About This Research
How we traced seven generations from 1830s Offaly to the present day
The Project
This website documents an ongoing genealogical research project tracing the Greene and Clarke families from rural Ireland through Dublin and across the world. The project was started by Mark Garrigan, who married into the family through his wife Claire (née Donnelly), great-granddaughter of Thomas Christopher Greene and Bridget Clarke.
Sources & Methods
- Irish Census records (1901, 1911, 1926) from the National Archives of Ireland
- Civil registration certificates (births, marriages, deaths) from the General Register Office
- RIP.ie death notices and Massey Bros funeral notices for recent family members
- New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages historical records
- Ancestry.com marriage indexes
- Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith's Valuation for pre-1864 records
- The 1926 Census was released on 18 April 2026 — the exact centenary of enumeration day — and several key discoveries were made on launch day
- Browser automation (Playwright) was used to search JavaScript-rendered census databases programmatically
What We Found
Summary stats: … people across 7 generations, … couples, and … timeline events spanning the 1830s to 2026. Key discoveries include Thomas at Switzers, the full Mullaghfin Clarke household (Catherine + her six children Rose, Patrick, Mary, Jane, Bridget, Agnes), the 1911 Form A placing Bridget Clarke as Cook in the Dublin household of Joseph Dollard JP & Printer-Master at age 19, Thomas Patrick Greene's NZ death record, Elizabeth Harris's 1941 Jersey marriage to Alfred Bower Harris (during the German Occupation), and her internment at Biberach.
What We're Still Looking For
- Thomas's 1899 marriage certificate on IrishGenealogy.ie — would name Elizabeth's maiden name and Thomas's father
- Elizabeth Harris's Arolsen Archives internment records
- Military service records for Thomas's Leinster Regiment service
- Patrick Clarke's death record and Catherine Clinton's parents
Technology
Built with HTML, CSS, JavaScript. D3.js for the family tree. Leaflet.js for the interactive map. GSAP for scroll animations. Hosted on GitHub Pages. Data stored in a single family.json file. All source code available at github.com/mgarrigan-hue/greene-heritage.