Press Release

Cullen launches Church Records website www.irishgenealogy.ie

Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism this evening (Wednesday 25 November, 2009) launched the website www.irishgenealogy.ie a free search facility for over 1.3 million pre 1900 church birth, marriage and death records.

Hosted by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the website with its new search facility will browse the church records which have been digitised and computerised over time.

The database currently holds 1.3 million church records comprising much of Dublin and Kerry Dioceses. Work has commenced on computerising the remaining available records for Dublin and Kerry and the records for County Carlow with target completion dates in December 2009. Cork City records and records for parishes in South and West Cork are being prepared and will be added next. It is intended to have these elements of the project completed and on the website in 2010.

The Department has worked in co-operation with County Libraries, the board of the former Irish Genealogy Limited (IGL) and local heritage groups in developing the computerised database of Church (Baptism, Marriage and Burial) records available in Ireland.

Speaking this evening in Marsh’s Library, Dublin at the launch of the website, Minister Cullen said: “This launch is an important step in the Church Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths Project. There is much interest in genealogy and in researching family history and the search facility on this site will assist people with links particularly to Kerry and Dublin, in their exploration of records of family history in past generations. The church records preserve details of the baptisms, marriages and burials which took place within a particular parish. The records were usually compiled by the local clergyman. Data on the site can be narrowed down by parish, by name, by address or by the name of other family members such as parents, sponsors or witnesses.”

The Minister added: “In addition to being an important aid to family history and genealogical research the redesigned site will be an attraction for the Irish Diaspora to visit Ireland in search of their roots.” A link to the Discover Ireland website is provided on the site in addition to a ‘visit planning’ section.

Minister Cullen continued: "The National Archives holds the records of the modern Irish state. The National Archives of Ireland established a research partnership with the Library and Archives Canada to facilitate digitisation, indexing and contextualisation of our 1901 and 1911 census records. Over the past number of years they have been making this information available online. The Census website which was launched in 2007 now holds the 1911 Census records for all 32 counties. The 1901 Census material, will be launched online early in 2010. The website has been hugely popular and over 130 million individual visits have been recorded.”

Minister Cullen concluded: "Interest in family and local history is a growing pursuit. I am sure this new website we are launching tonight will be as popular as the Census facility and like the Census website it is free of charge."

For further information see the website: www.irishgenealogy.ie

Issued by Michelle Hoctor 01 6313876/ Colin Toomey 01 6313838