19th century Irish "matrimonial map"

One of the great joys that comes in genealogy is finding that rare map that helps you locate your family. While this map (click to enlarge) will not help anyone find those much sought after ancestors, it may help you get in the spirit of Valentines Day.

A special thanks to the National Library of Ireland (http://www.nli.ie/) for posting this and also to my colleague Alan Mann, who brought it to my attention.

Happy Valentines Day Everyone

Celebrate St. Patricks Day with Irish Civil Registration

As so many around the world will take the time tomorrow to celebrate their Irish ancestry, now may be a good time to remember that the indexes to Irish Civil Registration are available free of charge at http://www.familysearch.org/. If you have been fortunate enough to find your family in either the 1901 or 1911 Ireland Censuses, such as the Rosenberg family below, the indexes can be a great way to learn more about the family.

To find the indexes, visit http://www.familysearch.org/, where you will see the page at left. Then click on Europe in the browse by location area, and all the collections for Europe will appear in alphabetical order by country. Under Ireland, you will find the Ireland Civil Registration Indexes for 1845-1958 (see Below).

Using the information from the census record, a simple search can be used for the births, marriages or deaths of any of the family members. Although the actual images are not available, some of them are on film in the Family History Library or through one of it's Family History Centers, and can be viewed there. Those that are not available in that way can be ordered from Ireland. A quick search for the Rosenberg family found the index entry for the marriage of Wolf and the birth of son Israel. Those results, found below, provide all the information needed to order the certificates.

Happy Searching and Happy St. Patrick's Day

Belfast City Burial Database

During this past week some of the burial records for the City of Belfast have gone online. Not all records are available at this time, however the records of over 360,000 burials are included. Of the three cemeteries currently available the most useful from Jewish researchers will be the Belfast City Cemetery, which includes it's Jewish section. The records from this cemetery date back to 1869.

The database (http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/burialrecords/search.asp) which is free to access is very easy to use. The database can be searched by both first and last name as well as year of burial. One of the nice features is that if a date is unknown, it can be searched by decade simply by just listing the first 3 numbers, such as 192 for any burial in the 1920's.

A simple search for the surname Rutenburg yielded the following results;

By following the search through and clicking on the details tab, I was able to receive the following information;
This database will be a great source for those researching their Irish Jewish ancestors, and many thanks to the City of Belfast for making it possible.

Sir Otto Jaffe, Lord Mayor of Belfast

Over the course of history, many Jews have served their communities in government positions. Some of the more well known include Sir Otto Jaffe, who was born in 1846 in Hamburg, Germany but came to Belfast, Ireland with his family in 1852, where his father Daniel established a business exporting Irish Linen. For about ten years, from 1867-1877, Otto lived and worked in New York. At that time his brothers retired from the family business so Otto returned to Belfast to lead the company. Eventually the family business, " Jaffe Brothers" became the largest linen exporter in Ireland.

Jaffe, was never one to shy away from service. At various times he served as a Justice of the Peace, a member of the Belfast Harbour Commission and a governor of the Royal Hospital. In 1899, Jaffe, who had given up his German citizenship and become a British Citizen, was elected Lord Mayor of Belfast

The 1901 Census, above, shows the family of Otto and Paula Jaffe, with their household. He was reelected as mayor in 1904 after having served as High Sherriff of Belfast. He was also very active in the Jewish community. In 1871, his father established the Belfast Hebrew Congregation. Between then and 1903, the congregation increased from about 50 members to well over 1000. In 1904, he opened the new synagogue at Annesley Street, of which he paid most of the construction costs.
The life that he enjoyed in Belfast, would change drastically on 7 May 1915, when the Lusitania was torpedoed by the Germans off the coast of Cork. This led to a lot of anti-German attitudes, and even though he was loyal to the Crown, and had a son serving in the British Army, he was accused of being a spy. In June of 1916, he resigned as Alderman and moved with his wife to London, where he died in 1929. His wife, was to ill to attend the funeral, and died in August of that same year.



