Bureau of Military History content back up online

The Bureau of Military History website content from Ireland's Military Archives (www.militaryarchives.ie) is now back up and running at http://militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/, having been unavailable for much of the last week.

From the site:

The Bureau of Military History Collection, 1913-1921 (BMH) is a collection of 1,773 witness statements; 334 sets of contemporary documents; 42 sets of photographs and 13 voice recordings that were collected by the State between 1947 and 1957, in order to gather primary source material for the revolutionary period in Ireland from 1913 to 1921. The Bureau’s official brief was ‘to assemble and co-ordinate material to form the basis for the compilation of the history of the movement for Independence from the formation of the Irish Volunteers on 25th November 1913, to the 11th July 1921’ (report of the Director, 1957).

Enjoy!

(With thanks to @dfarchives)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course starts 4 November 2019 - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Military Archives releases The Collins Papers Online

From Ireland's Military Archives (www.militaryarchives.ie):

The Collins Papers Online Release

In response to the ongoing Decade of Centenaries and increased public interest in accessing archives which chart the revolutionary period, the Military Archives is pleased to announce the online release of The Collins Papers. Over 6,000 documents dating from 1918 to early 1922, taking in the War of Independence years (1919 – 1921) and tumultuous post Truce and Treaty period are held in The Collins Papers.

The collection contains communications (despatches) mainly between I.R.A. Brigade and Battalion Officers and predominately those holding appointments in I.R.A. General Headquarters including Michael Collins, Richard Mulcahy, Cathal Brugha and Gearoid O’Sullivan. The chief creator and man behind most of the paperwork held in this collection was General Michael Collins. The collection, which has been in the custody of the Military Archives for decades, was named ‘The Collins Papers’ to signify that connection.

The paperwork links to Michael Collins’ successive G.H.Q. appointments post the third Convention of the Irish Volunteers (19th November 1917) including the periods when he was Director of Organisation, Adjutant General and Director of Intelligence. Much of the later intelligence material (post Truce and Treaty period) held in the collection can be attributed to Collins’ intelligence deputies, Frank Thornton and Liam Tobin. The collection also contains a number of files linked to Collins' ministerial position in the Department of Finance and as Teachta Dála (TD) for Armagh (1921-1922) in Dáil Eireann.

The release of these papers online marks the final stage in a very long journey which took these papers from their point of creation to eventual preservation in the Military Archives. The advent of the Collins Papers online presents new opportunities to a global audience to analyse the years preceding and encompassing the War of Independence and the post Truce and Treaty period, using the records created by I.R.A. leaders and General Headquarters staff.

More details on the collection, its archival history and contents can be found by visiting the Collection Page, which also includes a customised search tool to assist users in the navigation of the catalogue and the associated digitised collection files.

* The original announcement is at http://www.militaryarchives.ie/en/news-updates/single-view/article/the-collins-papers-online-release

(With thanks to Claire Santry via Irish Genealogy News)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course starts 4 November 2019 - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Irish Times Revolution Files supplement

Today's Irish Times has a The Revolution Files supplement, documenting stories from throughout the Irish revolutionary period and across the whiole island.

The sources for the material include the Military Services Pension Collection and other materials from the Defence Forces, as held by Ireland's Military Archives (www.militaryarchives.ie).

To read the content visit https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/century/the-revolution-files

Chris

Order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course starts 4 November 2019 - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

The Agony of Belfast - film footage from 1920

I've just watched The Agony of Belfast, a short three minute long film, with somewhat depressing footage from 1920, the year before the Partition of Ireland. The British Film Institute has the film online at https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-agony-of-belfast-1920-online.

I could not find how to embed the film in this post, but the same footage is also on YouTube at https://youtu.be/d-jAaCKNNmo.

From the BFI description:

This reportage from a Belfast ravaged by Ireland's original 'Troubles' is indelibly raw and impressively economical. In just three minutes it paints a portrait of a city marked by communal tension, child poverty, violence by adults and children (specifically, loyalist attacks on Catholics), a military presence and people forced from their homes.

