Researching Your Irish Ancestors from Home
Introducing the first of three posts about Irish genealogy from our fabulous genealogists:
For Irish-American heritage month (March) and St. Patrick’s Day, the U.S. Census Bureau released some facts about Irish-American heritage. In 2008, 36.3 million U.S. residents reported having Irish ancestry. That works out to be around 12% of the total population. For those who are included in that 12%, doing research in Ireland can be difficult. In 1922, the Public Records Office in Dublin burned, wiping out the records held there. Luckily, not all records were housed there so some have survived. How do you go about getting a hold of these records?
If you aren’t able to travel to Ireland to do research, there are a number of resources you can use at home. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah has microfilmed many records and a listing of their holdings can be found here. You can also visit a Family History Center where they can assist you or order microfilms for you.
If you can’t make it to one of these places, there are many websites (some fee-based) you can use from home either for doing research or for education. Some of them are:
FamilySearch online classes ▪ https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Ireland ▪ www.irishgenealogical.org/default.asp ▪ www.groni.gov.uk ▪ www.proni.gov.uk ▪ www.irishgenealogy.ie ▪ www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy/centres.html ▪ www.groireland.ie ▪ www.cyndislist.com/ireland.htm ▪ www.ellisisland.org ▪ www.eneclann.ie ▪ http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor ▪ www.irishorigins.com ▪ http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/irl/#Archives ▪ http://www.brsgenealogy.com/ ▪ www.irishroots.com
A quick google search can also help you find various records scattered around the internet. You can also look at records created in the U.S. – naturalization records, passenger lists, court records, passport applications, census records, biographies, newspapers, land records, vital records, etc. to check for information about the origin of your ancestor.
A widely overlooked tool for tracking your ancestors is your DNA. Search within your immediate and extended family for a relative who inherited your Irish ancestry directly on their paternal or maternal line and get them tested. Search for matches on GeneTree or other databases. If you find an exact match on that direct Irish line, look to see if they have that line traced back farther than you do. You can also compare your DNA results to the results of others who share your Irish surname or search the internet for a surname study.
To learn about doing research in Ireland, stay tuned for our next posting…
Tags: genealogy, Ireland, online resources
