Thursday, 14th


December 2017


info@eastcorkjournal.ie


29 Doing The Family Tree – Genealogical Perspectives


by DR ROSARII GRIFFIN Our family has started


doing the family tree. In fact, it came about seren- dipitously when I was in Kerry last year. I was watch- ing my children participate in water sport activities in Castlegregory, when I rang my uncle for an impromp- tu chat. It so happened that he, Fr Gerard, who lives in Tipperary, had been down in Castlegregory the pre- vious week, celebrating an anniversary mass for the deceased parents of some Kerry cousins - cousins I did not know. Whilst on the phone, he insisted I should meet them, as I was ‘only a stone’s throw away from the homestead’. Reluctant- ly, I agreed, though I did not want to be the ‘long lost


cousin from Cork’


suddenly appearing on the doorstep. However, I prob- ably would not be in North Kerry again in the near future, so I agreed to visit. Sighing, I took the direc- tions and ended the call. Although I did not plan on visiting relatives on my hol- idays, I made a promise to my uncle, so I felt I owed him that.


Meeting Relatives After much touring


around, up this lane, down that


this road, over this bo-


reen, and down that link road, I finally met a farmer who led me to my cousin’s house. I decided that


particular house was going to be my final stop off, and failing any further fruitful leads, I was heading back to Killarney. But, this kind farmer laughed saying, ‘Oh, I know exactly whom you mean’, and waving said, ‘follow me’. So I fol- lowed him to a house over the road. A man came out and I introduced myself. Inviting me in, he said, ‘hang on a minute, I’ll call my brother Jim’. The next thing, Jim arrived over. Jim had come back from the UK for his parents’ anni- versary mass. Then, anoth- er brother arrived in, just back from San Francisco for the same mass. Before I knew it, Jim was trawling


back trying to get a grip on our exact kinship – the link with Fr Gerard, my uncle, made it apparent we were indeed blood related, but how exactly was the ques- tion. So, Jim got out a piece of paper and started draw- ing a map of our family tree. Before long, the hours had whiled away as the tree got bigger and bigger with more links made and developed further. It was actually quite fun. It tran- spired we were


actually


second cousins, though his generation seemed a lot older than mine. We de- cided there and then to set up a family tree committee via email to continue this family research, and to get more family members involved. So, that was the start of it!


Family Group The one thing you need


to do a family tree is time. Luckily, Jim had a lot of groundwork done already, and being an engineer, he loved mapping things out. So, he quickly designed a table for each wing of the family to fill out. I enlisted the assistance of another family member (a second cousin I had met by ac- cident when working in Limerick). Ironically, it was again my Uncle Gerald and Uncle Brendan who came to a launch I was hosting, and when they were publicly introduced, she knew instantly she was related to us. It transpired we were second cousins. So, I emailed her to join ‘the family tree committee’. Jim duly sent her a template to fill out her section of the family tree, which she did. It was pertinent that this all was done soon, as the old- er generation were ageing, and vital clues about fam- ily connections, valuable leads, as well as contextu- al and social information would be lost. So the fam- ily tree group formed, and was joined by two others, again from other branches of the larger Griffin family who had been interested in pursing this, and had al- ready begun their research on their wing of the family. So now, it was a matter of pulling it all together.


Genealogy Genealogy is defined as ‘an account of the de- scent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms’. Oth-


@eastcorkjournal / #eastcorkjournal


er words commonly used to describe genealogy, (or synonyms) include, ‘ances- try, lineage, descent, family line, origin, extraction, pa- ternity, birth, background, blood,


breed, pedigress,


stock, strain, roots, blood- line, history, background, origins, heritage, race, dy- nasty’, etc. In fact, there are accredited courses you can follow in the study of genealogy. On these, you learn about where to seek accurate


sources of in-


formation; places and ar- chives to research, ‘go to’ people to ask, and develop an understanding of the difference between reliable and unreliable information sources. For instance, one of the most reliable sourc- es of information is the national census. The Irish census records were recent- ly put online and go back as far as 1911 and 1901. Because


of the burning


of Cork and the civil war, many vital civil records were


destroyed. Howev-


er, as they say, ‘there are many ways to skin a cat’ and so too there are many different sources of histor- ical


information, record


keeping and reliable data sources still available. It’s just knowing where to look.


