Researching the Family History
January – July 2003
With the British Virgin Islands project complete, I began a more serious investigation of my father’s ancestry. Through online searches, I discovered the Irish Family History Foundation. This organization has affiliates in most the counties. Each affiliate seems to be independent and set up differently. Each will do an initial ancestry search for a nominal fee.
Limerick Ancestry seemed to be an official branch of the County government and was located at the Public Library building in Limerick City. They provided an online form that you could print, fill out and fax back. Within a few days, I received a fax from them stating that they would post my report in approximately 3 weeks. This turned out to be an optimistic estimate and in early May I received a fax stating that they could not read my credit card number and asking that I resend it. On May 8, a package arrived addressed to Mr. John McCarthy – my great grandfather’s name! Enclosed was a very informative report that provided detail on my grandmother’s family based on birth and baptismal records and provided information on where I could request a copy of my grandmother’s birth certificate. It also stated that additional information on the previous generation was available and could be provided for an additional fee.
The Galway Family History Society West, seemed to be more of an independent organization. They have an online application that I submitted. I soon received an e-mail stating that there was a 3 – 4 month backlog of research applications. In early February I also received a letter in the mail from them stating that due to a number of circumstances there would be a delay in responding to my application. In mid-July, I received a second letter summarizing some of the records found and providing the cost for a complete report.
Family and work activities became my focus at this point and I did not follow-up on these efforts until early the next year.
With the British Virgin Islands project complete, I began a more serious investigation of my father’s ancestry. Through online searches, I discovered the Irish Family History Foundation. This organization has affiliates in most the counties. Each affiliate seems to be independent and set up differently. Each will do an initial ancestry search for a nominal fee.
Limerick Ancestry seemed to be an official branch of the County government and was located at the Public Library building in Limerick City. They provided an online form that you could print, fill out and fax back. Within a few days, I received a fax from them stating that they would post my report in approximately 3 weeks. This turned out to be an optimistic estimate and in early May I received a fax stating that they could not read my credit card number and asking that I resend it. On May 8, a package arrived addressed to Mr. John McCarthy – my great grandfather’s name! Enclosed was a very informative report that provided detail on my grandmother’s family based on birth and baptismal records and provided information on where I could request a copy of my grandmother’s birth certificate. It also stated that additional information on the previous generation was available and could be provided for an additional fee.
The Galway Family History Society West, seemed to be more of an independent organization. They have an online application that I submitted. I soon received an e-mail stating that there was a 3 – 4 month backlog of research applications. In early February I also received a letter in the mail from them stating that due to a number of circumstances there would be a delay in responding to my application. In mid-July, I received a second letter summarizing some of the records found and providing the cost for a complete report.
Family and work activities became my focus at this point and I did not follow-up on these efforts until early the next year.
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11:02 AM
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