{"id":12839,"date":"2016-03-17T11:40:28","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T15:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=12839"},"modified":"2021-04-19T14:56:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T18:56:30","slug":"genealogy-tip-try-your-luck-with-irish-american-newspapers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-tip-try-your-luck-with-irish-american-newspapers.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy Tip: Try Your Luck with Irish American Newspapers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book \u201c<\/em>From the Family Kitchen.<\/em><\/span>\u201d In this blog article \u2013 in honor of St. Patrick\u2019s Day \u2013 Gena writes about GenealogyBank\u2019s online Irish American Newspaper Archives.<\/em><\/p>\n

When doing genealogy research, ethnic newspapers are an important component to your overall newspaper research strategy. Why? They cover the issues and information important to that community. Ethnic newspapers aren\u2019t restricted to just a single city or region. They cover people in the larger community in ways not found in local newspapers.<\/p>\n

GenealogyBank\u2019s Irish American Newspaper Archives<\/a> include eight New York Irish American newspapers spanning 1810 to the present day. Let\u2019s take a look at three of the newspapers in this collection and see what types of articles you can expect to find.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: Irish hat and shillelagh. Credit: liftarn; openclipart.org.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shamrock<\/em> (1810-1817)<\/strong><\/p>\n

No doubt that \u201cShamrock\u201d seems like a fitting name for an Irish American newspaper. Sometimes it can be beneficial to conduct a Google search on a newspaper title to learn more about its history. I found this 1902 blurb in The American Catholic Historical Researches<\/em> available on Google Books:<\/p>\n

The Library of Congress has in its Periodical Division, The Shamrock, published by Edward Gillesphy and Thomas O\u2019Connor in New York. It begins with Volume 1, No. 1, June 18, 1814 and runs to August 16, 1817. It was the successor of The Shamrock or Hibernian Chronicle, December 15, 1810 to June 5, 1813. In The Shamrock may be had the list of passengers arriving at New York and Philadelphia from Ireland. These are historically valuable.*<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Shamrock<\/em> did indeed devote space to passenger lists in its pages. This 1817 list includes every passenger\u2019s name as well as a symbol to indicate child passengers. What a great source for finding early female immigrant ancestors and their children.<\/p>\n

\"passenger<\/a>
Shamrock (New York, New York), 31 May 1817, page 174<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

American Irish Weekly<\/em> (1849-1914)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The American Irish Weekly<\/em> in 1872 had a circulation of 25,000 papers a week. It was one of 4,750 weekly newspapers in the United States, and one of 604 weeklies in New York state during this time period.** Founded in 1849, it:<\/p>\n

became the most popular publication of its kind in the city during the 1850s and 1860s… The newspaper was successful partly because it endorsed a moderate brand of Irish nationalism and thus maintained an uneasy truce with the Catholic Church.***<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While doing your family history research in old newspapers, don\u2019t forget that your ancestors\u2019 names can be found in the classifieds and legal notices. It\u2019s easy to overlook these dense back pages but they hold important information.<\/p>\n

Legal advertisements in the form of probate notices include the name of the deceased and the administrator as well as possible heirs.<\/p>\n

\"probate<\/a>
Irish American Weekly (New York, New York), 2 September 1895, page 7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Classified advertisements might provide ideas about where your ancestor shopped, or \u2013 if your ancestor was a merchant \u2013 you might be able to document their work life by finding an advertisement about their business.<\/p>\n

\"ad<\/a>
Irish American Weekly (New York, New York), 2 September 1895, page 8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Irish World<\/em> (1890-1905)<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that the Irish World<\/em> was a popular newspaper for its time. \u201cThe largest, most influential and widely circulated Irish journal published\u201d had a weekly circulation of 125,000 newspapers. An advertisement for the newspaper found in the 1893 Remington Brothers\u2019 Newspaper Manual, A Catalogue of the Newspapers of United States and Canada<\/em> includes a full page with accolades from its admirers, including a long-deceased President James A. Garfield, who is quoted as saying: \u201cthe enterprise and patriotism exhibited in The Irish World<\/em> are worthy of the highest commendation.\u201d****<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: advertisement for the Irish World newspaper from Remington Brothers\u2019 Newspaper Manual, A Catalogue of the Newspapers of United States and Canada, page 269. Credit: Google Books.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because ethnic newspapers serve a larger community outside of just a city or county, you can often find news of an ancestor in a newspaper published far from where they lived. Take this 1894 example of a page in the Irish World<\/em> titled \u201cNews from All Parts of the United States.\u201d This newspaper article has reports of deaths from all over the United States including this heartbreaking one from Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

Mary L. Keefe, the 13-year-old child of Mr. Martin Keefe of 1232 Potomac avenue, fell from the steps of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, May 27, and struck her head on the pavement with such force that she died in a few minutes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
Irish World (New York, New York), 9 June 1894, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Along with death notices, there are other notices in these Irish American newspapers that are a treasure trove of names. This article lists the men on the Executive Committee of the Young Men\u2019s Institute Day in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Irish World (New York, New York), 9 June 1894, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Genealogy Tip:<\/em><\/strong> While it\u2019s an important technique to sometimes narrow a search by place, don\u2019t always limit your searches to just those newspapers from a specific location. Remember to also broaden your search by sometimes not indicating any location at all. You should always conduct multiple searches using various search parameters.<\/p>\n

Have you looked for your Irish ancestors in Irish American newspapers? Now\u2019s a good time to get started. We\u2019d love to hear about your successes in the comments section below.<\/p>\n

Happy St. Patrick\u2019s Day!<\/p>\n

——————————<\/p>\n

* The American Catholic Historical Researches<\/em>. https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=m7c7AQAAMAAJ&lpg=RA1-PA184&ots=0R9mO7XW7&dq=the%20shamrock%20or%20hibernian%20chronicle&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q=the%20shamrock%20or%20hibernian%20chronicle&f=false<\/a>, p. 184.
\n**Geo. P. Rowell & Co\u2019s American Newspaper Directory<\/em>. New York: Geo. P. Rowell & Co. 1872. Available via Google Books. https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=b2ADAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Irish%20american%20weekly%22%20new%20york&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q=%22Irish%20american%20weekly%22%20new%20york&f=false<\/a>.
\n***Jackson, Kenneth T. The Encyclopedia of New York City<\/em>. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.
\n****Remington Brothers’ Newspaper Manual, A Catalogue of The Newspapers of United States and Canada. <\/em>Available via Google Books.
\nhttps:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=UKlUAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Irish%20World%22%20New%20York%20newspaper&pg=PA269#v=onepage&q=%22Irish%20World%22%20New%20York%20newspaper&f=false<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Irish American Genealogy Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n