Launch of The Great Irish Famine Online

The Irish Tánaiste, Simon Coveney TD, has formally launched The Great Irish Famine Online project as part of this year's National Famine Commemoration.

According to the website of University College Cork, the project, located at www.irishfamine.ie/irish-famine-map, "allows users access to interactive maps which facilitates research into the details of how the famine affected people in local areas, down to civil parish and town level. It will enable users to view online the information for any location across the island. People can analyse detailed information charting changes in the social, political and economic landscape of pre and post famine Ireland."

The project is a collaboration between staff at UCC’s Geography Department and the Irish Government's Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. From the website:

The Great Famine was one of the most tragic events in Irish history. The deaths of over 1 million people and the emigration of a further million had a profound and devastating effect on Irish society.

The mapping of the famine at parish level provides us with new ways of seeing the Famine, by revealing the complex local and regional dimensions, which raises questions about the social conditions which prevailed in different localities and the diverse responses in terms of relief. Behind the maps are the stories of individuals and communities and how they fared during this traumatic period.

Direct access to the various pages and maps is available at https://dahg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=8de2b863f4454cbf93387dacb5cb8412

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Irish Famine Eviction Project

From the Irish Newspaper Archive (www.irishnewsarchive.com):

The Irish Famine Eviction Project is a study by Dr Ciaran Reilly to document evidence of evictions during the years of the Great Irish Famine. Dr Ciaran Reilly; author of several books on The Great Irish Famine is the chief coordinator for this extraordinary project. Dr Reilly’s vision is to create a dedicated online resource listing GPS coordinates for famine eviction sites and to create a better understanding of the actual people involved in the evictions. It is hoped that the Irish Famine Eviction Project will shed new light on numbers, locations and background stories of those involved. 500 Sites listed so far - see https://irishfamineeviction.com/eviction-map/.

We Need You!
Sponsored by Irish Newspaper Archives the project will use primary and secondary source information to research, gather and catalogue evictions. One of the goals is to collaborate with individuals, societies and libraries across the world. We are looking for any informaiton of evictions, locations and local folklore. To help researchers Irish Newspaper Archives are offering 30% of monthly and yearly membership. Discount code - IFP30

Profile: Dr Ciaran Reilly;
Dr Reilly author of several books has embarked an a project to help shed light on the number of people and locations of evictions that took place during the Great Famine. View his profile at https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/wp/dr-ciaran-reilly-irish-famine-research/

To submit your own research for inclusion in our project you can email your findings to famineeviction@gmail.com or tweet us @famineeviction

Irish Newspaper Archives are proud supporter of all Irish Research and to help any research into the Famine Evictions we are offering 30% of monthly and yearly membership valid till 31.10.2016
Code IFP30

(With thanks to Andrew Martin)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Battle of Jutland records on FindmyPast

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.com) has uploaded a collection of records for the Battle of Jutland. From the site:

This new collection has been specially created to bring together the names of those who participated in the battle of Jutland between 31 May and 1 June 1926. The collection is not comprehensive and there may be some gaps. It was created from the following series found at The National Archives in London.

ADM 159: Royal Marines, service records
ADM 188: Royal Navy Seamen, service records
ADM 196: Royal Navy officers, service records
ADM 240: Royal Naval Reserve officers, service records
ADM 377: Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, ratings’ service records

The FindyPast collection, entitled British Royal Navy & Royal Marines, Battle Of Jutland 1916 Servicemen (http://search.findmypast.com/search-world-Records/british-royal-navy-and-royal-marines-battle-of-jutland-1916-servicemen), also uses transcripts created by Naval and Military Press, though no source details are provided for these.

Also released is an update to its Ireland, Poverty Relief Loans 1821-1874 collection (http://search.findmypast.com/search-world-Records/ireland-poverty-relief-loans-1821-1874), which sees an additional 5000 records added, although again, there is no information as to the nature of which areas these new records might concern.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Fury as Channel Four plans sitcom based on the Irish Famine

Channel Four has commissioned a comedy series about the Irish famine, which saw a million Irish folk die and a further two million emigrate. The sitcom, provisionally entitled Hungry, is being thought of as a version of "Shameless" set in famine Ireland.

A petition has been set up at https://www.change.org/p/petition-to-stop-channel-4-from-making-a-comedy-series-about-the-irish-famine in protest at the channel's decision.

For more on the story, visit http://www.irishmirror.ie/whats-on/arts-culture-news/fury-british-tv-station-commissions-4910380.

COMMENT: Sorry Channel Four, but you are well and truly out of order here. I've signed the petition.

Chris

For details on my range of genealogy guide books please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. To commission me for genealogical research, please visit my research site at www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk.

Massachussetts parish records on Ancestry

For those with Irish relatives who fled to America following the Famine in the mid 1840s, the following parish record sets for Massachussetts may be of some interest on Ancestry's World subscription (www.ancestry.co.uk):

• Massachusetts, Birth Records, 1840-1915 (3829539)
• Massachusetts, Marriage Records, 1840-1915 (3059458)
• Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915 (2713911)

The records have been sourced from New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, and the Irish feature very heavily in them.

Chris

My new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, is now available from Pen and Sword. My Scottish land and church records ebooks are available at http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html, whilst my next Pharos Scottish course, Scottish Research Online, starts Sep 4th - see http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Time to smash a few brick walls...!

Australian based Irish Famine orphan girls database

Thanks to Irish Roots magazine for an interesting site I've not come across before. The Irish Famine Memorial site at www.irishfaminememorial.org is an Australian site commemorating those who sailed down under between 1848 and 1850 to escape the famine. Amongst its holdings is a useful database listing orphan girls who were sent from Ireland's workhouses, located at www.irishfaminememorial.org/en/orphans/.

(With thanks to Irish Roots on Facebook at www.facebook.com/IrishRootsMag)

Chris

Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit  http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.

Blighted Nation radio series

RTE Radio has a new four part series entitled Blighted Nation, presented by Myles Dungan, looking at the history of the Famine of the late 1840s.

The first episode can be heard at http://alturl.com/dzkvi whilst episode 2, which was broadcast today, can be heard at www.rte.ie/radio1/blightednation/ (the final two episodes can also be found there upon transmission). You can also download the episodes as individual podcasts.

(With thanks to Irish Roots magazine on Facebook)

Chris

Having a Christmas present crisis?! Check out my range of genealogy books at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html - perfect for the family historian's Christmas stocking...! Also now out - new Kindle edition of Tracing Your Family History on the Internet, from http://tinyurl.com/d3vqtz5

Irish Famine museum to open in Connecticut

Irish Central has an article online about the new Ireland's Great Hunger Museum (http://ighm.nfshost.com) to be opened in Hamden, Connecticut, next month, which will tell the story of the Irish Famine. The piece includes an interview with Quinnipiac University President Dr. John Lahey, and is online at www.irishcentral.com/news/First-ever-Great-Hunger-museum-opens-next-month-in-the-US-171316181.html.

Chris

Scottish Research Online - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 26 SEP 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Irish Famine museum to open in US

The first US museum entirely dedicated to telling the story of the Irish Famine is due to open in Hamden, Connecticut, in September. The full story is at http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/Recalling-the-Famines-impact-on-Irish-and-American-history-162455666.html

(With thanks to FindmyPast Ireland @findmypastie)

Chris

Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)