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My Experiences in Genetic Genealogy: Part 1 (Introduction)

Why I Started My Journey in Genetic Genealogy.

I am very excited to pen a blog series on genetic genealogy.   Anyone who has interacted with me knows I am a huge advocate of DNA testing for genealogy.   Personally, I have conducted autosomal DNA testing with 23andMe, Ancestry, and LivingDNA and have uploaded a copy of my Ancestry DNA results to Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) and MyHeritage.  In addition, I have conducted a series of Y-DNA tests with FTDNA to include the Big Y-700 test.   Thus, I have direct experience with what many consider to be the Top 5 Direct to Consumer DNA testing companies for genealogy.

I decided to venture into DNA testing early on during my genealogy research because I was having difficulty researching many of my family lines. Generally speaking, I knew very little information about my paternal and maternal lines beyond my grandparents’ generations with the exception of my maternal grandmother’s family who I knew back to her own parents’ generation.  I was lucky in one sense that most of my immigrant ancestors converged in Massachusetts shortly upon their immigration to the United States.  I was lucky because Massachusetts and its many cities and towns have done an exceptional job recording, maintaining, and storing numerous types of records for centuries, most of which are very relevant for genealogy.

While I made great and somewhat fast progress in researching my family lines back to most of my second great-grandparent generations, it didn’t take long for me to hit some significant brick walls across most of those lines, primarily once I came to the ancestors who immigrated to the United States.  The vast majority of my immigrant ancestors only listed their native countries as their places of birth on various records (their marriage records, their children’s birth and baptism records, census records, etc.).  Only a couple of ancestors listed a specific place of birth, which varied from either a name of county or village in their respective homelands.

In hopes of seeking a breakthrough in my research, I read a number of books, blogs, and research guides on how to locate an immigrant ancestor’s place of origin through various research methods.  None of their recommended techniques advanced my research any further than what I already had; for the most part I had already attempted their techniques prior to reading these sources. I came to terms that my research was temporarily stalled (I am a realist, not a pessimist!) and I needed to try different approaches to break through the brick walls.

I eventually turned to DNA testing to supplement my traditional genealogical research. My hope was to gain additional insights and data that I was not finding through traditional research methods.  As with many genealogists who turn to DNA testing, the best result would be to connect with genetic cousins who shared the specific family lines in which I had my brick walls.  Optimally, I hoped to find cousins who had a treasure trove of records, pictures, and personal knowledge about our shared ancestral roots, which would provide me the essential information I needed to extend my family lines further beyond the generations I already had. Realistically, I braced myself for the possibility I wouldn’t have any relevant matches when I initially opened up my results. 

Why was I prepared NOT to have any relevant matches?  Well, when I first tested with AncestryDNA in January 2015, there were only about 1 million people in its matching database compared to the 15 million + today. Most of the people who tested early on were from the United States and there were not many people from Ireland and mainland Europe who had tested at this point. This was a critical point to know because my research indicated that many of my ancestors did not come from particularly large families and only a handful of their own relatives immigrated to the United States or Canada. Thus, I needed to connect with cousins back in my ancestors’ native lands in order to advance my research, not to a second cousin of a common great grandparent who I already knew was born in Massachusetts. So, the odds were low that other descendants from my family lines, native of my ancestral homelands, would have tested at this early stage.

As expected, I only had a small a handful of matches in the estimated 4th cousin range (none closer) when I opened up my test results…..all of whom were from family lines that were not necessarily the main focus of my research efforts at that time.  Nonetheless, my new cousins were very generous with their time and willingness to share pertinent research findings with me that allowed me to add an additional generation or two of ancestors and numerous lines of descent to my tree.  Unfortunately, I did not have any matches for the family lines that were my main reason for testing.  Those matches would take one to three years to materialize.

Overall, despite the slow progress I originally made with my DNA test results, I am very happy that I decided to do DNA testing. I truly have zero regrets about my decision. My personal experience has been very positive and beneficial to my research efforts.  While my successes did not come as fast as I had originally hoped, DNA testing has contributed directly to several important discoveries in my family research to include:

  • connecting me with genetic cousins who were willing to share their research with me, which in turn allowed me to extend several family lines at least one generation further back than my own research would have likely brought me;
  • providing additional evidence, which coupled with evidence I collected through traditional genealogical research methods, enabled me to break through several brick walls and draw irrefutable conclusions; and
  • giving me insights that allowed me to narrow my research focus to both specific geographic regions and to specific families, which together expedited my discovery of much needed records and other sources of information.

My DNA journey was without its share of frustrations. As I will discuss in greater detail in subsequent postings, most of those frustrations were self-inflicted and easily avoidable if I had taken the time to learn about genetic genealogy before diving blindly into the testing process. Ironically for me, I had to repeat some of these painful lessons learned because making the mistakes once was obviously not enough for me to learn my lessons the first time around. In the end, my mistakes eventually made me both a better practitioner of genetic genealogy and reminded me to be patient with people who are just starting out on their own DNA journeys.   

