Cosgrove Genealogy

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Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I never thought I would ever have a need for a blog in my lifetime, but my passion for genealogy, and specifically research into my Cosgrove family line, has inspired me to start one. There are several reasons why I am starting a blog about Cosgrove genealogy. First, I want to … Continue reading “Welcome”

There are several reasons why I am starting a blog about Cosgrove genealogy. First, I want to share lessons learned I have collected over my short period of time with others in hopes of helping them overcome brick walls in their genealogy research. I was shocked how difficult it has been to research my Cosgrove family line. Since its an uncommon surname, though not entirely rare, I thought it would be much easier to research than other surnames. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Brick walls are inevitable and they appear much quicker than we would like. And of course, it seems like most Irish immigrants listed “Ireland” as their place of origin while few actually listed a specific county or townland by name. Thus, while you may be able to confirm your Irish ancestors were in fact from Ireland, where exactly they originated is another challenge that you have to overcome. This blog will give you some ideas where to look.

Second, I have had success incorporating genetic genealogy into my traditional genealogy research methods. I have personally tested with both AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and Family Tree DNA in recent years. While I had immediate success breaking down brick walls in other family lines, my Cosgrove line was a bit more stubborn. However, as I write this first blog entry, I have made recent and significant discoveries through DNA testing that may lead to finally solving where my Cosgrove line originated in Ireland!. Based on my personal successes and challenges experienced with DNA testing, I will help you, in layman’s terms, to design a DNA testing strategy and incorporate your test results into your genealogy research.

Third, and somewhat related to the first two reasons, I hope to promote my Cosgrove Surname Project on Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). I volunteered to start the Cosgrove Surname Project on FTDNA in April 2016. Family Tree DNA allows volunteers like myself to organize and manage DNA projects on its site…..for free. People can join FTDNA either by purchasing a DNA test directly from the site or transferring a copy of an existing DNA test from another company (23andMe, AncestryDNA, etc) to the site. Once you join FTDNA, there are no subscription fees and you can join as many DNA projects as you like.

I originally created the Cosgrove Surname Project to bring people who have taken a DNA test (Y-DNA and/or autosomal DNA test) together in one location to help connect genetic cousins together. It was meant to serve as a forum to share information on our respective lines and use both traditional genealogy research findings and our DNA results to try to connect families together. We are a young surname project and currently have 29 members as I write this first blog. Hopefully, we can expand our membership over time. I also created a complimentary Facebook group for the surname project as well. I found that some people do not desire to take a commercial DNA test, but still want to participate in the surname project. The Facebook group serves as a forum for people to do so.

I have expanded the original purpose of the surname project to include my goal of using our collective Y-DNA results to see if I can connect males who carry the Cosgrove surname (or one of its surname variants) back to the various Cosgrove Clans that populated Ireland prior to the Norman invasion in 1172. YDNA is passed through a male’s paternal line and its slow rate of mutations allows genetic genealogists to trace a male’s Y-DNA over hundreds and thousands of years in time. My research into the Cosgrove surname and the various ancient genealogies suggests that at least 10 – 12 distinct genetic Cosgrove families existed in Ireland during 400-1200 AD (roughly 2-3 distinct Cosgrove clans in each of the four Irish Provinces of Munster, Leinster, Ulster, and Connacht). I hope to refine my research findings into the various Cosgrove clans and use YDNA results to connect modern Cosgrove lines back to their ancient clan roots.

While my primary focus is on the Irish Cosgrove families, I am aware that there may be an English group of Cosgroves that are genetically distinct from the various Irish Cosgrove families. Overtime, I hope to expand my research and knowledge to include the English Cosgroves as well.

I’m looking forward to the opportunity of helping each of my readers learn about their Cosgrove families and to expand their knowledge about the Cosgrove surname in general!

