Although I haven't yet had the chance of visiting our own National Archives in the States, on Donna Moughty's Dublin adventure in October 2023, I made it to the National Archives of Ireland (NAI)!
DAY 4
While this was my fourth day in Dublin, it was only my second day of research and second repository of the trip, so needless to say, I still had some nerves about me when it came to visiting the archives.
Luckily, we were walking over there as a group (a healthy 17 minute excursion, as Google Maps would claim -- probably a more realistic 20 minutes, especially with crosswalks and traffic lights). However, we only discovered later that one participant in our group had set off on their own before us, hoping to get a head start and not slow us down. We all got worried when they hadn't beat us to the punch, and instead, were missing! Somewhat terrifyingly, they had been given repeated misdirection from locals, pointing them toward the Registry of Deeds rather than the National Archives -- and the two buildings are on the complete opposite side of town from one another. The good news is, in the end, they were safe and accounted for!
Back at the archives, we signed in at the main desk in the lobby and proceeded into their locker rooms to discard our oversized coats and bags. The NAI had the same rules as the NLI where you're only allowed in with your laptop, notebook, and pencils -- no pens or erasers. Everything else must be stored. Oh, and you are, of course, allowed to bring your mobile device.
Also like the National Library, you will require a Reader's Ticket at the National Archives to pass through their doors and check out any material (this can be signed up for online prior to your trip). This is also a "closed-stack" repository, meaning you place a request by way of an order form, and the staff heads into their shelves behind-the-scenes to retrieve the materials for you. There are shelves you can survey on your own, however, they are mostly indexes to do look-ups for the actual books, maps, microfilm, or papers you want to see. There's no leaving the premises with this stuff! You peruse all of the material on-site!
By having Donna as our escort, we once again got the VIP treatment! She had arranged for the NAI's Senior Archivist Brian Donnelly to give us an orientation half an hour before the archives even opened to the general public! These are truly experiences I would have never been able to recreate on my own. I am so thankful.
Brian was a character, to be sure. And boy, did he really know those shelves! He gave us a thorough run-through of all sorts of material the archives had on hand and where each type of index was located on the floor. One attendant in our group learned so much from him, she said, "It was like drinking from a firehose." And she wasn't wrong. I had done plenty of research leading up to this trip to have an idea of what I needed to get from the archives, but even with that knowledge, I was blown away by all of the info we got out of Brian. I don't think I would have been successful in finding anything there had he not given us a talk.
That said, I had a notebook full of record numbers that I needed to know how to use. I attempted at scanning the indexes on the shelves, but was striking out on my first go at it. I solicited Brian's help in determining where I might find "Small Accessions 76."
I had actually emailed the NAI a couple weeks before and asked if there was a better name or call number for this source. They said no, and that I would find it in the public index shelves. Brian saw it on my paper and immediately bee-lined his way over to the corner of the room, shuffled through a couple binders, flipped through about 2 inches of papers, and struck gold. The index he found (in a still very confusing manner to me) had "Small Accessions 76" printed at the top of AT LEAST 200 pages! My eyes kind of bugged out. I had to ask the dumb question, "So, what exactly IS 'accessions'?" He explained it just meant material the archives had retrieved or taken in from elsewhere. In this case, number 76 were papers from a private lawyer. And the pages he had flipped to were all abstracts of the material housed in those private papers -- meaning, I'd need to scan through all 200 or so pages of abstracts right there on the spot to see if any sounded like the actual material would be of interest to me. I was not prepared for this, but I dug in, scanning page by page for any names or places in the abstracts that were relevant to me.
I actually did see a few abstracts that jumped out to me, naming activities amongst the Bowens (the family who owned the land my ancestors farmed on), however, they all appeared to have nothing to do with the area my family lived on -- mostly just transactions taking place around the city of Dublin. I jotted down the call numbers, just for my records (you should always track the research you've done, even if it ends in negative results), and somehow made it through the several hundred pages. And at least I now understood the general process here. You either have an actual call number from material you've found in the Online Catalogue, or, you scan through the indexes and catalogues in person to locate call numbers for material!
Aside from "Small Accessions 76," all of the other material I came for that day, I already had an actual call number for. So I approached their main desk and took a yellow order form slip to fill out. You give them your Reader's Ticket number, name, what number desk you've hunkered down at on the floor, the call number, and also the department or creator that call number relates to. Honestly, I'm still not entirely sure how we would always know this piece, but one example would be the Chief Secretary's Office Registered Papers. Generally, the staff were able to track down the material by the call number alone. Had I known the Creator would be a need on the order form, I would have noted this field from the online catalogue in my Research Log.
