:
www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/street_directories.htm

Resource guide to Belfast & Ulster directories- NEW 3/8/11
http://www.liscni.co.uk/docs/Belfast_and_Ulster_Street_Directories.pdf

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LONDONDERRY PLACES

The early history of Derry

www.geographia.com/northern-ireland/ukider01.htm

"The Geograph British Isles project aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information for every square kilometre of Great Britain and Ireland."

The US Naval Operating Base, Londonderry, was officially commissioned on 5th February 1942. Derry was the first US Navy establishment in Europe and became the terminal for
US convoys bound for Britain. www.secondworldwarni.org/print.aspx?pagerecordid=1083

Derry became the Allies’ most important escort base during the Battle of the Atlantic. www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/radiofoyle/peoples_war/context.shtml

Just came cross this online booklet Victorian Coleraine with some lovely old photos and prints of Coleraine.
More Coleraine pictures, families, etc.- Old Killowen and The Waterside
NEW 3/2/13

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Londonderry People & Families

Surnames of Magilligan Parish

New site which has some links for Co. Londonderry- see here for link to it as well as comments on problems viewing, etc.
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=359576.msg2363343#msg2363343

The O'Cahan Princes of Ulster website contains a lot of information about the surnames on the following list The further back you go with your research the more you need to consider the spelling variations ... today you'll find that some families are reverting to the old spelling so some of the next generation of genealogists may have to start with the old spelling, then the present spelling and then the old spelling as they start researching their ancestors. 

The Spelling Variations of O'Cahan ...
O'Kane is the anglicised form of O'Cahan and is variously rendered as Kane, Keane, Kayne, Keaney, O'Keeny, Keyne, Cahan, O'Cain, Cain and Keny. In addition, it embraces McAvinney, McEvinney and McQueen. Another large sub-sept of O'Cahan is McCloskey (McCluskey, Cluskey and McLuskey), a numerous north Derry name. McCloskey derives from Bloscaidh O'Cathain (Bloskey O'Kane), who, in 1196, slew Murtagh O'Loughlin, heir to the Irish throne. Other Variant Spellings ; Cahan, Cain, Cane, Gahan, Kain, Kaine, Kane, Kean, McAvinney, McCain, McCloskey, McEvinney, McKain, McKane, McKean, MucKian, O'Cahan, O'Caughan, O'Kane.

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Libraries, Museums & History Groups

Coleraine Library
Copies of PRONI microfilm Church records- covers churches in council areas of Ballymoney, Coleraine, Limavady and Moyle. www.irishpalmers.org.uk/churchrecords.asp

NEELB Libraries (most very small and have few resources, limited opening hours):

Foyle Valley Railway Museum
Garvagh Museum
Londonderry Harbour Museum
Londonderry Workhouse Museum
Roe Valley Country Park

North of Ireland Family History Society, Coleraine branch
Coleraine Historical Society

Maghera & District Genealogy website
New Buildings and District Archaeological and Historical Society NEW

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Schools, Workhouses, Institutions, Occupations

Some school records - www.magheragenealogy.org (Kilrea & Lislea Schools)

Loreto College, Coleraine- http://www.loretocollege.org.uk/our_history.php

Workhouses: Coleraine, Limavady (formerly Newtownlimavady), Londonderry (also knwn as Grasha), Magherafelt
Details of inmates Magherafelt Workhouse- 1st entry under Assets

Occupations:
Shirtmaking: www.geocities.com/historyofshirtmakinginderry/Index.htm Broken Link
Shirtmaking: www.derryjournal.com/features/Thriving-industry-is-no-more.4184442.jp

Distilling
www.potstill.de/derry1.htm
Ship Building
The North of Ireland Shipbuilding Co. http://tinyurl.com/6lesqh
Shipping
J. & J. Cooke
McCorkell Line: 1778-1897 www.mccorkellline.com