The search begins with you, and your immediate family. Your parents and grandparents will be the most important source for your Family History.

Gather as many family photographs, birth, death, and marriage certificates, letters and memories as possible by interviewing family members. These resources are what make your Family History unique.

Take note of any information you receive, even if it contradicts information you have from another family member. You may hear several spellings of a name, or different dates of birth. You can clarify these details when you begin to search using the Resource Library.

Dates and places of birth, death, marriage, and emigration if relevant are very useful. Most families will be predominantly of the same religion, but take note of different religious affliliations as this means you may have to consult different archives.

A visit to your ancestral home will be very useful to your research, if possible. Here you will find burial places, which if marked may have useful dates and family information. You may even find a distant cousin!

How to Organise your Research

Create a profile of each family member. Include all the information you have gathered about the family member, even if the information is conflicting. Take note of your sources, as you may wish to return to clarify details at a later time.

A profile could look something like this:

John Francis Murphy (O Murchu)

My Great Grandfather

Born: 11th January, 1898 (according to Aunt Mary) / 11th January, 1896 (according to Grandpa Joe)
Death: 4th March, 1949 (Gravestone)
Place of Birth: Altadoo, Parish of Killymard, Co Donegal.
Place of Death: Eddrim Glebe, Parish of Killymard, Co Donegal
Parents: John Patrick Murphy and Anne Kennedy
Occupation: Labourer
Religion: Roman Catholic

Spouse: Mary Kelly/Kelley
Date of Marriage: 8th October, 1919 (Grandpa Joe)
Children: Karen, Francis, Jane (died at birth), Margaret, Patricia

Second Spouse: Bernadette Walsh
Date of Marriage: 6th June, 1934 (Marriage Certificate)
Children: John, Anne, Claire, Patrick, Joseph (Grandpa Joe)

Attached to this profile you would have any photographs, letters, certificates etc related to this ancestor. Separate profiles would exist for each spouse, and child. Some of these profiles may have a lot of information. Some may not even have a definite date of birth.

The Trouble with the Archives

Researching your Irish ancestry can be a difficult process. The Public Records Office of Ireland was destroyed by fire during the Civil War in June 1922. Earlier records were destroyed in the Custom Office fire in 1711, and in Dublin Castle in 1758. As the records were not fully indexed, we can not even say for certain what was lost in these disasters.

We can be sure that legal, financial and administrative records from the 13th to the 17th century were destroyed.

In the fire in the Public Records Office the following records were destroyed:

• Census of Ireland returns from 1821 to 1851.
• Many of the Anglican Church of Ireland parish registers deposited after 1869.
• Local Government records prior to 1900.
• Legal Records from Irish courts prior to 1900.
• Irish export and trade records from the 18th century onwards deposited just prior to the Civil War.

Other archival resources are absent due to Ireland’s troubled past. Repeated British invasions in the 16th and 17th century resulted in an upheaval of government down to local level. Much of the administration of government was not documented, or was destroyed. The Penal Laws imposed by the Protestant ascendancy suppressed religious dissenters, including Catholics, Presbyterians, Quakers, Baptists, etc. during the 18th century, discouraging these groups from keeping records. As a result most Catholic and Presbyterian records relating to birth, death, and marriage exist only from the 19th century onwards.

In 1914 the British government pulped the Census of Ireland returns from 1861 to 1891 for the war effort, assuming that, like in England Scotland and Wales, a second copy had been made. There had not.

However, there are many ways around these obstacles. The next section will explain how to use the Resource Library to fill gaps in your Family History.

The Resource Library

We have created a comprehensive Resource Library to help you create your Family History.

Records relating to the Republic of Ireland are mainly held in archives and libraries in Dublin, including the General Record Office, and the National Archives. Those relating to Northern Ireland are held in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast. Some records, for example parish registers, are held locally.

You may wish to consult the following records:

• Civil register of Births, Deaths and Marriages
• Census of Ireland
• Land Records
  • Griffith’s Valuation
  • Cancelled Books/Revision Books
  • Tithe Applotment Books
  • Wills
  • Registry of Deeds
  • Ordnance Survey Letters
• Church Records
  • Catholic Parish Registers
  • Church of Ireland Registers
  • Methodist Records
  • Presbyterian Parish Records
  • The Religious Society of Friends, formerly known as Quakers
  • Jewish Records
• Petty Sessions Records
• Gravestones

When you have exhausted the major online resources, and record repositories, you can begin more detailed research into each family member on a local level, armed with the information on your ancestor’s profile.