findmypast.ie has launched the Irish Prison Registers 1790-1920 online for the first time, an untapped resource for those tracing their Irish roots.

The original Prison Registers, held at the National Archives of Ireland, cover all types of custodial institutions, from bridewells, to county prisons, to sanatoriums for alcoholics. They contain over 3.5 million entries, spread over 130,000 pages, with most records giving comprehensive details of the prisoner, including the name, address, place of birth, occupation, religion, education, age, physical description, name and address of next of kin, the crime committed, the sentence, dates of committal and release/decease.

The registers offer a real insight into 18th – 19th century Ireland and present evidence of a society of rebellion and social confrontation, where rioting and assault of police officers were everyday occurrences. They also reveal the rampant poverty and destitution that many faced, with the theft of everything from handkerchiefs to turnips.

The reasons for incarceration cover all types of crime but the most common offence was drunkenness, which accounted for over 30% of all crimes reported and over 25% of incarcerations. The top five offences recorded in the registers are:

– Drunkenness – 25%
– Theft – 16%
– Assault – 12%
– Vagrancy – 8%
– Rioting – 4%

The nature of these crimes was significantly different from those in England. Figures show that the rate of conviction for drunkenness and tax evasion was 3 times greater, and the rate of both destruction of property and prostitution were double what they were for the same time period in England.

The records are full of individuals who were arrested for very minor offences. For example, a record from the Cork City Gaol Court Book lists an arrest for Giles O’Sullivan (26), with no education and no previous convictions, on the 30th of March 1848 for being “a dangerous and suspicious character”. Other examples of the heavy hand of the law can be seen in the case of John Cunningham from Finglas (21) who was arrested for “Washing a car on a thoroughfare” and young Christopher Doyle (14) arrested “for being an idle, disorderly rogue and vagabond”.

With the Irish population averaging 4.08 million each year for this time period and over 3.5 million names in the records, it would suffice to say that almost every family in Ireland was touched by these records, as offenders, their relatives or victims of crime.

Brian Donovan, Director of findmypast Ireland, commented: “These records provide an invaluable resource for anyone tracing their Irish ancestors as during the period covered almost every household in Ireland had a convict in their family. These records provide such a wealth of information that they are sure to shock and surprise almost anyone looking for the missing links in their Irish family tree.”

Via EPR Network
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findmypast.ie has announced the launch of one of the first online forums solely dedicated to those researching their Irish family history. The forum is an online community for the Irish diaspora to discuss everything from researching Irish family history and Irish geography, to success stories and what it means to be Irish. Free to all registered users, it represents the findmypast family’s first foray into community based chat.

Recognising the inherent difficulties involved in looking for Irish ancestors, the forum gives amateur and professional family historians alike the opportunity to ask their questions to like-minded researchers across the globe. This will enable members to benefit from the experience gained from those who have previously hit brick walls in their research and overcome them.

Brian Donovan of findmypast Ireland and long-time member of the Irish genealogy community commented: “The findmypast.ie forum is another indication of findmypast’s dedication to providing the world’s best platform for researching your Irish family history. I wish there had been an option like this available to me when I first started in genealogy.”

The forums are divided into six different message boards, and any registered user can start a new discussion on the boards. It also allows users to add responses to topics which have already been posted by other users. The six message board topics include General Discussion, Using the Records, Tracing Specific Ancestors, Places and Geography in Ireland, Your Finds and Success Stories and What Does it Mean to be Irish?

The forum on findmypast.ie allows users to keep track of discussions and posts they’ve created or contributed to, which enables them to keep up with any discussions they are involved in. Users can also watch discussions which interest them but they are not involved in so that they can go back and read it at any time.

Via EPR Network
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