The Cosgrove One Name Study and a new blog address

Earlier this week, I received approval to start a One Name Study for the Cosgrove surname at the Guild of the One-Name Studies. As part of the program offered by the Guild, they have established a blog site for me. Thus, I will be posting future blogs to the new site which you can find at https://cosgrove.one-name.net/. For anyone interested in joining the Guild itself, you can join at the following website: https://one-name.org/

Getting Started Researching Your Cosgrove Family Line: Part 3, Section B

This is the final installment of my introductory series on getting started researching your Cosgrove family line. Part 3, Section A provided a brief overview of my brick wall and several research approaches (Tips #1-#3) that I used to chip away at the brick wall. Section B picks up at Tip #4 and ends with Tip #8.

Step #4: Instead of searching for John Cosgrove and Theresa Dunn as individuals, search for records that listed them as the parents.

I decided to broaden my search for records across the U.S. for individuals with parents’ named John Cosgrove and Theresa Dunn. I found a gentleman who died in South Carolina in the early 1930s whose parents were John Cosgrove and Theresa Dunn. At first, I dismissed this as a coincidence. However, this gentleman kept appearing in additional searches that I conducted over a several month period. While I was still suspect of his connection to the family, I made a note to re-consider his possible connection to the family if I were eventually to find sufficient evidence that suggested he was indeed a member of my Cosgrove line (technically, the family unit now numbered 8 people).

Step #5. Use Facebook genealogy groups and don’t be afraid to “Jump over the pond.”

I was able to obtain a copy of the elusive 1871 Limerick City marriage index record after 16 months. Unfortunately, it contained the same list of 10 names listed in random order as the transcribed record I had found online. I was in utter shock and dismay. Upon returning home, I decided to post a message on an Irish genealogy group page on Facebook. I had joined a series of Irish genealogy groups over the past year, but never participated in any of the discussions. Once again, I summarized my research findings and my brick wall. A kind person looked up the 1871 marriage record on Rootsireland.ie and found the transcribed record!!!! I paid for a month-long subscription to Rootsireland.ie and found the record myself. The record did show that John Cosgrove and Teresa Dunn married in June 1871 in Limerick City. It also listed their fathers’ names and occupations. I used the information to locate Theresa’s 1853 birth record. Her parents’ names listed on the record were the same names listed as the parents on her 1890 Watertown Death Register.

Subsequent research located records chronicling the birth,s and in a few cases deaths, of nine children that John and Theresa had together while living in Limerick City from 1872-1882. Four of the names found in the Limerick birth records coincided with the names of four of the six people living in the US who I had theorized were John and Theresa’s children……one of whom shared the same day of birth and full name as the gentleman from South Carolina (the two remaining people out of the six possible children had been born in the Boston area in the mid-1880s. I added all of the additional children’s names to my family tree for a total of 11 children (five of their children born in Limerick had passed away as infants).

Step #6. Consider name changes.

When I discovered the nine children born in Limerick, there was one name not found among the nine: John Patrick. The first child born was Mary Bridget Cosgrove whose birth month and year was Feb 1872. The second was a Michael Cosgrove born in Sep 1873. My John Patrick was born between 1872-1874 if the ages found on his various Massachusetts records was indeed correct. Since I could not find a John Patrick among the children, I assumed at first that I had found the wrong family and was back to square one all over again. However, a month went by and I discovered an Oct 1873 Limerick City baptism record for a Patrick Michael Cosgrove whose parents were John Cosgrove and Theresa Dunn. Then I discovered a couple of critical clues. The first clue was that John and Theresa had two sons born and die a year apart in the early 1880s who they had named “John.” The second clue was the birth date of Patrick Michael Cosgrove was 29 Sep 1873. One of the birth dates listed for my John Patrick Cosgrove was 30 Sep. I decided to do a search for a Patrick Cosgrove born around 1873 in Ireland. It led me to a passenger list that listed a Cosgrove family of five traveling from the UK to New York City in 1883. The parents listed on the passenger list were John Cosgrove and Theresa Dunn with three children…….Patrick, Joseph, and Theresa….three of the names of the six children I discovered living the US with parents named John Cosgrove and Theresa Dunn. The ages for the children were very accurate compared to the Limerick City birth records. I made the assumption that my John Patrick was born Patrick Michael and took the forename John to carry on his father’s first name sometime in his teens or early adulthood.

Step #7. Use research trees to build out the family branches to present day and confirm the relationships through DNA.

