When the 1911 census became fully available online just a few weeks ago, it received a whopping four and a half million hits in the first 48 hours
TRACING YOUR family tree, like decent coffee and big cars, used to be something reserved for Americans. However, it seems that over the last few decades, people in Ireland have been digging up their roots and when the entire 1911 census became available online a few weeks ago, it received 4.5 million hits in the first 48 hours. Millions more have visited it since.
Paul Gorry, a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland who also works at the National Archives, has been a genealogist for 30 years, and says that while there have long been family history societies and other genealogical groups in Ireland, he has witnessed a sharp rise in Irish people of all ages who want to trace their roots over the last 15 years.
But why? We’re so far removed from our ancestry now, says Gorry. In the past, families tended to stay in the same townland (or at least county) for generations, ensuring few people’s roots were a mystery. And when migration to the city started, the connection to rural family was still strong. “Now, however, there’s a generation beyond that one and they don’t have any personal contact with their place of origin.”
Gorry also suggests that with early retirement, genealogy has become popular as a hobby. And the TV series Who Do You Think You Are?in which well-known people trace their family trees, may also have prompted interest. Perhaps we're also now so far removed from our painful past – from the Famine to the Civil War – that we can look back with interest rather than fear.
Léan Ní Chuilleanain’s family history – her grand- mother, the novelist Eilis Dillon, was the niece of 1916 signatory Joseph Mary Plunkett – was such a weighty issue that she felt “quite oppressed by it growing up”. But she wonders whether today’s affluent Ireland is less burdened by the past. “It might be post-Celtic Tiger thing,” she says. “Now we have a right to cappuccinos, pavement cafés and genealogy!”
But it’s the 1911 census that has really got people going. Until the census went online, anyone interested in family history had to make the effort to go to the National Archives in person – difficult for those outside Dublin, and not necessarily easy even for city-dwellers. “I love local history and I’d wondered about my family, but I couldn’t get to
the archives to investigate because of my working hours,” says Dubliner Cathy Sissons.
But when the census went online, suddenly everyone who had idly wondered about their family history had an easy way of doing a little investigating. “It has created a whole new audience,” says Catriona Crowe, senior archivist at the National Archives. “Some of my colleagues were slightly fearful about putting stuff online because they thought it would decrease visitor numbers but it has done the opposite.” Other government censuses around the world have been put online but the 1911 Irish census is the only one that is free to access.
Free access to this information is important to Crowe.
“With our terrible archival history I think we owe it to ourselves and the disapora to make it free, and the internet is a wonderful way to do it.”
Ah, yes. Our terrible archival history. In 1922, the Public Records Office in the Four Courts was blown up and its priceless contents destroyed. Ireland’s 1821 census was the earliest modern census in the English-speaking world – it is one of several 19th-century Irish censuses that are gone forever. This has made it much more difficult to trace some families. However, contrary to popular belief, birth and marriage records were not housed there and can still be obtained in the General Register Office (GRO).
The National Archives employs professional genealogists who provide free advice that will enable anyone to trace their family as far back as possible. When the 1901 census hits the net, hopefully later this year, basic research will be even easier.
RTÉ's Charlie Bird had never had a great desire to uncover his roots until he took part in Who Do You Think You Are?But he's glad he did. "My advice to anybody is go and do it. It gives me an understanding of where I come from warts and all."
Bird discovered his English great-grandfather was a bigamist and his great-great-great- grandfather had fought under Nelson at the Battle of the Nile. “No one in the family knew about that,” he says.
Uncovering family history can be a hugely rewarding experience. Kate Murphy began working on the history of her family shortly after the Dublin census went online. She has discovered great satisfaction in uncovering information in old records. “It never gets boring.” For Murphy, her research has been a reminder of how subjective our image of the past can be.
“I’ve found a picture of how the Irish lived that’s at odds with the [official version]. For example, I found lots of women working. I had an ancestor who lived in Ballsbridge and worked in factories with her three children in the 1830s. She was interviewed by a commission on child employment. Working was the norm for working-class mothers but that’s not what you hear about. History is all middle class.”
And Ireland’s middle class was, until quite recently, tiny, which is why relatively few Irish people had family records of their own. But the census brings every family to the fore. “I think it’s a great levelling exercise,” says Catriona Crowe. “Most of us do come from very poor backgrounds. And we should be celebrating the fact that our forebears had resilience.
“We should get rid of any shame that ancestors lived in tenements – we should be proud they survived. And as family history becomes more mainstream, more and more of us will be making that connection with our pasts. I know it’s a success when I overhear people talking about the census in the pub,” laughs Crowe. “It’s history for the people – I love it.”
Where To Start Your Search
Your parents’ dates of birth can often be enough to set you off on your search of your family tree. Equipped with these, it’s then worth making a personal visit to the genealogists at the National Archives who will advise you on the next steps to take.
This might include looking up marriage or birth certificates. You can, strangely enough, search Ireland’s civil registration indexes from 1845 to 1958 on the international Mormon-run website familysearch.org; the documents themselves can only be viewed at the General Register Office (GRO) archive on Abbey Street, at a cost of €4 per document.
Catholic Church records of marriage and baptism are archived at the National Library, as are land valuation records, which can provide crucial information about 19th-century families. Church of Ireland records are housed at the Representative Church Body Library in Churchtown, Dublin.
USEFUL WEBSITES
The 1911 Census:census.nationalarchives.ie
General Register Office:groireland.ie
Family Search:familysearch.org
The National Library of Ireland:nli.ie
Church of Ireland Representative Church Body Library: ireland.anglican.org