Description

A Decade of Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923

Chris Paton, 2016, Publisher: Unlock the Past
60 pages, Digital (.pdf) Download Only

As the issue of Home Rule reared its head for a third time, its supporters and detractors raised militias to defend their positions, whilst women fought for the vote and labourers fought for better terms from their employers. The First World War would soon dramatically change everything, leading some to see England’s difficulty as Ireland’s opportunity. When an independent republic was proclaimed through force of arms at Easter 1916, the response would see a brutal guerilla war fought between the British forces the Irish republicans, a partitioned island, and a nation divided.

A century on, in this book from Unlock the Past, Northern Irish born family historian Chris Paton will help you to discover whether your ancestors were caught up in the events of that period – whether they were Suffragettes, unionised workers, Ulster or Irish Volunteers, fighting with the British Army and Crown forces, against them as rebels and revolutionaries, and in the ensuing civil war on both sides of the Treaty divide. With improved cataloguing by archives, and better access to the records, both online and offline, a new gateway has been opened into one of the island’s most tumultuous, tragic, exciting, and utterly desperate periods of the 20th century. In this book he will show you how to step through it.

Contents:

Introduction
Acknowledgements
1. The genealogical landscape
– Vital records
– Burials
– Censuses
– Probate
– Newspapers
– National archives and libraries
– Family and local history societies
2. Home Rule
– Ireland in the Union
– The Ulster Covenant
– Ulster and Irish Volunteers
– Researching the Volunteers
3. Women’s suffrage
– Demand for the vote
– The campaign escalates
– Suffragette sources
4. Workers’ rights
– Background
– The Dublin Lockout
– Researching the Lockout
– Other disputes
5. The First World War
– Military records
6. The Easter Rising
– The Rebellion
– The particiapnts
– Researching the Rising
7. Towards independence
– Conscription and election
– The War of Inependence
– The Treaty
– The Irish Civil War
– Northern Ireland
– Legacy
– Researching 1919-1923
Further reading
Index