New Search Methodology for Vital Records

This is a description of a new way to present Irish baptismal records, and other vital records, which makes genealogical researching easier, faster, and more complete.

Instead of presenting search results in a list that must be selected and viewed one-at-a-time, as done by IrishGenealogy.ie, Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and other search sites, this method presents a spreadsheet with one row of the spreadsheet for each of the baptisms. Approximately 40 rows can be viewed at a time per page, and there can be any number of pages. For instance, Figure 1 (attached) shows a small portion of the spreadsheet where the baptisms are sorted by Parish, Father Last Name, Father First Name, Mother Last Name, Mother First Name.

Searching by Location using Townland or Street is Now Possible

One of the major advantages of this method is the ability to sort the baptisms by Parish, and Street or Townland Name. Figure 2 (attached) shows the data sorted by Parish, Street, Father Last Name, and Father First Name. Notice the variants of the Street name.

Sorting by Street or Townland provides a way to find family connections through neighbors. It is also possible to sort the entries by year, which gives the ability to see which families lived on that street at different time periods. Variations in spelling for the same street or townland can be sorted together.

Using a combination of sorting techniques can provide a much more complete list of family members when there are errors in spelling due to omissions, poor spelling, poor handwriting, abbreviations, and inaccurate translations from the original documents. It is not unusual to find 15% or more of baptismal records with serious spelling errors.

Testimonial

Here is a testimonial from a person using the baptismal spreadsheet methodology https://tinyurl.com/y8pcn6er for the County Kerry parish of Tuosist.

“To say that this is helpful is truly an understatement!   This cataloguing of Tuosist is absolutely phenomenal.  I can't begin to imagine the time you have spent organizing and compiling it, but this is nothing short of an amazing and very significant contribution to the history of Tuosist.  I have been searching the baptismal listings and listing the info in a notebook, but I haven't gotten to the point of organizing the information and your work is beyond anything I could imagine. The most beneficial part is seeing all the listings for children of Timothy O'Sullivan and Catherine Murphy in Tuosist in the time frame of the 1840s and early 1850s and knowing I'm not missing any of the known possibilities. Please know I am very grateful you were willing to share this with me.”

“Oh my, thank you so much once again.  As you say, the spreadsheet format makes the information so much more searchable and accessible.   It's so much more user-friendly than Irish Genealogy; there's really no comparison.”

Try It

If you would like to evaluate this methodology for some of the Dublin (RC) parishes which have the largest number of baptismal records: St. Andrew, St Catherine, St. Mary Pro, St. Michael-John, St. Michan, and St. Nicolas, send an Email to IrishFamilyGenea@gmail.com. Specify the names, years, and streets/parish you are interested in. A limited number of requests will be considered.

Note that there are many Dublin (RC) baptismal records with omissions in Street addresses, Mother Names, and also Month and Day of baptisms, especially in years prior to the mid-1800s.

Where is this Methodology Available?

Unfortunately, there is no current Internet site offering this methodology for searching Irish vital records.

IrishGenealogy.ie

An offer was made, through the former Minister for Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphries, to the Ireland Cultural Institutions Unit, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, New Road, Killarney, County Kerry, to help them implement this methodology. A first phase of the project was considered, but then dropped due to a lack of funding.

Other Search Sites

No other sites have been contacted. Whichever search services adopt this methodology will have a decisive advantage over other search services in enrolling new users.