The official Research Trip starts tomorrow, but typically some people prefer to arrive a day early to acclimate to the time difference. For me, it's an opportunity to run last minute errands and sneak in some alone time at the National Library which is open on Saturday mornings. I had requested a book to be ready for pickup at 9:30 this morning. It contained the obituary of John Denvir, a 1st cousin, 3 times removed from my husband, Brian. Brian O'Loughlin and Bridget ? were the grandparents of John and the GGG grandparents of Brian.
Although born in Bushmills, Antrim, John spent the majority of his life in England. He was the editor of The Catholic Times, The United Irishman and The Nationalist, as well as having a printing business. Her wrote a number of books, including his autobiography, The Life Story of an Old Rebel, published in 1910. I knew about John from cousin Anita but did not have a death date for him. A search in The Sources database turned up the reference to his obituary in a publication, The Irish Book Lover. I don't frequently find relatives named in that database but use it extensively to search landlords and localities. John died 1 December 1916 at his son's residence in Wimbledon, England.
I next spent some time in the Advisory Service (which is open but not staffed on Saturday) to follow up on some items I heard about yesterday. Using the Irish Newspaper Archive (free at the National Library), I found an article on the accidental death of TJ Ledwith while crossing the street in Mullingar in 2013. Working back from his age, I used the FamilySearch Civil Records Index (which goes to 1958 in the Republic) to identify his birth (along with his siblings) so I can obtain their birth registrations. Although not online, I can get them from the General Register Office. No marriage records turned up through 1958. I'll have to get their marriage dates to request the registrations.
I spent time this afternoon running errands before the rain started. I needed to find the new bus stop for the #14 bus near the National Archives. This is the bus that goes out to the Representative Church Body Library and I used to catch it in front of Trinity. Because of the Luas (light rail system) the route changed and I have two people going to the Library on Monday. I wanted to make sure I got them to the correct place!
Anyone interested in company for dinner, can meet me in the lobby at 5:30. I only had two takers tonight, but we have a great dinner at the Quay Restaurant in Temple Bar. We each had something different...cottage pie, Guinness Beef Stew and Irish (lamb) stew. Delicious!
The rest of the group will be arriving tomorrow and the kickoff is dinner with Brian Donovan and Fiona Fitzsimons.
Happy Hunting!
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