Most people start finding out about their families and the genealogical heritage of their communities by asking older generations such as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles to give them as much information as they can with regard to births, marriages and deaths in a family. Older family members can also provide stories which are very important and also places where different people lived.
This will be the first stage of research for the local parish to engage, identifying and detailing those born in the parish and those who have emigrated from local word of mouth. This is the most immediate and potent way of discovering the Diaspora heritage of each parish.
Once that is done, it is then necessary to search for official documents of births, marriages and deaths which go beyond living memory and then trace backwards from there. You can also search for wills to see who is mentioned in these as well as land records to see if families owned their own properties.
- Primary Resources could be diaries, journals, state census records, courthouse or prison records such as deeds, will probates, birth or death records, baptism or marriage records. Also included as primary sources would be ship's passenger lists and military records.
- Secondary Resources include family histories, indexes or compilations of census or marriage records, any sort of history (county, state, etc.), and collections of cemetery inscriptions, for instance.
STEP 1: Parish Survey - Information to be gathered
Target Group One: 1st Generation (i.e. those still living who emigrated)
a) Name of emigrant
b) Present Address / Parish / Townland
c) An invitation from a family member to contact them (if Possible)
Target Group Two: 2nd and later Generations
a) Name of emigrant
b) Parish / Townland of origin
c) Destination
d) Information on descendant
e) Any further information
Once the process of retrieving the living records of members of the community Diaspora is underway, the primary and secondary phase of research can begin.
STEP 2: Research of primary and secondary resources
Recommended Local Sources
- Church - records of baptisms, marriages and deaths
- General Register Office in Dublin which holds the State records from 1860-1900
- Local Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland records
- Schools Records
- School Roll Books
- School Folklore Commission (1937)
- Hedge School Records
- School Building Books (INA – Irish National Archives)
- Emigrant Records
- Ellis Island has arrivals records for the port of New York from 1897.
- Castle Garden has arrivals records for the port of New York from 1830.
- The U.S National Archives - database of Irish Famine immigrants to New York, 1846-51.
- The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild includes a vast range of passenger lists.
- National Census records
- Land/Town Records
- Griffith’s Valuation of Tenements (mid-19th century list of land and householders) www.askaboutireland.ie
- Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1837)
- Registry of Deeds
- Books of Survey and Distribution
- O’Donovan’s Letters
- Inquiries
- Poor Inquiry (1836)
- Devon Commission (1844)
- Bessborough Commission (1880’s)
- Other Records
- Graveyard and Folklore Survey
- Named photographs and private letters
- Local newspapers and publications
- Health Board, Police and Military records
- Slater's Dictionary (1846), Hely Dutton and Pigot's Directory (1824)
What Irish records are online? (Source: Irish Times - links last checked June 15 2011)
- General Register Office records:
- Familysearch: The Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) website includes a partial transcript of Irish birth records 1864-1875.
- Assorted: Various individuals and organisations have transcribed records covering their area of interest.
- Census records
- Church records
- Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland records for Carlow, Cork, Dublin and Kerry.
- Roman Catholic records (26 counties, not all complete): A pay-per-view search of the records (IFHF & UHF - paying).
- Assorted: Various individuals and organisations have transcribed church registers covering their area of interest.
- Property records
- Griffith's Valuation (1847-64): The Origins site has a complete set, along with the associated Ordnance Survey maps (paying).
- A copy is available FREE at the Irish Library Council site, www.askaboutireland.ie.
- Maps Available to Browse ( Not Reproduce) FREE from the Ordnance Survey , maps.osi.ie
- Assorted: Various individuals and organisations have transcribed Griffith's and Tithe Applotment books covering their area of interest.
- Wills
- The Ulster Historical Foundation (UHF) has the Calendars of Wills and Administrations from 1858 to 1900 (paying). The Calendars for areas now in Northern Ireland are available at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
- The Origins site has a copy of the National Archives of Ireland index to wills (paying).
- Assorted: Various individuals and organisations have transcribed will indexes covering their area of interest.
- Emigration
- Ellis Island has arrivals records for the port of New York from 1897.
- Castle Garden has arrivals records for the port of New York from 1830.
- The U.S National Archives has a database of Irish Famine immigrants to New York, 1846-51.
- The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild includes a vast range of passenger lists.
- Newspapers
- The Irish Times has a complete archive from 1859 (paying).
- Irish Newspaper archives has the Freemans' Journal from 1763
- The Belfast Newsletter is indexed from 1737 to 1800.
- Directories
- Irish Family Research has transcribed a number of local 19th century trade directories (paying).
- Assorted: Various individuals and organisations have transcribed directories or parts of directories covering their area of interest.
- Failte Romhat has Pigot's (1824), Pettigrew & Oulton's (Dublin, 1842), Slater's (1846), Taylor and Skinner's Road Maps of Ireland (1778).
- Google Books has Thom's Dublin Directory of 1850 and 1852.
- Occupational
- Ancestry has 81% of the Royal Irish Constabulary service registers (paying).
- Coastguards
- A Number of books atlases/maps and directories from the 19th Century are available for free on the Internet Archive
