Webinar:  The Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland Project

If you missed our webinar on Saturday, 10 February 2024, you can watch it here. Dr. Brian Gurrin joined us from Ireland and spoke about the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland project, putting an emphasis on records about the Palatines including the relevant surviving returns from the 1766 religious census of Ireland.

Dr. Brian Gurrin is the Census and Population Specialist on the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland project. He has written extensively on census taking in Ireland. He is particularly interested in the demographics of Ireland’s regions in the pre-Famine period, and especially the religious demography of Ireland in the 1760s. His joint-authored (with Kerby Miller and Liam Kennedy) volume, The Irish religious censuses of the 1760s, was published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission in 2022. His joint-authored (with Liam Kennedy, Donald MacRaild and Lewis Darwen) volume, The Death Census of Black ’47: eyewitness accounts of Ireland’s Great Famine, was published in early 2023.



Did you miss our latest webinar? Here’s the video.

On Saturday, September 23, 2023 at 10 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), the IP-SIG hosted a special presentation by Austin Bovenizer from Rathkeale, Ireland.  Our original plan was for Austin to do a live presentation while he walked through Courtmatrix.  Unfortunately, technical issues made the live presentation untenable.  However, all was not lost.  With foresight, Austin had pre-recorded the presentation (in case of inclement weather), and we were able to show that video to our participants.

Courtmatrix is the site of the first Irish Palatine settlement at Rathkeale, County Limerick and is one of only four parent settlements that were successfully colonized in Ireland. The landlord Thomas Southwell’s main motivation in settling the Palatines on his estate was to develop a linen industry at Rathkeale, an idea he got from his father-in-law who had done similar with Huguenot refugees in England. While none of the original families remain at Courtmatrix the area still has an air of old-world charm with many of the old Palatine homes still standing.

This presentation was a personal viewpoint from Austin Bovenizer who was born into the nearby Palatine settlement of Killeheen. His childhood was spent on the family farm that has served nine generations of his ancestors since the arrival of Johann Adam Bovenizer in 1709. Austin talked about the Courtmatrix homes, their original occupants and the numerous  landmarks in the area.

So, please sit back, enjoy your favourite beverage and join Austin on “A Traverse of the German Colony of Courtmatrix” direct from Ireland.


Anyone with a current membership expiry date between November 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023 can now renew their membership for the coming year. Just log into the OGS website, and click on Click to Join/Renew Your Membership.


Welcome to the Irish Palatine Special Interest Group (IP-SIG).  We’ve been around since 2008, the first Special Interest Group established by the Ontario Genealogical Society.


1709 London Lists Now Available in Searchable Database

The London Lists, compiled for Great Britain’s Board of Trade listing the first four arrivals of Palatines in London in 1709, are a valuable resource for Palatine research—both research on the Irish Palatines and those Palatines who settled in America. Until now, historians and genealogists have had to rely on the flawed transcription published in 1909/10. A completely new transcription of these lists has been compiled and is now available to search. Members can find photographic images of the lists in the Members Only section. Search the London Lists now.


Some German Origins of the Irish Palatines

Renown Palatine genealogist Henry Z (Hank) Jones has published a companion volume to his seminal The Palatine Families of Ireland. Some German Origins of the Irish Palatines reflects some of his recent discoveries about the definite, probable and possible German origins of some of the Irish Palatine families.  You can purchase his book through the Irish Palatine Association for 20 euros.

Names included are Altimes, Altimus, Ashbagh, Baker, Barkman, Barraban, Bart, Bercus, Bisherne, Bonus, Bovenizer, Bowen, Bredhour, Brough, Buckholtz, Cave, Copp, Corneille, Cough, Crips, Cronenberger, Crowe, Danner, Danninger, Daub, Domage, Embury, Filme, Fitzelle, Glazier, Golliday, Gudzeit, Guier, Hargitt, Heavenor, Heck, Hoopf, Hoost, Hutz, Kirchoffer, Keyser, Konig, Kuntz, Legear, Lesch, Lowe, Lower, Ludolt, Mace, Neazor, Nitchburne, Rapple, Real, Rhinehart, Rodenbecker, Ruckel, Rüfenacht, Ryling, St. John, Shimmel, Shire, Shoneweiss, Siebard, Smeltzer, Snitzer, Snitzerling, Sparling, Steeble, Steevell, Stingill, Strosser, Strough, Switzer, Teskey, Tyse, Vice, Willich, Zigler.


First World War Memorial Book Available to Order

With Remembrance Day fast approaching, the Irish Palatine Special Interest Group is proud to announce that our book We Remember has been printed and is ready for sale.

The book is 120 pages long and has a 2-page write-up for each of 46 Irish Palatine soldiers we were able to identify who made the ultimate sacrifice in the First World War.

You can find an excerpt of the book and information on how to order your copy on our Publications page.