I submitted my first request: CALL NUMBER RLFC/3/1/3642. The following is the description for this material in the NAI's online catalogue.
My reasons for retrieving this was because:
1) The town of Kildorrery was the main market town nearby my Keeffe ancestors in the 1800s. They attended Catholic services in Kildorrery Church.
2) I wanted to understand the impact of the potato famine on my ancestors' community, not just the country at large. I wanted to know specifically what they and their neighbors endured during those harsh years.
3) I was hoping some of the discussion in regards to the "threatening...unemployed laborers" might mention one of my ancestors.
4) I knew Lord Mountmorres lived within a short distance of my Keeffe ancestors, also on land owned by the Bowen family, so I had an inkling if he was mentioned, my Keeffes or their other neighbors might be specifically mentioned.
What I didn't know about this record until now (after I've taken this trip to Dublin and seen many more local and original records) was that "Mr. Oliver of Rock Mills" was the only other landed gentry in the area aside from the Bowen men. Had I known that previous to the trip, this would have been the 5th reason to have checked out this document! In any case, there were 4 great reasons already for why I needed to see this first.
I sat back down at my table and stared at my phone....I twiddled my thumbs....I began eavesdropping on other people's conversations....I began inserting myself into other people's conversations....I started prioritizing the other call numbers I had in the order of which I'd like to see next. It didn't take long for me to realize that I had no idea how long I'd have to wait for the staff to go and retrieve the call number I had requested and deliver it back to my table!
I went back up to the desk to ask and they said "It's usually within a half hour depending on how busy they are." My gosh! How naive was I? I had highlighted FORTY call numbers in my research notebook that I considered my MUST-HAVE documents! And I had about another SIXTY non-prioritized call numbers in the wings. If it was going to take up to a half hour for each, then clearly in the 2+ hours I had left at the archives that morning, I wasn't going to see all 40, let alone, all 100.
Wow. This was a giant wake up call. I had truly over-prepared. This was now more of a hindrance than a help, as I had to really buckle down and decide what the absolute most important documents were that I wanted to see that day!
I jumped back in my notebook and began prioritizing my priorities. Then I realized that when the material did get delivered to my table to look through, another precious half hour would easily zap away. So I asked the front desk how many call numbers could we request at a time? He said 3! Oh! So, yes, while you can only LOOK at one folder at a time, you can ORDER three at a time. This way, the staff hunts for all 3 at once, they deliver 1 to you, you search through it, you then return it to their back office, and they immediately hand you folder 2 of 3 that you ordered. Then you repeat the process. Once you've finished looking through 3 of 3, you may place another yellow slip order for 3 additional call numbers.
Due to my time constraints that morning, I didn't get past 3 of 3. However, I also got savvy on a slight hack to the ordering process.
My second call number ordered was: CSO/RP/1834/2656. This material was part of the Chief Secretary's Office papers, and it was organized by year. In this case, the year being 1834. The last directory, 2656, is actually the document number. The document could potentially be a single piece of paper, but usually, it was a very small collection of papers (ex: a series of letters written from a concerned citizen to the government). And those small groupings were typically all filed within a folder containing multiple directories.
This assisted me in a huge way! There were tons of papers I was interested in from particular years, and so long as the final directory number in the call number was close in digits to another document I was seeking, I would be able to see both or many potentially all in one single order! You wouldn't know just how many documents appeared in the same folder until that folder arrived at your desk.
As an example, when my 1st order was fulfilled for RLFC/3/1/3642, I also received RLFC/3/1/3868 in the same folder! I had also been wanting to see this document! It was written by Lord Mountmorres and contained a 'subscription list' of locals. This list included a Meade, who was likely an ancestor of some sort!
While I did not have any breakthrough discoveries concerning specific ancestors, I did find general letters describing the condition of the Keeffes' homeland during the famine years. They were all very sad to read through and really painted a good picture of the conditions my ancestors survived. Some quotes included:
"...unless they get employment or food they should starve or rot..."
"...many of them have pawned all available articles of dress bed clothes..."
"Some of them were heard to say 'it was better for them do something that would cause them to be sent to Gaol as they would then get something to eat."
