Irish Family History

If you’re interested in the Irish diaspora in Argentina, then you might already be aware that The National Library of Ireland holds copies of the Southern Cross. This newspaper is published monthly in Buenos Aires, and its primary readership is the Irish Argentine community there.

The Southern Cross was founded by a Roman Catholic priest, Patrick Dillon, in 1875 and was the first Roman Catholic English publication in Buenos Aires. Up until now the National Library held microfilms of the Southern Cross newspaper for the years1875 to 1924. However, they have recently announced that they now hold further microfilms relating to the years 1925 to 2006.

While all articles were originally provided in English, most are now in Spanish, although as can be seen on the current website some sections are still published in English. The microfilms will be of value to genealogists and historians interested in the Irish-Argentinian diaspora.

‘In Canada today there are thousands of Irish men and women who came between the years of 1940 and 1999 for a better life, a different life. Some knew they would never return to Ireland, some believed they would only stay a few years. Yet those who stayed comprise a dynamic and vital part of the Canadian mosaic.

A Story To Be Told is a recently launched book that collects the stories of 130 emigrants in order to preserve them for future generations, to know and understand what the life of an immigrant was and is in Canada, what it meant for an Irish person to leave the island and travel across the Atlantic Ocean to start a new life. Many went to Canada with only a few dollars and the name of a “friend of a friend” as a contact.’

The book is a collaboration between Eleanor McGrath and William C. Smith (“Smitty”). Having both worked extensively within Toronto’s Irish community, they wanted to share the stories of the people they have met with a broader audience.

The book was launched in Dublin this week at the Canadian Embassy in Dublin on 17 September and in Cork, today, 19 September. Further events are set to take place in Canada in October and November. For further details see the A Story To Be Told website.

You can purchase a copy of A Story to be Told from the Liffey Press website.

The mid-19th century Irish potato famine drove over a million Irish people to immigrate overseas. As well as travelling to North America and Great Britain, many Irish immigrants chose to make their new lives in Australia.

The Friends of the National Library of Australia have announced that they are hosting an address on Wednesday 8 October by the noted Irish archaeologist, historian and broadcaster, Michael Gibbons, on the legacy of the famine in history, archaeology and folklore. Anyone with an interest in their Irish ancestors or in the immigrant landscape of 19th century Australia should not miss this presentation.

Wednesday 8 October, 6 pm, Theatre
Bookings: 02 6262 1698 or friends@nla.gov.au.
Entry fee is $10 Friends, $15 non-members, payable at the time of booking. Michael Gibbons’ visit is supported by Culture Ireland.

 

In 1861 there were just 341 Jews living in Ireland, but by the turn of the twentieth century the population had risen to over 3,000. In 1901, the largest Jewish populations were in Dublin (2,048), Belfast (708), Cork (359) and Limerick (171).

This autumn, Cork celebrates the Jewish community in the Cork Festival of Jewish Culture, October 18 – 19, 2008. If you are interested in the history of the Jewish community in Ireland, don’t miss out on the screening of ‘Shalom Ireland’.

In the documentary ‘Shalom Ireland’, director Valerie Lapin Ganley reveals Ireland’s remarkable, yet little known Jewish community. ‘Shalom Ireland’ chronicles the history of Irish Jewry while celebrating the unique culture created by blending Irish and Jewish traditions. From gun running for the Irish Republican Army during Ireland’s War of Independence to smuggling fellow Jews escaping from the Holocaust into Palestine, ‘Shalom Ireland’ tells the untold story of how Irish Jews participated in the creation of both Ireland and Israel.

The following events take place in Main Restaurant and Boole Lecture Theatre 1, University College Cork.

