Genealogy Research Guide    

When you decide to find your elusive Irish ancestor there are several ways to begin your research.  Your first step is to identify the person or persons who originally emigrated from Ireland  to the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK or anywhere else in the world. 

You will be looking for their names, occupations, possible dates of emigration, dates of birth, marriage, death, names of parents, siblings, name of  close relatives and the location of their residence in Ireland prior to emigration (county, parish or townland).   You may find some or all of the above.  The more you have to
begin with, the more focused a search in Ireland can be. 

Step 1.
Talk to your relatives, particularly your older remaining aunts, uncles, cousins etc.   Find out all about your Irish line from these relatives - their names, dates of birth, marriage, their siblings names, their parents names.  Ask them about any stories
of the 'old country' that they made have heard.  This information may not be accurate, but it could lead you in the right direction.

Work backwards with this information from your own birth, through your parents births, to their parents  - right back to the ancestor who came from Ireland.   Keep all the information you have collected in a secure file. 

Step 2
Use your local history and genealogy sources to find any records of your family
in your country.  This includes birth , marriages and death certificates, census returns, Church/parish records, wills, old newspapers reports, land records etc. 
You can find information on these at your local library, your local church (if your family has been in the area a few generations), the nearest LDS (Church of Later Day Saints / Mormon Center) or at your regional or national archives.

The Internet can also be a fruitful source of information.  There are some online shipping/emigration lists, Irish land records, family name sites, etc.,  which your can check.  Use the search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Altavista to find more specific sites relating to Irish genealogy.

Step 3
When you have finished your initial research you should have at least some, or indeed all, of the information below. 

  * Your ancestor’s full name
  * Your ancestor’s place of birth or marriage in Ireland
  * Your ancestor’s date of birth/marriage or age at emigration
  * Your ancestor’s parents names
  * Your ancestor’s religious denomination
  * Your ancestor’s occupation

Now it is time to continue the research in Ireland. 

However, the Irish records are a bewildering labyrinth to someone who has not been working with them for years.  This is the stage when it is a good idea to contact a professional Irish genealogist - to get an assessment and advice as to further research, as well as to commission research if you wish to have your family history completed.  

Many descendants of emigrants find that the biggest trill is making that intimate connection, crossing oceans of time and space, to their emigrant ancestors.  Finding out where they lived, what their family circumstances were, why they left Ireland etc.   And perhaps you then might make, as so many have, that poignant return journey to the place from where your family left the 'old country'. 

To begin your home research see our Genealogy Research On-Line Sources for help and information.

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