Online Irish Family Name Search

Brent Banta sent an e-mail to notify me of a great site of interest to anyone researching Irish. I looked at the site and I agree with Brent. I was going to write about it until I realized that Brent had already written everything that I was going to describe.

Here is Brent's message:

Dear Dick,

This site is a certified jaw-dropper: http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/gv_family_search_form.php

Not only does it provide surname and place name searches of Griffith's [Valuation], it has townland maps with the tenement numbers and lot boundaries overlaid. (This info is very difficult to locate on Family History Library microfilms.)

For good measure, the townland maps are linked to satellite images and modern highway map overlays!

Best regards,
Brent

Well said! All I can add is that anyone researching Irish ancestors should look at this site now and also add it to your bookmarks for future visits: http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/gv_family_search_form.php

Comments

[Ron Lecours]

I have subscribed to a similar service at www.IrishOrigins.com, but free is much cheaper! This "search" capability is not as robust as the IrishOrigins service (i.e. there is no automatic seach for spelling variations), but the linking of your name "hit" to the OS map is much better with the color-enhanced guidance. This is a great service.

Speaking of Irish research, does anyone know about a good alternative to the ever-expanding Irish Genealogical Online Record Search System (ORS)? This is an all Ireland initiative organised by the Irish Family History Foundation, at http://ifhf.brsgenealogy.com. While I applaud their efforts to tie together the databases of the various genealogy research centers across Ireland, they have a terrible revenue model, where you have to pay for each and every record you want to look at, at 5 euros apiece! There has got to be a better way for them to make money and serve their constituency as well. The time-based subscribtion services of IrishOrigins or Ancestry is a much better model in my opinion.

Does anyone know of better alternatives?

[Kelvin Johnson]

I agree with you entirely regarding your comments on the pricing model of the Irish family History Foundation. I don't know of any better alternatives so I think the best way forward is for people to contact them about their grievances. I did just that a few months ago when they first launched their site, when in fact their prices were Euros 10 per record. They then had a St. Patricks Day promotion at half price of 5 Euros per record supposedly until the end of March this year, but that 'discount' price has been maintained. If enough people point out they won't pay such high prices perhaps they'll realise that they could get much more revenue by having a subscription model like other sites.

Their Email address is info@ifhf.ie

When I contacted them in March they did personally reply in quite some detail so they are definitely aware of the problems.

[Del Ritchhart]

This is a great site for searching Griffith's. Ironically, last week I was searching for an on-line site just for this purpose. The one I found wasn't nearly as user friendly. Great tip!

[Theresa Liewer]

I facilitate the Irish Interest Group for the Iowa Genealogical Society and this is going to be a cause for celebration within the group. I agree that the search function isn't quite as good as Irish Origins but the map feature will be wonderful, provided I can ever get an image to appear. Getting copies of the maps from the Valuation Office in Dublin is frustrating and expensive. This is a marvelous addition to Irish research tools.

[LindaS]

I just tried using the Irish search site for a townland in Co. Derry and there were no maps for the 1850s, and the Google map for 2000 was centered about five miles away from the townland! So, not so great for Northern Ireland as yet!

[Steve]

I think this site is a work in progress. As of right now I don't think it is for use by everyone, just schools in Ireland. I think the address leaks out, they discover that it has, and they change it. Have had access to it off and on for some time. Have it, loose it, someone posts a new address, get it back, then loose it again. This is just my opinion of what is, and has happened.

[W. David Samuelsen]

what a disappointment!

Images and maps are not displaying at all. Just continuing waiting...

[Dick Eastman]

The images and maps display properly here.

[D. Smith]

What is the next step after a surname is found in the Griffith database?

[Sarah]

To be fair, it does have a notice up that it's just a test site. Presumably they're still working on sorting out the images. It's working well for me though!

[Mike Maloney]

The Griffith site is great for showing the occupier listings. I note that the Griffith map that comes up does not always show the correct townland. It shows an adjoining map. It would be great to fix this. The maps are of great quality and I had difficulty in photo copying original maps at the valuation office in Dublin last March.

[Marylee H]

Understanding that this is a test site, I highly suggest that you allow spelling variations of names. It does not recognize one of my family's surname. However, I know the way it was first spelled in Ireland, so I was able to find my gggrandfather's record. This particular map showed up, but for two other family names it does not - just waiting appears - forever!

[Marylee H]

I tried to post my above comments at least a dozen times over the weekend, so I'm glad it finally worked this time! I got copies of the Primary Valuation of Tenements in Salt Lake City two years ago. I took them to Dublin and purchased 3 large colored maps for 12.5 euros each. I personally think they are worth the money! You can also order these on line, but be sure you provide all the important information. The Sheet Number under Pulication Details in the Record Information is the actual number of the Map.
Since I'm familiar with the process, I was able to use this site. So this is an answer to D. Smith's question - After you find your Surname & first name, click on the circle (button) next to it under Details. The Griffiths Valuation Record Information shows up. Then click on the next circle to see the original page from the Primary Valuation of Tenements. Look under the heading Occupiers to find your ancestor. To the left is the reference number that you will look for on the map. (if you can get it to show up after clicking on the circle under Map) The number shows where your ancestor's land/property was located. One of my ancestor's building is still in the village today!

[Annette Code]

For people looking for free Griffith's Valuation the website
www.failteromhat.com has these plus directories 1846&1881 Pigots and Slaters. However, I do have Origins and find it easy to cross references the parishes for the bride and groom. You can also print off one family and check off common Parishes and Townlands on other Griffiths valuation. What folks need next once they have narrowed down their choices to just start with a few parishes - there is very little on-line for free.

The Government in Dublin gave counties grants to start these Genealogical Centers for 'roots tourism', however, the county councils, eg; Wicklow and Wexford then made the records after they were all put into data bases, fee for service. This was against the intent of the grants and an auditor said these records should be collected and put into County Libraries for free access. However, you still would need to visit Ireland. I was looking for Church of Ireland records when I first started out. These are available at the National Library in Dublin but the best place is the parish registers to 1899 from the Church of Ireland Representative Library in Dublin. They are on-line but do NO research it must be done in person. They are also very helpful and the years of their parish collection are given on line.

Catholic records more difficult without the County websites or now BRS as records are kept in home parishes as are CofI after 1899.
There are records at the National Library. Most Catholic Diocese are online now and some clergy have e-mail and some seem to be happy to give a hand for a charge but it is minimal compared
to 'for profit/fee for service'. See www.from-ireland.net for descriptions of division: Diocese,Parishes,townlands,baronies,poor law unions, registration districts etc.

After 1864 you can do research for a small charge at the General Register Office in Dublin, on-line and can use credit cards, they do a 5 yr. look around for under 10E. so no hit and miss as BRS.

The Latter Day Saints website is generally very good, www.familysearch.org with a search, use Ireland, the 1880's census for UK,US and Canada are online there. The new PILOT is also very good "search records', you take your microfilm numbers to your nearest LDS Heritage Center and look up the film, a small charge for photocopying. It was free to bring in film but have read recently there maybe a small charge.

Two other generic websites for all counties:

www.censusfinder.com - United Kingdom+Ireland+county

www.igp-web.com + County (some counties have gravestone inscriptions as well as photo's under archives)

Have fun. I will do lookups for people but generally just point them in the right directions.

Annette Code
'genealogy for fun'