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Find Your Ancestors In History

IRELAND


                                 
                          City of Dublin   



Books

"Jewish Ireland in the Age of Joyce" - authored by Cormac O Grada and published by Princeton University Press.  It is a socioeconomic history of the community during its peak years.

Most books, CDs, etc. can be ordered through my link to Amazon.com. 


Most of Ireland's present Jewish community dates from the late 19th century when Jews from Lithuania fleeing pogroms arrived in Dublin, Belfast, Limerick and Cork.  Today, it is estimated that there are some 1,000 Jews living all over Ireland - mostly in Dublin.  There is a great deal of information for those who may find themselves in Ireland in an article in the March 2008 issue of Hadassah Magazine authored by Alan M. Tigay.  Some of the highlights are included on this page.

Jews of Ireland were quite active from 1880 to the end of the 1940s.   There are (in 2008) about 1,200 known Jews.  Jews appeared, as indicated in the "Annals of Innisfallen" - a chronicle of medieval Irish history in 1079 when it was noted that "five Jews came from over the sea with gifts to Taridelbach (King of Munster) and then were sent back again over the sea?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Congregation_in_Ireland

Between the 12th and 18th century, small numbers of Jewish refugees from Spain and Portugal, came and went but by the beginning of the 19th century, the Jewish community numbered only three families. More Jews emigrated to Ireland in the 1820s from England, Germany and Poland, but the biggest Jewish impact on Ireland in the mid-19th century came from one man who never lived there - Baron Lionel de Rothschild, the first Jew elected to the British House of Commons.  Rothschild contributed "a sum far beyond the joint contributions of the Devonshires, and Herefords, Lansdownes, Fitzwilliams and Herberts, who annually drew so many times that amount from their Irish estates" according to an article in the Dublin newspaper of the time.

In 1880, Dublin's Jewish community numbered 450 and were mostly quite prosperous. In 1900, Dublin had more than 3,000 Jews with smaller numbers living in Cork, Belfast, Limerick, Waterford and Londonderry.  Lithuanian Jews began arriving in 1881.  Many became peddlers, petty traders and moneylenders "credit drapers and "weekly men" in the local parlance, according to Alan Tigey. 

Some of these immigrants got their "five pound stake" from the Hebrew Philanthropic Loan Society.  The second generation moved up the occupational ladder, as Jews became a major force in the manufacture of clothing and furniture.

Ireland also had a President of Jewish descent, Erskine Childers.  One of his ancestors was a 16th century Sefardic refugee.  Actor Daniel Day-Lewis' mother was an English-Jewess who bore him in London, but he became a citizen of Ireland in 1993.


1901 Northern Ireland Census

The following site is useful
http://proni.nics.gov.uk/records/1901cens.htm#intro

From a posting to JewishGen on 2/6/04  "In regard to Gerry Esterson's inquiry regarding Jewish immigrants to Ireland and their names, may I point out that I have seen no substantial research that has dealt with Jewish immigration to Northern Ireland (Belfast) as opposed to Southern Ireland or the Irish Republic.

It is well-known that the southern part was populated by Litvaks, particularly from one or two shtetls.  Personally, I do not know if the northern part had a more expanded population, although I do have relations who were in Belfast who originated in Lithuania.

There are a number of substantial family trees of Jews who settled in Ireland which provide numerous names upon which Gerry can base his research.  One of these is the Yodaiken family tree, another is the Clein family tree and yet another is the Noyek (Noik) family tree.  I am sure if Gerry contacts either Lenny Yodaiken in Israel and Davida Noyek Handler in Las Vegas that he will be more than overwhelmed by names to use in his research!!!

In addition, the portion of the 1901 UK Census which deals with Belfast can be checked.  The Jews lived on a few specific streets and therefore their names are available that way.  The Census for southern Ireland can be helpful that way too. Ann Rabinowitz
 annrab@bellsouth.net 

Archives

National Archives - in Dublin 
http://www.natinalarchives.ie/
 


Belfast

If you like digging for information, and have an interest in Jewish Belfast
http://www.jewishbelfast.com/
 

                                                                                   Annesley Street Synagogue   

"Belfast" - a article authored by Phyllis Ellen Funke describing The Jewish Traveler in Belfast, was published in the Hadassah Magazine of November 2003. 

