Genealogy Research Guides & Help
How do you read the genealogy records you've researched? What do specific terms in the court records mean? And what to do with these records and how they link to you your very own family history? Find out here with unique and free guides to ancestry research.
The Irish court system was based on the English system of law. The Four Courts of Equity were the Exchequer, Chancery, Common Pleas, and King’s/Queen’s Bench. This session will explore the history and records of these four courts and their genealogical and historical application.
Welcome to Ballybeg Village, a mythical online Irish village where we offer you some advice on how to research your Irish ancestry and Irish Genealogy.
From Irish events and time periods comes a research guide to birth, marriage, and death records before and after 1864.
Research help with birth, marriage, and death index pages.
Townlands turn up in Irish research and nowhere else. It is an unusual term—as I type this article, every use of the word has a red underline. The spell check thinks two words have been run together by mistake. Set out on the trail of an Irish ancestor, however, and you will discover townlands.
Before the Industrial Revolution most wealth came from the land. Even nouveau riches Tudor lawyers and merchants liked to marry into the gentry and/or buy country estates. Land gave security, status and a stake in county affairs. So money was lavished on the country houses from which great estates were run.
County Wicklow is a county on the east coast of Ireland between County Dublin to the north and County Wexford to the south. The County of Wicklow is named after it’s principal town Wicklow.
Before the commencement of civil registration in Ireland, parish records are the most important source of information for those researching their ancestry. There is, however, much confusion amongst genealogists and historians concerning the existence or availability of Irish parish records.
This information was taken from (and in some cases) taken directly from John Grenham's book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. in 1992.
"Tracing Your Family Tree": A useful volume that guides the genealogist researching in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
The present Guide to the National Archives is one in a series of online publications by the Centre for Irish Genealogical and Historical Studies, which has been established as a focus for raising standards, disseminating reliable information and compiling educational material and reference aids. This Guide was published in hardcopy form in a limited print run in September 1998, and the present online and periodically updated version is designed to be accessible to a wider readership. Our web pages are primarily textual, in keeping with our belief that if the Internet's potential as a quality research tool is to be realised, the book should be imposed upon the Web, rather than the Web being imposed upon the book. Pending the incorporation of a full search facility into this site, a good time-saving device is to use your browser's Find facility (Ctrl+F) to search for key words in the various sections.
"The British Isles Family History Society - U.S.A. maintains a large research collection at the Los Angeles Regional Family History Center. This section is a guide to the Ireland and Northern Ireland portion of that collection, however many of the materials listed are available from the Family History Library through Family History Centers worldwide."
The Convert Rolls, Protestant Householders, Elphin Diocesan Census, The Religious Survey of 1766, Charlton Trust Fund Marriage Certificates, Spinning Wheel Premium Lists, Persons who suffered losses in 1798 Rebellion, Tithe applotment Books, National School Records, Griffiths Valuation, Landowners in Ireland, Lists of Freeholders, Voters Lists and Poll Books, and Electoral Records.
Everyone seems to have heard about the Four Courts Fire of 1922, and how "all the records were destroyed." Censuses of the whole island (of Ireland) were taken in 1821, 1831, 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1901 and 1911.
The Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) is an umbrella group for the various organisations having an interest in Irish genealogical research.
A list of those researching past relatives in the area of Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
Includes research tips, forums, monthly podcasts, Genealogy 101, Cds, blogs and much, much more.
The armed services personnel records for those serving in 1914 up to 1921 are currently being released from the Ministry of Defence to the Public Record Office, Kew where they are being microfilmed to occupy archive WO 363 - First World War Soldiers' Documents. This is a major project that is forecast to take a number of years to complete from the start of the work in 1997. The original documents cannot be viewed due to their fragile condition.
A brief article to help genealogists search for their ancestors who served in the British Army. Particular focus is on the First World War and the Irish Regiments.
The legendary Fianna of Ireland were a band of mighty noble warriors. Entrance was governed by strict tests and codes of honour. Yet the Fianna also had to be knowledgeable of culture, and more specifically they had to be poets. The Fianna Study Group for Irish Genealogy tries to bring the finest values to you through this web site.
Welcome to the Irish Genealogy Research Pages of the ProGenealogists Research Group! We hope that you will find helpful information for researching your Irish ancestry here on these pages. Irish family history research is an exciting, constantly evolving field. Irish research can be difficult but don't let anyone tell you it's impossible! It just requires creative strategies and different sources than other research. We love Irish research, and hope we can help you experience its fascinating nature. Our pages concern both the present-day Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and research of both Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. The diversity of Irish history makes Irish genealogy a rich exploration!
