An Eternally Irish resting place...
News & Events
Find Out Where Your Family Came From in Ireland
Blog
Posted 25/06/2019
Many people of Irish descent know the county their ancestors came from. Your Great Grandmother may have been from Kerry and your Great Grandfather may have come from Donegal.
They may have met in New York, far away from their place of birth. Sometimes, the knowledge of where your Irish family lived gets lost.
Yes, you know the general location, but the specifics of where they grew up, what their life was like and why they left for the United States are long forgotten.
It is worth finding out this missing information. Knowing where your family came from will deepen your connection to Ireland. This knowledge can open up new experiences and strengthen you own sense of identity.
In future, if you ever intend to visit Ireland you will enjoy visiting the small villages and parishes scattered all across the country.
In truth, this is what really makes Ireland special. Yes, larger cities like Dublin, Cork and Galway are fantastic. They definitely have something very special to offer. However, off the beaten track is were you will find Ireland’s true gems.
If you know the townland or parish your Irish family came from, it can make you trip to Ireland even more interesting.
In fact, there are many resources now available to trace your ancestors journey. Who knows you may even find long lost relatives still living in the emerald isle.
In many cases, you can visit the same pub your relatives would have drank in. Have a conversation with the bar staff. In rural areas most bar staff are local and would know quite a bit about the local area.
In some villages there may even be cottages dating back hundreds of years. It may even be possible to visit your actual ancestral home.
So, if you don’t know the specifics of where your Irish ancestors came from where do you start?
There are two options.
Do all the research yourself.
Use an online tool like findmypast.ie.
Do the research yourself
Irish government supported site - https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/
Use an online tool
We recommend findmypast.ie. We get a referral fee from them which helps us out but we recommend them because they have access to a number of databases.
The reason why we recommend Findmypast is because they have the most comprehensive access to records in the British Isles which includes Ireland. They also have excellent archives of British and Irish Newspapers.
If you want to go back generations then findmypast.ie.
More and more people have caught the genealogy bug. We sponsored the The Genealogy Event in New York and Adare and met some wonderful people.
It really showed us what connecting with your roots means to people.
Best of luck with your family research
