I’m back home to the HEAT after a nice cool trip around Ireland. Here are a few notes about our trip.
So on Sunday the group arrived in Dublin and we met for a quick bite before some of us decided to take a Historical Walking tour. We met our young guide, a graduate of Trinity College, in front of the main
entrance of Trinity College. This is of course a university plus it houses the Book of Kells. This is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with 
various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks’ ca. 800 or slightly earlier. We did not go in to see the Book as this was a walking tour of Dublin, with a slant on how politics shaped the country. This young man certainly knew his stuff and you can tell he really enjoyed his job. It was a good start to our trip with learning the background of the Irish struggle for independence and a little insight into how and why some records were created or in some cases not created. If I remember correctly it didn’t rain on us! but since the tour centers around downtown Dublin, it was little noisy with lots of buses and people passing by. But it was well worth the 12 Euro for the 2 hour tour. Met the whole group for a quick dinner and early night to get ready for the library.
entrance of Trinity College. This is of course a university plus it houses the Book of Kells. This is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with 
various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks’ ca. 800 or slightly earlier. We did not go in to see the Book as this was a walking tour of Dublin, with a slant on how politics shaped the country. This young man certainly knew his stuff and you can tell he really enjoyed his job. It was a good start to our trip with learning the background of the Irish struggle for independence and a little insight into how and why some records were created or in some cases not created. If I remember correctly it didn’t rain on us! but since the tour centers around downtown Dublin, it was little noisy with lots of buses and people passing by. But it was well worth the 12 Euro for the 2 hour tour. Met the whole group for a quick dinner and early night to get ready for the library.We were literally across the street from the National Library of Dublin, so off we went to meet with Cierra from the Genealogy department who gave us an overview of the resources available. Some of the
things she thought we would be interested in knowing they had were:
things she thought we would be interested in knowing they had were:Catholic Parish Registers (on microfilm) you can see the list of parishes on website (www.nli.ie) There is a little trick to finding the Catholic parish from the Civil parish. I had the name of a town, so then they have some lists of diocese where this town would be in and from that you then look up the Catholic parish in the book “Tracing Your Irish Ancestor’s” by John Grenham. So I got the church name, Sacred Heart and St. Brigid in Kilcullen.
Tithe Applotment Books (on microfilm) – valuation of Ireland by civil parish 1823-38.
Surname Index by county – useful for rare surnames.
Griffiths Valuation – lists every landlord and occupier in Ireland, 1847-64 with acreage and annual valuation. You can access the index online at www.askaboutireland.ie This is where I found one my surnames, Waters living next door to a Dowling, the maiden name of his wife who I had found in a marriage record in the States. This gave me the name of the town (civil parish) that I converted into the Catholic parish.
They also have Trade and Social Directories, newspapers, Estate collections among other things. We also were able to meet with professional genealogists they have on staff. You can show them what you have and they will give you some ideas on what you should try.
So off we went to work, but I am sorry to say my film of Sacred Heart and St. Brigid was so faint I could not read it. My resolution is I got the email address of the Parish and pastor, so I will email them directly.
Tonight we were off to the Abbey Tavern for dinner, a little Irish Music and dancing show. Fun, and I love that even when you come out of the restaurant at 10 pm, it is still light! 