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
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!
