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  • irish heritage centres

    i've been in contact with the co. clare heritage centre, and they say it will be the standard 195 euro, to research my family history. this is 342 australian dollars.

    the thing is, the research they're likely to find, will not need more time and reseach, so this is the cost, total.

    the things they will probably give me are parish records, griffiths valuations, etc.
    my family left ireland around 1853, so there wont be much information on them. 342 dollars is a lot. are they ripping me off? or can i find records for clare somewhere else?

  • #2
    Have you looked at the Clare links in the Wiki: County Clare - Family Tree Forum

    Clare Library has quite a few records online: Genealogy

    You can search Griffith's Valuation free here: Griffiths Valuation
    Sarah

    Comment


    • #3
      are they ripping me off?

      In a word..yes! Well that's just my opinion, but yes I think so. I also had the same experience of the Irish geneaology centres. I honestly think because of the large Irish-American diaspora they are set up for the wealthy customer, miles away, without the time or inclination to do their own research, and happy to pay whatever they are asked for.

      My experience was I asked for a baptism look up, they charged 14 pounds (double what you'd pay for a cert so pricey to start with) That's all and well, but they made it clear there were more to the couple in the register and they wanted to charge me a further 14 pounds per look up. Eventually I found out the LDS had filmed their registers (wish I knew that before). A kind gentleman transcribed them from the Latin and gave me all the info I wanted for free...but here's what really annoyed me the baptism of my 5xgreat granny they had charged me 14 pounds for had lots more info, place, god parents, which they hadn't even been bothered to transcribe for that 14 pounds I paid...very very shoddy service in my opinion. I'd therefore be highly sceptical at the service you could expect to receive if you did pay the princely sum they are asking for. Certainly explore all other avenues open to you first.

      Comment


      • #4
        thanx, the griffiths link was great.

        but im having trouble interpreting this:

        Griffiths Valuation

        can someone help?

        Comment


        • #5
          here's a sample of wat they'll send me


          Sample Family History Report

          Comment


          • #6
            i've checked on the lds site, i cant find my ancestors. richard, wat time was ur ancestry living in?

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by kylejustin View Post
              thanx, the griffiths link was great.

              but im having trouble interpreting this:

              Griffiths Valuation

              can someone help?
              As it says above the results table, you can click on the icons for more information:
              Click the details icon to see all the details of that valuation record.
              Click the page icon to see a scan of the original document page.
              Click the map icon to see a Griffith's Valuation map


              You can zoom in on the map to see where the tenant was living. The map reference is shown on the Details page, and can also be found under the map itself. You may need to scroll down with your arrow keys to get to where it shows the number.
              Last edited by Cloggie; 29-09-08, 10:18.
              Sarah

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              • #8
                Griffiths Valuation:
                Catherine Dwyer was renting a property (garden, land, "waste of houses etc" and I think it says "Hostell"? with shared yard) in the parish of Kilfintanan, townland West Ballyliddan, town Sixmilebridge, County Clare, from John A. Levers.
                She was also letting a property (house and garden) in the same place to William Regan and a garden to Lewis Hamilton (interesting name!)
                Last edited by KiteRunner; 29-09-08, 10:18.
                KiteRunner

                Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

                Comment


                • #9
                  I contacted North Tipperary Centre because i can see my G Grandfathers Baptism on thier genealogy online search site, due to me not wanting to use cards, i asked them if i could pay by cheque, they said i can and it will cost me £10.

                  Not too sure about the info i will get - will this worth it please ?
                  Jacky

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    That sample report looks pretty amateurish, doesn't it? For instance, for the money they are asking you would expect them to know that there is no such thing as "Puerperat Fever" but it is "Puerperal Fever" and you would hope they would put a short explanation of what it means in brackets afterwards! As for all those "sentences" they begin with "While" which say who registered each death, it would drive me mad reading them, but I suppose it would give you the information. At least it looks as if they would provide copies of the actual certificates etc so you could ignore their report and write your own!
                    KiteRunner

                    Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
                    (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Tilly Mint View Post
                      I contacted North Tipperary Centre because i can see my G Grandfathers Baptism on thier genealogy online search site, due to me not wanting to use cards, i asked them if i could pay by cheque, they said i can and it will cost me £10.

