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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland Resources => Topic started by: Bills on Sunday 20 January 08 21:41 GMT (UK)
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I've started this topic because many people of Irish descent have mixed feelings about the centres and the 'service' they provide. Centres may give the impression that visitors are allowed to examine the records themselves, this is not the case and visitors from around the world have been disappointed to find that they are not permitted access.
Much has been said about these centres, the quality of their service and resulting cost. readers may like to give their experiences - as briefly as possible - so as to help others.
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At the moment there's a thread under Londonderry about Londonderry Genealogical Centre which is closed (perhaps temporarily).
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,276737.0.html
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Hi Bills
Thank you for starting this thread. We are hoping to go to England/Ireland next year with the express purpose of visiting as many FH centres as I can, mainly in Ireland so it appears as if I may be sadly disappointed. However I live in hope and maybe the fact that I came all the way from Oz may soften their attitude :D :D :D Also intend to contact them before hand so will not just lob up and expect to be served.
Failing that, the wonderful people on RC help heaps.
Regards
Jan
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Jan- don't expect a big welcome or lots of information from any of the genealogy centres here in Ireland but do expect to pay large amounts of money for little information. Suggest you check a couple of their websites and look at the costs before going down this line of research.
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Hi Bills
Thank you for starting this thread. We are hoping to go to England/Ireland next year with the express purpose of visiting as many FH centres as I can, mainly in Ireland so it appears as if I may be sadly disappointed. However I live in hope and maybe the fact that I came all the way from Oz may soften their attitude :D :D :D Also intend to contact them before hand so will not just lob up and expect to be served.
Failing that, the wonderful people on RC help heaps.
Regards
Jan
Hi Jan,
Try sending some queries to Libraries in Ireland. Many librarians will look up information in directories as well as books and old newspapers that they hold. I regard the libraries as one of Ireland's hidden treasures from a genealogy researcher's point of view. Librarians are very helpful when they receive an email or when you call in to see them with a query. I don't think the service offered by Irish libraries will disappoint anyone.
Christopher
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Thank you both for your help and advice. Have checked a couple of web sites - including the GRO for NI. The reply from there was not very encouraging - or friendly which surprised me. Christopher, will contact the libraries as you suggested.
Thanks again.
Cheers
Jan
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Jan- don't expect a big welcome or lots of information from any of the genealogy centres here in Ireland but do expect to pay large amounts of money for little information. Suggest you check a couple of their websites and look at the costs before going down this line of research.
aghadowey, you must be joking ... Irish people are renowned throughout the world for their friendliness, hospitality and willingness to give visitors to the country as much assistance as possible. Am I mistaken in thinking that heritage centres and museums participate in "The Welcome Host and Welcome All" training courses which have enabled over eighty hospitality industry representatives to improve their customer care? There's a training Council which offers applied training courses for the tourism and hospitality sector. Eighty doesn't sound all that many ... I wonder if that figure is correct. I found it on the Lisburn Council website Economic Development Annual Progress Report April 2001 to March 2002. (http://www.lisburncity.gov.uk/economic-development-reports/economic_dev_01_02/tourism.htm) Surely there must be a more recent report somewhere online.
I've found another such course "Welcome to Excellence" which is widely regarded as the gold standard by the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors. Maybe heritage centres aren't interested in such courses.
Has there not been a great deal of progress since the comments made in the "Report on Value for Money Examination, no. 14, Comptroller & Auditor General, 1996" (http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/publications/genealogical/chapter1.html) which was issued by The Heritage Council (An Chomhairle Oidhreachta) twelve years ago? The points raised in the conclusions reached in sections 9.78 to 9.82 didn't make very good reading ...
9.79 The product offered was not consistent across the country.
9.80 No facilities for public access to genealogical records.
9.81 The set charges were too high for people requiring information and not a report.
9.82 There was no clear definition regarding the area which a heritage centre covered.
Christopher
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We Irish might be friendly but all the staff in genealogy centres and tourist offices are not. A German friend tried to discover where her family had lived in Ireland and was told 'the town isn't there anymore' when the townland (which had never been a town) was still there. And years ago I went to get a map of North Coast in NYC and asked for map of Giants' Causeway area and was told 'it's just a pile of rocks and you don't want to go there.'
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We Irish might be friendly but all the staff in genealogy centres and tourist offices are not. A German friend tried to discover where her family had lived in Ireland and was told 'the town isn't there anymore' when the townland (which had never been a town) was still there. And years ago I went to get a map of North Coast in NYC and asked for map of Giants' Causeway area and was told 'it's just a pile of rocks and you don't want to go there.'
Who is permitting such idiots to be let loose in front of the general public? Have they been properly trained? A clerk in what I assume was a NYC branch of the Irish Tourist Office being permitted to tell people that the Giants' Causeway area (which is the only World Heritage Site in Ireland) "is just a pile of rocks and you don't want to go there" is an absolute disgrace. That person should have been removed from the front counter and given a desk job as they were doing no favours to tourism in the north of Ireland.