How the Blog Series is Organized

The blog series will consist of six parts (which includes the one you are currently reading).  I wanted to discuss the topics in each part in bite size, easily understood portions.  The series should be viewed as an introduction to DNA testing for genealogy focused more on the benefits, limitations, frustrations, and issues with DNA testing that people should take into account when deciding whether or not to pursue DNA testing for genealogy.  I will undoubtedly write other blog postings in the future on more advanced topics related to genetic genealogy with focus on our surname study and DNA project. The current series will consist of the following postings:

  • Part 1: Introduction
  • Part 2: The Growth of DNA Testing and Benefits to Genealogy Research
  • Part 3: Understanding Current Limitations with DNA Testing
  • Part 4: Common Frustrations We Experience in Genetic Genealogy
  • Part 5: Issues and Concerns with DNA Testing
  • Part 6: Why a Genealogist May Not Want to Do DNA Testing

Final Thought about DNA Testing’s Place in Genealogy

Many novice genetic genealogists are often unclear exactly what DNA testing can do for their genealogy research. For one, DNA testing IS NOT A REPLACEMENT for traditional genealogical research as some people believe. DNA testing is considered a “tool” or method within genealogy and the results that the tests provide are considered to be on par with other genealogy records you would find during your research, such as a baptism or marriage record. As many seasoned genealogists know, one record by itself is insufficient to meet the strict criteria laid out in the the Genealogical Proof Standard to draw a reasonable and credible conclusion.

For example, as we will discuss in Part 3 (Limitations), testing companies can only provide you with estimates on likely or possible relationships you and a match may be based on the amount of DNA you share with one another. Depending on how much DNA you inherit from a particular family line, a 2nd cousin 1 Removed could share as much DNA as a 3rd or 4th Cousin (as I have experienced myself). Theoretically, grandparents share just as much DNA with their grand-children as uncles and aunts share with their nieces and nephews. How do you determine the type of relationship (grandparent-grandchild, uncle-nephew, or 2nd cousin 1x Reomved – 3rd Cousin) without having other credible information to help draw a reasonable and defendible conclusion on the type of relationship?

As you can see by the examples above, it is impossible to predict with DNA alone on exactly how you and a match are actually related. Additional evidence is required, usually a combination of traditional records and additional DNA evidence, to draw a reasonable and credible conclusion. Without such evidence, it is very easy for a genetic genealogists to make errors on placing DNA matches into their trees, to include placing them in the wrong family lines, which I have seen some genealogists do. Our goal is not simply to build the biggest tree we can, it is to build as accurate a tree we can, regardless of its size.

So as you embark along your own journey with genetic genealogy, keep it at the forefront of your thoughts that your DNA test results are meant to supplement and complement your traditional genealogical research……they are not meant to replace it!

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Where to get started with your genealogy research: Part III (B)

The following blog posting is the last in a series of recommendations and tips for getting started in your genealogy research with emphasis on researching your Cosgrove family lines.

Part III (A) offered recommendations that included joining discussion boards and social media sites, searching for naturalization records, and understanding naming and immigration patterns to help uncover key information that may enable your ability to link your Cosgrove family line back to a particular place of origin in Ireland.

Part III(B) continues with several additional tips and recommendations. All of our tips and recommendations are meant to supplement, and not replace, the general recommendations you often find in Irish genealogy guides.

6. Cemetery Records.

I have found Cemetery records to be invaluable sources of information. Nearly every cemetery is managed a city or town hall or by a church or temple. Not only can they tell you the exact location of a family member’s grave site, but they may also offer copies of any records that exist (depending on their policies, the additional information could be free or you may need to pay for it).

I had once such instance occur when a cemetery office worker called me after receiving a letter I had sent requesting for the location of several graves in the cemetery. He gave me the plot #s for each grave site and offered to email me additional information that I had not requested, all for free! Included in the information was a record of a family member who was originally interned in a different cemetery a few years earlier whose remains the family had relocated to the family plot at this cemetery….. I likely would never had discovered that her remains had been moved to a different cemetery if the person had not voluntarily given me the additional information!

Also, physically visiting cemeteries may be very help. In some instances, surviving family members of deceased Irish immigrants would sometimes list the county or village in which the deceased was born along with the date of birth. Sometimes parents names were listed on the gravestone too. These may be rare occurrences, but it is something a genealogist and family historian should definitely explore nonetheless!

7. Consider Irish-specific websites to supplement your searches.

There are several genealogy sites based in Ireland that people should consider checking out to see if they may hold records pertinent to their research. One such site I would like to recommend is Rootsireland.ie (http://www.rootsireland.ie). The site, like any other genealogy site, is imperfect and it requires a subscription (if considering this, wait for their periodic sales to buy one!). However, many experts in Irish genealogy consider it to have the best records collections for Irish births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. I can tell you that the quality of records collections vary significantly from county to county and from parish to parish. For some family lines, I haven’t had any luck finding records…..for my Cosgrove line, I found a ton of very relevant records for Limerick City. Also, the Irish government has established the Irishgenealogy.ie (https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/) site. The site is free, but has a much more limited records collection than found on Rootsireland.ie, though exceptions do exist (for instance, Rootsireland has a very limited collection of online records for County Kerry whereas Irishgenealogy.ie has a few more).

The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has searchable records collection on its website that covers the six Northern counties of Ireland ( https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/information-and-services/public-record-office-northern-ireland-proni/search-archives-online ). If you have ancestors who may have been from the six Northern counties and you could not find their records on either Rootsireland or Irishgenealogy, you may want to look at the PRONI site.

8. Consider British Records Collections

Over the centuries, many native Irish moved to Scotland, England or Wales. Sometimes the moves were temporary before they eventually moved to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, U.S. or another country. Some settled permanently in Britain or spent several years there before moving back to Ireland. Unlike Ireland, the British countries have robust census records too so if you are aware that your Irish ancestors may have re-located to Scotland, England, or Wales, you may be able to find them in one of those countries’ census records. You may also find records for births, marriages, deaths, and baptisms there as well. Also, many native Irish served in the British military during the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s, so military service and pension records may prove to be an invaluable source of genealogically relevant information. British land records and court records may prove useful, though I am told access to them may be difficult depending on the person or institution that holds them.

