If you can trace your Irish roots back to County Clare and you are ever fortunate enough to be able to go to Ireland to visit your ancestral homeland, you may want to visit the Clare Heritage and Genealogical Centre. County Clare has experienced a large amount of emigration over the past two hundred years. In one thirty year period alone (1850 to 1880), one hundred and twelve thousand people emigrated from County Clare. All of those people went somewhere – were some of them your ancestors? Millions of people can trace their family history back to County Clare.
It is believed that the mass emigration out of County Clare started around 1822, when the prior year’s harvest caused a severe food shortage and resulting famine. Many people fled to England. Australia was another popular destination because there was financial aid (usually by some type of indenture arrangement available for people who wanted to relocate there. Those who left Clare to go to America usually went to New York, New Orleans, or Boston.
The Clare Heritage and Genealogical research Centre is located in Corofin, one of Clare County’s quaint villages. It is fairly new, and was established in 1982. Professional genealogy research services are available through the Centre, in case you would like some help with your family history research while you are visiting.
Many types of genealogy records are available at the Centre. Parish records are a very important source for genealogical information in Ireland because towns did not begin to record births, marriages, and deaths until 1864. The Centre has pre-1900 Roman Catholic Parish Records for all towns in the county. There are also the civil birth, marriage, and death records, a few types of land records, and the 1901 Census just to name a few. There is even a museum where guests can learn about life in 19th Century Ireland.
Photo by agathabrown on morguefile.com.