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Archiver > ONE-PLACE-STUDY > 2001-07 > 0995920076


From: "Michael Fisher" <>
Subject: Re: [OPS] Aran Islands
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 21:27:56 +0100
References: <10.fe4584e.288d65bb@aol.com>


Were you ever part of the British Isles?
If so I think your in.

Mike in Droitwich WOR


----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: 23 July 2001 12:34
Subject: [OPS] Aran Islands


> Dear All-
> I think I'm here under false pretenses.
> My one-place-study is the Aran Islands in Galway Bay,Ireland.I
didn't realise
> that this was a UK-only site.
> However,19th century Ireland was under British rule ,and I have
several
> English and Scottish names in my records,so please can I stay?
>
> Irish genealogy is quite different from English.(I do both,as I am a
> volunteer at the
> local LDS centre near High Wycombe,Bucks.)
> If you are very lucky,you might trace a relative back to 1820,but
that's
> about it for most people of "peasant stock".Civil Registration
didn't start
> till 1864,compared with 1837 in England ,and because of religious
> persecution, most Catholic parish registers also date from the
second half of
> the century - in Aran ,they begin 1872.
> A great many of the Church of Ireland registers were destroyed in
1922,along
> with most of the census records.
> To compensate for this lack of material,the Irish Government opened
the
> surviving census records -1901 and 1911 - to the public.
> There is also something called Griffith's Valuation,which we
consider our
> Bible.It's an 1855 rating of property throughout Ireland,and gives
the name
> of the head of household for each dwelling,for tax purposes,and was
updated
> periodically until 1930s.
>
> The Aran Islands are very special,historically and geographically.In
the 19th
> century they were remote,bleak and isolated,and unbelievably
poor.There was
> no soil or trees, just granite slabs,sand and seaweed.The islanders
paid
> exorbitant rent to absentee landlords -supporting themselves with
potatoes
> and fishing.They were,and still are, Gaelic speaking.There are
numerous
> historical remains,such as Dun Angus, an immense Iron age fort,and
1st-8th
> century churches and monasteries,all in ruins.Elizabeth I set up a
fort here
> to watch for the Spanish Armada,and apparently anthropological
studies have
> shown that the blood groups of the islanders more closely resemble
London
> than anywhere else in Ireland!!
>
> My mother was born on Aran,hence my initial interest.
> Also ,islands are remarkably self-contained,and there is less
movement than
> on the mainland.Fortunately for me, the 1821 census survived on
Aran -one of
> only a handful throughout Ireland.So I have 3
census,Griffiths,Parish
> records,Civil registration records(I am extracting them year by year
from the
> Dublin records),Tithes and various land records.
>
> Now,the downside!
> Overall,there have been about 400 surnames on record on Aran,mainly
> visitors,coastguards,constabulary officers,fishery and land agents.
> The vast majority of the population share about a dozen surnames and
the same
> number of first names! Everyone is a :
>
>
Flaherty/Faherty/Conneely/Joyce/Hernon/Dirrane/Pole/McDonagh/Griffin.
>
> Patrick/Michael /Martin/John/Bartly/McDara/Thomas/Colman
>
> Bridget/Mary/Catherine/Barbara/Ellen/Honora/Margaret/Anne
>
> Just perm any two of the names and I will give you a list a mile
long.In any
> given generation I will have 20 Martin Flahertys,and 20 Bridget
Conneelys.At
> least 5 of these marry each other.And name their children Martin and
> Bridget,and the whole cycle begins again!
>
> I deal primarily online with Americans searching for their Irish
roots.In
> most families,because of grinding poverty , and then the Potato
famine,only
> the oldest son remained on the islands,and the rest emigrated-
usually to
> Boston or New York.
> They are searching for their gt,gt,grandfather -yes,you guessed it -
Martin
> Flaherty!!!!
> And he married a Bridget - surely you have records?
>
> It's exasperating,and stimulating,and very,very rewarding,when I
finally can
> say -That's YOUR Martin Flaherty!
>
> Hope I haven't gone on too long,and started to bore you,but
genealogy takes
> over,as I'm sure you all know or you wouldn't be on this site.
> What I really hope to learn from you,is how to organise all this
data on to a
> computer.I'm still working off paper.I am transcribing records onto
Excel,
> but they are still just lists. There must be a better database to
link the
> info.together.I am not very computer literate,but I want to be able
to enter
> a name from the census,and be given his birth,marriage,and details
of his
> children and siblings,derived from all the other sources.
> I have been told to use Access,and not to use Access.Has anyone done
anything
> similar ,and can offer advice?
> Look forward to hearing from you
> Regards,Cathy
>
>
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