9. Use the Griffith’s Valuation records with caution.

Griffith’s Valuation records are a great census-substitute for the 1830s-1860s time period for Ireland. If you can locate an Irish ancestor among its records, then fantastic! If you can’t, do not despair! If your ancestor did not rent or own land during the time that the data was collected (he year the data collection occurred varies considerably across the 32 counties), then he or she would not appear in the Griffith Valuation records. When I compared Cosgrove marriage, birth, and baptism records to the Cosgrove names in the Griffith’s Valuation records, there are considerably more Cosgrove families that existed according to the vital records collections than Griffith’s Valuation records would suggest. So while Griffith’s Valuation is a great source of information, it is not complete and all encompassing. Its only one source of potential information. If you don’t have any luck finding the family you are looking for, consider other potential sources of information.

10. Do not be shy to mail a letter!

Yes, envelops, stationary, and postage stamps still exist! When I discovered the records collection on Rootsireland.ie that pertained to what I believed was my Cosgrove family, I used the records to build out the family tree to present day. I found several living ancestors (which was a challenging endeavor in itself) for a couple of my 2nd great-grandfather’s siblings. I mailed a letter to one of the living descendants and within a couple of days received a phone call. The cousin was VERY generous with her time to copy some records that belonged to her great-grandfather (the brother to my 2nd great-grandfather). The records she provided were personal records not available on any website, which included some military service records that listed her great-grandfather’s place of birth as Limerick. The records also included the same birth date as I had found in the records from Limerick City. Gaining access to records only in the possession of the family helped contribute to the validation of my research findings.

11. Electoral or Voting Records.

I made an earlier recommendation in Part III (A) about finding your ancestor’s naturalization paperwork to see if he listed a place of origin back in Ireland. Some project members have had a challenging time locating the naturalization paperwork. While I was helping one project member locate the naturalization records, I discovered a voter registration record for her ancestor. The ancestor had immigrated from Ireland to a State on the East Coast and eventually moved to California. The Californian voter’s registration record listed her ancestor’s place of naturalization, which was a specific location back in the State on the East Coast. We couldn’t find the record online, but I suggested she contact archive offices in the area to see if they had a paper copy or a copy on microfiche should could examine. Nonetheless, the voter’s record provided critical information that helped validate some of her earlier assumptions and more than enough information to find the record at a State or Federal archive.

12. DNA testing.

I plan on writing a series of blog postings about the DNA testing for genealogy in the near future. However, in the meantime, I would recommend that a person consider two types of DNA tests available for genealogy: Y-DNA testing and autosomal DNA testing. Ancestry, 23andMe, MyHeritage, and Family Tree Finder are the most reputable testing companies available in my opinion. All offer autosomal DNA testing for genealogy. As a consumer, each company has its pro’s and con’s (I have tested with Ancestry, 23andMe, and LivingDNA and transferred my AncestryDNA test results to Family Tree DNA and MyHeritage). I would offer several pieces of advice when deciding whether to purchase a test from one of them:

  1. Understand why you want to do a DNA test and how you believe the results can contribute to your genealogical research goals.
  2. Always read their Terms of Service BEFORE purchasing a test! Take time to understand how they safeguard and may use your DNA results. Make an informed decision.
  3. Understand the limitations of autosomal DNA testing. DNA you inherit from your ancestors is diluted as it is passed from each generation. For instance, you only inherit (in theory) 50% of a parent’s DNA, 25% from each grand-parent, 12.5%, 6.25% from each 2nd great-grandparent, 3.125% from each 3rd great-grandparent, etc. These are the theoretical averages of inheritance which may vary slightly from person to person (even among siblings). Thus, if your research suggests you and another person may share 4th great-grandparents, the odds are not in your favor that you would share any DNA with that person because the small amount of DNA you each inherit from the shared ancestral couple may not be large enough to match. Second cousins and closer are thought to always share some level of DNA….after that, the odds begin to drop substantially (there is usually a 50% chance 4th cousins who share 3rd great grandparents will share DNA).
  4. Avoid LivingDNA for the time being. While LivingDNA is considered one of the Top 5 testing companies for genealogy, I and others have had very poor results. The company has admitted that they have had issues and are working diligently to fix them. For instance, they have strict matching criteria. So while I have over 30, 000 DNA matches on AncestryDNA, I have ZERO at LivingDNA. Plus, my ethnicity estimates are wildly off the mark, more so than any other company in my opinion. I am hoping that they make improvements soon, as their vision is great, but the results thus far have been very poor in my opinion.

Family Tree DNA, YSEQ, and Full Genomes Corporation (FGC) are all reputable and quality commercial companies that offer Y-DNA testing for genealogy. Only males are eligible for Y-DNA testing because we carry the Y-Chromosome. Y-DNA testing is an option to explore a specific surname line in your family tree. Since males tend to inherit their father’s surname and Y-DNA across generations coupled with the fact that the Y-DNA has a slow mutation rate, you can use the results in an attempt to find other genetic surname matches dating back several hundreds of years, much further back than the limits of autosomal DNA testing and usually further back than many records go. As long as you have a male family member (father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, etc.) alive willing to do a Y-DNA test for a particular surname line (the male must carry the surname as his last name), then Y-DNA testing may be an option worth exploring.

