National Library of Ireland Announces
Launch Date for New Online Genealogy Resource
– Almost
400,000 images of Catholic parish register microfilms to be
available online for
free from 8th July 2015 –
The entire collection of Catholic parish register microfilms held by the National Library of Ireland (NLI) will be made available online –
for free – from 8th July 2015 onwards. On that
date, a dedicated
website
will go live, with
over 390,000 digital images of the
microfilm reels on which the
parish registers are recorded.
The NLI has been working to
digitise the microfilms for over three years under its most ambitious digitisation
programme to date.
The parish register records are considered the single
most important source of information on Irish family history
prior to the 1901 Census.
Dating from the 1740s to the 1880s, they cover 1,091 parishes throughout the island of Ireland, and consist primarily of
baptismal and marriage records.
Commenting today, the NLI’s Ciara Kerrigan, who is managing the digitisation of the parish registers, said: “We
announced initial details of this project last December, and received a hugely enthusiastic
response from people worldwide with an interest in Irish family history. We are delighted to announce that the project has been progressing well,
and we
will be able
to publish all the digitised records online
from 8th July onwards.
“This is the most significant ever genealogy project in the history of the NLI. The microfilms have been available
to visitors to
the NLI since the
1970s. However, their
digitisation means that, for the first time,
anyone who
likes
will be able
to access these registers without
having to travel to Dublin.”
Typically, the parish registers include information such as the dates of baptisms and marriages, and the names of the key people involved, including godparents or witnesses.
The digital images of the registers will be searchable by parish location only, and
will not be
transcribed or indexed by the NLI.
“The images will be in black and white, and will be of the
microfilms of the original registers,” explained Ms. Kerrigan.
“There will not be transcripts or indexes for the images.
However, the nationwide network of local family history centres holds indexes and
transcripts of parish
registers for their local areas. So
those who access
our new online resource will be able to cross-reference the information they uncover,
and identify wider
links and connections to
their
ancestral community by also liaising
with
the relevant local family history
centre.”
The NLI is planning an official launch event for the new online resource on 8th July. Further details will be
available in the coming weeks.
ENDS
Contact:
Martina Quinn / Sarah Harte, DHR Communications, Tel: 01-4200580 / 087-6522033 / 087-9858259
Notes to Editors:
The mission of
the
National Library
of
Ireland is
to
collect, preserve,
promote
and make accessible the
documentary and intellectual record of the life of Ireland and to contribute to the provision of access to the larger
universe of recorded knowledge.
It is open, free of charge, to all those who wish to consult the collections for
material not otherwise available through the public library service or an academic library. The Genealogical
Office, the Office of the Chief Herald in Kildare Street, and the National Photographic Archive in Temple Bar are
all part of the National Library. Further information is available at
www.nli.ie, @NLIreland.
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