Ever have that kind of day when someone suggests that our Irish
forefathers could have been less than truthful?
I've been following a conversation regarding early Irish immigrants
and the information they provided to the authorities. One source
said they were told the Irish tended to try and hide their personal
history from the English. The source went on to explain the English
suppression of about 800 years of Irish folk led the Irish to "fudge"
a little as they tried to keep information away from their English
lords.
Another source, who happens to be a cousin of mine, donated his two
cents worth and explained it was the Anglican Church who persecuted
those who did not belong. Mainly, it was the Presbyterians and the
Catholics who received the brunt force of this. Combined with the
ever recurring potato famines in Ireland, it is no wonder that many
early Irish left Ireland for the lush green lands of the American
colonies where they could practice their religions in freedom.
How does one conduct research in Ireland? We tried several years ago
to hire a local genealogist in County Down, Ireland. We hired one,
gave her the information we had and what we suspected. She took our
money and spit back the information we had provided her. To my
knowledge, there was no research done over there.
Recently, some of the Irish parishes are getting their information
online. My understanding is it can be quite pricey after the initial
index search is completed. If you choose this route, be sure to
verity the counties who have information available as well as the
time span.
I, for one, can't wait for more parishes and more time spans to
become available. I might even be willing to pay the price if only I
can find my early Irish smiling eyes.
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