However, Y-DNA testing is without its challenges and disappointments. First of all, while an entry test usually costs around $100, more advanced and beneficial testing options cost several hundreds of dollars, which usually puts them out of the reach of many genealogists. Second, the results are only useful to your genealogical research if other people who share your surname and DNA from a common ancestor have tested as well. While some people will have at least one or more surname matches among their DNA match lists, some people don’t have any. The testing population for Y-DNA tests is significantly smaller (and I mean significantly smaller) than those that have conducted autosomal DNA testing. While I always encourage people to consider Y-DNA testing, I am quick to point out that you may have to wait months or a few years before you have a relevant surname match. If you have a very common Irish name such as Ryan or Walsh, you are likely to have relevant surname matches among your match lists. If you have the Cosgrove surname, you may not have any at the moment. Someone has to test first, so why not you? That is what I told myself and it has worked out well for me as a result!

While YSEQ and FGC are great companies, I tend to recommend Family Tree DNA for Y-DNA testing, mostly because FTDNA sponsors DNA projects for free on its site. You can join as many different types of DNA projects as you want for free as long as you meet the projects’ membership criteria. Each project administrator, who is a fellow DNA tester who has volunteered to set up and manage a DNA project, is allowed to set their own membership criteria. So don’t be surprised if you are either denied membership or you are removed shortly after joining if the project administrator feels you dont meet their criteria. It is what it is. I should know, I have been removed from two projects myself (rolling my eyes). Having said that, I allow anyone to join the Cosgrove surname project as long as their either carry the surname or one of its known variants or if they have a Cosgrove family line in their family tree. I try to be inclusive as opposed to exclusive.

If you already purchased an autosomal DNA test with Ancestry, 23andMe, or MyHeritage, FTDNA will allow you to transfer a copy of the test results over to its site for $19 (you are transfer a copy of the results so in essence you will retain your original results and benefits with the company you tested with and gain access to another list of matches as well as access to the projects at FTDNA).

Conclusion

So that wraps up the three part series on “Where to get started with your genealogy research.” Its taken me 10 months to complete this series, so I apologize for the delays. I spent my Summer and Fall conducting a lot of research for our Cosgrove one-name study. I hope you learned one or two points along the way that will be of help in advancing your research and attaining your goals. If you have any ideas or insight you would like to share, please do so in the comments section below!

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Where to get started with your genealogy research: Part III (A)

Introduction

I wrote two previous blog postings on how and where to get started with your genealogy research. The first blog posting stressed the importance of establishing goals for your research endeavors and interviewing living family members as the first two steps in your research journey ( https://cosgrove.one-name.net/?p=20&preview_id=20&preview_nonce=2090fcdf33&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=30 ) . The second blog posting stressed the importance of organizing research efforts and storing the information you collect early on in your research opposed to waiting until you have accumulated an Everest-sized mountain of documents (both physical and digital) ( https://cosgrove.one-name.net/?p=40&preview_id=40&preview_nonce=bb14e07eee&preview=true ).

This third blog posting will focus on some recommendations on different techniques, websites, and records collections that you can use to help you research your Irish family lines. My goal is to provide my readers with ideas and recommendations that differ from, yet complement, the traditional Irish genealogy research techniques you often read about in reputable books and websites.

Researching Irish families is a tricky and often frustrating journey for most genealogists, especially those who descend from Irish immigrants (regardless of where their Irish immigrants eventually settled: US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or another country). The reason Irish genealogy research is so tricky and frustrating for those of us who descend from Irish immigrants is most of our Irish ancestors simply listed “Ireland” as their place of origin on most of their adopted countries’ records, such as census records, death certificates, etc. Knowledge regarding the ancestor’s place of origin did not survive past a generation or two after his or her passing. Many of us who identify as descendants of the Irish Diaspora yearn to know, often with great passion, where our Irish ancestors originated. Its not enough for many of us to know that we are of Irish descent…..we want to re-establish our family connections back to a specific county, city, or town where our ancestors lived……and if we are lucky enough, where our distant cousins still reside. This is the “Holy Grail of Irish Genealogy.”

Countless books and websites have been written that specifically address Irish genealogy research methods. They all address the challenges and frustrations I discussed above. However, I feel like many of the methods and recommendations that they offer, which are very similar across the various references themselves, suggest that critical pieces of information on your ancestors’ places of origin can be simply found in vital records, passenger lists, or census records. My experience and those I often engage with suggest that such information is NOT found in these records, though exceptions do exist as they always do. Instead, I have complied a list of techniques, records, and sources that are not often discussed in great detail (or not at all) in books, blogs, and other sites that have been helpful to both fellow project members and myself over the last few years.

Recommendations

The following recommendations are proven techniques that others and I have used to break through our brick walls. Its rare that a single recommendation alone with provide you with the missing piece of information you are struggling to find. Typically, you will need to employ a combination of different methods as well as to collect information from across several different records and sites to provide the irrefutable evidence required to confidently link your Irish ancestor back to a place of origin in Ireland. So lets get started!

Tip #1: Develop a hypothesis to guide your research.

Often times, family historians and genealogists jump head first into their research without taking a moment to develop a hypothesis to help focus and drive their research efforts. A solid, testable hypothesis will help you identify and understand the types of information you need to either prove or disprove the hypothesis. This is critical to help focus your research efforts and help you identify reputable and credible sources of information to examine…..without such focus, its easy for us to expend a significant amount of time, and sometimes money, on aimless research endeavors.

Tip #2. Use forums, discussion boards, and social media to network and collaborate

My own brick wall into my Cosgrove family line was, in my opinion, significant. I examined every record collection I could find on Ancestry.com, American Ancestors, Find My Past, and Family Search. I even had a couple of seasoned researchers visit the Massachusetts State Archives and other records depositories in hope of uncovering records that may not have yet made it onto the internet. They didn’t have any luck.