The clerks should also receive proper training and have a directory of Irish townlands available for them to consult. There are a few websites which list townlands ... There's John Broderick's seanruad IreAtlas and PRONI also have an online list of townlands. Do tourism clerks selling Ireland in NYC not have a clue how to use a computer?
I've added links to centres we've discussed on other threads ...
Armagh Ancestry (http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=246509.msg1432028#msg1432028)
Irish Family History Foundation centres. (http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,275755.msg1596331.html#msg1596331)
Christopher
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Christopher
Aghadowey's reply says it all. I also read somewhere official that the centres exist to attract tourism to the area. the fact that they are funded by the Irish Government's dept. dealing with tourism, and that there is hardly any emphasis upon genealogy should be obvious.
It is also a fact that the records were input by youngsters in the training scheme FAS as an initiative to develop office skills etc. They has no knowledge, or indeed interest in Genealogy hence so many mistakes.
And Bridgy, dont confuse the name FH centres with the centres we are talking about. They are connected with the LDS church (Mormons) which are immensly useful to family historians but not the subject of this enlightening conversation.
Aghadowey, we should be joining forces with this kind of advice!!
Bills
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Hi there,
I'm going to Co. Cork, Ireland end of March and planning to do some research, do you have any suggestions?
Karen
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Hi there,
I'm going to Co. Cork, Ireland end of March and planning to do some research, do you have any suggestions?
Karen
Hi Karen,
Whereabouts in Co. Cork will you be doing your research as the Cork County Library (http://www.corkcoco.ie/co/web/Cork%20County%20Council/Departments/Community%20%26%20Enterprise/Library%20%26%20Arts%20Service/Services/Genealogy) has a wide range of resources.
Cork Archives Institute, Christchurch, S. Main Street, Cork. Tel: 21-277809
Collections deposited by private individuals, families and associations.
The library also holds a Listing of records filmed by LDS
Hours: 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., 2:30 - 5 p.m., M-F
Cork Central Library, Grand Parade, Cork Tel: 21-277110
The library has an extensive local interest collection.
Cork County Library, Farranlea Road, Cork. Tel: 21-546499 Fax: 21-343254
Cork Archives Institute, Christ Church Centre, South Main Street, Cork
Family History Center, Sarsfield Road, Wilton, Cork
Christopher
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Are Family Research Centres the same as Genealogy Centres? I got huge help from the Family History Centre in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, last year. I emailed them looking for the record of a Church of Ireland marriage which took place in 1840, and one hour later, a guy emailed me back with the information I was looking for - no mention of money owed. He said he would post out the copies of the newspaper clipping of the marriage, and the church record only charged me 5 euro to cover costs (and only then because I asked what I owed him!). So Jan, hopefully you're looking for some rellies in South Mayo! I have no experience of any others, other than Armagh Ancestry which is very expensive but quite helpful.
Jaylay
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I'm puzzled about the Centre at Sarsfield Road, Wilton, Cork. The LDS FHCs in Ireland are shown below but why show Munster, which covers Cork, with a Dublin address. Their Northern Ireland Centre is shown on the webpage www.genuki.org.uk/big/LDS/centres.txt so that covers Ulster but there's no reference to Connaught.
DUBLIN
The Willows, Finglas Road
Glanevin, Dublin
Tel. 0110-353-4625609
MUNSTER
The Willows
Finglass, Dublin
Tel. 0001 306637
Christopher
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I'm puzzled about the Centre at Sarsfield Road, Wilton, Cork. The LDS FHCs in Ireland are shown below but why show Munster, which covers Cork, with a Dublin address. Their Northern Ireland Centre is shown on the webpage www.genuki.org.uk/big/LDS/centres.txt so that covers Ulster but there's no reference to Connaught.
The genuki list doesn't list other LDS libraries in Northern Ireland like Londonderry and Coleraine.
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I'm puzzled about the Centre at Sarsfield Road, Wilton, Cork. The LDS FHCs in Ireland are shown below but why show Munster, which covers Cork, with a Dublin address. Their Northern Ireland Centre is shown on the webpage www.genuki.org.uk/big/LDS/centres.txt so that covers Ulster but there's no reference to Connaught.
The genuki list doesn't list other LDS libraries in Northern Ireland like Londonderry and Coleraine.
Cork, Sarsfield Road, Wilton. Cork
Phone: 353-21-4897050
Hours: T 10am-12:30pm; W 7pm-9pm; third Th 7.30pm-9.30pm
Dublin, Finglas Road, Glasnevin. Dublin
Hours: T 11am-3pm, Th 10am-1pm, 3pm-7pm, F 7pm-9pm, Sat 10am-2pm
Closed: M,T,W,F,Sat,Sunday
Limerick, Dooradoyle Road, Limerick
Phone: 353-61-309-443
Hours: F 7pm-9pm.