While I discovered much more detailed information, much of it was still circumstantial in nature in my opinion. I decided to review the information on hand and to use it to piece together a more comprehensive family tree. After my evaluation, I had John and Theresa as parents of 11 children, six of whom has passed away as infants (five in Limerick, Ireland and one in Watertown, Mass). Of the remaining five adult children, only three had descendants of their own (one of which was my own line of descent from John Patrick and the other two were his Mary and brother Joseph (yes, the South Carolina gentleman who I initially dismissed as a member of the family!!! ). I decided to make a “research tree” on Ancestry.com in an attempt to build out the three lines to present day. One thing I like about Ancestry.com is the fact it allows you to build and maintain multiple family trees under a single subscription. I have my primary family tree which contains validated family members. In addition, I maintain several research trees that allow me to test different theories on possible relationships without tainting my primary tree with potential (and likely) errors.

Using my Cosgrove research tree, I built out the three family lines for Mary, John Patrick, and Joseph to present day as best I could using public trees I found on Ancestry.com along with additional records and obituaries found on various other websites. Since several known family members of mine from John Patrick’s family branch had taken commercial DNA tests, to include my paternal uncle and myself, I had hoped that living descendants of the other two lines (Mary and Joseph respectively) would eventually take the commercial DNA tests themselves and appear on our match list. The wait took 18 months before two first cousins from Mary Cosgrove’s line tested and appeared on our DNA match lists. It was worth the wait considering that some people have to wait decades before finding a vital clue that helps break down a brick wall!

Step #8. Don’t be afraid to send a letter through the U.S. postal service to a possible cousin.

The appearance of two cousins from Mary’s line on our DNA match lists motivated me to locate a living descendant of Joseph Cosgrove. It took a month of searching on the internet before I found someone who I believed was a great-grandchild of his. I mailed the person a letter explaining my research findings and the possibility of our family connection. I received a phone call four days after I had mailed the letter!!! The person was very kind and shared family records with me that proved this Joseph Cosgrove was born in Limerick on the same date as the evidence I had collected myself. The person agreed to take an AncestryDNA test. After six weeks, the person appeared not only on my uncle’s and my DNA match list, but also on other Cosgrove cousins’ match lists as well.

An additional note regarding DNA testing.

I should add that my uncle and I also took a Y-DNA test at Family Tree DNA in addition to the autosomal DNA tests we conducted at Ancestry.com. Our Y-DNA test results showed we matched another Cosgrove male whose research suggested his own line originated from Limerick as well. In addition, we had more distant matches with men with other surnames who were able to trace their lines back to Limerick and neighboring Tipperary. While the Y-DNA results didn’t confirm a specific relationship, the results strongly suggested my surname line was connected to the Limerick-Tipperary area, which the geographical evidence eventually proved to be true.

Final thoughts.

In conclusion, its important to take a comprehensive and holistic approach to your genealogy research. While sites such as Ancestry and FamilySearch are world-class, there are other lesser known and used websites that contain invaluable information as well. While most of my research was conducted via the internet, I quickly realized the value in interviewing living family members, reading obituaries, examining family photos, visiting libraries, and mailing off requests for vital records from city/town clerks’ offices. Sending emails and letters off to possible cousins proved critical in piecing together DNA clues. Using genealogy message boards and social media sites, considering name changes, and using research trees to build out family trees to present days for targeted DNA testing were all critical steps I took in breaking down my brick wall. Persevering and not allowing frustration to take root paid big dividends too. I hope you can benefit from this mini-blog series and apply my lessons learned and tips to improve your own research skills, and more importantly, attain your genealogical goals!

Getting Started Researching Your Cosgrove Family Line: Part 3, Section A

First, I would like to apologize for the long break between blog postings. Sometimes life gets in the way of a person’s hobbies and passions.

Part 3 is the last blog posting of a short series on how to get started researching your Cosgrove family line. Part 3 is actually broken up into two sections: A and B. As stated previously, the Cosgrove surname is an uncommon last name, which can present significant challenges in researching your family line as I found out myself when I started my genealogy research. It wasn’t too long into my research journey that I encountered a formidable brick wall. After the first year of research, I had to come to terms with the possibility that I may never be able to break through the brick wall. However, I took a step back from my existing findings and recognized that I needed to expand my research efforts beyond the methods I had been using. This blog post summarizes some of the steps I took to break through my brick wall. Hopefully some of you can use some of my techniques to do the same for your brick walls.

