All good things must come to an end and today is the last day of research. Some people decided that today was a day to explore Dublin while others were at the Manuscript Reading Room of the Library when it opened. The program comes to a close with a dinner tonight at the Shelbourne Hotel on St. Stephen's Green with John Grenham.
I'd like to share some additional information from the researchers on this trip. I just got an email from Ann Raymont (whose comments I shared yesterday) with the subject: HUGE!!!! breakthrough. I'm looking forward to hearing from her tonight.
Made great find at the National Archives today. I've known for a while that my great-grandmother was born in Gloundine, Co. Cork and that a brother Thomas remained in Ireland. I found land records for Gloundine but there were no Crimmins families there. However, a Thomas Cremin did live on a farm in the neighboring townland, Knockvaddra. Could this be my relative even though the townland's name did not agree with my records? Thomas was succeed by his son Dennis Thomas whose will I read today. He describes himself as "I, Dennis Thomas Cremin of Gloundine, also known as Knockvaddra". Yes! The discrepancy is resolved and they are my relatives. I'm now certain I know exactly where Nora Crimmins was born and raised. Worth the trip. Joan O'Donnell
I had a productive and enjoyable morning at the Representative Church Body Library (RCBL) south of the city in Churchtown. This was my third ½ day there and the staff (Bryan, Jennifer, and Rob) are pleasant, friendly and knowledgeable professionals. I reviewed parish registers for my ancestors as well as near and distant cousins in the west Cork parishes of Ballymodan, Kilbrogan, Ballymoney, and Desertserges. My roots in this area near and west of Bandon town date back to the early 1800s.
My 2nd great grandfather, Isaac McCabe, was a rural schoolmaster, farmer, and scripture reader before, during, and after the Great Famine and Griffith’s Valuation years. He was profiled last year in a book published about Desertserges Parish. My Dublin cousin and I will meet the author next week in rural country and we will tour the ruins of the three-story tower house that was “home” to my family from 1845-1872.
What an amazing feeling to see your first, second, and third great grandparents' proof of life on this earth! My biggest “find” was the baptismal record of my great grandmother whose record I could not find 11 years ago due to a multi-year gap in the NAI microfilm right around the time she was born. This time around I also confirmed many other dates, made some corrections to my records, and added specific citations to volume, page, and record number where it had not been done before. All in all, a successful time working with very dedicated librarians who shared in the excitement when the few patrons present found particularly noteworthy records.
Information about the Library itself:
The RCBL (Church of Ireland) is about a 20-25 minute bus ride on the No. 14 bus to Braemor Park. The facility is located within a short, 5-minute walk on the right just past the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. The RCBL holds original parish registers with some dating back to 1695 for my four parishes of interest. Readers are able to consult the original registers directly – not just a microfilm copy. What an honor and privilege! The pages are ruled into columns and boxes and the entries are quite clearly separated, with the same standard information provided for each entry. The handwritten entries are generally clear, although the ink has faded badly in places. Some volumes are blank pages with the entries written in one after the other, some very close together and the writing is much harder to decipher. Without the prompt of headings, the entries are very brief and limited. The formatted pages on later registers contain more standardized and complete information and are much easier to skim through looking for specific surnames. Dave MacCabe
More tomorrow. If you're thinking about a research trip to Ireland, the information on the 2020 trip has been posted. The maximum number of researchers in 15, although non-researching companions are welcome.
Happy Hunting!