This
article will look at some of the most common barriers we encounter when researching our Irish ancestors and offer some potential solutions. When tracing your Irish ancestors, it’s very easy, for instance, to overlook the fact that there is so much material that isn’t online. From land records, probate indexes and many other collections, there are a lot of overlooked resources that might help with your research.
FAMILY
STORIES
Family stories are often the prompt to start us on the journey of researching our family history. These have often been passed down through the generations and may have become distorted and contradictory through the passage of time. This can cause confusion when beginning research into your Irish family history. Before starting the research, take the time to find out more if you can and to try to verify at least some of the information. For example, were your ancestors really from Cork or did they just depart from there?
MISSING RECORDS
One of the first things most learn about Irish genealogical research is how challenging the loss of many historical records has made it. The Public Records Office of Ireland, which held valuable census records, church registers, and other documents, was destroyed during the Irish Civil War in 1922. This event resulted in significant gaps in the available records, making it harder to trace ancestors. However, it did not result in the total loss that is often assumed. But what was lost in the fire, and what does that mean for Irish genealogy?
Apart from a few fragments, the Irish censuses of 1821, 1831, 1841, and 1851 were burned in the Public Records Office. The later census records from 1861 to 1891 were not in the Public Record Office at the time of the fire. However, their loss was due to government bureaucracy. The original census returns for 1861 and 1871 were destroyed shortly after the censuses were taken over privacy concerns. The 1881 and 1891 census were pulped during the First World War due to a paper shortage, and possibly under an assumption that the returns had been copied. There was no census in 1921 due to the upheaval caused by the Irish War of Independence. The first census of the newly independent Irish Free State was taken in 1926 and is scheduled for release in April 2026. Surviving census fragments can be accessed for free through the National Archives of Ireland website. There are also a lot of other genealogy records freely available through their website (www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie).
THE FOUR COURTS FIRE DID NOT RESULT IN THE TOTAL LOSS OF RECORDS THAT IS OFTEN ASSUMED
MIGRATION AND EMIGRATION
Ireland experienced substantial emigration throughout its history, particularly during periods of economic hardship, such as the Great Famine in the mid-19th century. Many Irish people left their homeland, often settling in other countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. But where will you find such records? If your ancestors emigrated, their records may be found in the destination country rather than Ireland.
When researching passenger lists it is important to understand the reason why they were originally created. Passenger lists were kept as a response to the political climate of the period and the legal relationship Ireland had to the destination country. Passenger lists were only recorded at the destination country, rather than the port of departure. This was because countries wanted to keep records of who was entering and weren’t so concerned with those leaving.
For example, because Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom prior to the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922, there was no record of movement between Ireland and Britain. If researching in the UK, you will have to rely on records such as the census and electoral registers to determine roughly when your Irish ancestor may have emigrated.
When it comes to US passenger lists, much focus is on Ellis Island, which opened in 1892. The first immigrant processed there was 17-year-old Annie Moore from Cork, Ireland, who was traveling with her two brothers to meet their parents who had previously emigrated to the U.S. Prior to Ellis Island, arriving immigrants were processed in Castle Clinton since 1855. While passenger lists to North America had been kept as far back as the early colonial period, these weren’t as detailed or organised. Often these early passenger lists simply record the names and country of origin of those onboard, with very little additional information. Only some of those early passenger lists survive and there are major gaps in them.
Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, New York (undated)
Official Canadian passenger lists began from 1865 and from 1908 they also started recording individuals entering Canada from the United States. While there are some earlier Canadian passenger lists, before 1865 it was not compulsory for shipping companies to keep or report their records.
If you cannot find your ancestors on passenger lists in the United States or Canada, then it is worth checking census records and directories for towns and cities close to the border. Families may have immigrated to Canada before travelling on to the United States or vice versa. Most surviving passenger lists are available through the major genealogy websites.