The article discusses the first Jewish resident , Manuel Lightfoot, who was a tailor in 1652.  The earliest Jewish birth registered is that of the son of Meir Levy in 1849.  On July 7, 1871, with only a small Jewish population of an estimated 50, a stone was laid on Great Victoria Street that became the synagogue, Hebrew school and clerical residence.  On February 26, 1904, a second synagogue at Annesley Street and Carlisle Circus was established.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_
Jews_in_Northern_Ireland

There were some 205 Jews in Belfast, five in Londonderry and others elsewhere in Ireland, making a total of 282 Jews by 1891. In 1896, the Belfast Hebrew Ladies Foreign Benevolent Society was formed. 

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Ireland.html

Belfast Synagogue - 49 Somerton Road, Belfast BT15 3LH  Contact Aaron Engelmeir Phone 44 2890 775013
http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/Belfast/index.htm


Briscoe, Robert and Ben

Robert, in the 1950s served as Dublin's mayor and was succeeded a generation later by his son, Ben.  Robert also smuggled arms for the Irish Republican Army.


British Newspaper Library Catalogue 

Offers over 50,000 newspaper and periodical title holdings in Colindale.  The catalogue includes all UK national daily and Sunday newspapers from 1810 to the present; most UK and Irish provincial newspapers, some from the early 18th century upwards; selected newspapers from around the world in western and Slavonic languages dating from the 17th century upwards, including extensive holdings from Commonwealth countries and many other nations, and a wide range of UK and Irish popular periodicals coverall subjects from fashion, pop music, and cinema, to sports, hobbies and trades. 
http://www.bl.uk/collections/newspaper/
 

for further information or for the site itself 
www.bl.uk/collections/newspaper/newscal.html

The British Library - Newspaper Library - Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5HE, United Kingdom - Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7412 7353  Fax: +44 (0) 20 7412 7379 E-mail: newspaper@bl.uk
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html

http://catalogue.bl.uk/F/?func=file&file_name=login-bl-list


Cemetery Information and Funeral Chapel


http://www.telusplanet.net/public/mtoll/locate2.htm

http://www.cyndislist.com/cemetery.htm


 

 

Chaim Herzog

 

Israel's sixth president was born at 185 Clifton Park Avenue, Belfast, in 1918.
http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/chaimherzog.htm


Chief Rabbi of Ireland

Yaakov Pearlman who left a congregation in Rochester, New York to work with the 1,400 Jews living in Ireland.  The rabbi is a native of Manchester, England and was once the youngest rabbi in Britain at age 20.  He and his wife, will live in Dublin.
http://tinyurl.com/6h2frr


Cork  

Sometimes called the "Venice of Ireland" due to the various branches of the River Lee that flows into its Harbor and the footbridges around the city.  There is a Jewish Community though small in size.  Cork is the second largest city in the Republic after Dublin. In the early 20th century, the Jewish community counted almost 500 souls, but the population has since dwindled to 20-30 Jews out of a total population of 135,000 mostly because of intermarriage.

Cork Hebrew Congregation - 10 South Terrace, Cork Mr. Fred Rosehill, Chairman of Trustees Phone: 353 21 4870413 or 353 87 234 1274.  The Orthodox synagogue, which is over 110 years old (built in 1896), still holds services and there is a Jewish cemetery still in use. The exterior appears to be of a lavender colored stone structure with three arched doorways, while the interior includes a central wooden Bima and a wraparound women's gallery and a skylight.  Only one service a month is scheduled
http://www.jewishgen.org/JCR-UK/Ireland/cork1_hc/index.htm

Cork's Jewish immigrant families clustered in the Hibernian Buildings, a squat row of brick dwellings with sloped roofs and fat chimneys along Albert Road, located south of the town center.  There have been no Jews living here for at least after 1970 though there is a Shalom Park directly in front of the Hibernian Buildings.


Dublin  

Most of the original Dublin families' marriage records of Marys Abbey from 1845 from Camden Street Shul were recently discovered in Roscommon.  The Irish Jewish Genealogical Society has 23,400 names on file covering the 32 counties including birth, burial and marriage records from 1845 to 2000.
http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/ireland/dublin.htm

"Little Jerusalem" area - less than a mile south of central Dublin and was once the home of the very early Jews.  Jews lived and worked on the streets and lanes off the South Circular Road and Clanbrassil in buildings that are mostly neat rows of two-story, and brick Victorians and one story laborers' cottages.

There are two former synagogue buildings remaining in the "Little Jerusalem" area, though both are now office buildings.  The Adelaide Road Synagogue at 37 Adelaide Road is a Moorish-Victorian structure with high arched windows and doorways.  It functioned until 1999 and the congregation moved to the Dublin Hebrew Congregation.  There is also remaining the former Greenville Hall shul at 228 South Circular Road with its Greek style columns and arched windows.