This item was part of the short-lived Irish Events series which ran from 1917 to 1920, then the only newsreel produced in Ireland - making for fascinating comparison with the extensive coverage of Irish during the same period by London-based British newsreel companies.

Within the film is a street identified as Henry Street. This was where the York Street Flax Spinning Company was founded in the 1820s, and in the 1860s and 1870s my three times great grandfather Thomas Graham, who was an overseer and reeling master of the mill, resided on Henry Street. He was no longer alive when this footage was recorded, but I can well imagine the sectarian tensions in the area that existed long before the 1920s, and during his lifetime. It continued to ravage the city for decades after, and has still sadly not completely gone away.

Whilst in the current Decade of Centenaries there is a lot to celebrate and to reflect upon, there is equally just as much to lament.

Chris

Pre-order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) for just £11.99 at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Military Archives releases 1920-1923 IRA Brigade Activity Reports

Ireland's Military Archives (www.militaryarchives.ie) has released the IRA's Brigade Activity Reports, mainly for the years 1920-1923, during the War of Independence from the British, and the subsequent Civil War.

From the website, the following is a description of the content:

The Brigade Activity Reports provide listings of IRA operations and activities with the names of participants included. In general the files cover the period between 1 April 1920 and 11 July 1921 – the height of the War of Independence. However a small number of files contain information regarding Irish Volunteer and IRA activities going back, not only to the mobilisations at the time of the 1916 Easter Rising, but to the formation of the Irish Volunteers in late 1913 and early 1914, and forward to the end of the Civil War in 1923. The files are not a definitive listing of IRA operations during the Independence struggle. A number of IRA companies and units do not appear in the Activity File series at all. There are also inconsistencies in terms of the activities and events covered in the series as the quality and quantity of information provided both between different brigades and between individual units of particular brigades can vary somewhat.

However these files do contain a wealth of fascinating and important information relating to the IRA during the Revolutionary period. Not only in relation to the vast majority of major or high profile IRA operations and ambushes carried out between 1919 and 1921, but also to the essential support work essential to maintaining the IRA campaign such as intelligence work, the trenching and blocking of roads, scouting, carrying despatches and the caring for and storing arms. Such was the value of the series that it came to be heavily relied on by the various Referees and Advisory Committee and Board of Assessors’ members who operated the service pension legislation between 1934 and 1958. They have also been regularly referred to as tools for adjudicating service medal applications up to the present day. As an individual file series and taken in conjunction with the rest of the MSPC, they provide a formidable and essential resource for any researcher or academic interested in the revolutionary period.

(Source: http://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/military-service-pensions-collection-1916-1923/brigade-activities/?page_id=86)

I have to say, the presentation of these is absolutely superb, with an interactive map, reports arranged by county, operations and brigades, and more. I'm going to have a busy night ahead of me...!

To access the content, visit http://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/military-service-pensions-collection-1916-1923/brigade-activities

Chris

My next Scottish Research Online course starts March 11th 2019 - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. For my Scottish and Irish themed books, visit https://britishgenes.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Ireland launches commemorative Dáil 100 site

2019 is the centenary year for the first Dáil Eireann, the revolutionary Irish parliament which paved the way for the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922.

To commemorate this centenary, the Oireachtas (Ireland's parliamentary legislature) has announced that a dedicated website has now been launched at www.dail100.ie. The site provides a timeline of events from 1919-1921, a list of the first TDs (Ireland's MPs), and upcoming events. In addition, a section of the site, Treasures of the Parliamentary Library, will be coming soon, whilst a section marked National Archives - Digitisation of papers from the early Dáil Éireann, has some sample copies of documents from the first Dáil, which are currently being digitised.

The National Archives of Ireland has announced more on this digitisation work in a tweet at https://twitter.com/NARIreland/status/1082660989034741760, referencing work that it is currently doing on the collections known as DE/2 and DE/4, which includes the negotiation files for the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 (the disputed terms of which confirmed Partition and led to the Civil War), as well as the proceedings of the 1st and 2nd Dáil.

