How to Find Your Irish Ancestors

Happy St Patrick's Day!


For the 33.3 million Americans who claimIrish ancestry,it can be an overwhelming task to sift through theplentiful Irish genealogy and family history resources available onandoffline. In the spirit of Irish-American Heritage Month, we’ve decidedto offer up a helping hand inyour bigIrish familyresearch by compiling a list of 70 Irish ancestryresources so you can fill in some genealogy research gaps, and discover newIrish family stories that might be missing from your family tree.

From Irish surnames, to genealogylibraries and immigration records,it’s likely you’ll find a long lostIrish ancestor by utilizingthe following resources.

Irish Ancestry Resources

Irish Census Records

• The National Archives of Ireland: Census Records Search 
• Census Finder: Ireland Census Records
• Census Online: Ireland Census Records

Irish Vital Records

• Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
• Irish Family History Foundation
• National Library of Ireland: Catholic Parrish Registers – Irish birth information prior to 1864.
• The General Register Office: Records Search – Irish birth, marriage and death records occurring since January 1, 1864.

Irish Wills

• Origins.net Irish Wills Index 1484-1858
• Public Record Office of Northern Ireland: Will Calendar Search – Calendars cover Ireland as a whole up to 1917. After 1918, the calendars cover 26 counties in the Republic and indexes covering six counties of Northern Ireland.
• The National Archives of Ireland: Soldier’s Wills – A collection of Irish soldiers’ wills while serving in the British Army; most dating from World War I, with some from late 19th Century and South African War, 1899-1902.

Irish Church Records

• Church of Ireland Parish Registers
• Irish Times: Roman Catholic Parish Registers – Searchable map of parishes by county
• Irish Jewish Museum – Records of Ireland Jewish community.
• The Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland – Registers of baptisms and marriages of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

Irish Military Service Records

• The Military Archives Irish Army Census Records
• Ireland’s World War I Veterans – A voluntary project that lists the names of World War 1 veterans from Ireland, 1914-1918. .
• The Bureau of Military History: Irish Military Archives – If one of your family members fought in the Irish War of Independence, search the Bureau’s records (1913-1921).
• British Army and Navy Personnel Records  – For those searching for Irish family members who served in the British Army and Navy during the 19th Century and First World War.

Irish Immigration Records & Passenger Lists

Photo credit: FamineShips.info

• Irish Emigration Database – Compiled directly from original Ship’s Passenger Manifests with records of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh immigrants arriving at US ports. Covers New York, 1846-1890; Boston, Baltimore, New Orleans and Philadelphia 1846-1851.
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• Ireland-Australia Transportation Records – Transportation registers, prisoners’ petitions and cases, state prisoners’ petitions, convict reference files, free settlers’ papers, male convict register and register of convicts on convict ships from 1791-1853.
• U.S. Library of Congress: Irish Immigration – Original records, photographs, interviews and more for exploring the Irish immigrant experience in America.
• National Archives: Famine Irish Passenger Record Data File – 70 percent of this list of 604,596 people who arrived in the Port of New York 1846-1851 are from Ireland. Also includes the names of ships on whichthey arrived.
• Olive Tree Genealogy: Ships Passenger Lists

Irish Surname Search & Meanings

• 100 Irish Surnames Explained
• Irish Times Irish Surname Search
• Distribution of Surnames in Ireland, 1890
• Irish Surnames Forum
• An Atlas of Irish Names

Irish Newspaper Online Collections

• The Irish Times – Search all published content from 1859 to present day.
• Ireland Old News – Free online newspaper transcription database sorted by Irish county.
• Northern Ireland Extracts – Free to search database by Eddie Connolly. Includes birth, marriage and death announcements from various Irish publications dating from 1825.
• Nick Reddan’s Newspaper Extracts (and Simon de Montfort’s Extracts) – Includes extracts from various Irish newspapers from 1720 to 1865 and references from Longford, Leitrim, Westmeath and Roscommon. Main family names covered include CROKER, COOTE, DREW and SWAN.
• UCD Library: Irish Newspaper Collection
• Irish Newspaper Abstracts

Irish Genealogy Libraries & Archives

• National Library of Ireland – Online catalogue searches offline and online material (33,000 photographic images included). click on “Family History Research” for a downloadable guide on getting your research started.
• National Library of Ireland: Irish Historic Photographs – Over 33,000 historic photographs available.
• Archives and Records Association: UK & Ireland
• Clare County Library: Genealogy
• Mayo County Library: Genealogy
• Library Ireland: Genealogy
• Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives
• Irish Photo Archive

 Irish Graveyards, Monuments & Tombstones

Photo credit: IGP Archives

• Ireland Cemetery Records
• Dublin Graveyards Directory
• Dromin (County Louth) Graveyard Inscriptions
• Irish Graveyards – Search for a specific grave or browse through the directory of Irish graveyards.
• Irish War Memorials – Includes photos of each memorial and grave site details.
• Headstones in North County Mayo Ireland – Photos of all legible headstones from 79 cemeteries in North Mayo County.
• IGP Headstone Project – Over 70,000 Irish headstones.
• Irish Gravestone Photographs
• Irish Gravestone Records
• Billion Graves: Ireland
• Find A Grave

Irish Genealogical Societies & Associations

• Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland
• Irish Family History Foundation
• Genealogical Society of Ireland 
• The Irish Ancestral Research Association
• Irish Genealogical Society International

Additional Irish Ancestry Resources

• Irish Genealogy Toolkit
• Centre for Irish Genealogical and Historical Studies
• Thinking of Genealogy – Ireland
• Certificate of Irish Heritage
• Ireland Roots
• Eneclann – Irish genealogy and history research services.
• Emerald Ancestors
• Your Irish Roots – Irish genealogy, surnames & coat of arms resource.
• Irish Family Ancestry
• IGW Surname Databank – A small, donated list of Irish surname records.
• Index of Free Irish Genealogy eBooks
• The Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation

 Article originally published by our friends at  Crestleaf

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