Last month, I visited County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland to discover more about my Wilson ancestry. I’m still on a high having exceeded my ancestry travel goals.
I met my Wilson cousins who still farm the same land from 400 years ago. I visited 17th century castles, 18th century estates, and ate like a king. I talked with genealogists, librarians, and archivists. I held documents older than the United States, and discovered databases that somehow previously escaped my purview. I even had a paranormal genealogical experience.
I learned a lot personally and professionally, and I’d like to pass along this knowledge to others interested in ancestry travel.
Meeting Ancestry Travel Goals
In my last post, I established that my primary goal was simply to walk the same land as my ancestor and visit libraries and genealogy centers to gain greater context for the time period in which my ancestor lived there. John Wilson left County Fermanagh about 1740, and Irish records prior to the 20th century are sparse. Setting this simple and realistic goal not only helped me temper expectations but also organize my short six-day trip for maximum impact. The video below captures the beauty of the townlands of Derryhillagh and Cavancarragh from Topped Mountain — it inspires the imagination for what life was then and is now.
What Worked, What Didn’t
Without a doubt, the two most important things I did was to first create a list of people and places I wanted to visit and the days and hours they were open or available. The second was to be flexible, not only with my itinerary but with my expectations. Sunshine is a premium in County Fermanagh (think rainy Seattle) as were the people’s schedules I wanted to meet. So, I prioritized outdoor activities and open hours above all else.
As you can see from the schedule below, I was able to accomplish a lot more than I expected in part because they have 17 hours of daylight, and people there take full advantage of it. It also helped that I did not suffer from jet lag (read “genealogy high”). I had allotted two days for the National Archives (PRONI) in Belfast just to orient myself for using the facility in the future. I was able to accomplish that in one day and adjusted my schedule appropriately.
Luck was also on my side. The Fermanagh Genealogy Center began in-person consultations the day I arrived Enniskillen after a three-year Covid hiatus! I had an outstanding visit with one of the local genealogists who not only provided me with a cultural context and orientation to the availability of local records and sources, but also facilitated a visit with a Wilson cousin who has lived on the same Derryhillagh farm for 10 generations!
So, what didn’t work? Very little actually, which I like to think was because of good planning. Yet, I did encounter a minor problem with the Enniskillen Public Library. I had relegated the library to the last day because it was open every day except Sunday, and I knew I could fit it in almost anywhere in my schedule. The local genealogist I met with also indicated it probably wouldn’t have many relevant records for the 1700s. As fate would have it, when I decided to visit the library, the genealogy librarian was off that day! Despite all my planning, I hadn’t anticipated that. Nevertheless, the wonderful on-staff reference librarians gave me her email, and subsequent communications with her was unbelievable, which I elaborate on shortly.
Paranormal Genealogical Experience
Stay with me here. I’m not one to believe in the paranormal, although I have secretly wished for deceased ancestors to visit me in my dreams and resolve all my genealogical brick walls. In my previous post and the research report about John Wilson, I stated that he likely came from either Derryhillagh or Cavancarragh, which are townlands east of Enniskillen and separated by just a couple of miles.
Y-DNA and logic points me toward Derryhillagh as the ancestral home for John Wilson while autosomal DNA and my greater familiarity with Cavancarragh records points me toward it. However, while driving these very rural townlands, I had an experience in Derryhillagh that changed my opinion.
I passed a house where a man was entering his vehicle. I didn’t really see his face, but I had an overwhelming feeling that this man resembled my father. My father passed in 2015 days before we were to travel to Ireland together. I took this “feeling” as a sign from my father that Derryhillagh, rather than Cavancarragh, is where our Wilsons are from. I’ve still not met (or even seen) this other man, but I have learned that he is a Wilson! He happens to be the nephew of the Wilson cousin with whom I met. The photos below capture selfies with the respective townland road signs and one of the Derryhillagh Wilson farms. Despite the paranormal experience, I remain open to the possibility that my ancestor could have come from either townland.
New Irish Resources
The Enniskillen genealogy librarian introduced me to the Mellon Centre for Migration Studies, which as the name suggests tells the story of Irish emigration through a comprehensive library, archives, and experiential education. One of their flagship resources is the Irish Emigration Database, which is a virtual archive of transcribed material related to Irish emigration. It’s digitized and key-word searchable.
While I didn’t find anything concrete about my John Wilson ancestor in the database, I did find an 1823 obituary published in a Belfast newspaper for the immigrant progenitor of a McMaster family, who are part of a autosomal genetic cluster somehow related to my own McMasters line. The obituary not only stated where he died in the U.S., but the town in Ireland where he was from, and it also mentioned a reverend brother who is likely more prominent and thus perhaps easier to search. Based on the online trees I’ve observed for this other McMasters family, no other researcher appears aware of this obituary. I’m hopeful this town in Ireland may help me “jump the pond” back to Ireland (or Scotland) given that my McMasters ancestors arrived the U.S. 100 years earlier than this other McMasters family!
The local genealogist from the Fermanagh Genealogy Centre introduced me to Griffith’s Valuation Revision Books, which are fully searchable and free through the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), which is the official archive for Northern Ireland. I think most Irish researchers are aware of Griffith’s Valuation, which is freely accessible through the website askaboutireleand.ie, but I had never heard about the Revision Books.
After the initial Griffith’s valuation, which occurred between 1848 and 1864 depending on the area, changes to the valuation were recorded including changes in the names of occupiers and changes to built property, acreage, and values. Hence, the title, Revision Books. Valuation changes were captured between 1864 and the 1930s permitting researchers to infer important life events such as deaths and migrations. In the coming months, I will have a blog post about how I’m using the Revision Books to learn more about the lives of my ancestors.
Concluding Comments
If you take nothing else away from the ancestry travel blog post series, please remember this:
- Set Goals. Create realistically achievable research and travel objectives commensurate with your time and budget constraints.
- Plan. Find the opening days and hours of key places (and contacts) of interest.
- Organize. Document and record all relevant pre-planning information. Make a schedule. Have online and offline copies.
- Be Flexible. Create contingency plans to accommodate changes in weather, unexpected facility closures, your health or jet lag, and the schedules of people you’re intending to meet.
- Feed the Body, not just the Soul. Pack snacks to keep your energy levels up so you maximize the time most facilities are open (I often skip a formal lunch). Save the evenings, when most facilities are closed, to have your best culinary experiences. I’m a self-proclaimed foodie, so please permit me to share some restaurant recommendations should you find yourself in these Northern Ireland locations. Some can be a little pricy, but an experience you’ll never forget; so, don’t forget to make reservations well in an advance.
- Belfast: The Muddlers Club $$$
- Enniskillen: 28 At The Hollow $$$; Crowes Nest $; Franco’s Restaurant $$