Ireland Genealogy

Europe Ireland

Guide to Ireland ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Introduction
Prior to 1922 the island of Ireland was one country, comprised of thirty-two counties within the four historic provinces of Connaught, Leinster, Munster and Ulster.

Today the island is divided into two countries:


 * the Republic of Ireland, also known as Éire, made up of twenty-six counties; not a part of the United Kingdom.
 * Northern Ireland, a constituent part of the United Kingdom, made up of six of the counties of the Province of Ulster.

For further historic information, see Counties of Ireland.

Counties
The map below shows the whole of Ireland. The six counties of Northern Ireland are divided from the rest by a heavy black line.

Click on a county to go to that county's page:

Or click on a county name below:


 * § These counties make up Northern Ireland
 * County Dublin was abolished in 1994 and replaced by three new authorities: Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown; Fingal and South Dublin.
 * The historic county of Tipperary was divided in 1898 into North Tipperary and South Tipperary.

Research Guidance
If you are just beginning to research your Irish ancestors, here are some helps to get you started. Choose an event to learn about in the life of your Irish ancestors:


 * Birth
 * Marriage
 * Death/Burial
 * Immigration

Records Available on FamilySearch

 * Listing of all records collections for Ireland available on FamilySearch.org

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * Ireland Births (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Ireland Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Ireland Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Ireland, Civil Registration Indexes (FamilySearch Historical Records)

News Events

 * Join a Community of Ireland researchers! Ask questions, help others, and share your research successes on Facebook and/or Skype.
 * 32,000 baptism records posted by RootsIreland for County Monaghan.
 * Irish census records, 1901 and 1911, have been digitized by the National Archives of Ireland.
 * Clare Library wins major award for genealogy. "... includes invaluable transcriptions of Tithe Applotment Books, gravestone inscriptions with photographs ..."

Did You Know?

 * Between 1831 and 1841 in Ireland, 34,090 recruits joined the Army.
 * Ireland Householders Index From 1823 to 1864, records were kept of people who paid taxes to the Church of Ireland or the government in Ireland.
 * The Princess Grace Irish Library provides online biographical &amp; bibliographical information on 4,500 Irish writers on its EIRData website. EIRData, which stands for Electronic Irish Records Dataset, was compiled by Dr. Bruce Stewart of the University of Ulster. The site also contains primary and secondary bibliographies, commentaries, quotations and notes.
 * The term 'Census Strays' refers to people who are born in one place whose name appears in a census in another place. A page on the North of Ireland Family History Society website contains details of over 15,000 records of persons living in households with one or more people of Irish origin. These "strays" compiled by the Society were sent in from the UK and the rest of the world. office
 * Records of Officers from first Irish Police Force on internet. Record of more than 80,000 officers from the 1st Irish Police Force are being released on line. It will contain personal details of every man that enlisted in the Irish Constabulary between 1816-1921 including their name, year and place of birth, age of enlistment and marital status. It is on the Ancestry Subscription site.
 * The National University of Ireland in Galway, in conjunction with the Moore Institute for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, has created an on-line index to the landed estates of Connaught Province covering c.1700-1914. Though the project was not primarily intended as a genealogical tool, it is that, and they are to be commended for creating this great resource. The index can be searched alphabetically by the names of estates, families, and houses, and the website includes maps and images of the great houses. The index is found at the Landed Estates website.

Useful websites

 * findmypast.com - For records from all regions of Ireland
 * National Archives of Ireland
 * Irish Genealogy -- particularly for Dublin City and counties Carlow, Cork and Kerry.
 * Irish Family History Foundation's online searchable database
 * Cumann Geinealais na hÉireann - Genealogical Society of Ireland
 * Irish Resources and help pages on RootsChat Irish Resources and help pages. (Free).
 * Historic Maps
 * From Ireland
 * Ask About Ireland
 * GenUKI
 * Ireland Reaching Out
 * Irish Times Ancestor Search
 * Irish Genealogical Research Society


 * More Ireland Websites ....

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: