Where’s Your Irish From?

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I’d point out some excellent sources for Irish genealogy research.

Ancestry

The 24/7 Family History blog article, Irish Database at Ancestry.com points out several of their most popular Irish databases. You must have a WorldDeluxe membership in order to use them, but I usually find at least some of what I’m looking for on Ancestry. Here’s the list:

1. Index to Griffiths Valuation, 1848—1864
2. Ireland, Tithe Applotment Books, 1824-1837
3. Irish Flax Grower’s List
4. The Royal Irish Constabulary 1816-1921
5. Cassell’s Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland
6. Irish Records Extraction Database
7. Irish Immigrants: New York Port Arrival Records, 1846-1851

Sometimes you can find Irish ancestors in databases from outside Ireland. I found an Ireland connection while researching my Scottish ancestors through the Scottish Records Office. Here are some other helpful databases suggested by Ancestry:

1. UK Medical Registers, 1859-1959
2. UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960
3. New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896
4. British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920
5. British Army WWI Pension Records, 1914-1920

NEHGS

The New England Historical Genealogical Society are featuring three family bibles from Irish families online. The current features is the Irish Bible record for the John Gough Family, 1822-1878. The Goughs apparently immigrated circa 1822/24 and lived in Albany, New York before moving to Massachusetts and settling in the Worcester area. You can view some pages from the bible online here.

NEHGS also has several excellent articles written by Mary Daly for the Irish American family researcher. If you’ve got Irish ancestors, I’d recommend reading these articles Getting Started in Irish American Genealogical Research and Identifying the Origin of Your Irish Immigrant Ancestor. More articles on Irish research are also available for free.

FamilySearch.org

And, of course, the FamilySearch indexing project also has Irish records available. Currently, the Irish Civil Registration Indexes, 1845—1958 are available for viewing (index only).

Of course, this is only a small part of the information available for Irish researchers. If you know of another great resource, go ahead and post a comment to share it. It’s always great to discover new sources of information! Thanks.

• Category: Resources