Finally some research – but Murphy hung around!
So, after mucking things up on Monday, yesterday looked like the day for researching so off I headed down the street to the National Archives of Ireland. I did wonder if it was open as it was quite dark in the foyer but the door opened and the man on Reception greeted me. BUT, he then proceeded to tell me that the computers were down and some lighting was out and they couldn’t give me my Readers Ticket for the day!!
All the signs were there – I should have just given up and gone back to the hotel bed and crept under the doona with some chocolate. Being made of sterner stuff, I decided to persevere and was allowed up to the research floor where I could speak to the genealogist on duty. This I did and she confirmed for me what I had thought about land records. After half an hour, I still couldn’t access anything in the NA as the power hadn’t been restored, so I decided to head across to the Valuation Office to check out some land records.
This was the first time I had been in the office and I must say the staff on duty were terrific. There were some computers set up and these provide access to the digital copies of all of the valuation books but these were taken up by the time I arrived. So I had to do it the old-fashioned way – looking at the books. I did not mind doing this in the least as they are wonderful old books full of so much information.
My maternal great grandfather had named his sugar cane farm, Garryhill. The farm was at Pleystowe near Mackay and James had arrived in 1885 from County Carlow. His death record said that he had been born In Newtown so I wondered about the connection with Garryhill. What emotional attachment did he feel to use that name for his property? I knew that my paternal grandfather called his farm outside Bundaberg, Woodhouselee, as this was the estate south of Edinburgh where he had grown up after being sent to Scotland from india. So for both of these men, the property names had some significance for them.
Unfortunately, the mystery wasn’t solved on this visit. A Catherine O’Neill had property in the area for some time so I will now need to do some research on her to see if there is a connection. What was originally going to be a couple of hour’s research turned into a marathon 5 hours. I was engrossed in each of the books and tracked land from about 1855 – following Griffith’s valuation up to the early 1920s and could have gone further if necessary. I would highly recommend this as a place to visit if you are searching for Irish farmers, land owners or tenants. The staff members were great, books arrived promptly and help was given if required.
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