Account Disabled Irish Family History Foundation

[shanew147]

....However, I did hear mutterings that the LDS are going to put them online for free - they have microfilm copies of the registers, as well as the already published indexes, up to 1958 for the Republic and up to 1922 for NI.

that would be interesting ...

they would not need to transcribe the details - you could search the existing index to locate items of interest and then allow access to a register page image using the volume number and page. Using images would require quite a bit of disk space ... but hard disks are cheap these days!



Shane

[GAJM]

[they would not need to transcribe the details - you could search the existing index to locate items of interest and then allow access to a register page image using the volume number and page. Using images would require quite a bit of disk space ... but hard disks are cheap these days!



Shane

Well if they have room for all the Massachusetts and other American record images im sure they will have room for the Irish ones finger crossed.

Ger

[CBGenealogy]

From talking to the local registrars office over last few months i believe they are still working on digitizing records nationwide for their own office use. Possibly eventually they may place this on-line but when talking to them they gave no indication it would be in near future more like 5 years to have it done for themselve and eventually might start thinking about doing an on-line system.

Ger

From what I have heard, they have no plans to release that database to the public.  Some professional genealogists have asked officially and were told that it "wasn't suitable for public use".  It is complete though - I mistakenly ordered a full copy of my great-grandmother's birth cert and it was a typeset modern copy that looks like any recent birth certs I've seen.

[GAJM]

For Cork and Waterford and Kerry (my own area) i believe  they have digitized all the record's back to 1920 and are working towards having them all back to 1864 eventually.

Ger

[cathaldus]

Gerard - Don't worry lad!  Happened to me nine months ago.  I simply told them to depart in haste and multiply!!!  Remember there's more than one way to skin a cat! 

Bill

[Gortinanima]

I contacted IFHF by email seeking clarification about excessive searching and here is their reply

'No user who has purchased records online has had an account closed.  Each user accepts our terms and conditions of use on registration one of which states': etc ----- terms stated.

And also
'Users have the opportunity to carry out 1500 searches to locate their ancestors; if no record has been purchased the account is automatically closed'.

[corisande]

They are not really interested in genealogy rather it is profit
and money at the heart of it all.

I agree entirely with that point of view

Whilst the IFHF have a right to make money, they in turn do not have a right to make excessive money out of genealogists.

They have acquired the records of many RC and C of I churches, to such an extent that many of those records are now no longer available to the public. I can no longer search a particular parish, I have to use this lot.

The original parish records do not belong to IFHF, hells bells they are my ancestors.

IFHF should be able to make a return on transcriptions , but they fail completely to understand that genealogy, as practiced by most of us here, entails extensive trawling of records to sift the right one, often it can take thousands of records to find the one we need. IFHF  assumes we know the parish and the years, and hey presto they sell us that record.

I disagree strongly with the copyright editor here saying that a commercial organisation like IFHF can set any terms and conditions that they like, and that we have to comply. They are public records, my ancestors - I should have a right to consult the records. IFHF hide the originals from me - I have been in their Nenagh office, and seen the book I wanted on a shelf and they have refused to let me look at it

The sort of commercial franchise operation as run by the IFHF is an unacceptable use of public records. They have abused and continue to abuse the position of trust that they have obtained over these important public records.

As you may gather I feel strongly about this

[GAJM]

Totally agree with you corisande

My local parish records are no longer available in the local library or at the local church IFHF have exclusive rights to them and i believe they have refused to let them be transcribed for the new irishgenealogy website which has free records for Dublin and Kerry already. The local priest told me the only way to view them is at the IFHF office or online with their service.  Up to the mid 1990's you were able to view my local parish records in the local community centre until the IFHF borrowed them and never returned them since. So my only option is the nation archieve's which i dont have the time to visit.

I have rang the local IFHF and they want a minimum of 100euro to do any advanced searches which will only give a few baptisms etc.

IFHF is controlled by a profit making organistation. Thankfully they dont have full control over the Civil Records and Census Records.

People have the argument that it cost them alot to transcribe the records. The fact is that most of the centres had people on FAS courses doing the transcribing and were paid by FAS and not the IFHF. I know this as i have a relative who did such a FAS course.  So obviously large room for profit.

I obviously feel very strongly about this as well


Ger

[corisande]

My local parish records are no longer available in the local library or at the local church IFHF have exclusive rights to them and i believe they have refused to let them be transcribed for the new irish genealogy website which has free records for Dublin and Kerry already. 

You are right. That is the point, they are a Monoply who are, in my opinion, are abusing their monopoly powers.

Is the copyright editor here seriously suggesting that they can put anything they like in "terms of use" and deny people the chance to find their own ancestors. Because we want parish information from certain parishes in Ireland we have no choice which makes them a monopoly

The analogy that Copyright Editor draws with RootsChat is spurious, one does not have to use RootsChat, and if one does use it, one can use it without posting copyrighted material.

Even as it is with IFHF you either pay them absurd sums of money to "buy a pig in a poke" (you are buying blind)  or you do not find out about your own ancestors. 

I do not know whether the copyright editor knows the situation with IFHF as well as most readers of this particular forum on Ireland. This is not English records. Many of the Irish census records and parish records have been destroyed for one reason or another, so are not available. State records began for most people 30 years after English state records.

We need the national treasure that IFHF has removed from the public domain.