Ever wonder why some of those Irish records are so elusive? Just to show you what we are up against, here are a couple of pics from the microfilmed pages of three Roman Catholic parish registers held by the National Library of Ireland.
The first image is from a 1764 register of Donabate, Diocese of Dublin, and is ideally the kind of register you hope to find. The entries are readable with only a little effort required in order to interpret the flourish of the cursive writing. The other images are of pages in two different registers from Aughaval and Kilgeever in the Diocese of Tuam, County Mayo. Each one bears the kind of illegible scribbles, torn pages, and fading entries that give any researcher nightmares. Makes you want to hug a transcriber, doesn't it?
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| An ideal find: Donabate Register April 1764 |
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| At least we know it's Leckanvy baptisms, and it's 1859, and they begin on the opposite page |
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| Sigh! |
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| Double sigh! |
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| Bottom entries decipherable; top ones, not so much. |
Copyright©irisheyesjg2012.
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Makes my eyes water...in more ways than one. And just when I'm about to spring into this phase of my family research. Yeah: sigh.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jacqi, makes my eyes water too. How on earth did you read these? I'd throw in the towel if I had mayo ancestors.
ReplyDeleteAt least the writing is in English. I have been volunteering at the Archives of the Diocese of Pittsburgh for the past year, and honestly I can actually read a lot of it. If it was in Latin it would be another matter altogether.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you do a smashing job deciphering these Jenn. The thing I find maddening is transcribers who think they're good at transcribing, but make a lot of mistakes. The Irish genealogy site is bad for that.
ReplyDeleteAshling
Hi Jacqi, Charlotte, Claudia, and Ashling,
ReplyDeleteThank you to each one of you for your comments. As always, I appreciate receiving them.
After transcribing such documents for many years I have certainly acquired the ability to read them well; however, the condition of them makes the faded and torn records more of a challenge.
Claudia, it's funny you should mention the Latin ones because I actually enjoy transcribing them. It makes me feel as though learning the Latin wasn't a total waste of time.
Ashling, I also find some of the transcriptions on that site frustrating (I think you're referring to the Irishgenealogy.ie site). I contacted them to ask for corrections on a couple of records. For one (written in Latin) the transcriber didn't recognize that the parish priest had a habit of writing the letter 'M' and the letter 'S' with quite a flourish, so the surname 'Moss' was incorrectly transcribed as 'Silvas'.
Cheers to each one of you,
Jennifer
Yes, hug a transcriber today! I've had to read a few of mine that (almost) defy one's ability to see anything (not just Irish), others that can be deciphered with difficulty, and some that are copyplate. It's the ones they left in a wet barn so the pages are black and mouldy that I find the hardest.
ReplyDeleteHi Pauleen,
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing a smile to my face with your comments. I can completely relate to your experience. :):)
Cheers,
Jennifer