Introduction to My Brick Wall

My surname line was the one family branch that piqued my interest the most so it was a natural place to start my genealogy research. I had the name of my paternal great-grandfather (Roy Cosgrove) and his residency thanks to the 1920 Federal Census record. By sheer luck, a mistake occurred with the census collection in which my paternal great-grandfather was recorded twice in the census. One entry had him living with his wife and daughter while a second entry had him still living with his parents and sisters. After a couple of weeks of fairly routine research, I was able to find and link sufficient evidence to my great-grandfather, his parents, and his siblings to substantiate that the families in the two census entries were in fact all members of the same family unit.

However, I ran into a significant roadblock regarding Roy’s father (my 2^nd great grandfather), John Patrick Cosgrove. The road block pertained to his actual place of birth/origins. While I know beyond a doubt that John Patrick existed, I could not confirm his place of birth. The earliest known record I had for John Patrick was his 1897 marriage record. Since Massachusetts required grooms and brides to provide information on their places of birth, ages, and their parents’ names for their marriage records, I thought it would be a fairly simple task to find records that documented John Patrick’s birth in the Boston area. Bottom line, after a year of extensive searching, I could not find ANY records that I could positively link to John Patrick Cosgrove prior to his 1897 marriage record.

To complicate matters, I found discrepancies pertaining to John Patrick’s actual place of birth. While Charlestown (MA) was listed on his marriage record and death certificate as his place of birth, several of his own children’s birth records had Watertown (MA) listed as John’s place of birth (a couple more of his children’s vital records listed Charlestown as his place of birth). For those not familiar with the geography of the Boston area, Charlestown lies on the eastern side of Boston while Watertown lies to the west of the city. An exhaustive search of each town’s record collections as well as for Boston proper itself did not yield any results.

While I didn’t find any records for a John Patrick Cosgrove, I found Watertown records for people who shared John Patrick’s parents’ names (John Cosgrove and Theresa Dunn/e). The John Cosgrove and Theresa (Dunn) Cosgrove were adults who had lived in the town in the late 1880s when John Patrick would have been a teenager. I also found two prospective people who could have been John Patrick’s siblings. The problem I had was that while all of this information was interesting, it was largely circumstantial in nature. I did not find enough conclusive evidence to confidently state that these people were directly related to my 2nd great grandfather. Several more months of research yielded little useable information. My research was complicated by the fact that many men and boys with the last name Cosgrove who lived in the Boston area in the 1870s-1890s had the first name John as well. I found it next to impossible to distinguish them from one another. It felt like the brick wall grew taller and thicker with each passing day.

Expanding My Research Efforts

The brick wall only served to remind me that I was still a novice when it came to genealogy research. While I was happy that I discovered as much information I had about my Cosgrove line up to this point, my lack of research skills and knowledge of genealogy were apparent with the brick wall. In order to improve upon both, I began reading blogs and books about genealogy with emphasis on Irish genealogy. While insightful, I didn’t feel like the information contained in the blogs and books pertained to the specific challenges associated with my brick wall. Many of the books and blogs started with the premise that a researcher knew which specific family member(s) immigrated from Ireland to the US even if the exact location of origin in Ireland may not be known. Since I didn’t know this critical piece of information, I felt even more discouraged and lost. I assessed that this and other recommendations were useless at the stage where I was in my research because I was still trying to confirm my Cosgrove ancestors who were born in the US let alone trying to figure out which ancestors were born in Ireland. I decided I needed to chart my own path in order to break down my brick wall. The following is a summary of tips on the different steps and factors I had to consider that eventually contributed to achieving my genealogical goals. While there were other steps and considerations I made along the way, the following 8 tips were the most significant in helping me break down my brick wall:

Tip #1. Develop a hypothesis or a theory to help formulate more specific research questions.

