Derry Genealogy Tours
My Ireland Heritage find your Ancestors and exact house location from the 1700’s to the late 1800’s, and all available records in Ireland. We are an Irish family business dedicated to assisting you in your Irish Genealogy research for your roots and records of your family history of past generations in Derry, as well as providing you with a once in a lifetime Irish Genealogy tour experience to visit your families original family house and Walk in the Footsteps of your Irish Ancestors.
Sean and the Team at My Ireland Heritage are a Government certified & approved Genealogy & Touring Company, and will personally guide you on the journey into your Irish ancestry to any County in Ireland.
Many companies are genealogy research only, many companies are touring companies only, we at My Ireland Family Heritage are proud to be able to encompass your research and tour together enabling us to work with you throughout the process to customize your tour with you and for you. To achieve a full genealogy tour experience consider adding one of our one-day historical tours.
Our Tours
Our Ancestral Townland Experience Tours
County Derry, centered on Ireland’s only remaining fully walled city, has a genealogical story built around plantation-era settlement, the linen trade and, later, heavy emigration to North America and beyond. The city itself was planned and built by London guilds in the 17th century, which is reflected in its very name, and its surrounding parishes hold records for both the long-established Gaelic families of the area and the settler families who arrived under the Plantation of Ulster.
Because Derry sits at this crossroads of Gaelic and Planter history, correctly identifying your ancestors’ denomination and parish is essential before research can move forward, Presbyterian, Church of Ireland and Catholic registers each survive in different places and to different degrees for this county. We work through whichever records exist for your family’s likely community, then confirm the specific townland and graveyard, whether that’s within the walled city itself or out toward the Sperrin foothills.
A tour of Derry can take in the historic city walls and its genealogical archives before heading into the surrounding countryside to the actual family homestead, giving you both the wider historical context of the county and the personal, specific place your own family called home.
- Derry has 6 Baronies
- Derry has 45 Civil Parishes
- Derry has 0 Electoral Divisions
- Derry has 1234 Townlands
- Derry has 287 sub townlands
Derry also known as Londonderry when it received sponsorship in the 1600s by the London City and Guilds after it was granted a Royal Charter by King James, has a vast History from the 6th Century when St Columba first set a monastery on this beautiful City. The name Derry is an Anglicisation of the Old Irish name Daire meaning “oak grove”. The old walled city lies on the west bank of the River Foyle, which is spanned by two road bridges and one footbridge. The city now covers both banks (City side on the west and Waterside on the east). The siege of Derry 1688-89 lasted 105 days was a catalyst for the Battle of The Boyne in 1690 in County Meath. (see our 9000 Years Historical County Meath Day Tour)
It was one of the major deportation Ports for people in the Northern half of the Island for Centuries and in particular the great Famine of 1845-50. (see our Historical Derry City Tour)
Family Dynasties 1500-1600 AD
- Irish – O’Doherty, MacLaughlin, O ‘Cahane, O’Donnell
- Norman- None
- Scottish -None
- Viking – None
County Derry – Things to do and may be possible to include within your Ancestral Townland Experience Tour
- City Walls of Derry
- St Columba’s Cathedral
- The Guildhall
- Port of Derry
- Ulster American Folk Park
- Port of Derry and the Famine memorial
- Peace Bridge
- The Bogside Artists
Frequently Asked Questions
My family's records only say "Derry", can you narrow that down to a specific area?
Yes, we work from whatever detail survives, a parish name, a townland fragment and family stories, to identify the actual location, since “Derry” alone could mean the city or any of the county’s rural parishes.
Do you research both Catholic and Protestant family lines in Derry?
Yes, Derry’s history includes both, and we’re experienced with the different record sets and repositories for each community.
Can a Derry genealogy tour include the historic walled city itself?
Absolutely, many visitors combine a walk through the historic city with a visit to their family’s rural townland for a fuller picture of County Derry.
