Friday 18 January 2013

FindmyPast launches Irish BMD indexes

Apparently FindmyPast is creating a worldwide Irish family history day next week, but of more importance is news of what appears to be another platform for the Irish civil BMD indexes. Here's the announcement:

From FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

Findmypast.co.uk announces inaugural Irish Family History Day and launches 21 million new Birth, Marriage and Death Records

- Over 60 million historical Irish records now available as part of a world subscription -

18 January 2013 – Family History website findmypast.co.uk will be supporting its sister site findmypast.ie in celebrating the inaugural Irish Family History Day on Thursday 24 January by launching 21 million Irish Birth, Marriage and Death records online. The records covering the island of Ireland from the 1840s right up to the 1950s will be available as part of a World subscription at www.findmypast.co.uk. On Irish Family History Day the 20 million people of Irish extraction currently living in the UK will be encouraged to learn more about their Irish roots with this new resource.

Debra Chatfield of findmypast.co.uk, said: “The addition of 21 million new birth, marriage and death records to our website on Irish Family History Day means we will have more than 60 million Irish records on our website – including census and parish records – enabling people to discover their Irish past, no matter where they are in the world. There has never been a better time for people to explore and discover the lives of their Irish ancestors.“

Findmypast.co.uk carries the most detailed and thorough collection of Irish records ever seen in one place through the World subscription – providing a fascinating insight into Ireland’s history and making Irish family research easier and more accessible than ever before. The World subscription also includes records from the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Irish Family History Day will also be celebrated in other countries around the world, including the USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand, who will also be able to access these records available through their respective findmypast sites

www.findmypast.com
www.findmypast.ie
www.findmypast.com.au


COMMENT: Every day in my house is Irish family history day - I was at a funeral yesterday in Belfast, and learned more about an uncle from a cousin of mine than I had ever learned before, as well as about my aunt who had passed away.

At a guess these are the Irish civil BMD indexes already available from 1845-1958 via both FamilySearch and Ancestry.co.uk. If so it will likely have the same caveats that the records cover the Republic from 1845-1958, but for the north mainly from 1845-1921 - until the thing is online we won't really know.

One thing Ancestry does with its presentation of the collection is allow for a possible identification for a spouse to a marriage, which FamilySearch does not allow easily. If FindmyPast has created a fully searchable database that allows for a search with two spouses - as with its English and Welsh records - this will certainly be something to celebrate. If not, it will still be another useful online platform, but just one of three offering the same thing. Looking forward to seeing how it is presented.

(With thanks to Myko Clellan at FindmyPast)

UPDATE: The indexes are in fact live on FindmyPast Ireland and FindmyPast.com in the US. As hoped, the collection is searchable with a second name, in the What Else box. There are pages outlining more about the records as follows:

Births www.findmypast.ie/articles/world-records/full-list-of-the-irish-family-history-records/life-events-birth-marriage-death/ireland-births-1864---1958

Marriages www.findmypast.ie/articles/world-records/full-list-of-the-irish-family-history-records/life-events-birth-marriage-death/ireland-marriages-1845---1958

Deaths www.findmypast.ie/articles/world-records/full-list-of-the-irish-family-history-records/life-events-birth-marriage-death/ireland-deaths-1864---1958

These pages essentially state the holdings to be as follows:

Births and Deaths
1864 – 1921, all 32 counties in Ireland
1922 – 1958, 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland

Marriages
1845 – 1863, all non-Catholic Marriages, 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland
1864 – 1921, all marriages in all 32 counties in Ireland
1922 – 1958, all marriages in 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland

This would seem to suggest that Northern Irish marriages from 1845-1863 are missing, but I've just done a few test searches and they do seem to be there, so not sure if this is just a typo. A useful addition.

UPDATE 20 Jan: Thanks to FindmyPast Ireland for correcting the coverage for its marriage indexes in its 'about' section - it does indeed cover all 32 counties from 1845-1921. Also see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/free-access-to-irish-bmd-indexes-on.html for news of free access to the collection on January 24th.

Chris

Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit  http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.

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