I realized I needed to focus my research efforts. I was all over the place in my research and none of it was helping me move forward. Thus, I decided to work off of a theory, whether it was right or wrong, as a way to focus my research efforts. If I was right, then that would be terrific! If I was wrong in my theory, I could at least cross off a possibility as being invalid…..progress nonetheless. My working theory was that John Patrick Cosgrove was indeed born in Massachusetts and his parents were indeed John Cosgrove and Theresa Dunn. I theorized that the female and male who also had lived in Watertown whose parents were also named John Cosgrove and Theresa Dunn were John Patrick’s siblings. Instead of working with one person, I was now working with five people who could potentially be from the same family unit.

Tip #2. Expand your geographical area of your search.

Initially, I focused my research efforts in Massachusetts in hopes of confirming the identities of John Patrick’s parents, John and Theresa. Without realizing it, I was limiting my search options, which in term were not yielding any conclusive results. I decided to expand my research regionally to New England and New York. Eventually, I looked for a married couple who shared their names across the United States and Ireland. I came across an 1871 marriage index from Limerick City that listed ten people’s names: five males and five females in random order (obviously there were five married couples but the index did not link the brides with the grooms). Two names were on the record that were of interest to me: John Cosgrove and Teresa Dunne. This was the only marriage record I could find ANYWHERE that could possibly confirm Patrick’s parents marriage. I made a note to obtain an actual copy of the record to see if it listed the John and the Teresa as husband and wife. This was the only record I could locate in the time frame which I thought was most logical for John Patrick’s parents marriage.

Tip #3. Use smaller genealogy websites to supplement research conducted on major sites.

I felt that I had exhausted my research of the various records collections maintained on major genealogical websites such as Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. I needed to find different records collections so I searched not only for different genealogy research sites, but I also looked for different types of genealogy sites in general. I found one called Family Tree Circles. It’s a crowd source site where researchers can ask other forum members questions about their research problems. I posted a summary of my brick wall and some of the evidence I had collected to include names and locations. A very kind person took the time to respond with a significant amount of records from across the US that contained names similar to those that I was researching in my Cosgrove family line. While I was able to dismiss the vast majority of them due to the years and locations listed in the records, several records did catch my immediate attention. The person located several records for an adult male and adult female who lived in the Boston area whose parents’ names were John Cosgrove and Theresa Dunn. It didn’t take much effort to confirm that the two adults were siblings. I found a social security record for the sister and not only were the names of the parents listed on the record, but her place and date of birth were too……the place of birth was Limerick. I decided to add them to the Cosgrove family unit I was researching (which now included a total of 7 people).

Section B will discuss Tips #4-#8.

Getting Started Researching Your Cosgrove Family Line: Part 2

The second part of the getting started blog series is focused primarily on several websites I found invaluable to my research efforts. Before I dive into the websites themselves, I must remind everyone of the perils of how over reliant we have become on the internet to support our genealogy research. Don’t get me wrong, the internet is an invaluable resource and tool for genealogy. In my opinion, internet technology has been more of a revolution to genealogy than a simple evolution in how we conduct our research. The internet has provided millions of people with the means to research their family histories who otherwise may not have the financial resources and time to conduct on-the-ground research in far off locations that often characterizes traditional genealogy research methods. The internet has enabled companies to introduce new tools such as commercial DNA testing and provided access to digitized boos that are no longer available in print. It has also become a repository for all types of records collections that should enable us to preserve genealogical relevant documents for future generations.

However, it is important not to discount good ole fashion research methods such as visiting records archives, cemeteries, libraries, courthouses, religious institutions, and the like. Most people believe that if information exists in the physical world then it likely exists in the digital world as well. That is simply not the case and there are a coupleof reasons for this.

• First, take a moment to think about all of the public and private records collections produced in just the last couple of hundred years alone ……its likely next to impossible for us to accurately total those numbers. And it is just as likely that many of these records collections have yet to be digitized, though there are many efforts ongoing to do just that. Thus, it may be years before the one critical record you have been searching for is pulled out of a dusty box, uploaded to a website, transcribed, and made accessible to you.