I would have loved to stay at the NAI the remainder of the day ordering more folders, but their current operating hours consist of shutting down for an hour lunch at 1pm. And I had an appointment across the city at 2pm, so it was time to set out!
In the lobby is where I learned a fun fact about the country's symbol, the harp, from one of my fellow researchers. They were a big Guinness fan and explained the beer company had chosen the harp as its logo long before the Republic of Ireland even became its own country and decided they, too, would like it. Due to the harp being under copyright, Ireland flipped the image in order to use the same symbol (but facing backwards).
A few of us all had an appointment at the Valuation Office (VO) in the afternoon. We took a cab across town, except for the Guinness fan who walked the whole way -- what a trooper!
Since we were running a little early, we decided on lunch at Le Centre-Ville Cafe - Patisserie down the street. This little place did not disappoint, in my opinion. Their food and coffee was great and their service was excellent -- with such friendly staff!
Our window of time at the VO was pre-booked by Donna for 2.5 hours (another thing I didn't have to manage on my own). Their space is very small, so they only allow about 4 or 5 researchers at a time. We filled the place up!
The Valuation Office is known for carrying the "Cancelled Books" (also known as the Revision Books). These are essentially tax lists dating back from the mid 1800s to near-present day of each property throughout Ireland. They gained those names due to the fact that when a property tax payer would die or move away or stop being the person owing the tax, that person would be crossed out (or "cancelled") in the books.
The new tax payer for that property would be written in, typically in a different color ink to signal different years that the revisions were taking place in the books.
If you are able to find your ancestor listed in a townland on Griffith's Valuation, you can then go to the VO and browse that townland's books to see when your ancestor ceased paying taxes on their property. This may indicate your ancestor died or moved away. The person who takes over the tax from that point on the property, may give you clues to more familial relations to the ancestor you're researching!
My main goal coming to the VO was to seek out info on the Keeffe and Meade families around Farahy and Meadstown in County Cork. My hypothesis about my 4th great grandfather Terence Keeffe originally included him vacating his property by 1851. Although I have since confirmed that to be true, I still wanted to include the Cancelled Books as another piece of negative evidence. If Terence was missing from the Cancelled Books after 1851, it would be evidence supporting my hypothesis that he had left the area by that year. However, if Terence were found living and paying taxes on the same property past the year 1851, then that would mean he hadn't yet left the area (let alone come and settle in the States), and I'd have to explain why there was a conflict with my hypothesis.
What I was surprised to learn was that the County Cork books only went back as far as 1855. So there was actually a gap in time between Griffith's Valuation (which was likely surveyed around the Farahy area where my ancestor was from circa 1848) and the Cancelled Books. The VO mentioned that the NAI may be able to fill in some of those gaps with their House and Tenure Books. It's worth looking into in the future!
A nice surprise at the office was that I got to see the original books for County Cork. This is unusual, because they've already scanned and digitized those series. Once a collection has been placed in their digital system, they typically only permit you to conduct research on their local computers. However, being friendly and asking a simple question can go a long way! I asked and they more than happily obliged to let me research in both the originals and on the computer!
I have to say there were pros and cons to each. Using the scans took up way less time. It was super easy to click and load each image, and you could zoom in. This was in contrast to flipping through actual pages of the book in a delicate way due to their age.
I scanned the townland of Farahy for Terence Keeffe and found no trace of him! This was good news, but also expected -- especially since there was at least a 7 year gap between Griffith's Valuation and the start of the Cancelled Book. I also looked for an Ellen Keeffe who had previously lived nearby, and she, too, was missing from the 1855 book. I'm not sure how exactly Ellen might be connected to Terence, but I suspect there is some relationship.
Terence's residence, recorded as Number 15 on Griffith's Valuation in the townland and parish of Farahy, was now home to Cornelius Keeffe in 1855.
This is excellent news! I am quite happy to see another Keeffe on the property, because it gives me another name to research. It's quite likely there was a close kinship between the two men -- possibly brothers, cousins, or uncle/nephew. Land in Ireland at this time was usually kept amongst family members, even though they didn't own it outright. They were only occupants, but even so, they kept a tight grasp on who should be the next occupant should someone leave or die.
I also took a peek over at the books for the town of Cashel in County Tipperary, only because a Terence Keeffe had appeared there in a small house on an alley in Griffith's Valuation as well. His name is quite uncommon, so I do still think there's a chance this could have been him, even though it was some distance from his family's home in Farahy. In the Cancelled Books, he was missing from Cashel as well.
