Family and Local History
[Bill Macafee's Website]

Sources
PRONI
Births, Deaths, & Marriages
Census Records
Valuation Records
Estate Records
Street Directories
School Records
Other Records
Further Reading
 
 
 

Further Reading

In the 1970s and early 1980s there was an upsurge in interest in roots and ancestor tracing. Family History must now be one of the most popular hobbies in the western world. If you go to the you will see the number of branches that now exist throughout Northern Ireland and there are links to sites worldwide. Local history experienced a similar upsurge in the 1960s and 1970s which led to the creation of Local Historical Societies and . Here you will find links to all of the member societies that have web sites.

Some of my publications on Family and Local History

"The Study of the History of a Townland: A Worksheet", Ulster Local Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1976, pp. 15-17. A revised version of this paper was published in Ulster Local Studies, Vol. 9, 1984, pp. 72-74.

"Local Historical Studies of rural areas: methods and sources", Irish Archives Bulletin, Vol. 6, 1976, pp. 4-31. An online copy of this article is hosted on the Aughty.org website at http://www.aughty.org/pdf/localhist_stud_rural.pdf.

"Forttown, County Antrim’, in W. H. Crawford & R. H. Foy (eds.), Townlands in Ulster - Local History Studies, Ulster Historical Foundation in association with the Federation for Ulster Local Studies, Belfast, 1998, pp. 35-65. A copy of this paper can found within the Members Area on the Ulster Historical Foundation website. Note that this book contains a further seven townlands studies [by different authors] relating to Counties Antrim, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone. I think UHF still have some copies of this book at a reduced price.

CD on Researching Derry & Londonderry Ancestors: A practical guide for family and local historians, 2010.

For a fuller list of my publications - click here.

Two recent books of relevance to the Ballymoney and Coleraine Districts.

Dorothy Arthur Ballymoney Graveyard

Diana Kirkpatrick Souvenir of Conflict: A Coleraine Man’s War 1939-1945.

Recent book of relevance to the Dungiven District.

The Gelvin Historical Society, Dungiven have published a new book GELVIN: the Home Place. For more details click here.

Publications and other information on:

North of Ireland Family History Society website.

The Federation for Ulster Local Studies website.

Standard Family History Handbooks for Ireland & Ulster

John Grenham,  Tracing your Irish Ancestors, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1999 (Second Edition).

Brian Mitchell, Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 2002 (Second Edition).

Ian Maxwell (edited by Grace McGrath),  Tracing your Ancestors in Northern Ireland, PRONI, Belfast, 1997. PRONI has a series of free leaflets on Tracing your Family Tree which are available in the Search Room

Ian Maxwell,  Researching Armagh Ancestors: A practical guide for the family and local historian, Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast, 2000.

Ian Maxwell, et.al,  Researching Down Ancestors: A practical guide for the family and local historian, Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast, 2004.

William J. Roulston,  Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600-1800, Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast, 2005.

Three useful books on Local History

Raymond Gillespie and Myrtle Hill, Doing Irish Local History: Pursuit and Practice, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University of Belfast, 1998.

Peter Collins, Pathways to Ulster's Past: Sources and Resources for Local Studies, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University of Belfast, 1998.

Jonathon Bardon, A Guide to Local History sources in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 2000.

Teaching Local History in Schools

Below are two unpublished papers and a bibliography that I wrote some time ago when I was teaching in the University of Ulster. Though now somewhat dated, some of you might find them useful.

Local History Paper, 1980.

Some thoughts on Local History Post NIC, 2003.

Local History Bibliography, 2003.

History PGCE 2013. [PowerPoint file]

Some useful addresses of repositories, etc.

My Databases
c.1860 to c.1930 Griffith's Revision Books
c.1860 Griffith's [Tenement] Valuation
1830s Townland Valuation
1820s/30s Tithe Applotment Books
1831 Census Returns Co. L/Derry
Church Censuses
1803 Agricultural Census, N. Antrim
Eighteenth Century
Seventeenth Century
Copyright 2012 W.Macafee.