In 1900, Dublin had more than 3,000 Jews.  In 2008 there are an estimated 1,300 Jews and another 400 scattered around the country.  In Dublin, they have moved from the Grand Canal area to the south Dublin neighborhoods of Terenure, Rathmines and Rathgar.

Knesset Orach Chayim  (Jewish Progressive Congregation) - 7 Leicester Avenue Rathgar, Dublin 6 For service times or for further information please email djpc@liberaljudaism.org or call +353 87 2303435 Web site:
www.liberaljudaism.org

Dublin Machzikei Hadass Congregation - Rathmore Villas, Rear 77 Terenure Road North, Dublin 6.  Mr. D. Ross Phone: 353 1 4938991. Orthodox Traditional
http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/ireland/dublin11_machzikei/index.htm

Dublin Terenure Hebrew Congregation - Rathfarnham Road, Dublin 6 Mr. Michael Gilbert, President.  Rabbi's Office Phone: 353 1 4972351. The congregation is the largest in the city and follows Orthodox tradition and has Ireland's only Mikve.
http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/ireland/dublin11_machzikei/index.htm

Mansion House - residence of the city's Lord Mayor. The building is located on Dawson Street, just off St. Stephen's Green.


Familia

A web-based directory of family history resources held in public libraries in the UK and Ireland.  Updated and maintained by the Family History Task Group of the EARL Consortium, Familia is the on-line starting place to find information about materials in public libraries which will help you trace your family history
http://www.familia.org.uk/


Help for anything in Ireland:

Stuart Rosenblatt in Dublin has compiled an incredible database of genealogical information about as many Jews living in Ireland as he has been able to collect. He is very responsive to email, is a good source of information.  Of course, as with any genealogical information, the facts he provides should be verified later by other kinds of documentation, but he is a good first source.
http://www.jewishireland.org/genealogy.html

Stuart Rosenblatt P.C. 
The Irish Jewish Genealogical Society
Jasonia Business Centre
76 Dame Street Dublin 2 Ireland
masterc@medianet.ie  
Phone ++353 1 677 3808


Irish Jewish Museum

The second floor houses a former synagogue which is virtually unchanged as a sanctuary of the former Great Synagogue that seated upwards of 100 at a sitting.  Located at 3 Walworth Road and is a former synagogue; Phone 353 1 490 1857
www.jewishireland.org/museum.html


IrishJIG

Subscribe to IrishJIG, the Irish Jewish Interest Group at http://www.irishjewishcommunity.com/outreach.htm 


Jewish  Genealogical Society of Great Britain

Offers many links of value to researching Irish/Jewish ancestors including many links: National Archives of IrelandPublic record Office for Northern Ireland; UK & Ireland and more at 
http://www.jgsgb.ort.org/info1.htm
 


Jewish Home of Ireland

Danmark Hill Leinster Road Dublin 6 Mary Bartlett
Phone 353 1 4972004
http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/300_jewish_ireland.htm

http://www.haruth.com/JewsIrelandTribeStPatrick.html


Jewish Ireland

The website of the Irish Jewish Community
www.irishjewishcommunity.com  

http://homepage.eircom.net/~researchers/index.html

www.jewishireland.org


Jews of Ireland Genealogy Page

Community History, Synagogues information, Cemetery information, Research information, a database and much more 
http://homepage.eircom.net/~researchers/index.html

http://homepage.tinet.ie/~researchers


Limerick

Contact Dr. S. C. O'Mahony, Director of the Limerick Regional Archives, The Granary, Michael Street, Limerick, Ireland.  Telephone 061 410 7777  Fax: 061 415125
http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/ireland/limerick/index.htm



Map of Ireland
-
Click here to view map
                         http://www.12travel.com/goto/ie_maps/


National Gallery of Ireland

Located on Merrion Square West; Phone 353 1 661 5133 if full of works on Hebrew Bible themes.


Public Records Office in Dublin

Records were destroyed in a fire in 1922
http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/research_and_records_held/records_not_held_in_proni.htm


Trinity College Library

The oldest college in Ireland and the library holds over 200,000 leather bound books Phone: 353 1 896-1661
www.tcd.ie/library.com


UK and Ireland Genealogy

A large collection of genealogical information pages for England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
http://www.genuki.org.uk/


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