Just starting with Irish research?
DISCOVER YOUR ANCESTORS IN IRELAND
Helen Tovey
Whether your Irish heritage is something you’ve always known about, or whether it’s news to you – perhaps a revelation from a recent DNA test – tracing your ancestors back to Ireland makes for fascinating, if at times frustrating, research. Long-time family historians will know that many of the Irish census records have been destroyed and genealogical research in Ireland is traditionally regarded as a bit of a daunting prospect. However, in recent years the growing collection of digitised records and useful websites mean that you can, with luck, make headway. Here are some tools to help you tackle the quest.
1 Maps
You’ve found you have Irish ancestors, but where exactly did they come from? www.oldmapsonline.org/en/Ireland has beautiful digitised old maps to search, browse and zoom. At www.townlands.ie you can work down from county, to parish and townland, homing in on their home, and at www.johngrenham.com/places you’ll find a range of clear useful maps showing boundaries (access to fuller details on JohnGrenham.com starts from €4.99 – around £4.40 – for 24 hours’ usage). As you uncover further details about your Irish kin be sure to note the whereabouts of the place names on a map; these will help you plan that trip to Ireland you’ve been itching to make.