Baltinglass Chronicles Consigned to History

On 16 December 2022 I sold my last copy of Baltinglass Chronicles 1851-2001.  What that means is that it’s now more or less out of print after a sixteen-year span.  On 14 December I received an order for a copy on the Wicklow Marketplace.  That went to someone in the...

The Eleven (or so) Daughters of John and Martha Stratford

There must have been much rejoicing when John and Martha Stratford’s eighth child arrived in the mid-1730s, about a decade into their marriage.  According to Martha’s second cousin, Pole Cosby, that eighth child, Edward, was their first son.  It is said that John and...

McAllister – a monument with history

At the age of 116, Sam McAllister is the oldest resident of Baltinglass.  He has stood at the centre of Main Street since his unveiling on 8 May 1904.  He has become a symbol of Baltinglass and even a minor place-name.  People often meet ‘at McAllister’.  Pop-up...

Genealogy in the Time of Coronavirus

  ​I haven’t been in a record repository for over two months.  That hasn’t happened to me since the mid-1980s, when I took six months off to supervise a parish register indexing project.  Even then I managed the odd trip to Dublin to feed my habit.  Right now I’m...