Then I stumbled upon Family Tree Circles (https://www.familytreecircles.com/). It is a crowdsourcing forum where you can post questions and issues regarding your genealogy research. Fellow members will offer advice and suggestions for you to explore. In my case, a person provided a significant amount of search results using my 3rd great-grandparents’ names as the search criteria. Apparently, they tweaked the search parameters in a way that I had not thought of yet . While I could easily dismiss 98% of the suggested records the person provided due to wrong time periods or locations, there were a small handful of records that I myself had overlooked during my own research that eventually has profound impacts on my ability to break through my brick wall. The small handful of records he or she provided me led to my own discovery of some very critical records. Another bonus about Family Tree Circles is its free to set up an account!

I know many people despise Facebook, but there are several Irish Genealogy Groups on the site that are well managed and helpful. Traditional genealogy groups for most, if not all, of the 32 Counties exist as well as DNA specific groups for all of Ireland and many of the Counties. Word of caution though, the group administrators for the traditional genealogy site have little to no patience for DNA discussions…..they will immediately direct you to join a DNA group if the topic comes up…..make sure you read the group rules because most are tightly enforce!

In addition to county-level groups, there are general Irish genealogy groups as well. It was in one such group that I posted a question, mostly out of frustration, on where I could search for a marriage record for my Cosgrove-Dunn ancestors in Limerick City. I had explained that the record I ordered from the Latter Day Saints was only a marriage index and did not offer any credible information I was hoping it would. A kind gentleman conducted a record search at Rootsireland.ie and found a transcription of my 3rd great-grandparents marriage record……it was the one record that proved instrumental in tearing down my brick wall!

Several of the major genealogy sites, such as Ancestry, have discussion boards available that you can participate in as part of your subscription. Some discussion boards focus on a specific surnames, geographical location, and families. It doesn’t hurt to post a question, though it could be a VERY long time (ie, months and years) before anyone responds to it. I subscribe to the Cosgrove and Clifford discussion boards on Ancestry.com and offer advice whenever I can to people who have posted questions or issues.

Tip #3. Locate your ancestor’s naturalization paperwork!

Personally, I believe it is uncommon to find a census record or vital record (i.e., marriage record of some type) that lists an ancestor’s exact place of birth in Ireland. Often times, you will only see the word “Ireland” in the column for place of birth/origin. If you are lucky, you may see a county listed in the entry. However, I have had much different luck finding a place of origin on naturalization records. Here in the United States, we have two types of naturalization records that genealogists may want to review: Declaration of Intent and the Petition for Naturalization. I have had several ancestors list a county of origin back in Ireland on either one or both types of naturalization records, which allowed me to focus my research efforts into a specific county as opposed to across all of Ireland. I found about 25% of my naturalized ancestors listed their counties of origins on their naturalization records, which is a significantly higher percentage than what I found on other records (less than 5% on census and vital records).

Tip #4. Expand your understanding of immigration patterns.

There is much to learn about immigration patterns. I cannot possibly explain them all in this blog entry. Immigration patterns are important because Irish immigrants tended to live in neighborhoods and cities where family and friends from back in Ireland now lived. If you can determine where your ancestor’s fellow Irish neighbors lived in Ireland, you may have discovered your own ancestor’s place of origin. Plus, it was not uncommon for merchants to recruit Irish natives from specific geographic areas to travel together on chartered ships. In other words, if several immigrants listed County Wexford as their place of origin on the passenger manifests, then there is a possibility that your Irish ancestor(s) came from County Wexford as well. There are a few things to keep in mind when searching for your ancestor’s immigration records:

  • They could have first arrived in Canada before eventually moving to the United States. Two out of my eight Irish family lines who immigrated to the United States first arrived in Canada and actually lived there for a few years before eventually moving to the States.
  • Even though they may have lived in a port city, that doesn’t mean that is the city they arrived in. Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Charleston, and New Orleans were some of the more popular ports where Irish immigrants first arrived. Since my Cosgrove line lived in Boston, I reviewed countless passenger lists from Boston line by line in hopes of finding the specific ship and date they immigrated to the United States. Long story short, they had arrived in New York City and eventually made their way to Boston a few months after their arrival. Painful lesson learned that I am glad to share with others.
  • Be aware that your ancestor may have had a different name or spelled the name differently than the one he or she used once had lived in the States for a while. It took me two years of research to realize that my 2nd great grandfather, John Patrick Cosgrove, was actually named Patrick Michael Cosgrove on his baptism record from Limerick. Once I made this discovery, I was able to quickly locate his passenger list under Patrick Cosgrove. Included on the passenger list were his parents and several of his siblings….right names and ages…plus the names matched the surviving children who did not die in infancy.
  • Also, be aware of surname variants. While some families’ surnames were spelled the same way from record to record with some level of consistency, others were not. I have seen countless examples across all of Ireland where the surnames Cosgrove, Cosgrave, Coscar, Cosgriff, and others were used interchangeably from record to record…..and even on the same record (father’s last name was spelled Cosgrove and the child Cosgriff on one of my own family’s birth records!). So while your family may have the last name Cosgrove today, they may have immigrated with the last name Cosgrave, Cosker, or Cosgriff instead!

Tip #5. Don’t be overly reliant upon search engines on popular genealogy sites.

