Catholic Parish Search by Town

Posted on 15 July 2015 by Shane

New option added to allow a search for Catholic Parishes based on a list of towns. see Town > RC Parish Search at the top of the menu.

Coordinates are included in the system for cities and over 500 (1) towns all over Ireland, and allows a search for the nearest parishes and chapels to the selected town as they were in the late 1830s/early 1840s.twn_srch_00

This can be useful if for example for unfamiliar areas on the map or where the exact civil parish for the area of interest has not yet been established, but clues as to possible town or village names are known.

Selecting the ‘search’ button to the right of the results starts the search  for closest parish and chapel search. (note the Yellow search marker can sometimes end up ‘behind’ a chapel marker in the selected town, so may not be immediately visible)twn_srch_02

(1) The list of towns and villages is based on those with a population reported of at least 300 in the 1871 census statistics.

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Kilmore Co. Wexford and the Saltee Islands

Posted on 5 July 2015 by Shane

Details of Kilmore and The Saltee Islands from 2nd Ed. Topographical Directory of Ireland by Samuel Lewis, 2nd Ed., printed 1849.

KILMORE, a parish, in the barony of Bargey union in the county of Wexford, and province of LEINSTER, 9 ½ miles (1) (S. S. W.) from Wexford ; containing 1865 inhabitants. This place is situated on the eastern shore of the Lough formed by the barrow of Ballyteigue, a long a narrow sandbank extending from Ballyteigue for nearly four Irish miles, to the entrance of the lake : the burrow abounds with rabbits, and the lake with a variety of wild fowl. The parish comprises 4233 ¾ statute acres, in partly good grazing-land, but principally under tillage; the soil is fertile, and the system of agriculture has been much improved; with the exception of the burrow, there is neither bog nor waste. Limestone exists on the lands of Ballycross, but has not yet been quarried; an abundance of sea-manure, or tagweed is procured at spring tides and after storms, affording an excellent dressing for the land. Good building stone is found on the townland of Sarcilla. The seats are Ballycros, Ballyharty, Ballyseskin, and Ballyteigue.

kilmore_area_map

Extract from c1838 Map, showing Kilmore area and Saltee Islands (Kilmore Quay is located at Crossfarnogue)

At Crossfarnogue Point is a small pier Continue reading →

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Surname Crossmatch – Variations

Posted on 30 June 2015 by Shane

Added a new Surname Variants search option to the Cross-Reference  Search, which now includes variants of the selected surnames in the search. sname_xref_var2 In the previous version a search for Sullivan and Collins would only have located any parish where exact matches to both the surnames appeared, the ‘Include Surname Variations’ option would also utilize similar surnames in the search such as  OSullivan, Sullivans, Sullivane etc, and Collin, along with misspellings and possible typos such as  Colliins, Sullivn etc.

The surnames variants used in the search can be displayed by ‘hovering’ the mouse pointer over each of the surnames in the column header.

sname_xref_var_disp2

see : Surname Cross-Reference Search

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Map of Griffith Valuation Dates

Posted on 20 June 2015 by Shane
Griffith Valuation Dates

Griffith Valuation Dates

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Round Towers in Ireland – 1838

Posted on 15 June 2015 by Shane

Round Tower at Monasterboice, Co. Louth (c1960)

Table of Round Towers included on the 1838 Society for Diffusion of Useful Knowledge SDUK 1838 map of Ireland. (These are not shown on the map).

Key to ‘state’ column : p – Perfect with conical cap, np – nearly perfect, i – imperfect, s – only the stump. f – foundations only, v – remarkable variety in the construction.

No. Name     (feet)
 State County
1 Aghadoe s Kerry
2 Aghagower Mayo
3 Aghavuller i Kilkenny
4 Annadown f Galway
5 Antrim            …………..95 p Antrim

Continue reading →

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