The archive is also hosting an exhibition entitled From Ballots to Bullets: Ireland 1918-1919, until May (see https://www.irishnews.com/news/2018/09/11/news/national-library-to-launch-from-ballots-to-bullets-ireland-1918-1919-exhibition-1429540/).

Further information on the background to the establishment of the first Dáil Eireann is available at https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/visit-and-learn/dail100/.

For a list of other commemorative events this year, visit https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/diary-of-events-for-2019-commemorations-1.3751110.

(With thanks to @OireachtasNews and @NARIreland)

COMMENT: A quick note to let you know that one of the biggest additions to my revised second edition of Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is a new chapter on the Decade of Centenaries, and how to research your ancestors who took part in events 100 years ago between 1912 and 1923 from across Ireland.

I completed the first draft of the book today, and will be editing and indexing for the rest of the week - more on its publication soon!

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.

Facing Armageddon? Ireland and the War in 1918

PRONI (https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni) has uploaded the following video from a recent half day conference in the archive in Belfast to its YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/PRONIonline):

PRONI - Facing Armageddon? Ireland and the War in 1918

PRONI, in conjunction with the Antrim and Down Branch of the Western Front Association, hosted a half day conference looking at final year of the First World War in Ireland. This event was held on 13 September 2018.

You will also find it online at https://youtu.be/WdqhocD4nyQ.

The total video is just under 2 hours and 40 mins long.

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.

Sleepwalk to Slaughter, and other Cork exhibitions

This popped up on my Facebook account earlier - a link to a series of online exhibitions run by Cork City Libraries concerning Cork, the Great War, the Decade of Centenaries, and beyond.

Amongst the virtual exhibitions running are:

• Sleepwalk to Slaughter: Cork, Ireland and the Great War
• War is Women's Business
• The Poets Rising: 1916 and Irish Literature
• "While the Mad Guns Curse": Writers and the Somme
• Europe's last Summer: The World Before World War 1 in Books and Magazines

To access the presentations, please visit http://www.corkcitylibraries.ie/servicesandprogrammes/historytoblame/virtualexhibitions/. Enjoy!

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.

London burials, Red Cross volunteers and Irish military pensions and medals

The first FindmyPast Friday in 2018 from FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has seen the release of the following collections:

Middlesex, Brompton Cemetery Records

Search through more than 645,000 records from one of Britain's oldest and most distinguished garden cemeteries. 'Middlesex, Brompton Cemetery Records' consists of transcripts and images of original documents held at the National Archives in Kew. In many cases, you will find more than one result for your ancestor – a burial register entry and a grave purchase record. Transcripts may reveal a combination of your ancestor's death year, age at death, burial date, burial place and residence. Images may reveal additional details such as the cost of the grave, the owner of the gravesite, who paid for the burial, whether a private or common grave, and your ancestor's occupation.


Greater London Burial Index

Over 19,000 new records covering Clerkenwell in central London have been added to the Greater London Burials Index. The Index contains over 1.6 million names from more than 300 Anglican and non-conformist parishes in the Greater London area.


England, Cheshire School Records, 1782-1950

Were your ancestor's educated in the English county of Cheshire? Search over 423,000 records covering more than 120 schools across the county in this collection of records from FamilySearch.


British Army, British Red Cross Society Volunteers 1914-1918

Find out if your ancestor volunteered for the British Red Cross Society during World War 1. Following the start of the 'Great War' in 1914, the British Red Cross joined forces with the Order of St. John Ambulance to form the Joint War committee and Joint War Organisation. They pooled resources and formed Voluntary Aid Detachments (or VADs) with members trained in First Aid, Nursing, Cookery, Hygiene and Sanitation. These detachments all worked under the protection of the Red Cross, working in hospitals, rest stations, work parties and supply centres.


Mississippi, Tippah County Records 1836-1923 Image Browse

Browse through more than 115 records related to deeds, chattel deeds (personal property), and probate case files from Mississippi's Tippah County Courthouse.