Many people may not be aware how search engines on sites like Ancestry or Find My Past function. Long story short, in order to search for a record, the company itself has to upload an image of the record (lets say a marriage register) to the site. Then, volunteers (people like you and I) will transcribe the information listed in the record into the website’s database. Once saved, the information typed into the database is now searchable. So if the person correctly transcribed my ancestors’ marriage register, the image of the record should appear in the results along with any transcribed information based on the names, locations, and dates I typed in the search fields.

Assuming the record exists first and foremost, and that it is uploaded onto a genealogy site, a successful search will be reliant upon whether the person conducting the transcription 1) could read the penmanship to accurately record the information, 2) did not make any errors such as omissions or spelling errors, and 3) the record itself contained important and accurate information needed to make the transcription possible. For three months I searched for my a death record for one of my Cosgrove family members in Massachusetts. Only five records appeared in the results and I never bothered to look at the actual digital images because the search results listed different names (other than Cosgrove) than what I had typed into the search engine. One day, out of shear frustration and boredom, I clicked one of the records and looked at the image. I was shocked to find out it was the record I had been looking for! The penmanship on the actual record was poor…..while I could make out hand written last name “Cosgrove,” the person who transcribed the record wrote Cognan based on how the writing appeared. In their defense, I could see how they could make the determination it was Cognan and not Cosgrove based on how poorly the name was written on the record. Cognan was the name that came up in the search results, not Cosgrove. Once I was aware of this issue, I did not hesitate to physically review records even if the names on the search results were different than what I had typed in….you never know.

I found a similar issue with city directories. I know I had a particular family line that lived in Bridgewater, MA for decades. However, their names were not appearing in search results in the city directory collections. I started to manually look through the city directories page by page and found them. When I looked at the transcriptions, the record was mislabled…..the volunteer listed them under “Brockton” as opposed to “Bridgewater.” So my specific search criteria of “Kerr”, “1912”, and “Bridgewater” was in theory correct, though failed to appear at all in the search results because their records were transcribed under “Brockton” and not Bridgewater. I found a treasure trove of city directories for multiple family lines once I figured out manual reviews were required.

I also found out that while Ancestry and FamilySearch records collections overlap, that does not mean they have the same identical records in those collections. I had two instances where both sites had two identical passenger lists’ records collections, but one had the record I was looking for pertaining to my Cosgroves and the other site did not. Conversely, the second site had the passenger list for my Cliffords and the first site did not. I only discovered this by manually looking through each individual passenger list for the given month of the families’ respective immigration to the US as opposed to relying on the search results. Since I knew the month and year they immigrated, the manual search was bearable….and very fruitful.

If you are absolutely confident that a record exists for a specific person at a specific time and place, you may either want to physically visit the archive where the record is maintained or conduct a manual search of the record collection on the website (or multiple websites as I have found was needed) as opposed to relying on the site’s search results.

Part III(B) will include several further recommendations to include searching British records collections, cemetery records, and electoral records.

I would love to hear from readers on any recommendations that might be out of the norm that have lead to their successful discoveries of information that helped break down the brick walls in their research.

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The Origins and Meaning of the Cosgrove Surname

Introduction

A person’s surname is more than just “a last name.” The surname is often times the family name from a person’s direct paternal line. In many cultures, a family name can often inspire great pride, especially if the family is prominent within a person’s community. While we are often proud of the surnames we carry as our last names, many people may not be aware of the meaning or origins of their surnames beyond maybe the name’s ethnicity or nationality.

I have been studying the Cosgrove surname’s meaning and origin for four years now. To say the research has been a challenging endeavor is a bit of an understatement. While not entirely rare, the surname is uncommon enough to make finding reputable sources has been a difficult task. I wanted to avoid using material from commercial websites, such as those that sell surname histories and coats of arms, as my primary source of information. Their surname histories tended to be woefully incomplete and overly generalized compared to the vast amount of information that actually exists about the name.

Some of the better sources that I discovered during my research include:

The Cosgrove surname’s origins.

People often ask me what is the ethnicity of my “Cosgrove” name.  When I tell them it’s Irish, they immediately tell me it can’t be.  When I ask them what they thought it was, they usually tell me they couldn’t figure it out, hence why they asked me the question. Despite their unfamiliarity with the surname’s ethnicity, they are nonetheless adamant in their shared belief that the name is NOT Irish!

To be fair, “Cosgrove” is actually an English name.  According to Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=cosgrove) , Cosgrove is derived from an Old English name “Cof” and another Old English word “graf” for grove or thicket.  An English village by the name Cosgrove exists in Northamptonshire.  It was first referenced in Domesday Book in 1086, about 20 years following the Norman invasion of England.   The name of the village is likely the source of the word the English used as a replacement for the Gaelic name Coscraigh when British authorities began Anglicizing Gaelic surnames in the 1500s-1600s. 

Cosgrove, Northhamptonshire, England (Google Maps)

Coscraigh’s meaning and origins

Coscraigh is derived from the term coscur (or coscar) meaning “victory” or “triumph,” or simply put, victorious.  Most historians, such as O’Hart and Woulfe, use this meaning for the surname in their respective publications. However, I recently discovered that an alternative meaning for the name exists. According to the Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language, it can also mean “slaughter” (http://www.dil.ie/12585). Personally, I prefer the former meaning over the latter.

