Irish Genealogical Research Society

02/08/2026

New exhibition...

01/08/2026

IGRS Top Research Tip #218: If you’re tracing your ancestors in the Ormond area of Co. Tipperary, this valuable heritage collection features historical records, photographs, local & oral histories, & stories about the people of the area, bringing the past to life: https://ormond.heritagetipperary.org/
*PLEASE FOLLOW, LIKE & SHARE* *

01/08/2026

The Gaelic League...

01/08/2026

More gravestone inscriptions + Thanks to all those volunteers.

July is almost behind us so here are the additions to the IGPArchives for July. Six sets of Headstones & Tithe Applotments for Clogher Parish, Tyrone.
Photo courtesy of Dave Hall - taken at Kenny Graveyard, County Westmeath.

CLARE, Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Andrews CoI Graveyard &
St. John the Baptist, Ballyvaughan
https://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/clare/photos/tombstones/markers.html

DERRY, Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Eglish Old Burial Ground, Magherafelt
Ballykelly Presbyterian Graveyard, Ballykelly, Limvady
https://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/derry/photos/tombstones/markers.html

DERRY, Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St. Patrick's, Claudy Part 2
https://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/derry/photos/tombstones/1st-patricks/

TYRONE, Genealogy Archives - Land
Tithe Applotments - Clogher Parish Part 2
https://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/tyrone/land.html

WESTMEATH, Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Kenny Graveyard, near Mullingar (Small Cemetery)
https://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/westmeath/photos/tombstones/markers.html

31/07/2026

Irish coinage.....

28/07/2026

1916 Rising - free online exhibition...

Online Exhibition | The 1916 Rising: Personalities and Perspectives Date Permanent online exhibition Location Online Category Exhibition Price Free View exhibition View exhibition Date Permanent online exhibition Location Online Category Exhibition Price Free View exhibition G.P.O. and O'Connell Str...

28/07/2026

Tadhg Ó Murchadha (1843–1919)

Tadhg Ó Murchadha

A rare photograph of Tadhg Ó Murchadha (1843–1919), an influential Irish language revivalist, Fenian activist, and tailor from County Cork, who was probably better known by his literary pen name ‘Seandún’. The photograph dates to about 1911. Born in Macroom, Ó Murchadha left school early and perfected his remarkably fluent and authentic Munster Irish while working as a tailor in rural Ballinagree. Upon moving to Cork city in 1864, he quickly became immersed in the political underground of the Fenian movement. Driven by a passion for cultural preservation, he later became a founding member of the Cork branch of the Gaelic League in 1894 and a prominent figure at the Irish College in Ballingeary (Coláiste na Mumhan, Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh).

Though Ó Murchadha possessed immense mastery over spoken Irish idioms, he struggled with writing the standard script. To overcome this barrier, he frequently dictated his work to prominent scholars, leading to his highly praised Irish translation of Daniel Defoe’s ‘Robinson Crusoe’. In his final years, after losing his sight, he began dictating his autobiography to close friends. The noted republican leader Terence MacSwiney regularly visited his home to record his vivid recollections of the 1860s Fenian movement. This resulted in the historic memoir ‘Sgéal Sheandúin’ (‘The Story of Shandun’), which was ultimately published in 1920, shortly after Ó Murchadha’s death.

Traditional histories frequently spotlight elite, Dublin-based revivalists like Douglas Hyde and Pádraig Pearse, who viewed the Irish language through an academic or political lens. In contrast, Ó Murchadha was a working-class tailor who acquired the language naturally within his local community. As a result, he serves as a vital link connecting the unrecorded oral customs of the nineteenth century with the structured, formal language movement of the twentieth century.

The photograph forms part of bound volume collection assembled by the editor of ‘The Capuchin Annual’ (Identifier: https://catholicarchives.ie/index.php/tadhg-o-murchadha-seandun)

28/07/2026

The manuscript of the week is RIA MS 23 P 7, the Annals of the Four Masters.

The manuscript of the week is RIA MS 23 P 7, the Annals of the Four Masters. Two full sets of the annals were prepared by the Four Masters and are now divided into multi-volume sets. This volume covers the period A.D. 1500-1616 and is believed to be part of the Louvain set, which was made to take back to the Irish College there.

Read more about the manuscript and view the digital images, provided by Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies - DIAS Irish Script on Screen and copyright Royal Irish Academy Library: https://www.isos.dias.ie/RIA/RIA_MS_23_P_7.html

The MS of the Week is on display in the Reading Room of the Library this week from 10.00-16.30, Monday- Thursday. The Cathach of Colum Cille is put on display on the last Friday of the month. No appointment or reader’s ticket is required to view the MS of the Week.