Northern Ireland Genealogy

Getting started with Northern Ireland research
Researching in Northern Ireland is NOT the same as researching in the Republic of Ireland for the following reasons:


 * 1) Although originally Catholic, over time what now constitutes Northern Ireland became predominately a Protestant country.
 * 2) The majority of records are based on English law since it became a part of the United Kingdom.
 * 3) Many of the original records have been destroyed in the various conflicts that culimated in the 1921 troubles, but copies of some records do exist
 * 4) Therefore a knowledge of history of this area and the potential records that could be found is essential

General Information About Northern Ireland

Province of Ulster consists of the following counties:
County Antrim County Armagh County Cavan (now Republic of Ireland) County Derry (Londonderry) County Donegal (now Republic of Ireland) County Down County Fermanagh County Monaghan (now in Republic of Ireland) County Tyrone

Jurisdictions (records are created in jurisdictions).The main records of value to family historians and genealogists are:

 * Census (some)
 * Civil Registration
 * Church Records
 * Court Records
 * Electoral Records
 * Emigration Records
 * Landed Estate Records
 * Local Government Records
 * Military Records
 * Poor Law Records
 * School Records
 * Valuation and Tithe Records
 * Wills and Testamentary Records

= Turbulent History Destroyed Many Records  =

Rrecords of Ulster ancestors have been lost due to the consistent warfare that occurred in all parts of the island of Ireland. Other countries in the United Kingdom have a more consistent set of records with less loss.

The following lists record types that could be available in some way:


 * Census
 * Census Substitutes
 * Church
 * Valuation
 * Estate
 * Tithe Applotment Books
 * Landed Estate
 * Registry of Deeds
 * Wills and other Testamentary Records
 * Various Printed Sources
 * Emigration
 * Poor Law
 * Local Authority Sources
 * Ordnance Survey Maps and Memoirs
 * Electoral Records
 * Solicitors Records
 * Business Records
 * Crown Records
 * Militia, Yeomanry, and Irish Royal Constabulary

Web Sites

 * Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
 * General Register Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI)
 * Ancestry Ireland
 * Northern IrelandGenWeb
 *  GenUKI
 * Stirnet Limited: Families Database: Index (unfettered access requires fee or significant data contribution; manually search index for surnames of interest)
 * Huggins Family of Northern Ireland
 * (helpful tools and resources, gazetteers)
 * (language dictionary, handwriting guide or tutorial, etc.)

Help Wanted
In order to make this wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need to be done. You can help by:

Featured Content

 * Browse: Pages for Northern Ireland

The will calendars,1858 to about 1900, are online as part of the first phase of a project to index and digitise all the early wills proved in the District Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry. It provides a fully searchable index to the will calendar entries for these 3 District Probate Registries with the facility to view the entire will calendar entry for each successful search. Read more...

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