Diocese sets the parish record straight

IN response to the letter from Kevin McCormack (“Have the diocesan records been moved?”, Irish Examiner March 28), the following will help to clarify the situation as far as the Diocese of Cloyne is concerned.

Parish registers are the property of the individual parishes. They are very important records of family history. Fifty years ago the diocese arranged to have the parish registers up to 1880 microfilmed by the National Library. They were available there for individual consultation on application to the bishop.

In 1998, this requirement was set aside by Bishop John Magee so as to facilitate individual consultation of the records without recourse on each occasion. Recently it became evident that some research agencies were employing access to the microfilmed parish registers for commercial purposes.