Starting your Genealogy journey

Starting your Genealogy journey

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Posted Tue 10 Dec 2019 6:55 PM
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Island of Ireland
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Hello everyone!

There are many of us who would love a chance to reconnect with our Irish roots, but don't know where and how to start.

I would love to share my favourite family research strategy (plus some additional tips) with you all here, in the hopes that it will be helpful to your own journeys of discovery! 

The best place to start isn't in a dusty library, but rather with yourself! After all, we're looking for the history that led to us, so it's only logical to start with ourselves. Start by gathering as many documents as you can from your local registry office and archives, starting with your own birth certificate and then adding those of your parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents etc. until you come across your first ancestors who were not born in the same country as you, but rather, in Ireland.

Once you have achieved that, it's time to reach out to the appropriate records office in Ireland, and this is how you know where to turn:

Before 1864 records were kept in the form of church and parish records; while some of these have regrettably been lost over the years, all the surviving records have been sorted into county-based genealogical centres. (Which is why it's so important to know what county your ancestor was born in.)

In 1864 civil registration was introduced in Ireland, which is when we started seeing the formal registration of births, marriages, adoptions and deaths. These records have been kept at the General Register Office of Ireland (GRO), to this day.

Once Northern Ireland was created in 1921, we saw the creation of GRONI, the General Register Office of Northern Ireland. This is important because anyone who lived in one of the 6 counties that would later become part of Northern Ireland between 1864 and 1921 would have had their records stored with GRO, but if they were born or lived in Northern Ireland after 1921, then their records would be with GRONI.

To summarise; if your ancestor:

- lived on the island of Ireland before 1864, you contact: the Genealogical Centres
- lived on the island of Ireland after 1864 and before 1921, you contact: GRO
- lived in the Republic of Ireland after 1921, you contact: GRO
- lived in Northern Ireland after 1921, you contact: GRONI

Here are some other great websites, that can offer insights and additional information for your research:

When you already know where and when your ancestor lived on the Emerald Isle, or if you simply want to browse through the archives, you can do so in the Church records and Civil records on the Irish Genealogy website (free of charge). It doesn't have everything, but it does have a lot! Don't feel disheartened if you can't find your ancestors via this page, it is possible their records simply haven't been added yet. :)

House of Names is the place to go to discover the general history of a family name, while the Irish ancestors Map provided by the Irish Times, based on the Griffith's Primary Property valuation survey, provides great insight into the prevalence and spread of each name in the mid 19th century. 

There is also an advisory Facebook Page ran by our friends Ireland Family History who love to give research tips, as well as an organization called Ireland Reaching Out, where great volunteers attempt to connect Irish descendants to their roots, through reverse genealogical research. While there are even more amazing resources out there, that we can work with, these are the essential basics to begin any good Irish genealogical adventure.

I hope this was helpful, and wish you the best of luck! Did you use any other helpful resources, archives or pages? Feel free to share your own findings, experiences, tips and everything else with us here, or on the Genealogy - I found my ancestors in Ireland! forum.

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Posted Thu 19 Nov 2020 12:57 PM
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Stepping on the journey reconnecting with our Irish roots is a very rewarding experience, but not many of us know where to start. If you are looking for some extra assistance, the online genealogy workshops hosted by South Dublin Libraries are for you.

South Dublin Libraries presents a series of online genealogy workshops via Zoom every Thursday for 6 weeks beginning on 5th November at 7pm. Each week focuses on a different area of research, such as Church Records, Census, Griffith’s Valuation, Burial and Cemetery records etc. Fiona Fitzsimons of the Irish Family History Centre and Declan Brady of Maynooth University will cover everything you need to know about starting your genealogy journey. 

Upcoming workshops:
26th November 7pm
Introduction to Family History: Griffith’s Valuation

3rd December 7pm
Introduction to Family History: Burial and Cemetery Records

10th December 7pm
Introduction to Family History: Newspapers

If you wish to register any of these workshops, visit the Eventbrite page of Lucan Library.

I hope this was helpful and I wish you the best of luck for finding what you're searching. Feel free to share your findings and experiences on this journey with us!
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Posted Sun 4 Jun 2023 1:20 PM
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Hello,
I started researching my family on ancestry.com
It is looking like my Irish ancestors came from Ireland in the 1600s. Probably northern Ireland. However, that far back will take alot of research which I can't afford to pay for. Do you have suggestions on going on my own?
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Posted Tue 6 Jun 2023 6:11 PM
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Hi Sherilyn,

It's great that you are currently tracing your Irish roots! 

In order to trace your ancestors and access documents, I'd suggest you look in county-based genealogy centres, such as Roots Ireland. If your ancestors came from Northern Ireland, you can also check out the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). Church records, for instance, are free to access. 

Here are further genealogy resources you might want to check out. 

Best of luck!

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