Do you have Irish ancestors you have always wanted to find out more about? Family tree research is a hobby many of us turn to these days, as there is a wealth of information online that can help.

Furthermore, as the Irish diaspora scattered far and wide, there is a huge appetite for discovering where we came from and why our families might have ended up where they did.

But where do you start? When it comes to genealogy, there are a lot of rabbit holes you can disappear down… where are the best places to start your search?

Check out the John Grenham civil index

This allows you to check the location, frequency and history of Irish surnames in the 19^th century. So, for example, Byrne shows up predominantly on Ireland’s east coast in 1847-1864 in Wexford, Dublin City and Wicklow, but also County Donegal. The name also has numerous variations, from Byrne to Burn and Burns, O’Byrne and Ó Broin.

The next stop is census results

Census surveys of Ireland’s population began in 1821, but only the complete results from 1901 and onwards survive. You can search the results for free at the National Archives. The returns list names, ages and places of birth for household members, and are arranged by townland (rural areas) and streets (urban places).

Search births, marriages and deaths

Or hatches, matches and dispatches as it is sometimes (cheekily) known. The civil registration of births and deaths began on 1 January 1864 (and non-Catholic marriages in 1845). Prior to this, you will need to search the baptismal, marriage and burial registers kept by churches. You can find the civil records at Irish Genealogy.

If you want to delve deeper into your family history, then RootsIreland has church records, where you can search across counties. They include graveyard inscriptions, which can be useful for identifying families too. There are plenty of filters on the search function that allow you to look by year, a range of years, names of spouses/parents, parish of birth, etc.

It is worth remembering that if you do not find the record you want, this does not mean that the birth, marriage or death didn’t happen there—simply that it is not recorded on the database or may have been in a record that has not survived.

Search other records

There are plenty of other sources of information, such as land records, military records, ship passenger lists and more, though these are best used if you have already established a connection or potential connection to the person named.

Interested in researching your own family tree? To find out more about our family tree verification services, you can visit our website. Alternatively, you can email [email protected] or telephone +353 (0)1 5676940.