It should be stated at the outset that researchers can find this phase of genealogy most difficult, the researcher with expertise in New York City sources being no exception. Economics forced many Irish-born to move constantly in order to follow employment opportunities. As one result, the several changes in an immigrant's occupation can prevent ease of identification. As another, the family may have been on the move when the census enumerator arrived. The Irish-born's lack of diversity in choice of baptismal names and lack of middle name or initial for the first generation or so add to the re- searcher's problem in trying to distinguish one man from his far too many con- temporary namesakes. Therefore, in order to initiate a search, the bottom-line requirements are a complete residence address at a specific date, occupation (preferably other than laborer), names of the members of the family, and hopefully a rather unusual surname. But, although the researcher may be armed with those details, if the family did not reside in New York City long enough to have been recorded by enumerator, physician or clergyman, it may be impossible to uncover even a mention during its temporary residence in the city.
With certain exceptions, the sources used are the same as those for any other immigrant or established family. Research of the New York City Irish, however, calls for a different approach to sources as well as an understanding of the Irish ways. The observations and suggestions made here place some emphasis on the Catholic Irish-born.
Directories are a first key to the continuance of the search. Until about 1845, the New York City Directories did not include those residents who were laborers. (This is not true of the Brooklyn Directories.) There was no "Irish Town" as such in the city. The Irish resided in all wards and towns. They were an extremely clannish people, often residing with kin on arrival. When an address is found for the family, the directories should be searched for others bearing the surname to find an address in common. The family's major bread-winner was the one listed; and he was not necessarily the head of the household. When a son's listing appeared, it can indicate that he may have married recently and/ or had his first child, When the breadwinner's name disappeared from the directories and was not replaced by the listing of his widow, it may mean that he had retired and his son (or perhaps even a member of the family bearing a different surname) may have succeeded as the major breadwinner.
Variations in the spelling of an Irish name were due in great part to the enumerator's or clerk's spelling phonetically what he heard. And, he heard unfamiliar words from a person with a "brogue" (who in all probability was unable to spell the Gaelic words in English). Thus, the enumerator may have written the name Kennedy as "Kinnaday," the clerk may have recorded Doughney as "Downey," and the directory publisher may have printed Patrick O’Neill's name as "Patrick O. Nail." The earlier unlettered Irish-born's use of that phonetic spelling is one reason why an immigrant may have spelled his surname differently than did his brother. It is surprising how many researchers will cast aside the record of a family because "We don't spell our name that way, so it could not refer to our family." By pronouncing the name with a "brogue," the researcher can hear many of its phonetic variations.
(An aside to the descendant: The most menial laboring work was the only employment available to the Irish immigrant farmer who lacked the skills necessary in this teeming metropolis. Many of the immigrants, therefore, saved up to enter the saloon business. Contrary to the thinking of some descendants, the Irish considered it an honorable and sensible occupation. In addition to the financial success it could bring, the saloon could become a hub of local activity through which contacts for the better could be made.)
The earlier the census enumeration, the nearer to the probable true age of the Irish-born family members. However, the ages given were not always exact. The Catholic Irish rarely owned Bibles in which birth entries could serve as later reminders. Most Irish associated a date with an event. As time faded their memories, so the age varied from census to census. Of course, the adult unmarried daughter usually "lost" five years or more between Federal Censuses, and many a wife either was listed as the same age as her husband or older. From the 1855 New York State Census, the year of arrival in the city can be approximated. That date can be confirmed by those registered deaths which list the number of years' residence in the United States and the number of years' residence in the city. (Keep in mind that until 1898, Brooklyn was a separate city.) The 1865 New York State Census (extant for Kings County) includes the columns "Number of Times Married" and "How Many Children of the Parent." The latter figure can be confirmed by those birth certificates noting "number child of the mother." It should be remembered that many Irish mothers were prone to include in that number their still-borns and miscarriages. The same 1865 Census lists at the end of each district the names and other brief data concerning the marriages and deaths that occurred within the census year and information on those who were serving during the Civil War. The published Index to the 1850 Census for New York County is very unsatisfactory as it contains many errors and omissions, particularly of the Irish. The same omissions sometimes occur in the 1880 Soundex. The New York State Census, 1865 and 1875, note those who were landowners. However, the majority of the 19th Century Irish-born were life-time tenants in the city. Consequently, few of them are found in the records of the Register's Office.
