MARY McAULIFFE
on
FINDING WOMEN IN THE RECORDS
8pm Thursday 19th March, Old Ground Hotel.
One of the main problems in finding women in the records is the lack of a paper trail. The records that survive focus on men. This reflects the problem of women's' social, political and legal status down through history. Women are born with their father's name, and change their names on marriage, and this can make it difficult to trace women in the historic records.
Mary advises us that women are documented, but that very often it's all about effective use of the records. Many of the documents we associate with family history: census, church and civil records, land records like Griffith's Valuation and the Tithe Appointment Books, can be extended to include lesser known, and less frequently used sources, including diaries, letters, journals, pension applications, some Union records, amongst others.
Mary recommends some of the data-bases in the National Archives, in particular the sadly under-used Directory of Sources for Women's History in Ireland; and advised us all to read the National Library's own Research Guide for Women in Irish History, which can be found online.
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