CIGO announces that Clare County Library is to be the fourth (2010) recipient of its Award for Excellence in Genealogy

At the 2010 AGM CIGO announced that Clare County Library would be the recipient of its 2010 Award for Excellence in Genealogy, not only in recognition of the facilities provided in the Local Studies Centre at Ennis (which includes a magnificent collection of Clare newspapers and the recently acquired microfilmed parish registers), but particularly the online genealogy section of the Library's website.

The website includes invaluable transcriptions of Tithe Applotment Books, gravestone inscriptions (with photographs), school rolls, and indexes to newspaper extracts, etc. The value of these resources is further enhanced by the cross-linked townland and parish indexes and maps, which help researchers to identify Clare place names. CIGO finds that the website sets an extremely high standard for data provision to which other libraries should be encouraged to aspire. In recognising Clare County Library's achievements in genealogy CIGO also acknowledges the contribution of all those who have donated time and material to make the website the success that it so clearly is.

The formal presentation of the certificate commemorating the Award took place in Ennis, Co. Clare, on Thursday 10th February. It was subsequently reported in Irish Library News and on the Clare County Library Blog. Patrons of the Library's facilities gave their congratulations too.

Click here to read the comments made by Steven C. ffeary-Smyrl, Executive Liason Officer of CIGO, at the presentation

Click here for photographs of the presentation.

CIGO announces that the National Archives of Ireland is the third recipient of its Award for Excellence in Genealogy

At the 2009 AGM CIGO announced that the National Archives of Ireland would be the recipient of its 2009 Award for Excellence in Genealogy in recognition of the creation of its Internet database of scanned images and accompanying index of the entire Irish 1901 and 1911 census returns. By any measure this is a great achievement and all the more so because the results are available to all - world-wide - completely without charge.

The presentation of the certificate commemorating the Award took place on Wednesday, 7th July 2010 at the National Archives. On being informed on the Award Dr. David Craig, Director of the National Archives, said: "As Director of the National Archives, I wish to say that we greatly appreciate receiving this award from the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations. The 1911 and 1901 Census Digitisation Project is by far the largest digitisation project yet undertaken by the National Archives, and has benefited from major investment by the Irish Government. In undertaking the project we have benefited greatly from the work of professional genealogists in Ireland, and in publishing the 1911 Census online, we have made it available free of charge to the many millions of people in Ireland and worldwide who seek access to it to trace their Irish ancestors. The success of the project to date can be seen from the fact that, over the 30 months from December 2007 to May 2010, our 1911 Census Website received more than 7 million visits and more than 270 million hits. We are very pleased that this success has been formally recognised by this award from the body that brings together in one council such a wide range of organisations active in the field of Irish genealogy."

CIGO announces that The Irish Times is to be the second recipient of its Award for Excellence in Genealogy

At the 2008 AGM CIGO announced that The Irish Times would be the recipient of its Award for Excellence in Genealogy in 2008 in recognition of the creation of its Internet-based database of scanned images of all editions of the newspaper back to its beginning in 1859. On being informed on the Award Irish Times editor, Ms. Geraldine Kennedy, said:

"We are very honoured to be the recipient of the 2008 award for Excellence in Genealogy and for the recognition of The Irish Times' digital archive.  The database has allowed access to The Irish Times archive in a way never before envisaged or previously possible.  Being able to search the entire database through a keyword search has obviously made it much easier for genealogists to locate references to individuals and places.  In the past, family history has mostly been gleaned from searches of the births, deaths & marriages columns for approximate dates, but now with OCR one can instantly extend such searches back to when the newspaper began in 1859."

Dublin City Public Libraries & Archive was the first recipient of CIGO's Award for Excellence in Genealogy

At its 2007 AGM CIGO announced that Dublin City Public Libraries & Archive (DCPLA) would be the first recipient of its new Award. It was clear to the Council that DCPLA has in recent years excelled in the promotion of genealogy and the accommodation of genealogists. The Library's facilities and archival & printed collections at the library in Pearse Street have over the past number of years greatly encouraged the study of genealogy. Further, CIGO also recognises DCPLA’s pioneering work in creating its innovative new database of historic Dublin city electoral rolls, which has made these underused records more accessible than ever before.

On the Award being made to DCPLA, Deirdre Ellis-King, Dublin City Librarian, said: "I would like to thank CIGO for their confidence in bestowing their Award for Excellence in Genealogy on Dublin City Library and Archive in Pearse Street. Our aim is to provide excellent service by making our materials as accessible as possible in the user-focused ambiance of the Research Reading Room. We are very pleased with this recognition, and intend to continue with excellence in family history resource provision in the future."

The certificate commemorating the Award to DCPLA.

December 2010

Clare County Library

Clare County Library’s Local Studies Centre is a reference library and research centre dedicated to the collection of material on any aspect of County Clare. Located at the Manse, beside the de Valera Library in Ennis, and staffed by Peter Beirne and Brian Doyle, the Centre is open to the public free of charge. Much of the material in the Local Studies Centre has been digitised and published on the library website by the library’s Information Services Department, based in Library Headquarters. Anthony Edwards is responsible for the website as a whole, while the bulk of the material on the website about County Clare is sourced, edited and prepared by Maureen Comber with the assistance of Teresa Carmody-O’Shea. This includes information on the archaeology, folklore, history, literature, people and places of Clare as well as the substantial genealogy and family history resources. Speaking in response to the award, Clare County Librarian Helen Walshe praised both the staff in the Local Studies Centre who welcome thousands of visitors to the centre each year while also responding to hundreds of email queries from all over the world, and also praised the staff of the Information Services department in Library Headquarters for creating such an obviously appreciated website and making so much information about County Clare available online to the more than 400,000 visitors to the website each year. She also thanked all those who have transcribed and donated material for inclusion on the website, and those who have identified people and places in the online photo collection.

See story as recently reported in Irish Library News.