Saturday,October 18th
7:00-7:15pm Opening of the Cork Festival of Jewish Culture
7:15-8:15pm Klezmer dance & Yiddish song workshop led by Vivi Lachs (London), with the accompaniment by the Klezmer Klub (London)
8:30-9:45pm Concert by the Klezmer Klub (London)
10:00-11:30pm Concert by the Fireflies (klezmer band based in South West Ireland)

Sunday,October 19
4:00-4:45pm Lecture by Professor Dermot Keogh from the UCC History Department on the history of the Jewish community in Cork
5:00-6:00pm Screening of “Shalom Ireland” - a documentary film on the history of the Jewish community in Ireland
6:00-6:30pm Break & refreshments
6:30-7:30pm Concert by the Festival Ensemble
8:00- 9:30pm Concert by the North Strand Klezmer Band (Dublin)
10:00-11:30pm Concert by Yurodny (Dublin)

The Festival will be held under the patronage of the Lord Mayor of Cork, Brian Bermingham and the President of University College Cork, Dr. Michael Murphy.
Concert tickets: €10/ €15.
For further information contact: corkjewishfestival@gmail.com or 086 3037623

In 1822, the British Parliament agreed to spend £30,000 to finance the emigration of poor Irish families to Canada.  Peter Robinson, a politician from Toronto was put in charge of the scheme.

Over 50,000 people applied to take part in this government-assisted scheme which saw two groups of emigrants travelling from Cork and Kerry to Ontario.  The first group of over five hundred emigrants arrived in 1823, while a second group followed them in 1825. 

You can find out more about the scheme by viewing an online exhibition:The Robinson Emigration to Canada on the Peterborough Centenial Museum and Archives website.

Interested to find out who was on the ships?  The Ships List have transcribed the emigrants’ details into a database.  Access the Ships Lists’ Database of Peter Robinson Settlers.

Between 1892 and1954, over 22 million emigrants, passengers and members of ships crews arrived in the United States through Ellis Island and the Port of New York.

Did you know?
The first person to be processed through Ellis Island was a 15 year-old Irish girl named Annie Moore who arrived on 2nd January 1892.

Lists of all passengers (known as manifests) were kept by the ships companies. These have been transcribed by volunteers and approximately 25 million records are available to search on the Ellis Island website.

The basic search can be performed from the homepage, by entering any of the following pieces of information: first name, last name, approximate year of birth and gender. However, the advanced search is more likely to obtain the best results. When we tested it out, we entered Irish as the nationality to find all Irish passengers of a particular surname. Other advanced filters include marital status, year of arrival, village or town of origin and name of ship. Given the huge number of records in this database, the more information you are able to add to your initial search, the better. That said, if you don’t find what you are looking for first time round, you can always broaden the search out slightly by using fewer parameters.

 You should note that information was transcribed as shown in the original document, so words may not be spelled in the standard way e.g. Caven instead of Cavan, or Magennis instead of McGuinness, Jno as short for John. You should therefore search on all possible variations of a name or place to ensure you don’t miss an important record. If you notice a transcription error you are asked to inform Ellis Island so they can make corrections.

Once you have entered the parameters, click on Search and your results will appear in a few seconds. You can navigate through the results pages by clicking on arrows at the bottom right hand side of the search results. When you find the name of a person whose record you want to view, simply click on their name and you will be shown a summary passenger record. For further information click on the information above the record e.g. ship manifest, ship, view annotations, create an annotation. You can also purchase a copy of the passenger record or information in the ship manifest.

Given the number of Irish that emigrated to America from Ireland during this period, the Ellis Island database is a valuable website for family historians. As well as the vast number of personal records, there is additional information on the site about the emigrants’ experiences and planning a trip there.

If you use the Ellis Island website at all in your research, then it is worth remembering that all this information is available free of charge thanks to the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, a non-profit organisation. To keep the site up and running they rely on contributions. Find out how to make a donation to the Ellis Island Foundation.

Have you found any of your Irish ancestors using the Ellis Island site?  Share your stories by adding a comment below.

Did your ancestors move from Ireland to America during the Famine period?

If you think they might have arrived at New York between 1/12/1846 - 12/31/1851, take a look at the free access database “Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine“, hosted by the National Archives of America.

The database, created by The Center for Immigration Research (CIR) at the Balch Institute, includes information on 604,596 persons who arrived in the Port of New York, 1846-1851, and the ships on which they arrived. Approximately 70 percent of the passengers gave Ireland as their home country.

Take a look at the Famine Irish Passenger Record Data File now.