When a birth was attended by a midwife or physician, it was registered with the city. The majority of births, however, took place at home with the assistance of a female relative or friend and thus were not reported. The names of the child's parents are included in the few extant births registered prior to 1866. Between 1866 and 1886, the names of both parents were listed by only some counties. (In addition, the names of a descendant's parents do not begin to appear in the registered deaths of some counties until the 1880s.)
The New York City Irish did not adhere strictly to the system of naming children followed by their fathers in Ireland. The germ of that system, however, was carried well into the third generation here. Children were named (in no special order) for the parents and grandparents, for those relatives who also emigrated, for a brother- or sister-in-law and, in Catholic families, for the Saints. The latter names were used for the younger children or in combination with another name for the older children. Catholic parents would not give the name of a deceased child to a later child. It is a tricky puzzle to solve in the case of a father, his son, a nephew and perhaps a cousin who bore the same full name as one or two neighbors. The numerous duplications can mislead and at the very least frustrate the researcher who has no identifying data. Otherwise, the long and possibly disappointing method of elimination may be the only means of trying to identify a specific ancestor.
Catholic Irish infants were baptized as soon as possible, often when only a day old. If the baptismal record is not found in the register of the church where the family resided, try the church of the child's maternal relatives. Many early 19th Century families, who moved from New York County to a county having no Catholic church, would travel the distance back to their former church to have their children baptized. The baptismal registers of some Catholic churches have been indexed (by names of the infants). They also contain the date of birth and often the mother's maiden name. Earlier parish priests baptized many infants at home and not just sickly babies. It is obvious from the registers that later when the priests made the entries, they sometimes remembered only a portion of the details.
Most Catholic marriages took place in the parish church of the bride. If the marriage record is found in the husband's parish church, look for the bride's family in the same area. Some registers have been indexed by grooms. The entries were simple, consisting of the date and names of the couple, witnesses and officiating priest. One witness usually represented the groom; the other, the bride. Similarity in surname of a witness does not necessarily indicate close kinship. (Banns, by the way, were not recorded; they merely were either announced or posted on slips of paper to be thrown away.) The Catholic church registers may be the only source for those marriages, as it was not until the first decade of this century that all Catholic marriages were regularly reported to the city.
With the exception of the earliest entries of St. Peter's Catholic Church and the registers of those churches designated for German- or Italian-speaking Catholics, the 19th Century entries are in English. If the nearest Catholic church was listed in contemporary directories as, say, "German," only German-speaking Catholics could attend that church. In such event, the researcher then must consider the next nearest Catholic church, even though it may have been a considerable distance from the family's home. Therefore, the researcher should not limit the search to residence area or even parish boundaries. Listings of the Catholic churches, giving organization dates and present addresses, can be obtained from the appropriate diocese or archdiocese. In recent years, churches with the earliest registers have become more cooperative with the genealogist. This has been due, not only to the heavy increase in requests, but in great part to the courteous tone of the researcher who, in turn, must have understanding of any keeper of records. There is no charge for searchers of Catholic registers. Even so, one should donate a small sum. There is a charge for a certified copy of a record (about $5.00).
Before a Catholic church was organized in a county, many Catholics were interred in the local Episcopal churchyard. Three of the later major 19th Century Catholic cemeteries were Calvary (for New York County decedents) in Queens County, St. Raymond's in Bronx County, and Holy Cross in Kings County. If, for example, the New York County decedent was not interred in Calvary Cemetery but instead was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, then look for probable short-term earlier residence of the decedent in Kings County or even for close kin residing there at the time of the decedent's death. Some cemeteries charge for interment lists; some do not. One cemetery has another and higher fee for genealogists and attorneys.