The name Coscraigh can be found in many of the Irish Annals and other historical texts. We first encounter the name of Coscraigh on the Roll of the Monarchs of Ireland (Since the Milesian Conquest) in John O’Hart’s Irish Pedigrees or the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation (3rd Edition, 1892).  According to the list, a king named Coscraigh (Crimthann Coscraigh to be exact) began his reign in 292 B.C.  Whether he actually existed or is if the character was just a matter of fabricated folklore is unknown.   While Coscraigh’s appearance on the list of Milesian Monarch is the most “distant” or earliest reference for the name, it is not an isolated occurrence.  Several Irish annals and other historical texts recorded men named Coscraigh, most of whom lived in the 700-1000s A.D. period, on the genealogies of various ancient Irish dynasties.  Dynasties, whose genealogies referenced men named Coscraigh, included :

  • Clan Colla fo Crith – Airchialla (Oriel):  A Coscraigh is listed under the Niallain line in ~700-850 AD;
  • Ui Maine:  A Coscrach is listed as a son of Fithcellach in the ~700s AD period;
  • Ui Briuin Seola – Iar Connacht: A Coscraigh Duinn is listed as a son of Cumascaigh under Ceanfaeladh’s line.  He likely lived in the ~700s AD period;
  • Dal Cais: Coscraigh, son of Lorcan.  Likely lived in the 800s-900s AD period.  Coscraigh’s brother, Cennetig (Kennedy), was King Brian Boru’s father.  Brian Boru was one of Ireland’s greatest heroes after he led the native Irish in victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 A.D; and
  • Niall of the Nine Hostages: Cosgarach, son of Amalagach found in the pedigree for Mageoghegan.

Irish versus Scandinavian Origins.

I have found a couple of websites that suggest the Cosgrove surname may possibly have Scandinavian roots.   However, none of the sites’ owners explained how they came to this shared conclusion nor did they provide any references to source documents regarding the matter.   At the moment, I cannot find any conclusive evidence to suggest that a Scandinavian link exists for the surname.  I can only assume a Scandinavian word similar in spelling or phonetics to Cosgrove or Coscraigh exists that has has caused the various people to assume there was a Scandinavian connection.  

I should also note that all of the Cosgrove men who have conducted Y-DNA testing as part of our Cosgrove Surname Project at Family Tree DNA all belong to the M-269 haplogroup, which is the most common Y-DNA haplogroup among Western European males.  If the Cosgrove surname had Scandinavian roots, its highly probable that the men who carried the name would also have the genetic signatures of Scandinavian men, which is usually form the I Haplogroup.  However, none of the Cosgrove men who have tested to date have tested positive for the I Haplogroup (the most prevalent haplogroup of Scandinavian men).  Thus, I am highly confident that the name Coscraigh is of Irish, and not of Scandinavian, origins.

The next blog posting will explore the different Irish Dynasties that listed either a man named Coscraigh in their pedigrees and/or a Clan Coscraigh among their Clans.

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Where to get started with your genealogy research: Part II

Introduction

In Part I of this blog series on “Where to get started with your genealogy research,” we discussed the importance of speaking with living family members and setting goals and scope for your research prior to actually starting it.  Part II focuses on preparing for the inevitable task of storing both physical and digital evidence that you will collect during the course of your research. 

You will want to put some thought into how you plan to store and manage information, photos, and other items prior to starting your genealogical journey for a couple of reasons.  First, you want to preserve the information and items you collect so they are available to future generations to use and enjoy .  Just as you have become an aspiring family historian, there will be other family members in future generations that may inspire to follow in your steps.  Instead of starting from scratch like so many of us have to do when we first begin, your family’s future historians can leverage your genealogical research as a starting point when they begin their own journey.   Sharing your compilation of family heirlooms, histories, records, photos, etc. can be just as fulfilling as making their discoveries.  Thus, it is imperative that you take the time to plan on how you will safely and securely store your family history.

Second, you will inevitably need to refer back to the information and items during the course of your own research.  Thus, they need to be readily accessible to support your research requirements.   I lost count how many times I reviewed the same record over and over again only to find a previously overlooked piece of information that pointed my research into a new, and much-needed, direction.   I was able to easily retrieve these records for review because I established a file management system early on in my research that enables me to quickly search for and retrieve records, photos, and other types of documents.   If you wait too long to establish such a system, it will take a considerable amount of your time to organize the sheer volume of information and items that you have likely to accumulated over months and years, which will inevitably cut into your available time to conduct actual research!  Implement your storage system early on and be disciplined enough to use it on a consistent basis.

Recommendations and Tips

have broken down my recommendations and tips into three general topic areas: research journals and logs; storage of physical evidence; and storage of digital evidence.

Research journals and logs.  Many genealogists recommend maintaining a research journal and/or log for each family line you are researching.   A simple internet search can lead you to dozens of research log templates.   I keep my own logs on a basic Word document on my computer’s  hard drive.  It consists mostly of comments and questions I have about the current state of my research, hypothesis and theories to guide my research, information gaps I need to fill in order to solve problems and overcome brick walls, things to do lists, etc.  For instance, under my Cosgrove research log, I have a list of cemeteries I need to either contact or visit in the Watertown, Massachusetts area in hopes of finding where my 3rd great-grandmother, Theresa (nee Dunn) Cosgrove, is interned.  The log’s list of cemeteries includes their names, addresses, phone numbers, website addresses, and email addresses to the cemetery offices.  

I also maintain notebooks, or journals, for several family lines in which I can take notes when conducting research at libraries, archives, relatives’ homes, etc.  Sometimes when I travel, I don’t want to carry a laptop with me, especially when I travel by air.  Instead, I pack the notebook for the family line I plan to research during my vacation.  I also include a copy of my most current version of my research log and tuck it into one of the document sleeves that is part of the notebook.  I also have my ancestry files stored on my tablet, so I usually take that along as well since it is considerably lighter and more compact than my laptop. Thus, if I need to refer to a specific record, I can simply pull it up on my tablet. This technique makes for a convenient way to travel without feeling overburdened having to carry a laptop and other bulky items and materials on my trip.   Some people use apps on their phones or tablets, such as Evernote, to maintain their research journals and logs.  Regardless if you use a template, make your own, or use an app, the important thing is you have one AND YOU USE IT to help keep you focused and on track.

