Irish family tree vacation

How to Trace Your Irish Family History: A Step-By-Step Guide

People’s interest in ancestry research is increasing as they try to find a sense of connection with their past to strengthen their identities. The great Irish-Catholic immigration to the US and other parts of the world has led the Irish diaspora to forget their ancestors and native land. To recover their past and learn more about their family background, many are turning to Irish genealogy research.

If you want to learn more about your Irish family heritage, this guide is for you!

Start With Family Members

Before starting the research process, make sure you collect all the information and data in the form of records (paper and online) and talk to your family members, such as your grandparents or great-grandparents.

Talking to your older family members can be of great help as they can help you discover things that you wouldn’t find in the records. Once you’ve gathered all this data, you must keep everything organised and evaluate the accuracy.

What do You Want to Learn About?

Your discovery will depend on your family records and the surviving information and data of your origin. The next step is narrow down the questions you need answers for. Make sure you know what you want to learn from the research process.

Once you have an answer to that question, you can begin your search by focusing on that and keeping everything on track. This will also reduce the chances of missing an important clue from the pool of information and details you would come across.

Check Online Records

The next step is to explore the heritage and ancestry research websites to find relevant data about your family.

You will find much relevant information from online websites such as the National Archives of Ireland census website. You can search with names, occupations, neighbourhoods and towns, and ancestors’ signatures and trace them back to your great-grandparents in the early 1900s.

However, you may not find every detail or accurate data from online resources. It will require an evaluation of the accuracy of the data, and you can’t expect to find your entire family tree on one website.

Learn All About the Available Records

There are a variety of record types online and on paper that will help you trace back to your family origin. Make sure you’ve familiarised yourself with all the record types.

Go Local

While you may find a great deal of information online and remotely, at one point, you’ll have to go down to your ancestor’s land and explore the historical records and sites in person.

Hire a Professional Genealogist

Ireland genealogy research

 

Increase your chances of finding your Irish roots by hiring our team of professional genealogists. At My Ireland Family Heritage, we offer services like personalised genealogy research to help trace your Irish roots, genealogy tours of Ireland, one-day family heritage tours, self-drive options, and much more.

Contact our team today to learn more about our Irish ancestry & genealogy tour services!

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Customised Genealogy & Historical Tour

Review of My Ireland Heritage Tours Presented on Trip adviser Oct 2024 By • Family TomBarron2013 New York City, NY2

Once in a lifetime experience

Oct 2024 • Family

We highly recommend My Ireland Heritage for anyone who wants to learn and be guided to their Irish “roots” and much, much more. Sean Quinn and Ian Darragh of My Ireland Family Heritage have deep knowledge or the areas we wanted to visit in Meath, Sligo and Kilkenny. While we knew about one side of the family history back to 1690, there was nothing known about the other that arrived in the US in the 1870s.

Ian, Sean, and Nicola did thorough research on our localities and locations from which our ancestors left for America in 1849 and later. In addition, Ian and Sean did separate day-long “recons” in advance of our time with them, seeking out local people and the specific properties with maps and whatever records still available. Their results were absolutely outstanding! In both our cases, they found and took us to our still-existing cottages and shops from the early 1820s.

It was so enjoyable to be with Ian for three days and for a special day with Sean. Whether it was the Newgrange World Heritage sites 5,500 years old , the Battle of the Boyne 1690 , or the local cemeteries and churches of our ancestors. Ian was especially attentive to my wife throughout the travels after she twisted her ankle in a rain-soaked old cemetery.

Throughout the process of trip preparation over months to giving us the final, wonderful books of Meath and Sligo, Aisling was highly professional and responsive with all the many details. The bound books she prepared are treasures! Thanks to all for truly exceptional experiences.

Newgrange World Unesco Site 5500 years old
Battle of the Boyne 1690 AD
Customised Historical Tours Trim Castle
Entrance stone at Newgrange

Self Drive Product

Review of My Ireland Heritage Tours Presented on Trip adviser by Shelley L @ sjlively

Exceptional in every way!

Over the last few months of preparing for our trip, every single detail was meticulously attended, not only professionally, but helpfully, and in such a friendly manner, that I felt as if I knew Sean, Aisling and Ian before I even stepped off the plane.

The amount of work these wonderful people put into our personal history is mindboggling. My mother was an avid amateur genealogist, and had worked for decades to bring to light the trail our family took, but our resources are limited.

Sean knows exactly where to look, and was able to fill in so many gaps that had eluded us for generations. Some of the information he found, unbeknownst even to him, actually solidified the findings we had amassed over the years. Ours was a family in coal mining – I only found on our tour that they had originated from a mining area, and their arrival on the  border coincided exactly with the decline in the mining industry in County Wicklow.

I would have been overjoyed simply with the knowledge of why they left when they did, about 12 years before the famine. Breaking through our brick wall of great grandparents even farther back on the family tree was a dream come true, but to be able to set foot on not only the area they lived, and find that the house is still there was overwhelming. Seeing the family church and cemetery where our ancestors and extended family still rest is a truly moving experience.

The care taken by this company in each and every aspect of the journey cannot be overstated. Only about 2 weeks prior to my trip, Sean contacted me to let me know that he had also stumbled across some of my husband’s family name in the process and included them as well in his research. How often can anyone say that they not only got what they paid for, but more than they ever imagined? I can say that. They were even kind enough to answer a few follow-up questions after my return home, as I was so stunned on my tour with Ian that I didn’t think ask at the time.If you have the opportunity to make the trip to Ireland, contact My Ireland Family Heritage before you go.

If your family was there, Sean will go above and beyond to find them. Even without family, contact them anyway. Ian is a walking encyclopedia of history, and so fun to talk to. Aisling will make sure every “I” is dotted, and every “T” is crossed.  Thank you so much for the trip of a lifetime, and the opportunity to pass on everything we have discovered to future generations

The Consultation at Hotel / Office or by Phone opens all doors
Genealogy gets you off the Beaten Track to see the Real Ireland

Unique to Every Address with My Ireland Family Research