In order that we can be of some assistance with your family history research we have compiled some hints and websites you may find to be of help.
The Irish Government at irishgenealogy.ie has just been re-launched by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht by the inclusion of new search functionality to look at the following records, amongst others:
- Church Records (being updated all the time – intends to go Nationwide in time)
- 1901 / 1911 Census Records
- Tithe Applotments
- Soldiers’ Wills
- Griffith’s Valuations
- Ireland – Australia Transportation database
- Military Archives
- Ellis Island
- National Photographic Archive from the National Library of Ireland
This website is always worth a search – and search often as the various pages are being updated all the time.
http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/
Irish Roman Catholic Registers are available to search for free at: http//registers.nli.ie
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www.ancestry.com or www.ancestry.co.uk
Endless records but you have to pay to view them. That said you don’t have to pay to see the listing. Always worth a search.
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https://familysearch.org/
Church of Latter Day Saints: The Church holds a huge number of Irish records and many can be accessed here.
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HEADSTONES
Always visit or try to view a family headstone – there may be some person or people buried there you didn’t know about! There are very many websites with either inscriptions recorded or some have photographs of the headstones themselves. Try by searching on your search engine (e.g. Google or Yahoo etc.) for the following: ‘headstone inscriptions+name of cemetery or place name’
But to get you started here are some sites that may help:
http://www.interment.net/data/ireland/meath/stmary_navan/index.htm Records for St. Mary’s cemetery, Navan.
http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/meath/photos/tombstones/markers.htm
http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/meath/photos/tombstones/donaghmore/index.html
https://www.findagrave.com/
http://www.interment.net/ireland/meath.htm Some other Meath cemetery records.
https://historicgraves.com/graveyards-map
http://www.discovereverafter.com/search/ – searchable index
http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/meath/photos/tombstones/markers.htm
http://www.glasnevintrust.ie/genealogy/ Records for Glasnevin Cemetery.
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http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ Griffiths valuation. Do play round with the map here. Use the slider to move from present day maps to the older maps with the Griffith Valuation divisions. Use the satelite view to see what changes are to be seen.
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EMIGRATION
Looking for your family members on ships passenger listing is a good start if they emigrated. Again there are a huge number of websites with listings available to search through for free. Look on your search engine (e.g. Google or Yahoo etc.) for ‘ships passenger lists’. There are so many to look through so knowing a surname and place of origin will help as will knowing family members who may have travelled together.
www.ellisisland.com Some American immigration records.
http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs227.aspx A starting point for records in Australia.
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Now if the thought of all this research doesn’t excite you it is possible to get it done for you through one of the County Heritage Centres. Each centre indexes and computerizes records of a particular county, although some centres only cover part of a county, and other centres may cover two counties. The staff of these centres will search their databases for you for a fee. If you know what county in Ireland your ancestors came from, one of the best ways of finding a more specific origin may be to write to one of these heritage centres. The Meath Heritage Centre in Trim, provides a professional family history service to people who wish to trace their Meath ancestors. All the major sources are now available at the centre. The parish registers of baptisms and marriages for the county have been indexed as have land records, census material and other sources. You can’t research there yourself. This is a service you pay for and they will do your Meath Research for you, for a fee. You need to apply with your family history request by post. There is also a book ‘Tracing Your Meath Ancestors’ which is available which gives details on available sources. http://www.meathroots.com/
Or you may wish to commission your family research with an individual and work with them privately. For one to one family research contact the society for names of people who can help.
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Some other places to look:
http://www.rootsireland.ie/ Great for Irish records. Pay to view site.
http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html A general guide to Irish
http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ The Irish National Archives, Bishop Street , Dublin
http://www.nli.ie/ The National Library of Ireland, Kildare St. Dublin
http://www.groireland.ie/about_us.htm The General Registration Office (GRO)