                      Not too sure about the info i will get - will this worth it please ?
                      That seems an awful lot compared to the €5 they charge for a single record online (which I think is already expensive). As for what information you will receive, I think it can vary from parish to parish. Most of the baptisms I have for County Down give the date, church, parents' names and godparents' names (no occupations or addresses) and the name of the priest. I've been lucky to find a few that also include a note by the priest stating who the person later married.

                      You can see sample records for North Tipperary here: http://tipperarynorth.brsgenealogy.c...u=showdatabase
                      Last edited by Cloggie; 29-09-08, 10:40.
                      Sarah

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Kyle, very few of the Irish parish registers have been transcribed onto the LDS site, though quite a few have been filmed. I think this may be down to the fact the Roman Catholic Church objects to the mormons holding these records, because of the purpose they intend to use them for, and its therefore questionable how they got acces to the records they have filmed in first place.

                        There is a site somewhere which lists all the parish registers that exist for each church and townland, and then who holds copies, usually the genealogy centres, the main repository in Dublin, and if filmed the LDS. If the LDS has filmed it that might be your easiest route as you can order the film from your local LDS centre. I will try and find the site again and post back if/when I have.

                        Jacky, I got an email with the date of baptism, name of parents and church (I paid by card). But as I say when a friend from Liverpool, who also had relatives from same parish, and was transcribing the LDS film of the registers gave me a copy..there was also godparents names, place where the couple lived and the ministers name..all of which the heritage centre apparantly hadn't been bothered to transcribe for me..it also took them nearly two weeks to transcribe the entry and email it to me after the date I paid. I can't say I was too impressed!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I thought it was expensive..........

                          All i know about my G Grandfather is his name and he was born in N Tipperary, he went to India as a young man and never returned back.
                          I have his m cert - he married in India, so i know his fathers name was Martin - no Martins in Tipperary.

                          Thankyou for the link Sarah.
                          Jacky

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Richard

                            If they are actual films of the registers, then I expect there was a bit of clandestine filming going on somewhere!

                            If they are transcribed (I mean if the source document is a transcribed one) then I have heard that well organised teams of researchers do a bit each at different times in order to allay suspicion!

                            I suppose they can charge these prices because there is hardly any alternative - if you want the info, then pay up and this is what we charge.

                            To be fair, many English ROs also make a minimum research fee of £27.50 per hour or part hour.

                            Good luck!

                            OC

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              All the Irish Heritage Sites charge approx £200 to £300 sterling for their reports. And no they will not allow you to look at the records. I was refused access myself. One of the problems is that you have to give them a fair bit of information about your family before they can start as they may well research the wrong family if you have a rather popular Irish name. As far as I am concerned they are rip offs, and aimed very much at an American Market that a few a years back were prepared to pay any price to obtain their Irish Heritage. That Market has apparently dropped away quite dramatically of recent years so they may be trying other ways to tempt peple in. For UK people I would always suggest you do your own research in Ireland but this is much more difficult when you are living in Australia. However one way to try to cut your own cost on this is to join one of your own excellent Family History Societies. These FHS will allow access to you at their own libraries where you may be able to access the Griffiths Valuation and other Irish facilities for free. Have you tried this way before going for the expensive option of the Heriatge Societies? The FHS will give you all the knowledge you will need to access Irish Records from Australia. We belong to the Townsville Queensland FHS and we get so much information from them via e mail, not just on Australian FH but also Irish and UK.

                              Be also warned that the Heritage Societies are notoriously long at getting your information to you. I know someone who waited over two years for info from Tipperary.

                              Please also remember that Griffiths Valuation is best in its full form, rather than just the Index. I had difficuly accessing the map for Clare on the site given above and wonder if that is my own Service Provider blocking access, so maybe that is your problem if you are not able to access the maps? I found Irish Origins better than this particular site for Griffiths because, although it is a pay per view site, they only charge a very small amount. The maps on here are brilliant.

                              Irish Genealogy Search - Irish Origins ancestor records and Ireland maps

                              If your family left in 1853 then you are unlikely to get further back than 1750 and maybe only 1820. It will be all Parish Records as Statutory Records did not start until 1864 except for Protestant marriages of 1845.

                              The earliest records for Co Clare would appear to be about 1816 so you will get nothing before that and as some of the records are 1828 and 1848 you may be paying a lot of money for very little content. This site should clarify for you.