Genealogy has long had an important position in Irish society: a large proportion of the surviving medieval Gaelic manuscripts consist of accounts of the pedigrees of the native elites. From one perspective, this is just the universally familiar legitimation by the powerful of their power. Another aspect of early Irish society may also have contributed, however. Under Brehon law, property was not vested in individuals or families, but in the derbhfhine, a large kin-group extending out to second cousins, descendants of a common great-grandfather. In other words, what you could own depended on who you were related to. Such a perspective on genealogy, with present kinship as its focus, is still a deeply embedded part of Irish culture. My own mother, who could recite from memory the family connections of what seemed like most of East Galway and North Roscommon, responded to my questions about her grandparents and great-grandparents with “What do you want to know about them for? Sure aren’t they all dead?†For all the changes in Ireland over the past twenty years, extended family connections can still be of great consequence.
This group is dedicated to helping people with researching their ancestors in County Kilkenny. Can you help by offering tips, suggestions or lookups? Do you have the time and or expertise to help by moderating this group?
Your guide to the best free family tree sources for charts, forms, software and family searches.
Eneclann was founded in 1998 by Brian Donovan and Fiona Fitzsimons, both History graduates of Trinity College Dublin. We offer a wide range of Irish history and heritage services.
The Irish Ancestry Research Centre (IARC) is a leading provider of research, education and training in History of Family and Irish ancestry. The centre also provides digitisation services for local and national repositories with a particular focus on genealogical sources. It is based on the campus of the University of Limerick.
Listed within are the kinds of records where you might find a mention of the town in Ireland your immigrant ancestor is from.
In the past it has been difficult to research Irish genealogy. However, with the advancement of on-line resources, the task of finding Irish roots has become more rewarding.
A main purpose of the Trust is to encourage and facilitate research into the military heritage of Ireland.
The Federation aims to encourage and promote research in all aspects of women's and gender history at the international level.
The premier resource for people wishing to research British and Irish ancestry from outside the British Isles must surely be the LDS Family History Library, with its very large number of branches throughout the world, and its immense collection of microfilmed material.
The primary purpose of H-Albion is to enable historians more easily to discuss research interests, teaching methods and the state of historiography.
Our members meet high standards of expertise and professional conduct within genealogy, heraldry and record searching, and are best placed to work for you.
This website is hosted by the Archives & Records Association, Ireland in order to provide a practical and interesting online information service on archival material and archive services in Ireland.
Exciting new advances in DNA testing now make it possible to trace your Irish, Jewish, Native American and all of your other ancestry with a single test.
Being Irish, or of Irish descent, is typically something most people feel very proud of, something they want to cling to, and usually something they want to find out more about.
Timeline Research Ireland was established in 2006 by Dr. Robert Somerville Woodward and Nicola Morris to provide professional genealogical and historical research services to clients in Ireland and around the world.
Irish Family History research is often very difficult and time-consuming because of the lack of records, and more specifically the lack of any complete Census records before 1901.
The Great Irish Online Clan Gathering is seeking to build the international profile of Ireland and its people by connecting to an audience that may never have known of their direct links to Ireland via their surname.
The Irish Study Group of the British Isles Family History Society – U.S.A. was formed in 1994 under the leadership of Nancy Lee Bier, co-founder and former president of BIFHS–USA.
The Irish Ancestry Research Centre (IARC) is a leading provider of research, education and training in History of Family and Irish ancestry. The centre also provides digitisation services for local and national repositories with a particular focus on genealogical sources. It is based on the campus of the University of Limerick.
Your first step in tracing your family history should be to ask members of your family and friends to tell you what they know (or what they think they know) about the family.
There has been a considerable increase in the number of people researching and investigating their family history and there are now many on-line resources available which enable researchers to conduct their own investigations – self service if you will.
If you have tracked your family to Co. Longford in central Ireland, this site may give you some ways to further your research.
Wills are documents in which a person leaves instructions as to what is to happen their property and possessions after death. For a will to take effect, a grant of probate has to be made by the court, legalising the will and empowering the executors to administer the estate after the death.
The book was transcribed by a large number of volunteers under a man who we knew as Sean Ruad.
Before the commencement of civil registration in Ireland, parish records are the most important source of information for those researching their ancestry. There is, however, much confusion amongst genealogists and historians concerning the existence or availability of Irish parish records.
Abbreviated name suggestions for Roman Catholic Parishes, 1836.
According to 'A Complete Catholic Registry, Directory and Almanack.' (1836), there were 27 Dioceses in Ireland and approximately 3000 Priests: 960-970 Parish Priests, 1500 Curates and 500 'Regular Clergy'. (See Queries). These lists can be useful to those who search in a number of ways:
Full government censuses were taken for all of Ireland every ten years from 1821-1911. In 1922, during the Civil war most of the returns for 1821-1851 were destroyed during a fire at the Four Courts which was then the public records office, some remnants do remain.