• Second, some jurisdictions are putting forth greater effort than others to digitize their records collections. Stated in a different way, there are likely some jurisdictions not making much of an effort at all to digitize their records whether its due to a lack of financial means or a lack of motivation (or a combination of the two).

Bottom line, while internet resources are invaluable tools, please don’t discard the requirement to conduct on-the-ground research.

When I first started researching my family history, I was under the impression that I could conduct all of my genealogy research from one website. It was only a matter of weeks before I discovered that this was not the case. While many of the top genealogy websites do have numerous records collections in common with one another, they do differ in a couple of ways. First, one company may in fact have a records collection exclusive only to its site. Second, I have found that while multiple companies may have the same records collections (and in some cases share collections with one another), some of those collections are more robust than others. For instance, I found a Cosgrove family listed in a specific passenger’s list in “site A’s” records collection, but I was not able to find that specific passenger list in “site B’s” collection (and yes, I conducted the search for the record using different search techniques to include a physical scan of the passenger lists themselves). To be fair, I found the reverse to be true in that “site B” had a far more robust naturalization records database than “site A.” Reoccurring instances of this nature over a short period of time proved to me that I could not be reliant upon one single website for all of my research requirements.

I ended up using a combination of subscription-based and free websites to conduct research specific to my Cosgrove family line. Each of the websites listed below provided me a vital piece of information that helped me break through my brick wall.

The free websites I used included the following:
• Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org)
• Ireland Reaching Out (https://www.irelandxo.com) (if you know your ancestor’s church parish, you can post specific questions to the parish’s message board and volunteers will provide you great feedback and advice to further your research).
• National Archives of Ireland (www.nationalarchives.ie) (while I didn’t use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) for research into my Cosgrove line, I would be negligent if I didn’t list their great website as well: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni)
• Family Tree Circles (www.familytreecirlces.com) (I posted a discussion about challenges associated with my Cosgrove line’s research on the site’s message board and a kind gentleman provided me several critical clues that led to me breaking down my brick wall).

The subscription-based websites I used with great success included:
• Ancestry (https://www.ancesttry.com)
• RootsIreland (www.rootsireland.ie) (I found that some of the site’s records’ transcriptions contained far more detail than those found on other major genealogy websites).

Commercial DNA companies I used to support my genealogy research included
• AncestryDNA (same website address as Ancestry.com)(subscription is required to use all of the DNA features; access to the DNA tools are included in a standard subscription to Ancestry).
• Family Tree DNA (www.familytreedna.com) (no subscription fees required once you have either purchased or transferred a copy of an existing DNA test to the site)
• GEDMATCH (https://www.gedmatch.com) (free to use basic DNA tools; small monthly fee to use advanced tools)
• MyHeritage.com (www.myheritage.com) (you can transfer a copy of an existing DNA test to the site for a small fee similar to FTDNA).

While I personally didn’t find any new information on the following sites that I hadn’t already discovered on websites listed above, I do know quite a few people that have had great success:
• Findmypast (https://findmypast.com) (subscription based)
• MyHeritage.com (see link above) (subscription based)
• Irish Ancestors (https://johngrenham.com) (limited number of free searches, then fees required for additional searches)
• Irish Genealogy (https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/) (free)

I should note that Cyndi’s List (https://www.cindislist.com) contains thousands of links to additional internet resources that may be beneficial to your genealogy research. The site has been around for nearly 20 years and is highly respected and used by the genealogical community.

If you have never used a website, such as Ancestry.com, for genealogy research, expect a slight learning curve when you start. The learning curve is not insurmountable as long as you take a few moments to orient yourself to the site and its various features. I lost track how many times I have had members of various genealogy websites respond to messages I had sent months, and in some cases, over a year earlier, who began their response with “I didn’t even know site X had a messaging service; I have a ton of messages I need to respond to!” Ugh. Take a moment to explore the site and its different features. Several of the major companies have tutorials available online as well that I strongly recommend you taking when you first begin.

