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.

July 2010

"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."

Dr. David Craig, Director of the National Archives, on hearing of the 2009 Award being made to the National Archives of Ireland