The questions I have always had:
__What documents did the Great Famine in Ireland generate?
__What portion of the people are actually recorded by name?
__Are surviving records available and where?
The answers: Ciaran Reilly. Strokestown and the Great Irish Famine. Portland OR: Four Courts Press,2014.
The Strokestown Park House Archive is one of the largest Irish estate collections in existence, with more than 50,000 documents comprising rentals, leases, accounts, correspondence, maps, drawings, architectural plans and photographs. Of particular importance are the papers that relate to the Great Irish Famine.
This book aims to introduce the reader to the archive and to provide a fascinating and detailed insight into the many and varied experiences of the Famine for those who inhabited the estate in the 1840’s.
Reproduction of many different documents showing the full scope of the poverty into which the Irish people fell during the famine years is quite enlightening. They also show the impact of the land clearances and the exodus to America and Australia in a way that words alone do not convey.
Footnotes, bibliography, and credits for illustrating documents provide direction to the sources and their location. Included in a postscript is the Irish National Famine Museum which opened to the public in 1987.
I was told that good leaders read. I believe that applies to genealogists too. To be a good genealogist, you have to read. I have read all my life–too many books to keep track of them all. But there are many times when my mind brings an answer to a specific question and I wonder how I know what I know? So, I surround myself with books hoping that those I have not yet read will allow their raw knowledge to seep into my genealogy psyche. Your favorite genealogist, Arlene Eakle
PS What does the Great Famine have to do with the Scots-Irish? Stay tuned–you don’t want to miss that answer!