Irish Genealogy Essentials Winter 2024-2025

This session will focus on how much information can be gleaned from the 1901 and 1911 census returns and the value of these resources, even for those whose ancestors had left Ireland prior to the twentieth century. We will also look at the census fragments that survive for the nineteenth century.

This talk will provide an overview of the principal sources of archival data in Ireland, ranging from major repositories, such as the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the National Archives of Ireland, to local archives. The talk will also look at libraries in Ireland, especially those with collections of genealogical interest.

Understanding the importance of our land divisions and sense of place to local people in rural Ireland (irrespective of location) is crucial to success in Irish genealogy. This presentation explores the different administrative divisions: e.g. townland, barony, parish, County, Poor Law Union, etc, their origins, how they relate to each other, and their relevance and usage in the historical records.

Civil registration of all births, deaths and marriages began in Ireland in 1864 (non-Catholic marriages registered from 1845). This session will focus on birth, marriage and death records, the information they contain and the various websites that can now be used to access them.

This session will look at the records available for the main religious denominations in Ireland and how their varied histories have affected the types of records which exist. We will examine baptismal, marriage and burial registers and will focus on where these records are held and how to access them.

In addition to baptisms, marriages and burials, the material generated by the various religious denominations is considerable and varied. This talk will explore administrative records of the churches in Ireland, highlighting sources of relevance in family history research.

Wills can be an invaluable source for clarifying family connections and learning more about our ancestors. During this session we will look at the background to the administration of wills in Ireland, assess the information that can be obtained from a will and where these records are held and how they can be accessed, both in the archives, and more recently, the large amount of material which has been made available online.

The documents generated by the management of landed estates are among the most valuable of records for the local and family historian. This talk will look at the background to landed estates in Ireland, before going on to discuss the more useful sources found in estate collections.

Land records are an extremely important part of genealogical research in Ireland due to the destruction of the majority of nineteenth-century census records. We will look at Griffith’s Valuation, the first truly comprehensive survey of property in Ireland, which covers the period 1848 to 1864, as well as the subsequent Valuation Revision (or Cancelled) Books

The earliest comprehensive nineteenth-century ‘census substitutes’ are the tithe applotment books from the 1820s and 1830s. We will look at these records, the companion tithe defaulters’ lists, and the freeholders’ registers which list those entitled to vote.

In 1708 the Registry of Deeds was established in Dublin as a repository for all kinds of documents relating to the transfer of title to land, including leases from landlord to tenant. This talk will explain how to maximise your research time in this important, but often overlooked archive.

The poor and destitute in Ireland can be the most difficult groups to trace because they rarely leave a paper trail. The records of the Board of Guardians, i.e. those tasked with administering the Poor Law in Ireland are hugely valuable, especially given the impact of the Great Famine on the period. Through the records such as minute books, outdoor relief registers, indoor registers and vaccination registers, we see glimpses of those admitted to the workhouse, how they were treated, and sometimes giving details on assisted emigration schemes. The session will also explore local government records in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, including records of the grand juries, town commissioners, corporation records and county council records. For example, the grand jury was one of the most important forms of local government of the period, and a greatly underused source for family history.

Researchers will be well aware of the value of gravestone inscriptions in their research into the history of their family. This talk will provide an overview of graveyards in Ireland and will highlight the main places to look for recordings of gravestone inscriptions.

This presentation highlights census substitutes and other lesser known sources for the early nineteenth and eighteenth century, including: Old Age Pensions search forms, the agricultural censuses of 1803, the 1796 flaxgrowers’ list, 1775 dissenter petitions, the convert rolls, the 1766 and other religious ‘census’ returns, the 1740 ‘Protestant Householders’ List and other miscellaneous material for the period which can provide invaluable information on families.

The Ulster Plantation of the early seventeenth century is widely accepted as a period of critical importance in the shaping of modern Ulster. This talk will explore the impact of the Plantation and will discuss sources that can be used to study the families affected by it.

This talk will explore the range of material that exists for those wishing to research an ancestor who followed a particular occupation. It will also highlight the usefulness of business records for the researcher, identifying where these records can be accessed.

Printed sources are essential for those researching Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors. We will look at a wide range of printed sources including newspapers, street directories and Ordnance Survey Memoirs; as well as identifying how to access this material.

The records of the National Education system, introduced in 1831, can be a most useful collection of records for tracing families, especially in the period 1860–1920, and where the records survive back to the 1850s and 40s. As well as providing information on school children the records offer information on teachers, and the establishment of schools and how they were run. They can give details of family movements within Britain and Ireland, and indeed emigration to America, Canada and Australasia. Prior to this period some records also exist for private schools, schools supported by various religious bodies, and schools established to educate the children of the poor. The session will explore the value of these records for family history research.

This talk will cover topics such as the Rebellion Papers in the National Archives of Ireland, the best single source for studying the tumultuous 1790s in Ireland. The talk will also explore records relating to the police, local courts and the prison system in Ireland.