Physical materials.  Physical evidence is a bit more challenging to maintain, mostly due to storage space requirements.  If one were to write a list of the types of physical evidence and items that a genealogist could feasibly come into possession with during his or her research, it would truly be endless. Generally speaking, you will most likely come into possession of some type of paper documents (records, certificates, etc.), photos, and keepsakes, such as jewelry, that once belong to an ancestor.  A good rule of thumb is to store all of these items in a safe, dry place.  If at all possible, avoid storing physical items in basements and attics.  Basements tend to have high moisture contents, which could eventually lead to damaged papers and photos (think mildew/mold).  They are also prone to flooding depending on the quality of your foundation or location where your house was built.  Most attics lack sufficient environmental controls (heading, cooling, etc.) and their venting systems are designed to allow air from the outside to penetrate the space to help with air circulation, which could pose problems for your materials.  If possible, I recommend storing photo albums and document binders (for other types of documents such as birth and death certificates) on book shelves, in totes, or fire proof containers.  Try to keep the items and their storage containers about a foot off the ground if possible.

Many genealogists use quality three ring binders to store physical copy of records and other documents.  Depending on the scope of your research and the size of your family, you may need a small handful or a large amount of binders.  Large and well-documented family lines may require several binders.  Store paper documents in acid-free plastic sleeves in the binders.  I recommend having a filing system, whether you categorize the documents by record type (ie, census, birth certificates, death certificates, etc.) or by the person they pertain.  If you come into possession of loose photographs, ensure you store them in photo albums.  Modern photo albums (if made with acid-free materials) are a much better option for protecting old photos than the ones they may have been stored in over the last 50-100+ years.  However, do not attempt to remove the photos from their old albums if you think it may cause damage to the photos themselves!  Regardless of your decision, always TAKE DIGITAL PHOTOS of the older photos for safekeeping.    It is recommended to scan or photograph newspaper clippings as the paper that they are normally printed on either tends to breakdown or the ink fades over time.

Digital evidence.  For digital evidence, create a folder system on your computer’s hard drive to store the records, spreadsheets, written histories, digital photos, and other digital materials you will collect and make yourself over time.  For my personal technique, I created a master folder called “Ancestry Records” on my computer’s desktop.  Within the master folder, I created individual folders for each major family line (Cosgrove, Brown, Smith, etc.).  Within each family folder, I created sub-folders for each direct ancestor, and depending on the circumstances and details of each branch, I may make additional folders for their children’s generation(s). I also have miscellaneous folders for DNA test results, digital maps, digital books, and other topics that may not necessarily be connected to a specific family line.

For surname lines, I further sub-divided each person’s individual folder into additional sub-folders according to the different types of records I collected for them (each record type had its own sub-folder): federal census; state census; city directories; vital records; baptism records; military records; immigration and naturalization records; etc.  Here is an example of directory of the folder system I use for my Cosgrove line:

  • Cosgrove Family Line
    • John Patrick Cosgrove
      • Federal Census Records
      • State Census Records
      • City Directories
      • Immigration and Naturalization Records
      • Vital Records
    • Joseph Cosgrove
      • Federal Census Records
      • State Census Records
      • City Directories
      • Immigration and Naturalization Records
      • Vital Records
      • Military Service Records
      • Professional and Social Organizations
      • Photos

Naming conventions for your folders are important too when you save digital records from websites.  Sometimes when you download an image of the 1900 US Federal Census record, the file’s name is not something clean and simple such as “1900 US Federal Census Record”. Instead, its usually gibberish of some sorts consisting of a long string of letters, symbols, and numbers intermixed.  Thus, take the time to think through a naming convention so every type of record you save follows an identical format (when possible). Something as simple as “year record type” may suffice:

“1900 US Federal Census”

“1865 Massachusetts State Census”

“1910 Birth Certificate”

Some people may add a specific ancestor’s name, location, etc to the file’s name.  I found this problematic because census records usually contained information on multiple members of a family unit and trying to add all of their names on a file’s name was too much.  Thus, I used a simple naming convention as listed above and filed copies of the records under each individual’s sub-folder according to the record type.   After several years of using this technique, it has worked very well and I have not had to modify it in any manner.  The important take away is to find a system that works for you and be disciplined enough to use it.  It makes storing and retrieving information so much faster and easier!

My final tip is probably one of the most important recommendations I can make: back up your digital files!  Just as I recommended you to take digital photos of existing photographs from albums, I strongly recommend that you back-up your digital files to avoid catastrophic loss of your family history.  Every record I save to an ancestor’s profile on a genealogy website, I also download to my computer’s hard drive as well.  I then back up the records a couple of times a month on to a thumb drive and a removable hard drive.  I also back it up to my tablet’s SD card as well. Thus, I have each individual file saved on the website, my computer’s hard drive, my tablet, a removable hard drive, and a thumb drive.   Thus, I feel reasonably safe that I am protecting my digital files from catastrophic loss.  Saving the files, if done routinely only takes a couple of minutes to do. 

I would love to hear about your ideas and recommendations that you have learned through your own research. Please post them in the comments’ section below!

My next blog posting will provide a short overview of the Irish origins of the Cosgrove surname.