Database of Pilot ads will help Irish-Americans trace roots

Published: 2005-03-24

NEWTON, Mass. (CNS) -- The launch of an online database containing information from the "Missing Friends" section of the Boston Catholic newspaper dating back nearly 175 years will help Irish-Americans seeking to explore their roots. "Missing Friends" ran in The Pilot newspaper from October 1831 through October 1921. Irish immigrants who made the often arduous journey to the United States took out advertisements, looking for friends and relatives they had lost along the journey or who had preceded them. The more than 31,000 records are now available on the searchable database. The new Web site is called "Information Wanted," and the entire text of each record will be online within the coming months. The information could include the missing person's occupation, when they left Ireland and many personal details, said Ruth-Anne Harris, a Boston College professor of Irish history who took on the project of compiling The Pilot advertisements into the database. The Web address for the online database is: http://infowanted.bc.edu.

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