The records of the Jaffe family can be found in The Jews of The British Isles

The poem of a Shopkeeper

In his book The Jews of Ireland: from Earliest Times to the year 1910, Louis Hyman shares a poem written by Myer Joel Wigoder (1856-1933), who was a settler of Dublin about 1890. I think it tells a story common to so many of our ancestors.

When first in Dublin I arrived,

I shed hot bitter tears,

Penniless in a foreign land,

I faced the coming years.

Upon a frugel scale I lived,

So as to pay my way,

How hard I toiled that I might earn,

A few shillings each day.

I did not scorn to carry a bag.

And deal in humble wares,

My back bent low, I carried on,

Heedless of stones and stares.

In such a way I struggled on,

Scarce knowing what to do,

I changed my trade a score of times,

Ever trying something new.

Still, my spirit was unconquered,

And my confidence survived,

I forgot my previous failures,

And as a shopkeeper thrived.

Pictures, frames or writing paper,

I have all one may require,

Come to me and get your custom,

If things you do desire.

His work in the picture framing business must have finally paid off for him, as we see in the 1911 census, he had eight children living with him. He was at this time a Russian born widower.

The records of this family are in The Jews of the British Isles.

The far reaching influence of the Fordon Jews

Over the generations, families move for many reasons, and I am constantly amazed at how widespread our families become. My own great grandfather, Morris David Rosenbaum, a Polish Jew, was born in Fordon, Poland in the early 1830's. Over time his journey took him to New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco and eventually to Utah.
It was then with great interest that I was reading the book The Jews of Ireland, by Louis Hyman. In his chapter on the Dublin congregation he writes, "In 1829, the eleven families of the congregation appointed the Rev. Isaac Davidson to be Reader, shochet, and mohel. Davidson was born in Fordon, in the duchy of Posen, settled in England about the year 1820, and was for some time the reader and sochet in Sunderland and Brighton, apart from an interval as private secretary to Solomon Herschell, the Chief Rabbi of England."

The records of this family can be found in the Jews of the British Isles, and The Jews of Europe.

Jewish residents of Dublin.

The history of the Jewish people in Dublin is actually a long history. In the mid 17th century, the first synagogue was established, opposite Dublin Castle. In the early 1700's the earliest Jewish Cemetery was established. From this early start the population eventually fell to just a few dozen. In the 1820's, Dublin once again saw the beginning of immigartion of families. In the case of the Jews, most came from Germany and Poland. By 1900, the Jewish population of Dublin had increased to over 3000 people.

The history of Dublin, and indeed all of Ireland's Jews, has been beautifully documented at The Jewish Museum in Dublin. The museum is located in the arear of Dublin, near Portebello College, home to a large portion of the Jewish community of the early 1900's.


The growth of the Jewish community came at a very valuable time for family researchers. The 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland were able to document these families. Since the census takers recorded the religion of every resident we are able to get a good picture of the Jewish Community. The records can be viewed free of charge at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/. This resource is just to incredible for any Irish researcher to pass up.
The records of the Irish Jews can be found in the Jews of the British Isles.

1901 and 1911 Ireland Census Records

As of Jun of 2010 those individuals searching for their Jewish ancestors in Ireland have been given a gift. The 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland are now available free online at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/. All counties are included. Up until this time the census of 1911 was the only one included here. This site will be most benefical for anyone looking for their ancestors in turn of the century Ireland.


Even though, the record above is taken from the microfilm collection of The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, it is easy to see what wonderful information is available.

Edgar and Ree Alice Corer

The seventh day of May 1915 is a day many will never forget. On that day the RMS Lusitania, was hit and sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. Of the 1959 people on board, 1198 of them lost their lives. Many believe this single act was responsible for the United States entering World War 1.

For one family, this day means much more. It was the day that Ree Alice Corer lost the man she loved, her husband Edgar. We know very little of him, from his headstone at Willesden Cemetery in London we know he was 43 years of age. Both husband and wife are missing from any census records, which could mean that England was not home, just a final resting spot.

Knowing now how her husband died, makes the epitaph even more fitting. As a last thought to her beloved husband the following quote is left.

For love is strong as death---

Many Waters cannot quench Love:

Neither can the flood drown it.

Song of Songs

The records of this family are in The Jews of the British Isles.