Genealogical Myths

I specifically want to address three myths about genealogy: two are specific to Ireland and one is more general.

The first is the very persistent myth is that “all the Irish records were destroyed in a fire”. Like many good myths, there’s an element of truth in it. There was a fire and records were destroyed. Let’s review what was destroyed: they fall into a couple of main categories:

• 1821-1851 Irish census returns
• Church of Ireland parish records*
• Wills & probate records*
• Court records

Not all the Church of Ireland records were destroyed because not all of them were housed in the Public Records Office of Ireland in 1922. Almost 1000 parishes were lost but 637 had been retained in their original parishes and so survived. You get a comprehensive parish by parish guide to what survives, where it is housed and whether any is online from the jointly produced RCB Library/IGRS master list.

Wills and other testamentary records were lost in the fire too. Before 1858, probate was managed by the relevant Church of Ireland diocese and most of these records were destroyed in 1922. Indexes remain and sometimes newspapers can help fill gaps. After that year, a new civil court of probate was setup with a Principal Registry in Dublin and district registries around the country (3 of which are now in Northern Ireland). A vast quantity was destroyed but the district registries had copies so we do have those accessible. The big loss is the Principal Registry, covering Dublin, and wealthier people who held property in multiple locations. Generally speaking, there is only a calender of wills and administration entry for anything before 1904. Check the online offerings for the Republic here and for Northern Ireland here.

Many of the court records before the 20th century were destroyed, and these went back centuries. There’s very little online in this category and I often try to use newspapers to plug these gaps.

But what didn’t get destroyed, mostly because they were never housed in the Four Courts?

• Civil records of birth, marriage and death
• Roman Catholic parish records
• Land valuation records
• The Registry of Deeds
• 1901/1911 census

There’s so much out there: it just may mean you need to be a little more creative with your research. Challenge extended!

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Another big myth that gets my goat is this nonsense.

Why is it nonsense? Because there were far fewer people in the past than there are today. Your ancestry looks more like a mushroom than a pyramid. It goes up, out and in again. This is called pedigree collapse. Some people will be your ancestor more than once, in fact, many will. Here’s what Adam Rutherford said in his A Brief History of Everyone who ever lived book. He cites a mathematical researcher called Joseph Chang who modelled this problem and worked out that all Europeans alive now would likely have a common ancestor around the end of the 13th century CE. If we go back a bit further in time, everyone alive in the 9th century who had children who still have descendants now is your ancestor. Go right ahead and claim Charlemagne as your very own ancestor. Documenting it on paper: highly unlikely. This is what makes the Danny Dyer reveal on Who Do You Think You Are? so great.

Irish people love a good story and never let the truth get in the way of it. My last myth is about the Spanish Armada. Everyone in Ireland who is a bit sallow or olive-skinned has been told they must descend from someone in the Spanish Armada. Let me explain why this is rubbish.

The Spanish Armada was a fleet of ships which were driven off-course on the way home by a storm following the battle of Gravelines in 1588. Approximately 24 ships were wrecked off the coast of Ireland from Antrim down to Kerry. Thousands of those aboard died. That’s the first point. Two things happened to those who survived: they became prisoners of war and were then executed by the English. So no babies there. Some of them did survive and they escaped to Scotland (Catholic nation at the time) and from there back to Spain. There’s a lot more detail with ships and crew numbers, etc here. So likely very few of them decided to stay in Ireland, a place not noted for its lovely weather, where the natives did not speak the same language, etc. Let’s be generous and say 50 Spaniards stayed in Ireland. There’s been about 15 generations since then. They’re still not all responsible for every olive-complexion in the island today. 3% Iberian peninsula on your ethnicity result does not mean you’ve got Spanish ancestry. Rant over!

Have you any other myths in your family tree that you’ve proven or disproven? Let me know in the comments.