Lowest financial stratum of an Irish family does not indicate any certainty that no will had been probated. As an example, it was not unusual for a dying widowed Irish mother, alone in the city and frantic over the future of her children, to leave a will to protect them-even though the total assets of her estate may have amounted to a mere $20.00. She would direct that her youngest children be placed in the local Roman Catholic orphan asylum where they could be cared for and be reared in the Faith of their fathers. She then would bequeath those very few dollars to her older boys (sometimes as young as 9 to 12 years of age) who she hoped would be able to fend for themselves.
When the Irish-born wife died survived by infant children, her husband might remarry. Otherwise, if the children were beyond infancy, the Catholic husband rarely remarried. Half-orphaned children often were placed temporarily in orphanages. Some were farmed-out with relatives (another good reason for finding census enumerations of all branches of the family). Families took into their households orphaned nephews, nieces and grandchildren who were often called "adopted" but were not legally so. Census enumerations for orphanages (generally found at the end of the district) are not very helpful, giving only name, age and state or country of birth of the child. The 1892 New York State Census for Kings County, however, also contains the column "Residence Given When Received" which can be helpful in identification. Responses to inquiries vary with each institution and of course depend on the period of the child's stay.
Interestingly, much can be learned of the sick and indigent Irish-born of New York County. The records of certain city institutions, such as the almshouse, the workhouse and the city hospital, contain much personal information such as religious affiliations, how long in the city, where landed in the United States and, in cases of children, further data concerning their parents. Those volumes are at the Municipal Archives and Records Center.
Further information ofttimes can be found in 20th Century sources, such as in the records of a deceased member of a Union Local, in school records (keep in mind that some schools do not retain records over 50 years old), and in the records of the undertaker or his successor.
The chances of finding the immigrant's place of origin in Ireland (i.e., townland and/or parish, or even the county1) are slim. Generally, the city's records merely give "Ireland." Nonetheless, the researcher should remain optimistic until all city sources have been exhausted. The exact birthplace might be found in the most unexpected source. One census enumerator entered on the first 19 pages of his enumerations, the county of birth in Ireland. In a few instances, even more detailed birthplace has been found in the registered death records from an additional statement of the attending physician or a written remark by the undertaker. Some testators devised their interests in specified lands in Ireland. The registers of a few churches occasionally include the parish or place of origin of the Irish-born groom, bride, or parents of the baptized child, A few naturalization records contain additional papers, such as a military record that may give date and place of birth as well as exact date of entry into the United States. Often tombstones of the earlier 19th Century Irish-born include birthplace. Therefore, no flat statement can be made whether place of origin in Ireland can be found in the city sources until a complete search of them has been made.
The local newspapers were an important means of communication. Through the published death notice, the Irish-born family was able to contact scattered relatives and friends both in and out of the country. It was especially helpful in cases of those widows who were unable to write. Irish families usually arranged that the notice be placed in one issue (on the day of the funeral). The death notice is a valuable source for clues to further the search. Included in it might be the names of surviving relatives and in-laws, the cemetery, church and perhaps also the decedent’s military service or social affiliation. Additionally, some included a pick-up phrase to other newspapers, such as "Waterford (Ire.) papers copy." Research shows that those request phrases were often carried out by the appropriate Irish newspaper anytime from two weeks to two months later. A few of the New York City newspapers named the decedent's townland and parish of birth. Thus, the published death notice may be the only source for exact place of origin of a family. If possible, the researcher should examine the original newspaper entry and not rely on an abstract. In the case of one set of such abstracts, the death notices concerning the Irish-born, with no exception, were only partially abstracted. Birthplaces were garbled, carelessly misspelled or even ignored by the abstractor. Some marriages of Irish-born couples were announced in the newspapers, but rarely those of Catholics. Birth notices were never inserted by the Catholic Irish. In addition to the Irish-American newspapers, some of the more popular among the 19th Century Irish were The New York Herald, The New York World, The Brooklyn (Daily) Eagle, and The Standard Union.