Ireland Military Pensions and Medals 1916-1922

Search over 52,000 records Pension and Medal records to find out whether your Irish ancestor served during the Easter Rising or the War of Independence. The collection covers members of the Óglaigh na hÉireann, National Army, Irish Republican Army, Irish Volunteers, Irish Citizen Army, or Cumann na mBan.


For further details and collection links visit https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/findmypast-friday-2522528536.html.

Chris

Needing a Christmas present for a family history obsessed love one (or for yourself)?! 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.

Big thanks to Lancashire for a great Irish conference!

A huge thank you to Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society (www.lfhhs.org) for its incredible hospitality and enthusiasm yesterday when I travelled down to give a couple of lectures at its irish genealogy conference (on how to use PRONI's resources offline and online, and resources to trace your connections to the Decade of Centenaries 1912-1923). There was a great turn out from the society at the venue in Oswaldwistle, and I spoke to a whole range of folk with individual queries between talks and over lunch. One gent I spoke to was a former B-Special in Northern Ireland, who thanked me for giving him the full context of the 1912-23 period (I covered it from both nationalist and unionists POVs), another was a wee woman with a connection to Whitehead (just outside of Carrickfergus, my home town), and pletnty of other great conversations - I even learned a lot about Icelandic genealogy from one member over lunch!

Towards the end of the day we had a question and answer panel also, where I participated alongside Maggie Loughran (who gave a talk on pre-1865 resources) and Brenda Hustler, the society's Irish expert, where we had a range of interesting questions and scenarios that we tried to work through on the spot. A huge thank you also to all of those who bought copies of my books, I hope they help! (Copies can be purchased also from http://www.my-history.co.uk/acatalog/Unlock-the-Past-Booklets.html).

If you live in the Lancashire area, the society is a bit like the North of Ireland Family History Society, in that it has various sub branches (including one in London), as well as an Irish interest group - full details are available at http://www.lfhhs.org/branch.php. Rumour has it they will even accept folk from Yorkshire as members...! :)

Thanks again, and I hope to see you all again one day!

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.

Military Archives events during Dublin Festival of History

From Military Archives (www.militaryarchives.ie) in Dublin:

Military Archives is delighted to participate in Dublin Festival of History 2016, which is running from 23 September to 8 October 2016. Members of the public are welcome to email militaryarchives@defenceforces.ie to secure a seat at ‘History, Memory & the Archives: sources for the Revolutionary period in Military Archives’, an illustrated lecture by Commandant Stephen MacEoin, Officer in Charge, Military Archives. The event will take place in the auditorium located in the historic Guard Room, Cathal Brugha Barracks, on 3rd October at 3pm; early booking is recommended.

We are also involved in a number of outside events during the festival. Please see http://dublinfestivalofhistory.ie/calendar/category/programme-2016/events-in-libraries/ for more details.

(With thanks to Military Archives at http://www.militaryarchives.ie/en/news-events)

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.

Irish One Day Conference in Lancashire

A wee plug for an event that I will be contributing to in October at Oswaldwistle, near Blackburn, England, on behalf of the Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society (www.lfhhs.org).

Irish One Day Conference 08 October 2016 (Tickets £20, includes buffet Lunch)
Irish Ancestry Group One Day Conference 8th October 2016
At Oswaldtwistle Civic Arts Centre 155 Union Road Oswaldtwistle BB5 3HZ

Divided Ireland - Divided Records

9.15am - 9.45am Registration and Tea or Coffee.

9.45am Welcome and Introduction.

10.00am - 11.00am Chris Paton
PRONI Records - What records are available and how to access them. A must for anyone researching Northern Ireland Ancestry.

11.15am - 12.15pm Chris Paton
A Decade of Centenaries Researching Ireland 1912-1922

12.30pm - 2.00pm Lunch
Check out our book stall and exhibits

2.00pm - 3.00pm Maggie Loughran
Irish Records pre 1865 - What is available and Where to Look

3.15pm - 4.00pm Questions and Answers Panel

4.00pm Closing Remarks and Refreshments

To book a place please visit www.lfhhs.org/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=169 - I'll hopefully see a few of you there!

