This was mentioned earlier in this newsletter at http://eogn.typepad.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/07/nehgs_members_g.html. Now the New England Historic Genealogical Society has issued an official announcement:
Members of the New England Historic Genealogical Society with Irish roots now have an additional online option to help them explore their heritage. NEHGS and Otherdays.com have teamed up to allow NEHGS members access to the unique content of Otherdays.com at no extra charge.
The new partnership between the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) and Otherdays.com gives all individuals with NEHGS website database privileges access to this valuable online research tool. (The benefit is not available to NEHGS Institutional Members at this time.) NEHGS members who use the NewEnglandAncestors.org website have greatly expanded options by clicking on links to Otherdays.com with no extra charge above their NEHGS membership fee. Otherdays.com normally charges $44 per year for this access. NEHGS membership levels that include database access privileges begin at $75.Anyone with Irish ancestry will find the offerings of Otherdays.com invaluable. The site offers not only a unique set of databases but also collections of maps and photographs and a number of other tools and resources for the Irish researcher. In addition, the site's collections include an archive of general background and historical information.
There are currently over 100 databases on Otherdays.com. The databases include Griffith's Valuation; Placenames of Ireland; census and census substitutes; a variety of directories; newspapers; gravestone inscriptions; vital records; wills and deeds; and land and property records. One new database is added every week.
The centerpiece of the genealogy databases is Griffith's Valuation of Ireland from 1847 to 1864. It is a comprehensive listing of persons who rented land and property throughout the country and is the most complete record of heads of household for Ireland during this period. The database covers all thirty-two counties. Records provide the following information: townland name, Ordnance Survey Map number, plot number, name of land/house holder, immediate lessor, description of holding, acreage, and valuation. The results are linked to images of the actual pages.
Each entry in Griffith's Valuation is linked to the relevant Ordnance Survey Map, showing county, barony, parish and townland boundaries, and the cities, towns, and villages throughout Ireland. These maps are detailed enough to allow one to identify individual houses and other structures.
The Placenames of Ireland database has more than 80,000 place names and covers all towns, villages, townlands, and streets. Each place name is linked to the corresponding entries from Griffith's Valuation and to the relevant Ordnance Survey Map.
A significant number of databases on Otherdays.com are found under the Census and Census Substitutes heading. They include records extracted from city directories; lists of clergy of various denominations in a variety of locales; hospital applications and departures; lists of people in various occupations; and crimes and victims of crimes, to name a few. There are also historical Newspaper databases on the site extracted from three early newspapers-the Belfast Newsletter, 1801; the Freeman's Journal, 1775-1776; and the Dublin Penny Journal, 1832-1836.
The new partnership between the New England Historic Genealogical Society and Otherdays.com offers a remarkable value for combined Internet database access. NEHGS members need to link directly from www.NewEnglandAncestors.org to gain free access to resources at Otherdays.com. Information about NEHGS membership is available by contacting NEHGS at 888-296-3447, or visiting www.NewEnglandAncestors.org/membership.