The 'Act to prevent the further growth of popery' was passed in 1703 and it made it obligatory on converts from Catholicism to Protestantism to provide proof of conformity. According to the Act a Protestant was a member of the Church of Ireland and not any other non Catholic religion.
The Irish moved around, no matter how much any person would like to think that they didn't - and then, even though this may sound like a contradiction - they didn't move. They stayed as close to home as possible - generally.
The Chief Constables of the police force were required to write reports to their superiors on incidents in their localities. These reports are called 'Outrage Reports' and while not all are extant, some are and stored in the National Archives of Ireland.
I am engaged in a single name research project. Even though this gives me some advantages over those of you who are out to discover all branches of your family, there still is a great amount of names and places whirling around in my mind when it comes to sorting out just what approaches will produce the most results in my research.
"Extract's from "The Emigrant's Friend or Authentic Guide"" mainly addressed emigration to the Australian Colonies and New Zealand, but some advice would be suitable for all emigrants around 1848.
On the shelves in the National Archives of Ireland are some indices - books - and these books are indexed in a number of ways - the general title is 'Index of Official Papers'. For most of the years, they have this title - but then for some of the years, there are Military or other indices with information separated from the general run of the mill official index for that year.
Tithes were an income tax on farming, usually about one tenth of the annual income. These were used for the upkeep of the Church of Ireland and were paid from the time of the Reformation. Before the Composition Act of 1823 it was possible to pay them in kind instead of money.
Wills are documents in which a person leaves instructions as to what is to happen their property and possessions after death. For a will to take effect, a grant of probate has to be made by the court, legalising the will and empowering the executors to administer the estate after the death. Wills are of importance to genealogist's in that they may provide information on living relatives, brothers, sisters, children, cousins and others.
The information on any District civil registration index page come from the Master Civil Indexes held in the General Registrar's Office in Dublin, the name, district and year - the volume and page number are not given on this web site - you need to check the indices to get those.
Many people insist that the way they spell their surname is the ‘exact’ way that they have to find it spelled. They don’t understand that way back then, whenever then was, surnames were spelled phonetically a lot of the time.
A little at a time: The two words which tend to get mis-used are those of Cemetery and Graveyard so here are a few definitions for you:
Altar Tomb: A solid, rectangular, raised tomb or grave marker resembling ceremonial altars of classical antiquity and Judeo-Christian ritual.
Sarcophagus: A stone coffin or monumental chamber for a casket. The word sarcophagus is derived from combining the Greek words sarco (flesh) and phagus (eater), literally “a flesh-eater,” since the earliest types of these burial vessels, according to the ancient scholars Pliny and Theophrastus, were made out of Assius stone from Assus in Asia Minor.
“Dublin Street Names, Dated and Explained” by the Rev. C. T. M’Cready, D.D., Curate of S. Audoen’s, and minor Canon of S. PAtrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. “History in Names”. First published in 1892.
People ask me all the time where in Ireland their surname may be found. A lot of these people, their ancestor/s left Ireland pre the ‘main’ famine time so they never think to look in records that we have which are for a time later than that famine period, and they should, they should particularly look at the distribution in the Griffiths Primary Valuation as per the examples I give below.
Dr. Jane Lyons speaks on Surveys and Transcriptions of the Graveyards of the Dioceses of Ossory. Published by Limerick Museum Archives.
The ‘Act to prevent the further growth of popery’ was passed in 1703 and it made it obligatory on converts from Catholicism to Protestantism to provide proof of conformity. According to the Act a Protestant was a member of the Church of Ireland and not any other non Catholic religion.
I was talking to a friend on New Years Eve and I asked him about the Roman Catholic Parish records that the National Library of Ireland are going to put online in the Summer of 2015. “Who is transcribing these records?” I asked. “Is it going to be anything like the census returns where people who are not Irish are trying to read the records?” “Ah no, Jane” replies my friend, ‘They are scanning the record microfilms and going to put them online” “What?” ses I, “You’re joking”
How do we deal with finding out that there are four townlands of the same name? How do we find out exactly which townland our family came from? How do we work out which records are of importance to us, actually refer to our family and not another family of the same surname? They are really the questions that have to be asked and dealt with.
How do we deal with finding out that there are four townlands of the same name? How do we find out exactly which townland our family came from? How do we work out which records are of importance to us, actually refer to our family and not another family of the same surname? They are really the questions that have to be asked and dealt with.