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.

Irish Family History Centre podcast: Mna 1916

The latest podcast from the Irish Family History Centre entitled Mna - 25 years of searching - lesson and leads, a talk by Sinead McCooly recently given at the National Library of Ireland. 'Mna' is the Gaelic word for women, and the talk discusses an exhibition on the women of the Easter Rising, and other movements from 1916, as well as tips on how to search for them in the records.

To listen to the podcast, visit https://irishfamilyhistorycentre.com/article/sinead-mccool-mna-25-years-of-searching-lesson-and-leads-2.

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.

New 1916 exhibition at the Ulster Museum

From today the Ulster Museum in Belfast is hosting a new Heritage Lottery Fund funded exhibition entitled The Corr Family: Witnessing History, which looks at the lives of five brothers and sisters from the city's Ormeau Road, as they separately experienced aspects of the First World War and the Easter Rising in 1916.

The Irish News has the story, along with a photo gallery, at http://www.irishnews.com/news/2016/07/27/news/different-roads-taken-by-family-during-1916-to-be-focus-of-new-ulster-museum-exhibition-624202/.

The Ulster Museum has a story on the exhibition also at http://nmni.com/um/What-s-on/Current-Exhibitions/The-Corr-Family--Witnessing-History.

The exhibition runs from Wednesday 27th July until Tuesday 23rd August 2016.

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.

New Military Archives search room in Dublin

This looks like it could be well worth a visit! The new Military Archives (www.militaryarchives.ie) search room at Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin, Ireland.

The search room is open to the public Tuesdays - Thursdays from 10.00 - 12.30 hrs and 13.30 - 16.00. An appointment is needed. Further information is available at http://www.militaryarchives.ie/en/contact-details/contact-details.

(With thanks to @dfarchives)

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.

National Archives of Ireland places Seán MacDiarmada's will online

The National Archives of Ireland (www.nationalarchives.ie) has placed the last will of Seán MacDiarmada online as its document of the month for June. The document was written in Kilmainham Gaol (pictured below) on May 12th 1916, just prior to his execution for his role as one of the seven leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising.

The document can be viewed online at http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/documents-of-the-month/2016-2/june-document-of-the-month/.

A comprehensive summary of post-1858 surviving Irish wills, inventories and probate calendars is available on this blog in a dedicated accessible from the top menu, or directly via http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/ireland-probate-calendars.html.

Don't forget also that my book A Decade of Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923 can also help to locate additional resources for family history research within one of Ireland's most tumultuous periods. See http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html for details on how to access copies worldwide or in ebook format.

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.

Forthcoming talks at the National Archives at Kew

Forthcoming events this week at the National Archives in England (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk):

Ireland and 1916: Isle of Saints and Soldiers?(Symposium)
Saturday 18 June 2016, 10:00-17:00

This symposium will look at the Irish contribution to and experience of the First World War. As it falls between both centenaries, topics will include the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme but will also consider broader historical questions, relating to Ireland and the war.

Professor Alexander Watson, Professor Richard Grayson, Dr Timothy Bowman and Lar Joye will all speak at the event, with a discussion panel to follow which will include former Pre
sident Mary McAleese and Ambassador Daniel Mulhall.


Pipe Roll Society lecture 2016: Government and Recordkeeping in the Middle Ages
Tuesday, 28 June 2016 from 18:00 to 19:30

Dr Richard Cassidy, an acknowledged expert on Exchequer administration and finance in the 13th century, will speak about the memorand rolls - key records which document the process of auditing royal accounts.
One of the last great series of medieval rolls to be catalogued in detail, the memoranda rolls reveal a wealth of information about people, places, royal and individual rights, the economy, government finance and warfare in the medieval period.


