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Genealogy Expert

Kyle J. Betit is a professional genealogist, lecturer and author residing in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kyle specializes in Irish and immigration research. Kyle Betit is Research Director of ProGenealogists, Inc., in Salt Lake City and the author of the Irish Genealogy Pages at http://ireland.progenealogists.com

County Leitrim Research

By Kyle J. Betit, © 2005
roots@irishabroad.com

County Leitrim is located in the historical province of Connaught in the eastern part of Ireland. This article discusses some sources you can use for Leitrim research, but there are many more than are discussed here. A journal article that you can use for some additional background and sources is Séan O Suilleabháin’s 1992 article "Tracing Your Leitrim Ancestors" published in Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review (volume 2, pages 78-86).

Census

The nineteenth century censuses of Ireland were almost completed destroyed. The 1901 census is the first census available for the whole island. It has been indexed online at the following web site: http://www.leitrim-roscommon.com . You can access the original 1901 and 1911 censuses at the National Archives [Bishop Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; http://www.nationalarchives.ie ] or the Family History Library (FHL) [35 North West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150, USA; http://www.familysearch.org ].

Church Records

The largest number of County Leitrim residents were Roman Catholic, followed by members of the Church of Ireland (the Established Church until 1871), and there were some congregations of Methodists and Presbyterians. No matter what an ancestor's religion was, it is important to consider the records of the Church of Ireland.

Roman Catholic
County Leitrim is partly in the Catholic Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise and partly in the Diocese of Kilmore. You can examine Catholic parish registers on microfilm at the National Library of Ireland [Kildare Street, Dublin 2, Ireland; Tel: (01) 6618811; Fax: (01) 6766690; http://www.nli.ie ] through 1881. In addition, copies of many of the NLI microfilms of County Leitrim Catholic registers are available at the Family History Library. The FHL also has some post-1881 Leitrim Catholic parish registers. The Catholic registers for County Leitrim have been indexed by the Leitrim Genealogy Centre [Leitrim County Library, Ballinamore, County Leitrim, Ireland; Tel: (071) 9644012; Fax: (071) 9644425; http://www.irishroots.net/Leitrim.htm ] to about the year 1900. For further details about Irish Catholic records, see http://www.irishabroad.com/yourroots/expert/irishcatholicchurch.asp .

Church of Ireland
In the Church of Ireland arrangement, County Leitrim lies partly in the Diocese of Ardagh and partly in the Diocese of Kilmore. Many Church of Ireland records had been deposited at the Public Record Office before it was destroyed in 1922, including most of the County Leitrim registers. Some surviving registers and vestry minutes are in the custody of local churches. Many surviving pre-1900 Church of Ireland registers have been indexed by the Leitrim Genealogy Center. The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) [66 Balmoral Avenue, Belfast BT9 6NY, Northern Ireland; http://www.proni.gov.uk ] has microfilm copies of some Leitrim Church of Ireland parish registers. For further details about Church of Ireland records, see http://www.irishabroad.com/yourroots/expert/churchofireland.asp .

Estate Records

Estate records are the papers of the land owners in Ireland concerning their property and tenants. Since most of the Irish population, prior to the twentieth century, rented or leased their property from someone else, records of tenants are often found in the landlord’s estate papers. Estate papers include such items as rent rolls, leases, emigration papers, deeds and wills. County Leitrim estate papers may be found in the NLI, National Archives, Leitrim County Library [Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim; Tel: (078) 44012/44424; Fax: (078) 44425], PRONI, Trinity College Dublin [College Street, Dublin 2, Ireland; http://www.tcd.ie/ ]; in other repositories in Ireland and the United Kingdom; and some still remaining in the private custody of families. A few estate papers for Leitrim are even available on microfilm at the FHL. Some inventories of these estate paper collections are available. For example, the Irish Genealogical Society International (IGSI) http://www.rootsweb.com/~irish/ and the Genealogical Office together published a detailed inventory of County Leitrim estate papers at the NLI and National Archives. Information from this inventory was summarized in the County Leitrim section of John Grenham's Tracing Your Irish Ancestors [2^nd edition, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000].

Taxation Records

The nineteenth century censuses of Ireland were almost completely destroyed. Often, you can use two important tax records as substitutes: the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith’s Primary Valuation. The Tithe Applotment Books were compiled to determine the tithe to be paid to the Church of Ireland for the support of its clergy. The books for County Leitrim were compiled between 1829 and 1837, depending on the parish. Persons of all religious denominations were required to pay the tithe. The Tithe Books are available at the National Archives with microfilm copies at the NLI, the FHL, and other repositories.

Griffith's Primary Valuation lists the names of the occupiers of each townland, the name of the landlord (the immediate lessor), a description of the property and its size in acres. Griffith’s Primary Valuation of County Leitrim was published in 1856, although it may have been compiled anywhere from 1-4 years earlier. Griffith's Primary Valuation is keyed to a set of maps, now computerized at the Valuation Office [Irish Life Centre, Abbey Street Lower, Dublin 1, http://www.valoff.ie ], showing the location of each holding of property. You can use Griffith’s Primary Valuation and the accompanying maps to discover the exact location of the property where your ancestors lived in the mid-nineteenth century. Griffith’s Primary Valuation is available online at the web sites of Irish Origins http://www.irishorigins.com and Otherdays.com http://www.otherdays.com . The Irish Origins web site also has the Griffith’s Primary Valuation maps.

Wills and Administrations

Until 1858, Irish wills and administrations were under the jurisdiction of the courts of Church of Ireland dioceses. Wills and administrations were processed by the Prerogative Court of Armagh if the decedent held property in more than one diocese worth over £5. The indexes to wills and administrations for Ardagh and Kilmore dioceses are at the National Archives and the FHL. After 1858, Ireland was divided into probate districts. County Leitrim was part of two districts, Ballina and Cavan. The post-1858 wills and administrations are at the National Archives with microfilm copies at the FHL.

Additional Guides to Irish Genealogy

Mac Conghail, Máire and Paul Gorry. Tracing Irish Ancestors. Glasgow: Harper and Collins, 1997.

McCarthy, Tony. The Irish Roots Guide. Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1991.

Radford, Dwight A. and Kyle J. Betit. A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Irish Ancestors. Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway, 2001.

Ryan, James G. Irish Records: Sources for Family & Local History. Rev. ed. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1997.

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