Harness the Luck of the Irish with These Online Resources
Almost any North American researching their family history is eventually going to find a line which leads across the Atlantic. Immigration to the New World is a common thread of storyline shared by those here now who seek out their roots in the Old World. A common motherland for our immigrant ancestors is Ireland. The Irish Potato Famine is the most widely known catalyst for Irish immigration to the United States. The mass immigration caused by the famine began in 1847 with the arrival of 37,000 Irish Catholics in Boston, and 52,000 Irish in New York. Overall, more than a million Irish emigrated from Ireland between the years 1845 and 1852, and many of those arrived in America in search of a better life for themselves and their descendants. As with other family lineages which lead across the sea, the path to Ireland no longer ends at a brick wall of inaccessible information.
Researching our Irish Ancestors can be as easy as trying a new online resource.
RootsIreland.ie is one such resource where your search can begin. RootsIreland.ie is an online records database which requires a subscription to access. Similar to Ancestry.com but limited to Ireland, this database offers the researcher access to birth and baptismal records, census substitutes, marriage and death records, and more. Simply type in the first and last name of the person you are searching for along with a year and receive a report (broken down into categories) of how many records are available. Once you have chosen a subscription plan, you have the ability to access the located records.
Origins.net is another online database collection to aid in your Irish ancestry research. Billing themselves as “the premier resource for tracing your British and Irish ancestors,” Origins.net offers the usual subscription service to digitized Irish vital records along with helpful mini-articles to guide your research. Topics include, “Recovering from the Four Court Losses,” “Working Children in 19th Century Ireland,” as well as a Irish directory database and a collection of pre-1858 Probate Jurisdiction Maps.
IrishGenealogy.ie has databases of church and graveyard records available to search. It appears that many of the searches on this site will take you to external links for further research. The site does give you helpful advice on starting a family history, which includes the common mantra to speak with your relatives as the first step towards beginning your family research. Additional advice includes encouragement to be skeptical of ages recorded in census and other documents, and to never try to discover your link to historical figure, rather work from yourself backwards through time.
IrishAncestors.ie is the website of the Irish Genealogical Research Society. The society, in existence since 1936, is currently emphasizing their Early Irish Marriage Index, which was recently updated to include approximately 130,000 names and 58,000 source references, and is freely available for all to use.
The National Archives of Ireland has a portion of their website specifically dedicated to genealogy research.
These sites, along with Ulster Historical Foundation, provide an excellent opportunity to connect with reputable genealogy societies in Ireland and to network with individuals that specialize in Irish genealogy.
While the sites mentioned above are many of the biggest and best online resources for Irish genealogy, there are other sources that are as close as the nearest Google search. If you need help, or if you want to share your success stories, use our contact page. We wold like to know if our blogs are useful.
Until Next Time,
Randal