‘A test of support’: The end of Ottoman neutrality, 1913-14
Thursday, 30 June 2016 from 14:00 to 15:00

What led the Ottoman Empire to join Germany and her allies in the First World War? Find out how a matrix of seemingly unrelated events and foreign policies – including the machinations of then First Sea Lord Winston Churchill – ultimately pushed Turkish leaders to leave neutrality behind and join the Central Powers.


Further details, and how to book places, at http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/visit-us/whats-on/events/

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.

My Irish talks at Strathclyde's Summer Institute of Genealogical Studies

A quick note to say that I will be contributing two lectures to the University of Strathclyde's Summer Institute of Genealogical Studies, as part of the 'Irish Resources and Research Techniques' strand of lectures being led by the Ulster Historical Foundation's William Roulston and Gillian Hunt.

The week long programme takes place in Glasgow from June 27th-July 1st 2016, with my talks being given on Friday 1st July. These are:

• Sources for studying the ‘Decade of Centenaries’ (1912-1923) in Ireland
• Looking for Irish ancestors in Scottish records

For a full itinerary of talks for the Irish strand, as well as those for the parallel strands, 'British Military Research' and 'Practical Applications of Genetic Genealogy', see the university's website at http://www.strath.ac.uk/cll/cpd/genealogicalstudies/summerinstitute/.

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.

Dublin Metropolitan Police Prisoner Books 1905-1918

University College Dublin's Digital Library (http://digital.ucd.ie) has just uploaded digitised editions of four Dublin Metropolitan Police prisoners books from 1905-1908, and 1911-1918, at http://digital.ucd.ie/view/ucdlib:43945.

From the site, the following description:

Abstract: 
The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) Prisoners Books for 1905-1908 and 1911-1918 are amongst the most valuable new documents to come to light on the revolutionary decade. They include important information on social and political life in the capital during the last years of the Union, from the period of widespread anticipation of Home Rule, to the advent of the 1913 Lockout, the outbreak of the First World War, the Easter Rising and its aftermath, including the conscription crisis of 1918. They will also be invaluable to those interested in criminology, genealogy, and family history.

Scope and content
The collection comprises of four large leather bound, double ledger volumes containing hand written entries that record the details of daily charge sheets issued by DMP members to offenders or alleged offenders. Each volume contains the name, age, address, occupation, alleged offence and, in most cases, outcome of cases involving over 30,000 people arrested by the DMP. Each volume also contains an index of prisoners with references to the pages containing details of the charge.

Three of the four volumes bear the title “Prisoners Book” and each page of arrest records has the running title “Prisoners charged with offences involving dishonesty”. Three of the volumes are numbered on the spine - the first volume in the collection as 1, the third as 4, and the fourth as 5. The third volume in the collection is missing the number on the spine, but as the entries in this volume are dated immediately before those in book number 4, it has been assumed that this volume was numbered as 3. There is a gap in the dates between the volume numbered as 1 and this volume, so it is assumed that there was a volume number 2. It is unknown whether this volume survives. Volume 1 records all those arrested from April 1st 1905 to January 1st 1908. The second volume (assumed to be number 3) runs from January 1st 1911 to September 30th 1913. Volume 4 contains the entries from October 1st 1913 to 31st December 1915. Volume 5 records the arrests from January 1st 1916 to September 30th 1918.

Each volume has a name index at the back - simply look up the name of interest, and if you find it there, look up the original entry at the page number directed to.

(With thanks to Claire Santry at http://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2016/05/dublin-metropolitan-polices-prisoners.html)

Chris

My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course starts Monday 17th May - see http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. 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.

New Con and Eva exhibition to launch at PRONI

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is launching a new exhibition on May 19th entitled Con and Eva, looking at the lives of sisters Constance Markiewicz and Eva Gore-Booth, both key players in the 1916 rebellion in Ireland.

For further details visit https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/exhibition-launch-con-and-eva

NB: For more on the period, my new book A Decade of Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-23 may be of assistance - for further details on how to purchase from vendors in the UK, Canada and Australia, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

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. My Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.