                              It would be in your own interest to find out how far back the Co Clare records go before you make any decision. All counties start at different times. The earliest is about 1750 but Clare was one of the later ones. Can you be sure they stayed in the one area? Clare was hit hard by the famine and as most famine victims were buried in anonymous graves, hundreds at a time, there will be many gaps. Parish records contain just baptism of child to parents but mother's name always given and sponsors' names. Marriages will give names of couple and witnesses but no parents names, no ages and no occupations. The burial records are non existant.

                              My own family are from Tipperary, but they strayed over to Limerick, Kings County, Cork and Kilkenny. Some work on my family was done through the Heritage Society of Tip through an Irish friend but they only did a quarter of the job, as not all the parish records are on these heritage sites. I have found many more records myself that they did not find!

                              Janet
                              Last edited by Janet; 29-09-08, 11:41.

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                OC

                                The register my friend transcribed for us was a film of the original in Latin, so yes, presumably some clandestine filming had occured somewhere?

                                That's a fair enough point about our record offices, which I suppose do vary greatly in service and price from county to county, and can be pricey. But the significant difference I'd say is at least we can go and do the research ourselves. As you say over there they take the attitude, wrongly in fact, that its their way or no way.

                                True story, I also have another acquaintance, an American fellow, who has ancestors in the same county as mine, who actually flew over to Ireland on one of the cheap flights, and the heritage centre refused point blank to let him do any research himself, they insisted THEY had to do the research no one else was allowed to see the registers and their sources etc, and that he would have to come back in 4 days and pay $750 dollars, the same fee he would have had to pay if he'd stayed in the states and ordered it online or via post, and in fact more than he'd paid on the flight on this occasion he'd got a very good deal! To say he was furious would be an understatement, I understand it was very much a Fawlty Towers 'Waldorf Salad' moment, and a 'frank discussion' of American service values and Irish service values ensued..oh to be a fly on wall!

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  well, my family were all born around 1835, so i know there are only baptisms for them i can get. they were in sixmilebridge for as long as i know,the parents were married there in 1809, and the mother born in 1791.

                                  but all this comes from they're death certs. i dont have a mention of the the father, i think he died before the family emmigrated. thought the mother was the daughter of an innkeeper, so i thought it would be easy to trace.

                                  the history centre said that they had already found records concerning the children in sixmilebridge, and though i hte to say it, it's pretty much my only option, seeing as these are the only records ill get to trace my irish heritage

                                  Comment


                                  • #18
                                    Richard

                                    Yes, I am straining my niceness to the limit by trying to excuse this attitude!

                                    I do remember that it was a fairly common attitude when I first started researching. There was a feeling of "Why do you want to know, and what has it got to do with you, it's private information".

                                    As a young researcher I was viewed with great suspicion and stonewalled in many archives by archivists who felt that documents were THEIR personal possessions and they weren't going to share, unless you were some crusty old Colonel, or some worthy elderly local historian.

                                    That attitude has changed thankfully, and possibly the Irish attitude will change too, in time.

                                    OC

                                    Comment


                                    • #19
                                      OC

                                      I think it is slowly, as Janet says, probably because the supply of easy money from America is starting to dry up. This experience I had was two years ago now, and they have already dropped their prices since then, whether the service itself has improved.. who knows.

                                      Richard

                                      Comment


                                      • #20
                                        The problem with Ireland and research is that you are often left with little option but to use the research services that they provide.

                                        In a way I would not mind so much if I knew that their records were accurate and complete as they can be, as you know they would be if you asked a CRO to research some work for you in the UK. Sadly in Ireland the records that the Heritage Societies have are incomplete. These records were done by the unemployed young people of Ireland back in the early 1980's and done by money given to the Irish people by the EU ie our money, for which we now pay to have them regurgitated back to us at an expensive cost. The records were never and have never been completed, as unemployment amongst the young went down to zilch as here so they charge this expensive amount to gullible customers who feel that they have all the records they need. That does annoy me because they will not come clean and say that the records are incomplete. You can do your own research at a CRO in the UK and I have just come back from Northants CRO laden with many goodies to include Digital photos of docs with seals. It cost me nothing except my B&B in Northampton and petrol to get there.

                                        When I asked to do my own research at the Tip Heritage Centre they refused and wanted my £200 to £300 to do the work for me. It is the lack of choice that infuriates the Irish as well as the rest of the world!

                                        This is the reason that Cork Genealogy Society put so much of their info online and you can join Cork GS for just £10 per year.

                                        Janet

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