Sources of Information Primary sources of in- very reli-


formation are


able (i.e. official records obtained from or about your


ancestors) include


the National Census, Civil Registration Records (of marriages, birth and death certificates), etc. Then you have Church records. These also include baptis- mals, marital and death re- cords. Going further back, there are land and estate records. These are consid- ered ‘secondary sources of information’, meaning they are created for other pur- poses. Such sources might include, the Griffith Valua- tion records (now available online) which go back to the 1800s. These records include much information about


Landowner taxes


and tenant farmer rental fees


records are also linked to ‘Tithe


from Estates. These Applotment’ re-


cords. As Ireland became a Free State in 1921, many of these archival records returned to London in 1922 because


they held


important British tax infor- mation. Given the bloody


eastcorkjournal


and violent civil war that ensued in 1922, it is prob- ably best that


the records


did return to England for safe-keeping, rather than been lost in the conflict. In any case, such records can now be accessed on www. ancestry.co.uk . Other state documents can be researched at


the Nation-


al Library of Ireland in Dublin. Yet other sources of historical information include: wills and admin- istrations; commerical and social directories; newspa- pers; graveyard records and transcriptions; histories of surnames; archival libraries and museums. Finally, the internet is a great source of information, with lots of historical records digitised and available


for free, as well as commercially.


So, who am I? While we


only re-


searched the past 100 years or so, Jim and I discov- ered in our initial searches that we have family roots in Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and also Labour! We ap- pear, through our Kerry connections, to be linked with Tom Crean, the great explorer. That means that somewhere along the line, we


are possibly related


to the current Bishop of Cloyne, William Crean. However, despite connec- tions to interesting histor- ical people and events, it is the social context, the human factor, that will be of real interest


storywise.


While our family tree is be- ing developed in sections, we plan


on getting the


contextual story together too – why certain decisions were made, and the social circumstances of the time. Thanks to my Kerry trip, I discovered I have an- other second cousin, Jim’s sister, Helena, living close by. Since unearthing this connection, we have met several


times for coffee,


and family outings with our respective


children.


This connection alone has brought immense satisfac- tion and joy - discovering extended family living so close. I also connected with other Kerry cousins, now living in Dublin, who have since joined ‘the fam- ily


tree committee’. They


have since visited my home and met the family. This is part of the joy of doing the family tree - meeting present descendants as well as discovering descendents


passed on.


Past Turmoils Our story is every Irish


families’ story. It’s of fam- ily emigrations to America, England and beyond. Fam- ily tragedgies, with siblings and offspring lost to TB, pneumonia, tragic acci- dents, stillbirths and more recently, cancer. It will be the legacy of the Great Famine and its impact on the family. It’s the human story of poverty, struggle and survival. More impor- tantly, it’s about climbing out


of relative


on behalf of our branch of the family. Nevertheless, since opting out, I have come across much infor- mation about genealogy. For instance, there was a one day public conference at UCC entitled: ‘Irish Sur- names and Sources: What about


the Evidence and poverty


through skill, guile, educa- tion and training. The seiz- ing and forfeiting of op- portunities. It is a story of marital legacies - for better or for worse. Stories where families struggled to sur- vive against the odds. It is the social construction and circumstances of a clans’ collective past lives.


