On this page: "My Bookshelf" and social history resources, genealogy links and online maps
My Bookshelf
(* for recommended books)
*A History of Everyday Things in England — Lots of fun details and pictures. Organized rather randomly by century.
English Social History (green book) — No pictures, rather boring.
The two skinny books are touristy history of Tudor times. Lots of photos, but too early for my century of interest.
-William Penn's My Irish Journal (acquired this year; haven't read it yet)
*The Quakers of Mountmellick (museum store) — Good resource for history and genealogy in County Offaly
*Quaker Homespuns —short stories, simple fiction set in the same era and location as my novel, written by an Irish Quaker historian
*A History of Ireland in 250 Episodes (free shipping) — This book makes learning Irish history fun! Roughly chronological, with short-story length anecdotes (based on a radio show?)
A Timeline of Irish History (free shipping) - Nice color pictures and/ but only lists the big events (ie. wars or famous people).
Pamphlets and booklets that I picked up in Ireland, from the Moate Cemetery to a map with local flowers on it.
(Scottish research books)
Fodor's See It Ireland — Nice color photos with brief, basic history.
*(Not on the shelf, because it's bedside reading these days) Irish Life in the Seventeenth Century by Edward MacLysaght
More Social History
Here's a 1788 essay (eBook) about historical Irish dress, armour and weapons.
Irish Historical Textiles — a blog about authentic Irish clothing
Genealogy resources
Websites:
The National Archives of Ireland and their new Genealogy page with tithe applotment books and soldiers' wills. Download their pdf guide to Family History Research on this page.
The National Library of Ireland
The Public Records Office (Northern Ireland)
Peter J. Clarke has compiled a great list of free Irish Genealogy eBooks.
The Ireland Genealogy Project, with resources by county.
Links to many sites at Irish Genealogy Sleuth
Beginners' tips and links for Irish genealogy at The Armchair Genealogist
Watch this site for future resources: new Irish history library in Arizona, the McClelland Irish Library
Books:
Tracing Your Irish Ancestors by John Grenham, Fourth Edition —This is on my wish list! The fourth edition came out in the spring and then promptly disappeared from all the major sites. There are some on the small-vendor market at various prices (thus the link).
During my 2009 trip to Ireland, the Librarian at the National Library of Ireland referred to Grenham's third edition
eBooks:
The Grand Juries of the County of Westmeath (free pdf) — Volume II is full of surname histories
Annals of Westmeath, Ancient and Modern by James Woods (free pdf) — Lots of history, no index
Maps:
Irish Ordnance Survey maps — click "Explore Map" at the top to zoom in on an area. You can choose "Historical" on the right side to switch from modern street maps to old maps.