Researchers are continually warned that without the exact date of arrival and the name of the ship, the passenger listing of the family may be impossible to find. There are good reasons for that advice. As one example, for the arrivals at the Port of New York in 1855, there are one dozen reels of microfilm. Then, and against all odds, if the entry is found, it usually states "Great Britain" or "Ireland." Otherwise if the port of embarkation in Ireland is given, in all probability it may actually have been many miles distant from the emigrant's townland. So, after considerable time and effort in trying to decipher the faded and hastily scribbled entries, that search generally results in complete disappointment - no listing identifiable and no exact place of origin found.
Not every Irish-born male applied for citizenship. In the late 18th and very early 19th Centuries, because of particularly strong attempts to discourage them, feeling ran so high among the Catholics of New York City that many refused to apply for United States citizenship. Not all naturalization records were recorded nor all of those papers saved. As a result of the Great Famine (roughly, 1845-1859) during and after which the Irish emigrated by the hundreds of thousands to New York, on reaching the bottom of the gangplank, some were quickly naturalized on the spot. In other cases, declarations of intentions often were given orally and thus not recorded. Many Irish-born, too, were content that only one relative had become a citizen. It is unusual to find the naturalization record of an Irish-born woman.
Copies of the extant New York City declarations and naturalization records are housed at the Federal Archives and Records Center in Bayonne, New Jersey. Those records cover the courts, active and defunct, of each of the five counties comprising the city. One should not expect too much from those predating the very end of the 19th Century. Inasmuch as many of the earlier declarations were not saved, the remainder of the file contains such sketchy information as to make many identifications impossible. Generally, one can obtain from them the name of the applicant, sometimes his address, occasionally his occupation, his former allegiance ("King" or "Queen of Great Britain and Ireland," etc.), the name and address of the witness, the name of the court, and the date of the declaration and/or naturalization. One aid, but only to identify those of New York County residents for some years in the 1870s and 1880s, are the few extant volumes of `Records of Registered Naturalized Voters" at Municipal Archives and Records Center. Each volume is broken down by ward, and lists the residence address, name of the naturalized voter, date of his naturalization and the name of the court.
The researcher may make no headway in tracing the city history of the family if the side-door approach is not used. That is to say, concurrent searches of all records must be made of the Irish-born's city kin, both by blood and by marriage. Again, being a clannish people and too often treated with great prejudice, the Irish usually married their own kind. Generally, it was to an Irish girl who perhaps was distantly related through marriage or who may have come from the same county or townland in Ireland. When the subject's place of origin is not found, often it is uncovered through records of an uncle, first cousin or in-law. The researcher should not limit searches simply to the tracing of a direct line.
More so than those of others ethic groups, researchers of the Irish-born tend to have one aim and one aim only- to find the exact place of origin in Ireland. Disappointment runs quite high. For this reason, they should prime themselves to be equally satisfied to uncover the history of the family back to the time of disembarkation. Finding that information from the city's records is no mean feat in itself! And, if they are lucky (there is no other word for it; luck does play such a great part) to uncover the exact place of origin, that discovery should be treated as a bonus and a key to an even more challenging project - possibly extending the research into the records of Ireland.
Editor's Note: A comprehensive research guide on this topic was published in 2014.
Buggy, Joseph. Finding Your Irish Ancestors in New York City. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2014.
1 The four provinces of old Ireland were divided into 32 counties; each county was divided into baronies; and each barony (equivalent to, say, the English Hundred) was divided into parishes. The parish, earlier an ecclesiastical subdivision of a diocese, later also became a civil subdivision. A second set of parishes was formed by the State for the Established Church of Ireland. Their boundaries were similar to those of the Roman Catholic parishes. The Irish townland, the smallest geographical subdivision, can be described roughly as the rural farm holdings of a family, averaging about 350 acres and which were subdivided to lessees. It was estimated in 1883, for example, that there were about 2,447 parishes and 64,000 townlands in Ireland.
by B-Ann Moorhouse, C.G.
Originally published in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, April 1981
Updated April 2014
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