Political Choices Our collective


history


is underpinned by local, national and internation- al political decisions. Past government


policies have


shaped Ireland vis-à-vis its economic, fiscal and social direction. From the foundation of the state in 1922, to the creation of a Republic of Ireland in 1948/1949, to the cat- apulting of Ireland into modern day commerce when it joined the EEC in 1973. It


is also the story


of the rise and decline of the Catholic Church with- in Irish society, and the social impact of same. It is the story of the fluidity of modern day ‘blended families’, which will create greater complexity for fu- ture geneologists (not that it hadn’t in the past). It is the discovery of family se- crets and betrayals, family successes and failures in an attempt to surmount social and economic pressures to ensure the survival of the next generation, and with it, the family name. That is our story. That is every- one’s story. But each fami- ly’s story is unique and in- dividual, but with common treads of surprise, delight, mystery and intrigue.


The Family Tree and Me Because


straints, I opted out of ‘the family tree


of time con- committee’,


and co-opted my sister in- stead to undertake the task


How to Use it’. I attended part of it and purchased a book entitled: ‘Finding your Ancestors in Kerry’ by Kay Caball (published 2015). But there were also equivalent books for Cork, Galway, Limerick, Clare, Dublin, and other counties. Also present at the confer- ence were representatives from the Cork Genealog- ical Society (which meets as a community group, but does not undertake research). They recom- mended the books: ‘Trac- ing Your Irish Ancestors’ and ‘Tracing your Cork Ancestors’ as well as the following websites: www. familysearch.org; www. nationalarchives.ie and www.irishgenealogy.ie Interestingly, there was a lady advertising storage products that can protect valuable


historical collec-


tions of documents, letters, photographs or charts in acid free albums, etc. This is something one may not necessarily think about when compiling one’s tree – how to organise, store and protect any material collected, particularly if it is valuable.


Final thoughts Well, whether you un-


cover convicts, celebrities, or just unsung heroes in your family tree, I hope you have fun in undertak- ing the task. It will require time, patience and inter- est but will be worth it in the end. It is particularly important to undertake it while the older generation are still with us. In the end, the research should be cel- ebrated by a ‘launch’ of your family tree - bringing remaining clan together to celebrate


their


history of family survival! Certainly that is what we plan to do when the work is concluded. We will cele- brate our collective surviv- al, genealogy and heritage. Contact: Rosarii at info@ eastcorkjournal.ie or @ rosarii_griffin.


PS Places to Research If you are


interested Tel: 021 463 8000 • Email: info@eastcorkjournal.ie • Web: www.eastcorkjournal.ie


in researching your fami- ly history, a good starting point might be to join the ‘Genealogical Society of Ireland’. Other key web- sites include: www.find- mypast.ie; www.irishge- nealogy.ie; while www. rootsireland.ie is a com- merical site that can assist you discover your past. Local Cork records can be got from www.corkpa- standpresent.ie or from visiting the Cork County Library in person or on- line: www.corkarchives. ie and www.corkcoco.ie/ library. Sometimes Parish records, although digitised, may be difficult to read be- cause of the handwriting. Therefore, you may need to engage a genealogical expert, especially if


older


records are in Irish or old Irish. Other archival re- cords include: Street and Trade


directories which


can date as far back from 1723. Older ‘Publican House’ licence holders re- cords reverted to London in 1922 and can also be found on www.ancestry. co.uk. Most towns have a local historical or arche- logical society of interest to join. Lastly, UCC runs a Diploma in Genealogy course for those wishing to gain a more indepth under- standing with a wide range of experts. This course also includes interesting outings and field trips.


Military History Records Lest one forgets, military


records can be an excellent treasure trove of historical material and are typcially well preserved. As we have just celebrated the cente- nary of the 1916 Rising, many military records are widely available


online:


www.letters1916.ie and www.1916.irishnewsa- rchive.com. Military re- cords can provide information about relatives who fought


collective


useful past in


World War I and in World War II and other wars and peacekeeping activi- ties, including the recently acknolwedged ‘Seige


of


Jadotville’ in the Congo (DRC) in the 1950s. Mili- tary records can be found at: www.militaryachives. ie


and www.bureauof-


militaryhistory.ie That’s all for now Folks! Good luck and happy research- ing your family tree!!! And Merry Christmas to one and all!


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