Belfast, 403, Holywood Road, Belfast
Phone: 44 (0) 289-076 9839
Hours: W, Th 10am-4pm; Sat 9am-1pm
Coleraine, 8, Sandelfields, Knocklynn Road, Coleraine. Co. Derry
Phone: 44 (0) 287-032 1214
Hours: Th 7pm-9pm
Londonderry, Racecourse Road, Belmont Estate, Londonderry
Phone: 44 (0) 287-135-0179
Hours: M 10am-1pm; Th 7pm-9pm
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Christopher, I know that the 3 LDS libraries in Northern Ireland are listed on LDS site (although not sure that opening hours are current) but my point was that the genuki site didn't list all the LDS libraries in Northern Ireland.
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Christopher, I know that the 3 LDS libraries in Northern Ireland are listed on LDS site (although not sure that opening hours are current) but my point was that the genuki site didn't list all the LDS libraries in Northern Ireland.
It's advisable to phone LDS FHCs to check on their opening hours.
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Hello Jaylay
Family history centres (FHCs) are part of the Mormon church and provide access to transcriptions of genealogical records from around the world including Ireland. They are not the same as genealogy centres (GCs) that are found in most counties around Ireland. There are drawbacks with both.
GCs search records/copies/transcriptions of selected material relating to the county or specific area in which they are situated. They are operated as a business and charge disproportionate fees. They do not provide access to material for visitors and have attracted much controversy. The fact that they have differing names also causes confusion.
The South Mayo Family Research Centre, in Main St. Ballinrobe is a genealogy centre but is particularly helpful and efficient as you discovered. Unfortunately, not all centres are like this and family historians are advised to consider all options available to them.
I hope this helps you
Good Luck
Bills
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Who (or what body) owns and operates the Irish Family History Foundation, and where does it get its funding?
In its "History of the Irish Family History Foundation" ("About Us" page at the IFHF site), the IFHF is quite upfront about its goal of marketing genealogy as a "tourism product". Is this an entirely commercial, private sector operation? or is it associated/affiliated with the Irish government's Department of Art, Sports and Tourism?
In any case, I think the fees for its online research system are exorbitant. 10 euro to view a record, which may or may not be relevant to one's search, but you can't really know until you've paid to view it, because they don't supply enough information (e.g., name of parents in the case of a baptism, name of spouse in the case of a marriage) before you pay up. Is this a for-profit operation? or do they have to charge these fees just to run the system because the operation is underfunded?
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Hello Bills,
I've just sent this message to a RootsChatter who received a reasonably detailed reply from the South Mayo Centre ...
"I'm interested to note that the South Mayo Family Research Center (Centre) have given you details of the baptisms but have omitted to tell you where the children were baptized. I wonder if that is a common practice adopted by Research Centres in Ireland."
I've just been looking at "Genealogy and the economic drain on Ireland: Unintended consequences" by Emily Heinlen. www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_1/heinlen
Exorbitant charges for searches and lengthy delays result in genealogists looking for cheaper and more efficient means of finding the needed information so they turn to ...
1. Fellow internet genealogists
2. Online databases
3. Microfilm records at FHCs and the like.
However there are drawbacks which include dates which are not accurate and placenames which are not correct. Many place names appear in more than one county which makes it all too easy to search for your ancestors in the wrong county. People who know absolutely nothing about Ireland can post you what they may regard as a helpful message which can easily lead you up the garden path.
Christopher
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There's a poll on the Using Irish Heritage Centres (http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=176052.msg1735387#msg1735387) thread which is a discussion along much the same lines as this thread.
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i have phoned lds in hollywwod belfast many times, robin could not have been more helpful and found me lots of info. my your a busy man christopher on all those sites your a mine of info. lizzie from scotland.
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I contacted the library in the area of Kerry I was interested in and was just told, bluntly, the the "Historian had died"
I was left thinking to myself that if that "Historian" died with all the knowledge in his head that's such a shame! Surely it's all written down somewhere???
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hi ladybird im from bannockburn about 2 miles from stirling and know quite a few jaffrays and jeffreys if you need info from stirling let me know. lizzie
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christopher i need to find a marriage of an agnes fulton or nessie as she was called in the 1940s her father was robert fulton her mother nargaret jane maiden name thompson. do any of the sites give up to date marriages or will i have to come to belfast and pay for an assisted search at the registrar office. she was born 1921/22 and could still be living
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Hi Lizzie
Thanks for that :D
I'm at work at the moment...yes some of us have to work over Easter ...drats!
Can I PM you later?
Sylvia
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no bother sylvia
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I contacted the library in the area of Kerry I was interested in and was just told, bluntly, the the "Historian had died"
I was left thinking to myself that if that "Historian" died with all the knowledge in his head that's such a shame! Surely it's all written down somewhere???
Hello ladybird,
Wow! Unless the "Historian" had just died and the library staff were upset by the death of a colleague there's no excuse for such an answer.
I imagine that Kerry library's late "Historian" did much the same as many other librarians and used the records that are held in the library archives to obtain information so that genealogical queries could receive a reply.
Christopher
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Hi Christopher
You're probably right.
I was looking back through my old emails to see if I could find the actual reply, but it was several (4-5) years ago and I must have deleted it.
I do remember being a bit taken aback by the way it was worded, but maybe I should try again
Sylvia
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The LDS FHC at 403, Holywood Road, Belfast closed on 25th October this year.
It will reopen in approximately eighteen months time.