County Dublin, Ireland Genealogy

Ireland County Dublin

Dublin (called Baile Átha Cliath in Irish) is located on the east coast of Ireland along the Irish Sea and contains the largest city in Ireland, which is the capital of the Republic of Ireland. It is part of the province of Leinster and is divided into four government administrative areas; Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire – Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. Its English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning black pool. The county covers 1,869.9 square miles (4,843.2 sq km). Its length is 32 miles from the Kippure Mountain on the south to the River Delvin near Balbriggan. Its breadth is 18 miles from Clonee near Lucan to Howth Head.

In the eighth century, the Vikings establish a settlement here, which developed into an important Viking base. The Irish took over a portion of the area in 1014 at the Battle of Clontarf. In 1169, Dublin became the center of the Norman’s activities in Ireland. By 1644, the English controlled most of the country and the population of Dublin was about 60,000. Dublin continued to grow with the arrival of English administrators as well as people from all over Ireland. Huguenot, Jewish and other groups also came to Dublin.

The population was 335,892 in 1821 and grew to 372,773 in 1841. Contrary to the population of most counties, County Dublin’s population increased following the potato famine to 405,147 in 1851. The population generally continued to increase until it was 505,654 in 1926. In 2006, the population was 1,187,176 in total, of which 506,211 were living in the City. The predominant religion in the county is Roman Catholic. In 1891, 77.0% of the population was Roman Catholic followed by the Church of Ireland at 18.6% with 1.8% and 1.0% being Presbyterian and Methodists, respectively. Overtime, the percentage of Roman Catholics increased to 95.8% in 1926 and the Church of Ireland also decreased to 10.6% with 1.3% and 0.8% being Presbyterian and Methodist. In 2006, the percentages were 81.4%, 3.0%, 0.5%, 0.4% for Roman Catholics, Presbyterians and Methodists with 12.2% reporting as being another religion or having no religion.

General County Research Information
Further information about County Dublin is available at the GenUKI site.

Civil Jurisdictions and Parish Research Information
A map of the Civil Parishes of County Dublin is available at Irish Times site.

Genealogy
Smith, Patrick Montague. The Dexters of Dublin and Annfield Co. Kildare. The article covers the Genealogy of the Dexters of Dublin and Co. Kildare, Annfield, also the Dexters of Dexterville, Co. Tipperary covers years 1709-1940. Article in The Irish Ancestor vol.2, no.1, 1970 pages 31-42. Family History Library 941.5 B2i

De Breffny, Brian. Speranza's Ancestry Elgee - The Maternal Lineage of Oscar Wilde. Article covers genealogy of Elgie/Elgee - the maternal line of Oscar Wilde, son of Sir William Wilde, an eminent Dublin Surgeon, covering Durham, England, and Dublin, and Co. Wexford, years 1655-1918. Article in The Irish Ancestor, vo. IV, no. 2, 1972 pages 94-103 Family History Ref. 941.5 B2i

Newspapers
Ffolliott, Rosemary. Some Connecting Links between Ireland and the New World From Old Newspapers. Article contains alphabetical listings of births, marriages and deaths in the Munster Newspapers covering U.S.A, Canada, West Indies and England, covering years 1765-1826 Article found in The Irish Ancestor. vol. 2 no. 1. 1970 pages 62-69, Family History Library Ref. 941.5 B2i

Society of Friends
Goodbody, Olive C. Quaker Inventories. Deaths of some Quakers in Co. Kildare, Dublin and Offaly. James Taylor of Dublin 1687, with interest in his dealings with London and Pennsylvania. Samuel Watson of Dublin 1731, inventory with trade to London and Philadelphia. John Stevens of Dublin, 1731, attestation of his hadwriting and inventory. Article The Irish Ancestor, vol.III, no. 1, 1971 pages 52-63, Family History Ref. 941.5 B2i

Probates
Abstracts of Wills. Collection of Will Abstracts, gathered from many sources. includes Samuel Garre of Ranelogh, 1 Jan. 1837. Article found in The Irish Ancestor, vol.II, no. 2, 1970 pages 117-127, Family History Library Ref. 941.5 B2i

Web Sites
To view a helpful list of Dublin web sites, visit FHLFavorites.info for some great sites.