So as I was saying in my last post......Searching the world for family within the deluxe version of Ancestry.com is challenging. While searching stateside has proven to be exceedingly easy, looking for ancestors outside of the USA on Ancestry.com appears to be futile. I have an extensive Irish family history on both sides of my family. I've yet to find my Irish families living in Ireland on Ancestry. Their webinar about finding your Irish roots in Ireland does lead me to believe that Ancestry does not think that they can get to that information either. I've given them constructive, polite feedback. I have no idea if they have read it as they don't let you know with a reply. All I can figure is that Ancestry is so overwhelmed with new customers right now as a result of that NBC show "Who Do You Think You Are?", that they can't respond.
I have found limited information online via Griffith's Valuation and various Google searches using the family last name and location in Ireland where I know they are from. I've found a little bit of information. I've had lots of helpful people offering suggestions as to how to research my family by using the 1901 and 1911 Irish Census or the 1864 Griffith's Valuation. The catch for me is that I'm back further than these dates. I have one family line back to 1670 in Co. Louth. That is an exception situation since most people would not have such great resources. The family is still there in Co. Louth and maintain the private family records. I must say though, they have shared these records time and time again with historical societies and researchers. The next time I communicate with them, I will need to ask them if the records have been shared with the Irish Archives. Now, that is somewhere Ancestry.com needs to be connected!
At any rate, I am currently stuck when it comes to researching most of my lines including the Flanagan's in Co. Louth back to the 1670's. It's tough communicating long distance via email when they may not read their email very often. Plus the family genealogy may not be their first priority. At least I know that the Flanagan's enjoy discussing the topic. Then there's people who are just not interested in genealogy. ....next post......
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