Irish Records Online

{Jim K., Editor: Below are excerpts from an article that was posted on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter. Links and citations are provided to allow access to the complete article.} The following information is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at < http://www.eogn.com >. (Published 26 February 2012)

findmypast.ie Announces 1.2 million Irish Petty Session Records Now Searchable Online

The following announcement was written by http://www.findmypast.ie:
findmypast.ie, the Irish family history website, has launched the Petty Sessions Order Books (1850-1910) online for the first time, one of the greatest untapped resources for those tracing their Irish roots.

The original Petty Sessions records are held at the National Archives of Ireland were scanned by Family Search and have now been transcribed and made fully searchable by findmypast.ie (http://www.findmypast.ie/). They cover all types of cases, from allowing trespass of cattle to being drunk in charge of an ass and cart. These were the lowest courts in the country who dealt with the vast bulk of legal cases, both civil and criminal. This first batch of entries contains details of 1.2 million cases, with most records giving comprehensive details of the case including: name of complainant, name of defendant, names of witnesses, cause of complaint, details of the judgement, details of a fine if any, and details of a sentence passed down if any. Another 15 million cases are to follow throughout 2012.
This first batch of records is particularly useful for areas of the country for which family history records are notoriously sparse such as Connaught and Donegal.

Ireland - Military Archives

{Jim K., Editor: Below are excerpts from an article that was posted on GeneaNet Newsletter < http://genealogyblog.geneanet.org/ > By Jean-Yves BAXTER. Published 4 January 2012. Links and citations are provided to allow access to the complete article.}

Ireland's Military Archives go online

Ireland's Military Archives are available online for the first time. The Archives, which are held in Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines in Dublin, can now be accessed via a new website - http://www.militaryarchives.ie.

The site has been launched in conjunction with the National Archives of Ireland, and is designed to appeal to historians, genealogists and members of the public researching their family tree.

Cousins and British Newspapers

(Jim K., Editor: Below are excerpts from two articles that were posted on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter.

The following information is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at: http://www.eogn.com. (Published 01 December 2011) (Accessed 02 December 2011)

http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2011/12/what-is-second-cousin-once-removed.html

What Is "Second Cousin Once Removed?"

A term often found in genealogy is "removed," specifically when referring to family relationships. Indeed, almost everyone has heard of a "second cousin once removed," but many people cannot explain that relationship. Of course, a person might be more than once removed, as in third cousin, four times removed.
In short, the definition of cousins is two people who share a common ancestor. Here are a few definitions of cousin relationships:First Cousin: Your first cousins are the people in your family who have at least one of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.Second Cousin: Your second cousins are the people in your family who share the same great-grandparent with you.Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cousins: Your third cousins share at least one great-great-grandparent, fourth cousins share a great-great-great-grandparent, and so on.Removed: When the word "removed" is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations. "Once removed" indicates a difference of one generation, "twice removed" indicates a difference of two generations, and so forth.

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British Newspaper Archive is Now Online

I have written before about plans by the British Newspaper Archive to digitize 40 million news pages from its vast 750 million page collection of old newspapers. You can read one of my earlier articles about the plans at http://goo.gl/LpQYW
Now the collection is online at: http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/
To be sure, not all 750 million pages are online just yet. However, thousands of pages are being added daily. If you do not find what you want today, you might return in a few months to search again. The British Newspaper Archive is a partnership between the British Library and brightsolid online publishing to digitise up to 40 million newspaper pages from the British Library's vast collection over the next 10 years.

Historic American Newspapers { a great collection ! }

{ Jim K., Editor: We have mentioned the Chronicling America project in past articles. Since this digitized newspaper project is expanding continually, it should be check frequently for additions. The search engine is strong, and the print feature includes full citations. A good research website ! The following is extracted and abridged from the website. Accessed October 2011. }

“Search America's historic newspapers pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.”

Access to the website: < http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers/ >.

Online "Historical U.S. County Boundaries"

Free new online Historical U.S. County Boundary maps. Very useful when trying to determine where the ancestors lived. Check out this service at: < http://randymajors.com/p/maps.html >.

"Old San Francisco Pictures Online"

(Jim K., Editor: Below are excerpts from an article that was posted on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter. The article contains interesting information regarding digitized photo collections. Links are provided to allow access to the complete article.)

The following information is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com. (Accessed 15 October 2011)

"Old San Francisco Pictures Online

If you or your ancestors ever lived in San Francisco, don't visit this site! It is addictive. You'll spend hours looking at the pictures!
Dan Vanderkam moved to San Francisco in 2007 to work at Google. He became fascinated with his new city’s history and soon found the San Francisco Public Library’s online repository of old pictures. However, he quickly became frustrated by the site's awkward user interface. He thought, 'there must be a better way.' http://www.oldsf.org/ is the result. …”

Irish Family History

{Jim K., Editor: Below are excerpts from a press release that was posted on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter. The article contains information about Irish research via findmypast.ie. Links are provided to allow access to the complete article.} The following information is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com. (Accessed 26 September 2011)
September 25, 2011
findmypast.ie Launches Online Irish Family History Forums

The following announcement was written by http://www.findmypast.ie/:
“findmypast.ie has announced the launch of one of the first online forums solely dedicated to those researching their Irish family history. The forum is an online community for the Irish diaspora to discuss everything from researching Irish family history and Irish geography, to success stories and what it means to be Irish. Free to all registered users, it represents the findmypast family's first foray into community based chat.

Recognising the inherent difficulties involved in looking for Irish ancestors, the forum gives amateur and professional family historians alike the opportunity to ask their questions to like-minded researchers across the globe. This will enable members to benefit from the experience gained from those who have previously hit brick walls in their research and overcome them.”