Researching Farming Ancestors In Ireland
There is a term that appears in Irish vital records and census returns that has frequently perplexed me. Fathers and husbands who describe themselves as “land holders”, are, to my mind, anything but. Evidence showed that they were tenants of very small holdings with poor-quality land. In this new book William Roulston explains the term, citing testimony published in a Royal Commission Report of 1886:
“A great number of the labourers return themselves as land holders – they won’t demean themselves by calling themselves labourers and they are not dignified enough to call themselves farmers.” Learning how the population and the authorities grappled with defining a farmer and agricultural labourer is just one of the many highlights of this book.
While the title focuses on researching Irish farming
communities, this is, in fact, a study of how land, and the people it supported, was documented in Ireland, making it valuable to more than those who have farming ancestors.
Most of the sources are well known to Irish genealogists. However, presenting them in a slightly different context, with the focus on the ownership and occupancy of agricultural land, offers a new perspective.
Roulston doesn’t just introduce a source, he peppers his text with references to articles, publications, parliamentary reports, diaries and other manuscript collections that add context to readers’ understanding of the source, the history and the society of the time. There are decades of knowledge and experience set out within these pages, as well as detailed guides for those new to family history.
Nicola Morris is vice-president of Accredited Genealogists Ireland and director of Timeline Research (timeline.ie)