Keep in mind that many towns, cities, and counties in the United States have historical societies that can assist you in your genealogy research. Many of these historical societies are online and list both mailing and email addresses that you can send questions to. In addition, many libraries are great resources for information. I was able to order an obituary for a Cosgrove relative directly from a library’s website; it was cheap and fast! Many city and town clerks’ offices maintain physical copies of vital records that you can order through an online ordering system directly from their offices or they may have request forms online that you can simply download, print, and mail in a request directly to them. Finally, many of Ireland’s counties have genealogy centers with online presences. The services and information available vary from center to center, but finding them online is fairly easy (the Irish Heritage Club has a pdf file online that lists the address and websites for the Irish county genealogy centers available at http://irishclub.org/IHC_Archive/IrishGenealogyWebResources.pdf).

Finally, don’t overlook the value of using social media in your genealogy research. I found a couple of my late grandfather’s Cosgrove cousins on Facebook and was able to successfully gain contact with them through its messaging service. In addition, numerous genealogy groups specific to Irish genealogy research exist on Facebook to include ones focused on Irish DNA, specific Irish Counties, Irish surnames, etc. I posted questions on several different Facebook Groups about my Cosgrove line and found the feedback invaluable for my research efforts. A few of the many Facebook Groups that you may find helpful are:
• Irish Genealogy
• Genetic Genealogy Ireland
• The Irish Surname Registry
• Irish Roots Hunters
• The Irish DNA Registry
• Irish DNA
• Cosgrove Surname Project (I know, a shameless plug!).

If you have other web resources that you have found invaluable in your genealogy research, please post them in the comments section!

My next blog posting will close out this blog series by sharing some lessons learned I gained and techniques I developed by researching my Cosgrove family line that may be useful in your own research endeavors.

Getting Started Researching Your Cosgrove Family Line: Part 1

When most people begin their genealogy journey, one of the first things they do is join a genealogy website. There isn’t anything wrong per say in taking this as your first step. However, I always recommend to start your genealogical journey by sitting down and discussing your Cosgrove family line with living family members. Too often, people overlook the fact that some of the most critical pieces of information that they need to build their Cosgrove family branches may exist within their own homes or the homes of their grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. For instance, I discovered that my late grandfather still has five first cousins living today. Some of them I found on social media sites and they in turn put me in touch with other cousins. Each cousin provided clues that helped me at some point along my journey, whether it was pointing me in a certain direction with my research or, just as important, confirming research findings I had already made. In another instance, my paternal aunt and a second cousin both saved family photo albums that contained photos dating back to the 1870s and other various family artifacts that I was able to use to fill out my family lines and confirm existing research findings. Each treasure find was the result of me simply asking each relative if they had any relevant information in their possession!

When the opportunity arises, ask family members for the following types of information(list is not all inclusive):

Vital information for deceased and living relatives (don’t forget to collect information on current generations!!!!):
- Names to include nicknames (sometimes you may find nicknames instead of their actual names on records such as census records).
- Dates and locations of birth, marriage, and death
- Dates and locations of other important life events (baptisms, communions, engagements, graduations, etc.)
- Locations of birth, marriage, and death (to include cemeteries where families are interned)
- Residential addresses
- Religion and churches they attended
- Occupation(s) and specific names of places they worked
- Education and specific names of schools they attended
- Memberships to professional or social groups
- Military service
- Immigration paths (departure points, arrival destinations, ship’s name, etc) and naturalization dates and locations
Information on family dynamics:
- Names of parents and children within specific family units/branches
- How many times a person may have been married and the children the ancestor had with each of the spouses;
- Ensure you collect information regarding years and places the children were born or passed away (some families were transient for periods of time and knowing when and where children were born (and maybe passed away) may help you to track them in various records in specific locations.
Availability of family artifacts such as:
- Family bibles that have recorded information on births, marriages, deaths, baptisms, communions, etc.
- Photo albums (remember to check the back of each photo as it may include names, dates, locations, etc)(photo albums tend to contain other information too other than photos such as letters, obituaries, etc so don’t forget to ask to see them!);
- Certificates (education, training, vital records, etc.) and licenses (driver’s, hunting, occupational, etc).
- Military service records
- Immigration and naturalization records

As you can see, depending on how well memories are and the preservation of family artifacts over the generations, you may encounter a large amount of information simply by talking to family members! Thus, you must prepare yourself on how you plan to manage, store, and use both physical and digital evidence that you will come into possession of during your genealogical research.