I wasn't too surprised by that, because the house had also been in contest in the court system, but also, because if this was my Terence, he had already left to America. It's still impossible to say whether this was my Terence Keeffe or not.
Back in the County Cork books, I took a gander through Meadstown for my 4th great grandmother Anne (Meade) Keeffe's family. Still living at tenement Number 12 (like on Griffith's) was John Meade, so that consistency was a good find. I noticed that once John was crossed off from the property, there were actually quite a few changes to the Meades and their residences around the area. All of these changes will take time to further analyze.
for the Meades.
Finally, my last goal for the day at the Valuation Office was to ask for a contemporary map of Farahy for when Griffith's Valuation was taken circa 1848. The maps on https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ are not dated and allegedly were surveyed approximately 20 years later, when boundary lines had changed, so it's hard to compare exactly where Residence Number 15 should have been located when Terence Keeffe's property was originally valued. They quickly printed out a map for me on an oversized sheet of paper, and it's certainly different from the maps on that website above. Annoyingly, I can still tell it was also not surveyed when Griffith's was done, because the major estate in the area, Bowen's Court, was mapped as Number 7 rather than Number 3 as it was listed in Griffith's. But still, a nice to have.
Fun little tidbit if you're planning a trip to the Valuation Office and are hoping to order other documents to be printed out. If they ask you whether you'll be paying in cash or credit card, always say card. Because if their card machine is broken, they'll comp you those printed items! Ha! In my case, I wasn't even asked about payment. Instead, they were just nice enough to give me the map gratis. But I got that hack from a few of my traveling research companions.
Once our time was up at the VO, our group split up -- a couple of us opted to take the Luas tram system back to the hotel and a few of us decided to hail a cab. I was in the taxi group, and let me tell you, at rush hour, this was not an easy feat. Eventually, we gave up efforts on waving one down, and I jumped on the Uber app and quickly snagged a van to come and pick us up (the go-to rideshare app in Ireland right now is actually FREENOW, but on both my 2019 and 2023 trips now, Uber has worked just fine).
Our driver was quite friendly and practiced safe driving, but we did have quite a scare as we skirted around Trinity College. A horse and carriage was essentially driving on the wrong side of the road and we nearly ran smack into the horse which was scared out of its wits and trying to rear up! It was quite frightening. The man commandeering the carriage had made a terrible decision of trying to race around the Luas tram system and the rush hour traffic! He nearly killed his horse! We were all quite enraged at him for putting us all in danger like that. I'm thankful our driver had some good defensive driving skills to avert the catastrophe. I feel so bad for those horses that are trotted around in urban cities as an attraction.
Our troubles didn't end there. Once we arrived in the neighborhood of our hotel, the street leading inward to the Parliament building, Kildare Street, was closed off by police guards. They had shut down the area to try and prevent any rioting or protesting, following the morning's release of Ireland's 2024 Budget. Our driver got us as close as he could and we walked over to the barricades, prepared to explain that our hotel was beyond the wall. Unfortunately, they informed us we'd have to walk a block down the road, turn left, and walk another block up the street to another entrance where civilians could get behind the gates. While this wasn't too much trouble for myself, there was at least one individual in our group whose legs and feet had had enough walking for the day and they were spent.
Regardless, it was our only option. The police at that entrance were less bothered with us coming into the area. And it was pretty neat seeing our entire street blocked off with no cars. I enjoyed being able to take some photos of the buildings without any obstruction by traffic.
It had been quite a long day, so rather than head back out once more for dinner, we instead dined in the bar of the hotel. I got the chance to chat more with others in our group who were also all from Ventura County, California like me. I heard some fascinating family history tales! And I picked up some good tips on armed forces research that may help me in finding documents for my grandmother's and uncle's services in World War II. It was an excellent night.
Finally, I can't recall now why I jotted down this note, but I left myself a reminder to check Farahy's modern church records to rule out any Keeffes that may still be living in the area and may have transitioned from Catholicism to Protestantism! Something about this day must have made me think to do that!
My next blog, Wednesday, day 5, will consist of a visit to the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland (which you can actually spot with the columns in the above photo on the left) and a return to the National Library (which was located behind and to the left of the tree on the left hand side of the above photo).
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