Order of Descendants of Ireland

The Order of Descendants of Ireland (ODI) was organized for the purpose of gathering together persons of Irish origin, and for preserving and cherishing the memories of our ancestors of Ireland, and to reflect with affection upon the Emerald Isle.

The Order of Descendants of Ireland was authorized by the Board of Directors of The Augustan Society, Inc. on the 5^th of April 1980.

Membership is of two classes:

Royal Life Member (RLM): Eligibility is restricted to persons who can demonstrate through research and scholarship that he or she has an unbroken descent from any historic Irish High King, Provincial King, or Sub-King, residing in Ireland prior to 1170 (the date of the beginning of the Anglo-Norman invasion of Henry II).

Many people can prove descent through Diarmait MacMurchada (Dermot Mac Murrough, 1100-1171), King of Leinster, and his wife Mor O'Toole, father-in-law and mother-in-law respectively of Richard de Clare ("Strongbow," circa1130-1177), 2^nd Earl of Pembroke, Justiciar of Ireland, whose daughter Isabel married the great Sir William Marshall (1146-1219), 3^rd Earl of Pembroke and Regent of England (1216-1219). However, any pre-1170 Irish High King, Provincial King or Sub-King is acceptable if lineages are proven.

Pedigree lines based upon the works of O'Hart or O'Duirnin are not acceptable. Acceptable references for lineages include the (New) Complete Peerage 1910-1959; Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists... (5^th edition, 1976); Magna Charta Sureties, 1215... (3^rd edition, 1979); and Francis John Byrne's Irish Kings and High Kings (1973).

Dues: Royal Life Member dues are a one time payment of $100.00, which provides for coverage of the genealogist's fee, insignia, certificate fee, annual newsletter, and invitation to the annual convention.

Application: Applicants are to send a copy of their sources genealogy together with their dues.

Insignia: The insignia is a badge with an emerald green shamrock on a field of gold. A membership certificate is also given to each member.

II.

Hereditary Life Member (HLM): Eligibility is restricted to persons who cannot demonstrate Royal Life Membership (because of the vast destruction of genealogical records at Four Courts, Dublin in 1922, or for other reasons), but who can prove descent from some Irish family. There is no restriction as to time period, but proof must be provided that he or she has Celtic-Irish descent, or descent from other ancestors who lived in Ireland a minimum of three generations.

Dues: Hereditary Life Member dues are a one time payment of $80.00, and they receive the same benefits as RLM's, the difference in dues being that the fee for the genealogist is reduced.

Application: same as for RLM's.

Insignia: same insignia.

The Irish-American Genealogist was long the designated Official Publication of the Order of Descendants of Ireland, and the funds paid to the ODI were primarily used to fund that publication, as well as in funding research projects which will be published in the journal. Today, The Augustan Omnibus serves the same role.

In addition, lineages submitted by members will be published from time to time in the journal of the Order, as well as in proposed lineage books. They are also employed by the "Family of Augustans" project.

One of the initial projects which we hope to fund is the compilation, alphabetization, and indexing of some hundreds of passenger lists of Irish to North America, covering especially the years 1848 through 1860, but not limited to that span of time. Since the foundation of the Irish Genealogy and Research Committee of The Augustan Society, special efforts have been made to obtain passenger lists of Irish to America. We now have a large number of these, but they are made nearly useless without indexing and publication. The ultimate value to all Irish researchers will be great, and we look to the ODI to carry this project to its conclusion.

As a longer term project, funding will be available through the ODI for providing research scholarships, stipend support, and other types of funding to those engaged in Irish family research.

We also wish to greatly expand the Irish materials in the Augustan Library, which serves as a reference center for the work on the Irish-American Genealogist.

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