Gap of Dunloe, County Kerry

All You Need to Know About Ancestral Townland Experience Tours

The Irish diaspora is scattered all across the world. Millions of people left Ireland in search of a better life as the country was struck by events such as the Great Famine and the Irish Civil War. These people started new lives in countries such as Australia, Canada, and the US, but their descendants are interested in reconnecting with their Irish roots.

The best way for you to experience your Irish heritage and culture is to plan a one-day ancestral townland experience tour with My Ireland Family Heritage. We can help you relive the daily life of your ancestors and help you feel closer to your family’s history.

Planning to book an ancestral townland experience tour? Here’s all you need to know about it.

What is a Townland?

Townland is a geographical division of land that was used by Normans when they came to Ireland in 1169 AD. It can be as small as half an acre or as large as several thousand acres. These townlands are usually divided by borders such as hills, rivers, and hedges.

Since this system isn’t official and is primarily used for genealogy purposes, it’s extra difficult to locate townlands. The whole process is rooted in finding the correct church, but even this information is barely enough to get started. There are 61,098 officially recognized townlands in Ireland. To give you an idea of how complex all this is, if your ancestral townland has the word “rath” in it, you could possibly be from one of 1,024 townlands!

This is where the expertise of genealogy researchers comes in to locate your exact townland.

Ancestral Townland Experience Tour

Once your townland is accurately located through our genealogy records, we make sure that your family indeed lived there. The verification is done through a family graveyard, church records, and existing relatives that may live there. After the verification, we plan a one-day tour of your ancestral townland, which will include:

  • Ancestral townland
  • Ancestral graveyard
  • Your family church
  • Specific places of interest such as Famine Workhouses, Viking sites, Norman sites, Christian heritage sites, etc.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, County Armagh

Plan Your Ancestral Townland Tour Now

If you want to take an ancestral townland experience tour to Ireland, our team at My Ireland Family Heritage can help you. We have certified tour guides who will help you explore your family’s history while also   telling you all about Irish history.

Our expert researchers begin the process by tracing your Irish roots through ancestry research and help you plan a personalized Irish ancestry and genealogy tour of your ancestral townland and homestead. We can successfully locate your ancestral land up to 10 yards!

Contact us now for more information about our 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