A huge spat appears to brewing over the decision by Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) to publish transcriptions of 433,560 historical Irish Catholic parish records two days ago. The National Library of Ireland claims that the publication was done without its permission, with director Fiona Ross stating in an Irish Times article that "We are currently investigating our precise legal position in relation to this issue". A spokesperson for Ancestry is said to have claimed that there is no dispute over the files.
Brian Donovan of Eneclann and FindmyPast Ireland is also quoted in the article as saying it was "deeply regrettable" that Ancestry had published the records "without the agreement of the Irish cultural institutions" and that "an opportunity has been missed here".
The National Library of Ireland announced some time ago that it was planning to digitise the microfilm collection of Roman Catholic records in its possession and to place them online for free. The article reveals this project has stalled, and that the institution is now awaiting further direction from the Government on the matter.
The full story is available at www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0922/1224304521506.html
Might be worth using the records quickly if you need to - just in case!
Chris
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