Tuesday, November 1, 2011

How do I trace my Irish Ancestors?

Having lived and worked in the United States for a number of years, I can't tell you the number of people that respond to my accent with the line "oh I'm Irish too".  What they generally mean is that they have ancestors who came from Ireland, and more often than not it was many generations ago.

Being Irish, or of Irish descent, is typically something most people feel very proud of, something they want to cling to, and usually something they want to find out more about.  It's estimated there are approximately 40 million Americans who trace Irish ancestry.  The number worldwide is obviously far greater than that.

It's sad to think that the huge number of Irish descendants around the world is due in part to the suffering of their ancestors many years ago.  People left Ireland in shiploads due to famine, oppression, poverty and lack of prospects.  They primarily left Ireland to go to places such as the USA, Britain, Australia and other more prosperous countries. 

Unfortunately for many US citizens, tracing their Irish heritage can be a very difficult task, generally because information was lost with the passage of time.  I've heard of many people jumping on planes and heading to Ireland, to search parish records of births, marriages and deaths with the hope of finding information that can help them build out their family tree.  This can be quite an effective technique because churches are pretty good at having all this information stored away, and the church staff are very willing to help..  And because the people of Ireland lived their lives with such close ties to the church, most people can trace ancestors in this fashion.  Thankfully, technology has made life a little easier for the current crop of ancestor hunters.  Now you can search Irish church records online (see below).
Like all the other ways of tracing your roots, you need to have some information to get you started.  First and last names, places and dates of births, town names, children's names, profession etc, are all good starting points to getting you the information you are looking for.

Luckily for you, these days there are so many options to building your family tree.  Before you waste too much time, or spend any money, the first place to start is by asking questions of older relatives who may have emigrated from Ireland, or had a parent or grandparent that did.  You'd be surprised at how much information they may be able to give you to get you started.  I've often quizzed my own grandfather on my own family history.  It's good to write it down now so you can pass it on to your children in years to come.  Print out a family tree off one of the many sites that offer them for free, and put yourself or your kids on the bottom branch and work your way up writing down as much information as you can.  When you exhaust the knowledge that your family members have on offer then your next move will probably to do some online research.


Here's a list of websites and services I've come across that can help you get started.  Some charge a fee for their service, while others have some very detailed information for free.

Irish Census Archives
To use this website you're going to need names and places of birth of your relatives.  This website allows you to search census records from 1901 and 1911 that took place in Ireland.  You will be able to print out a PDF scan of your ancestors actual census filing (pretty cool!).  It gives some pretty interesting information regarding the family's occupations, health status, ages, etc.  And it's free :)

This site allows you to search church records for marriages, baptisms and burials going back hundreds of years.  They even have a wonderful document you can download that gives you tips on tracing your Irish ancestors.  There is also a genealogy related Information Directory within that file that provides many useful phone numbers and other contact details for ancestry resources.

Ellis Island
Millions of Irish emigrants passed through the doors of Ellis Island en route to America.  If your Irish ancestors arrived in the US between 1892 and 1954 then there's a good chance this is where they first set foot on US soil.  Their website will allow you search for you relatives, and has original arrival records and ships manifests that you can print out.  Interestingly the first ever person to be processed at Ellis Island was a young Irish girl, Annie Moore, arriving on a ship from Cobh (formerly Queenstown) in County Cork.

Irish Heritage Certificate
Apply for your certificate of Irish Heritage at the link above.  The certificate is an official recognition by the Irish government of your Irish Heritage.

Some other notable websites that may aid you in your research:
There's plenty more resources available online to help you find where you came from.  I think with the information above, you should have a pretty good chance at finding this information.  I wish you the very best in tracing your roots.

I'll leave you with an excerpt from John Locke's famous poem, "Dawn on the Irish Coast", aka the "Emigrant's Anthem"

But there it is—
The dawn on the hills of Ireland !
God's angels lifting the night's black veil
From the fair, sweet face of my sireland !
O, Ireland! isn't grand you look—
Like a bride in her rich adornin !
With all the pent-up love of my heart
I bid you the top of the morning !


Slainte!

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