Maine Irish Heritage Center

Contact Information
Email: [mailto:genealogy@maineirish.com genealogy@maineirish.com]; [mailto:library@maineirish.com library@maineirish.com]

Website: Maine Irish Heritage Center Genealogy Services; MIHC Library

Facebook: Maine Irish Heritage Center - General)

Facebook: Galway Ancestry

Maine Gaeltacht DNA Project

Aran Islands DNA Project

Address (Mail): Maine Irish Heritage Center, PO Box 7588, Portland Maine 04112-7588

Address (Visit): 34 Gray Street, Portland, Maine 04102

Phone: 207.780.0118

Hours: Thursday 10:00 am - 2:00 pm; Friday by appointment for genealogy services 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Directions (Google Map)

Collection Description
The Maine Irish Heritage Center is home to a dedicated team of volunteer genealogists and librarians who are ready to help you research your roots. With special emphasis on the regions in Ireland that brought the most Irish immigrates to Maine, especially Galway and Connemara, resources include Portland City Directories dating back to the late 1800s and yearbooks for most regional high schools. The MIHC Library maintains many subscriptions services that can be accessed in the center for a small fee. Notable among these are Newspapers.com, Ancestry.com Library Edition as well as the complete collection of databases from American Ancestors and the New England Genealogical Historical Society. The newest addition to our collection is free in-house access to the FamilySearch.org collection as an official Affiliate Library. Make use of the online content from difference sources such as census and military records to marriages, yearbooks and newspapers.

Family trees are on file for many of the early Irish settlers in Maine including names like Feeney, Joyce, McDonough, Walsh, Coyne and Flaherty.

Reference Services
We are most proud of our committed and dedicated team of volunteer genealogists who staff the center every Friday. Between them, they have more than 100 years of genealogy research experience as well as extensive expertise in interpreting DNA results. They'll happily point you to what's available and help you to the best approach for your unique situation - whether it be one-on-one consultation, self-led research on the genealogy workstation or research on your behalf, they'll meet you at wherever point you are in your ancestry journey and help you make headway.

Tours
The Maine Irish Heritage Center is located in the West End of Portland in the former St. Dominic's church, built brick-by-brick by Irish Immigrants throughout the 1800s.Volunteers for the Maine Irish Heritage Center are happy to give tours of our magnificent home on Thursdays between 10-2. Group tours are available by appointment and can be scheduled in advance by calling 207-780-0118.

The Research Center
If you can't visit us in person, feel free to contact us for information on your family research. We can copy information and send it to you or do research on your behalf for a fee.

Tips for Your Visit

 * The most successful journeys start with an initial consult with our genealogy team.
 * DNA testing can be extremely helpful. We maintain two DNA projects which you can join if you have roots in Galway, and especially Connemara.
 * Before you visit us, do your "homework" and send us basic information about your family tree - names, dates and places going back as far as you know. A family tree is an ideal way to provide this.
 * Complete the Genealogical Backgrounder on our website
 * Let us know your goals and what specific information you would like to find during your visit (target person, timeframe, etc)