Tracing Your Irish Roots

It’s often said that people are Ireland’s most important export. Millions of people left their homes here to seek a better life in another country. For some it was a matter of choice, for most a matter of desperation.

Now their descendants are returning, keen to learn more about the stories of their grand parents and great grandparents. Genealogy has become big business.

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Starting to trace your roots can seem a daunting task, but there are two things that make it quickly seem more manageable.

The first is that you almost certainly already know more than you think, and the second that there is a LOT of help and information already out there, if you know where to find it.

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Official records in the past were not in the language of the people, Irish, but in either English or Latin, which can lead to a lot of confusion over names.

Dates too may be slightly inaccurate and a single place can have multiple names. How do you make sense of all this?

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There is no doubt that land division in Ireland is complicated. But as genealogical records are invariably tied to civil, administrative and church divisions understanding them from the get-go is vital.

This quick primer on land division will have you up to speed in no time.

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An overview of the major genealogical and other records of interest to you while tracing your ancestors in Ireland – with links to more detailed information about each.

Many Irish records are simply unavailable, they were destroyed by fire on two famous occasions in the past – but this isn’t as bleak a situation as it is often assumed to be.

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Sadly none of the Irish census records from the 19th century remain other than a few isolated fragments.

A recent project at the National Archives to put the entire census returns of 1901 and 1911 online (some are already available) will result in an extremely valuable researchable archive for researchers.

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Extensive civil records exist recording the births marriages and deaths in Ireland after 1864. Prior to that, the records are less complete.

This is a quick guide to finding those records – where they are stored and how you can get access to them.

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Churches of all denominations hold a wealth of valuable genealogical information for anyone who is researching their roots in Ireland.

Unfortunately they are also quite scattered, with each religious denomination holding their records separately.

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Property and land holding records in Ireland are more important than they might otherwise be because of the absence of 19th century census records.

They are often the only way of filling in the gaps, and fortunately are very extensive. The downside is that many emigrants were not from land owning families.

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If an Irish ancestor was involved in a trade or profession, worked for the government or was in the church or military, chances are they appear in a trade publication.

Quite a number of these are available, but like the land records they will not generally include mention of the very poorest people, who made up the majority of emigrants.

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