Research Irish Record Collections

Written By: Jayne McGarvey & Mike Collins

Introduction and An Important Point

Before looking at Irish record collections, I would like to make an important point. First, it is true that the majority of Irish church and civil records are only available from the early 1800s onwards. Indeed, by the early 1900s there is comprehensive coverage of both church and civil records available for most counties in Ireland.

However, you may be saying to yourself “well, my ancestors left Ireland long before church, civil or land records became available – what is the point in researching the Irish record sets?”

Well, if you do not know your ancestor’s exact place of origin in Ireland, these collections can provide many valuable research clues linking your immigrant ancestor to family and neighbours that remained back in Ireland.

You see, before the time of mass emigration prior to the mid 1800s, the majority of Irish families did not move far from their original homes in the 1700s and first half of the 1800s – most families lived within close proximity of where their grandparents and great grandparents once lived. As a result, a trawl through the Irish record collections will often yield many clues of ancestral origins in Ireland – and help make connections to family and neighbours who remained in Ireland (or emigrated at a later date). I give an example of such a case further down this page.

Researching the Irish Record Collections

Before we developed this Green Research Roadmap – we already had fully-featured tool inside the Green Room that we call “The Irish Research Wheel“. Our members have been using The Irish Research Wheel for many years to successfully examine the broad range of Irish record sets and decide on a best avenue to examine the Irish record collections – with valuable built-in training and genealogy support.

So, we decided NOT to reinvent the wheel and represent The Irish Research Wheel here as your support tool for researching the available Irish Record Collections.

The Irish Research Wheel

You can see a hub at the centre of the research wheel with several modules along the rim of the wheel. There is a clear place to begin: Module 1: Introduction and Orientation and a clear place to end: Module 7: Summary and Tying it all together.

We have laid out the modules in a “wheel”:

• You could start with module 1 and work your way around this wheel in a clockwise direction… or…
• Start with a module that interests you e.g. church records and jump to another module on the “rim of the wheel”.

HOWEVER – one of the reasons it is laid out as a wheel is that you will probably go around it a number of times – dipping into specific modules many times as you progress with your Irish research.

ALSO – each module of The Research Wheel features a link back to a place in the forum where you can ask questions any time you wish .

In summary, when you have browsed through all the modules in the guide – use it in a way that best suits your own learning and research style.

The “Irish Research Wheel” shown above contains the following Modules (starting at the first relevant module – Module 2):

• Module 2: Using Irish Church Records. This module contains information and links to further resources inside the Green Room relating to using Irish Church records (Baptism, Marriage and Burial records maintained by the different Irish churches) in your family history research.
• Module 3: Using Irish Civil Records. This module contains information and links to further resources inside the Green Room relating to using Irish Civil records (Birth, Marriage and Death records maintained by the Irish state) in your family history research.
• Module 4: Using Irish Land Records. This module contains information and links to further resources inside the Green Room relating to using Irish Land records (Tithes Applotment, Griffith’s Valuation and more) in your family history research.
• Module 5: Using Irish Census Records. This module contains information and links to further resources inside the Green Room relating to using Irish Census records (mostly using the complete 1901 and 1911 census – but these reach back to the early 1800s) in your family history research.
• Module 6: Using DNA Testing. This module contains information and links to further resources inside the Green Room relating to using DNA Testing (using the typical tests from Ancestry.com, Myheritage.com and FTDNA) in your family history research.
• Module 7: Summary and Tying it all together. This module contains information and links to further resources to help you assimilate the learning and information from the other modules during your family history research.

Use a Record Search Log As You Search The Record Collections.

At this point you have considered which record sets to search in your ancestor’s area of origin in Ireland, captured them in your research plan – now the time comes to jump in and search the records!

However, where do you keep a record of your discoveries as you progress with your search? It is crucially important to keep a Record Search Log! A good Record Search Log covers the search of a single record collection and includes most of the following details:

• Record Collection searched – include name and location of collection
• Search Objective 
• Search Techniques
• Date Searched
• Search Results e.g. Birth Certificate located
• Remarks
• Further Action Required? 
• Record saved location

The above list for your Irish record research is not exhaustive. Explore everything you can find out about your Irish ancestor!

Also, the method you use to capture your discoveries depends on your personal preferences or a paper or electronic system that you may have already set up.

However, we have drawn up a useful “Record Collection Search Log” which you can use many times. You will find a blank version of this log in the resources section of this lesson as well as a completed example.

Conclusion

I think you may be spending quite a bit of time in this lesson of the Green Room Research Roadmap – becoming familiar with Irish record collections, their availability, quirks and usefulness. So, I suggest that you give The Irish Research Wheel a “spin” once and many times! As you progress, be sure to ask plenty of questions in the Ask the Genealogist section for direction and support. The more you spin the wheel – the faster you will become at adopting just the right approach to the right Irish record collection at the right time. 

This step in the Research Roadmap is the one that most of us are eager to jump into as soon as possible – jumping straight back to Ireland to search available Irish record sets! However, hopefully I have illustrated that if you first. As you make your way around The Irish Research Wheel, be sure to:

1. Revise your Timeline and Research Plan based on newly-discovered information.
2. Set up a Record Search Log and have it to hand

And ask for help in the Ask The Genealogist section as you go along.

In the next lesson – “Deal With Conflicting Evidence” – you will examine new information you gather in your Irish Record research and deal with any parts that contradict your existing research.

Click Here To Ask Our Genealogist a Question Related to This Module.