For physical evidence, some recommendations:

Buy a quality three ring binder for each family line (some lines may require multiple binders depending on how large the line is and or the volume of documentation you need to store);
Store paper documents in plastic sleeves in the binders organized either by record type or by person they apply to (ie, all federal census records are maintained together or you place a copy of the census record under each individual ancestor that they apply to);
Place loose photos in a photo album;
Existing photo albums: modern photo albums are a much better option for protecting old photos than the ones they may have been stored in over the last 50-100+ years. However, do not attempt to remove the photos from the old albums if you think it may cause damage to the photos themselves! Regardless of your decision, always TAKE DIGITAL PHOTOS of the older photos for safekeeping.
Avoid storing physical artifacts in basements and attics. Basements tend to have high moisture contents which could eventually lead to damaged papers and photos, and they are prone to flooding depending on the quality of your foundation or location where your house is built. Most attics lack environmental controls (heating, cooling, etc) and their venting systems allow air from the outside to penetrate the space to help with air circulation. I recommend storing photo albums and binders either on book shelves, totes, or fire proof containers. Try to keep them a foot off the ground if at all possible.

For digital evidence, create a folder system to store the records, spreadsheets, written histories, photos, and other digital materials you will collect or make yourself over time. For my personal technique, I created a master folder called “Ancestry Records” on my desktop. Within the master folder, I created individual folders for each major family line (Cosgrove, Brown, Smith, etc.). Within each family folder, I created sub-folders for each ancestor such as the different sets of great grandparents, grandparents, certain sets of uncles and aunts, etc. In some instances, I created one large sub-folder for descendants of various ancestors (ie, children from one of my 2^nd great grandfather’s first marriage) to avoid having a large amount of sub-folders to navigate, especially if I haven’t collected many records on particular family units (I can always go back and make additional sub-folders if the need arises). I further sub-divided each person’s folder into additional sub-folders according to the different types of records I collected for them (each record type had its own sub-folder): federal census; state census; city directories; vital records; baptism records; military records; immigration and naturalization records; etc. An example of the folder system:

Ancestry Records
- Cosgrove Family Line
  - John Cosgrove
    - Federal Census Records
    - State Census Records
    - City Directories
    - Immigration and Naturalization Records
    - Vital Records
  - Joe Cosgrove
    - Federal Census Records
    - State Census Records
    - City Directories
    - Immigration and Naturalization Records
    - Vital Records
    - Military Service Records
    - Professional and Social Organizations
    - Photos

Naming conventions are important too when you save digital records from websites. Sometimes when you download an image of the 1900 US Federal Census record, the file’s name isn’t “1900 US Federal Census Record”…..its usually gibberish of some sorts. Thus, take the time to think through a naming convention so every type of record you save follows an identical format (when possible). Something as simple as “year record type” may suffice:

“1900 US Federal Census”

“1865 Massachusetts State Census”

“1910 Birth Certificate”

Some people may add a specific ancestor’s name, location, etc to the file’s name. I found this problematic because census records usually contained information on multiple members of a family unit and trying to add them all to the file’s name was too much. Thus, I used a simple naming convention as listed above and filed copies of the records under each individual’s sub-folder according to the record type. After several years of using this technique, its worked well and I have not had to modify it in any manner. Important take away is find a system that works for you and be disciplined enough to use it! It makes storing and retrieving information so much faster and easier!

I will conclude the first blog with an important tip: download digital records you encounter and store them not only on your computer, but back them up as well! Every record I save to an ancestor’s profile on a genealogy website, I also download to my computer as well. I then back it up on a thumb drive and removable hard drive. Thus, I have the file saved on the website, my computer’s hard drive, a removable hard drive, and a thumb drive. Thus, I feel reasonably safe that I am protecting my digital files from potential cyberattacks (directed against a genealogy company), viruses, or other disasters that could cause significant and irreversible harm to my records.

My next blog post will cover specific websites I have used to break down brick walls in my Cosgrove research!