Have you ever imagined the church where your ancestor was baptised, or wondered who stood beside them at the font? To delve into the earliest chapters of your family's story, the Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland offers an unexpected source: transcribed baptism records taken from parish registers and newspaper announcements. These rare entries, gathered by volunteers between 1892 and 1934, can help you place your ancestor in a time, place, and family—often when no other records survive.
Have you ever imagined the church where your ancestor was baptised, or wondered who stood beside them at the font? To delve into the earliest chapters of your family's story, the Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland offers an unexpected source: transcribed baptism records taken from parish registers and newspaper announcements. These rare entries, gathered by volunteers between 1892 and 1934, can help you place your ancestor in a time, place, and family—often when no other records survive.
Every search results will provide you with a transcript of the original record. Most will include the following facts:
The images can reveal even more about your ancestor’s baptism, such as the names of your ancestor’s godparents.
This is a rare and valuable Irish family history resource. While the Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland (published from 1892 to 1934) was primarily created to record gravestone inscriptions, some volumes also include transcriptions of baptisms taken from parish registers or newspaper notices.
These entries were collected by dedicated volunteers from across Ireland, and every county is represented. Although denominational details were not always noted, many records appear to come from Church of Ireland sources. Finding a baptism in these pages can be a key breakthrough, especially for periods when official records are missing or incomplete. A baptism record can help place your ancestor in a specific location at a specific time, often naming both parents—crucial information for building out your family tree.