Irish Research
Applying for your Irish Passport: An Introduction to Irish Research
Before you buy your ticket to Ireland you need to look at the roots your ancestor planted in America. Focusing on U.S. resources can give you a real passport to finding your way to the right place and time in Ireland.
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Strategies for Finding Your Irish Ancestors
Success in Irish research is highly dependent on discovering the exact location in Ireland where your ancestors were born and typically clues to the location are in records in the United States or other country where they emigrated. This presentation focuses on strategies for finding the critical locality information so important to those starting their Irish research.
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From Rubble to Ruin: Locating Famine Emigrants using Griffith’s Valuation
Fire and government destruction of early census records left a void for Irish researchers. Creative genealogists have learned to use Griffith’s Valuation as a key resource in finding famine emigrants and their families.
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Using Griffith’s Valuation to Identify Your Ancestor’s Origins: A Case Study
This lecture presents a methodology for using Griffith’s to identify a locality in Ireland for further research. It can be given in conjunction with From Rubble to Ruin or as a standalone lecture for those already familiar with using Griffith’s Valuation.
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Unpuzzling Ireland’s Church Records
No records or burned records! How do you get past the loss or lack of Irish records? Church records may be a solution to this daunting task. Learning about the political history, as well as the religious history can set you on the right path.
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Irish Civil Registration and Church Records It’s a New World!
The landscape of Irish research has changed drastically over the past few years with the digitization of the Roman Catholic Church records by the National Library followed the release of the images of birth, deaths and marriage (with restrictions) by IrishGenealogy.ie. It truly is a new world for Irish researchers!
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Seeking Your Scots-Irish Ancestors
Scots-Irish, Scotch-Irish or Ulster Scots are all names referring to a group of people who initially came from Scotland into Northern Ireland, and then to America. This lecture looks at the history of their immigration and strategies to help you get them back to a locality in Ireland.
Sources for Irish Research
The fire at Four Courts in 1922 (the Public Records Office) was devastating, but contrary to popular belief, not ALL records were destroyed. Civil registration from 1864, tax records and church records for many areas have survived. In addition there are also records that survive for specific areas. The key to finding your ancestors is discovering the location in Ireland from which they came. This lecture will look at the types of records available both in the United States and in Ireland that will help you determine the location.
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Online Sources for Irish Research
Over the past few years, a number of online sources have become available to search for Irish ancestors. This lecture looks at free, pay-per-view, and subscription databases both in the US and Ireland.
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Seeking Your Irish Ancestors Before and After the Famine
As with other ethnic groups, the Irish emigrated for many reasons. Although frequently thought of as famine emigrants, economic, political and religious concerns provided the impetus for leaving their homeland. This lecture will look at the push-pull factors for emigration beginning in the late 1600s through the early 1900s. Since success for immigrant research is highly dependent on discovering the exact location in the homeland of ones ancestors this lecture will focus on the types of records found in the United States which may provide clues to this very important information.
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Irish Research: What’s Next after the Basics
You have been researching your Irish ancestors for a while, have discovered their locality in Ireland and utilized the basic records: civil, church, 1901 and 1911 census and Griffith’s Valuation. Now what? Are there other records that might help add flesh to the bones of your ancestors?
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Map it Out!
When you’re trying to figure out which individual of the same name is your ancestor, locations are important and maps can help. Our ancestors didn’t move around a lot, but they may have moved just a short distance into another townland, or, if they were on the border of a parish or even county, they might have slipped over the border. That’s why maps are important.
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The Journey Continues: DNA and Irish Research
I’ve come a long way in my personal DNA journey…from questioning whether I should test to creating a research plan for whom to test. The issues for those of us researching our Irish ancestors are many. We may not know where in Ireland our ancestors were born, or discover there are no records for the time and place our ancestors lived. Sometimes discovering a cousin who has more knowledge of the family can help break down a brick wall. This lecture is designed for the beginner and is delivered in a non-technical manner to help better understand how to use shared matches to identify which line a DNA match shares and how to developing a plan for testing. Becoming involved in a project, either through FamilyTree DNA or Facebook can focus your research to a specific area or surname.
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Preparing for a Research Trip to Ireland
The time has come…you have enough information about your Irish ancestors to visit “the ould sod” to continue your research. At this point you know where your ancestors lived and when they emigrated from Ireland. This lecture looks at the major repositories in Ireland (both Dublin and Belfast) and the types of records they hold to assist you in planning your trip. It will also discuss local resources outside of the major repositories.
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