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As promised, here's some
information on a great new book that will help you when you have Irish
ancestors. It's called A genealogists guide to Discovering Your Irish
Ancestors.
Here are just a few of the
strategies you can use to glean the most information from your research:
* Search all known church records for your ancestor for information on
where in Ireland your ancestor was born. Look for birth, baptism, marriage
and burial and death records as well as church minutes, transfer
certificates and death cards. (These are all good ideas for research - no
matter where.)
* Search the records for sponsors (godparents) and witnesses to identify
friends or family members who came from the same place in Ireland.
* If a relative of your ancestor (for example, a brother or sister) joined
a different religion than that of the rest of the family - search that
denomination's records.
* A family member may have been associated with a religious group for a
short time. A short period of involvement with the Quakers or Shakers, for
example, may have been long enough for them to be in church records.
* Always search branches of a denomination to determine which branch your
ancestor belonged to. For Presbyterians, this may include the Reformed
Presbyterian and the Cumberland Presbyterian congregations as well as the
larger denominations. For Baptists, this could include Free-Will Baptists,
"independent" Baptists, American Baptists and Southern Baptists.
* Conduct research to see what churches existed in a community or country
when your ancestor lived there versus what churches are presently located
there. County histories, city directories and church directories can help.
Come to think of it, ALL of
these are good ideas for research - no matter where.
This book will help
genealogists define the challenges particular to Irish family research,
then provides the best strategies to overcome them. You will learn how to
research the many generations of your family and then you will understand
the events that shaped their lives and the rich details of how they lived.
"What opportunities do you
get from picking up this book and reading about Irish genealogy? You will
learn the skills to find out about your family generations, the dates and
places or important events in their lives, how they lived and what
emigrating from Ireland was like," say authors Dwight Radford and Kyle
Betit.
This book answers common
questions like: How far back in time can you expect to trace your family?
How does Protestant Irish research differ from Catholic Irish research?
What's the most efficient way to use archives, libraries and the Internet?
The authors, Dwight Radford
and Kyle J. Betit are widely respected in the field of genealogy as Irish
researchers. For the past six years they have built their reputation
through articles in their highly acclaimed journal, The Irish at Home and
Abroad, as well as other genealogical publications.
This book is available from
Betterway Books, an imprint of F&W Publications. The price is $19.95 with
an ISBN: 1-55870-577-5. Write F&W Publications, Inc., 1507 Dana Ave.,
Cincinnati, OH 45207. Call 513-531-4082.
Folks travel from all over
the world to visit our own Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library. If you are
interested in finding out about your family tree, just come by from 8:30
until 5:30 each Monday through Friday and ask Irene Godwin, Ann Glass and
Catherine Bryant to help you get started.
A family history is the
most precious thing you can leave to your children and grandchildren and
all the future generations of your family. |
