Posted online: May 30th, 2008

By Chris Ashmore
A Donegal Co. Council backed firm that promotes genealogy could soon become a thing of the past – unless more funding is secured and it is restructured.
Donegal Ancestry Limited was set up in Ramelton to establish a database of the county’s records and offers a full range of services for people who wish to trace their ancestry.
However, it has run into financial difficulties, and last year reported an operational loss of around €54,000.
Now there are genuine concerns that the firm may fold – and this could have consequences for up to 16 people directly as well as having a long term effect on tourism.
This week Cllr. Ian McGarvey raised the issue at a meeting of Donegal Co. Council. Calling on the Council to re-examine the matter and to support Donegal Ancestry, he said that it employed 16 people on a community employment scheme and in previous years it has also employed two groups of 16 on FAS schemes.
He pointed out that it is being funded from the Milford Electoral Area development fund, yet it benefits the whole county.
Supporting the motion, several councillors expressed the importance of retaining the service, with some wondering if it could be marketed more.
Donegal Co. Council’s Director of Community, Enterprise and Cultural Services, Michael Heaney, stated that there is “on-going work” taking place and the Council is “determined not to lose the resource.”
He added that the firm is running at a “significant loss” and is a “drain on resources” but a meeting will be taking place with the directors of the firm in the coming weeks to see how they can proceed.
Donegal Ancestry Limit’s contains almost one million records from Co. Donegal genealogy sources. The database, updated daily, contains records from all the major sources including pre-1900 Church registers, civil, birth, marriage and death registers, 1901 and 1911 census returns, Griffith’s Valuation, school roll books and many other valuable miscellaneous record sources.