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The
purpose of this website is to to provide a research
tool for anyone interested in researching their ancestors
in Ireland paricularly within that part of Ulster
covered by the County of Londonderry and the adjoining
parts of Co. Antrim [North & Mid Antrim]- see
map
of area covered. The website also tends to concentrate
on the period covering the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries - read
more.
In
the top menu there is a link to Administrative
Divisions in the top menu that provides details
of the location and extent of the Baronies, Parishes,
Poor Law Unions, DEDs, etc. within Co. Londonderry
and North and Mid Antrim from the seventeenth to the
early twentieth centuries - plus databases containing
details of the administrative divisions for each individual
townland within this area.
The
key link in the top menu is the Sources
link where you will find pages covering Births, Death
& Marriages, Census Records, Valuation Records
and Other Records. As well as explanatory/background
papers, maps and databases that I have prepared, there
are links to, what I think, are the most relevant
websites on the worldwide web.
One
source, Census Records, generates so many links that
these are to be found in the right and left-hand menus.
Only the 1901/1911 and 1851 Census Records are proper
censuses. Both of these are now online. The other
links are to what are generally known as census substitutes.
I have created databases from these census substitutes
using standardised surnames which make it easier to
search for an ancestor - read
more. These databases, when used in conjunction
with the 1901/1911 online census will allow you to
identify where particular names are to be found within
this general area at various times from the seventeenth
to the early twentieth century
The
Case Studies link in the top menu provide
working examples of the process of researching families
and localities in North Antrim and Co. Londonderry,
particularly in the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. Further examples can be found on my CD
ROM: RESEARCHING
DERRY & LONDONDERRY ANCESTORS: A practical
guide for the family and local historian
which covers the entire county of Londonderry
- click
here for more details of the CD. By way of example,
I have included three case studies of families from
the CD.
At
the Further Reading link in the top
menu you will find a bibliography of books and publications
[both hard copy and electronic] relevant to the study
of Family and Local History and a list of useful addresses.
Note that The Gelvin Historical Society, Dungiven
have published a new book GELVIN: the Home Place.
For more details click
here.
Most
of the records on this web site, and indeed on the
CD, have been sourced from the Public Record Office
(PRONI), Belfast
and are reproduced with the kind permission of the
Deputy Keeper of Records, Public Record Office of
Northern Ireland. As before, feel free to contact
me if you see any glaring mistakes or omissions on
the site or you think I have got a surname or a townland
name wrong in any of the databases.
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