Offaly 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 Offaly, 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 Offaly sits at the heart of the Irish midlands, its landscape shaped by the River Shannon, expansive bogland and the early Christian monastic site of Clonmacnoise, one of the most significant religious settlements in Irish history. Offaly’s farming communities, like much of the midlands, saw steady emigration through the 19th and 20th centuries, and its parish records reflect a mix of long-settled Gaelic families and later plantation-era arrivals, since the county was formerly known as King’s County.
Offaly’s bogland terrain meant some communities lived in genuinely remote, marginal settings, and church access could mean a longer journey than in more densely populated counties. We work through Offaly’s parish and graveyard records to confirm the actual congregation your family used, being careful to distinguish it from the civil parish alone, before identifying the specific townland. Given the county’s historical name change, older records may reference King’s County rather than Offaly, and we account for this when researching.
A tour through Offaly takes in the atmospheric ruins of Clonmacnoise and the quiet midlands landscape, arriving at your family’s own townland, a grounded, historically rich setting for reconnecting with your Offaly roots.
- Offaly has 12 Baronies
- Offaly has 50 Civil parishes
- Offaly has 87 Electoral Divisions
- Offaly has 1159 Townlands
- Offaly has 63 Sub Townlands
County Offaly is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King’s County. The population of the county is 78,003 according to the 2016 census.
Tullamore is the county town and largest town in Offaly and is the 30th largest in Ireland. Offaly borders seven counties: Galway, Roscommon, Tipperary, Laois, Westmeath, Kildare and Meath. The Slieve Bloom Mountains are in the southern part of the county on the border with County Laois. Croghan Hill rises from the Bog of Allen and is located in northern Offaly. The floodplain of the River Shannon is in the north-western part of the county.
Family Dynasties 1500-1600 AD
- Irish – O,Carroll O’Madden, Mooney, McCoughlan
- Norman – None
- Scottish – None
- Viking – None
County Offaly – Things to do and may be possible to include within your Ancestral Townland Experience Tour
- Birr Castle and Gardens
- Clonmacnoise Monastery
- Tullamore Dew (Tullamore)
- Lough Boora Parklands
- Slieve Bloom Mountains
- Barack Obama Ancestral home
- Irelands Ancient East
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Offaly previously known by a different name?
Yes, Offaly was formerly called King’s County until the early 20th century, and older records may use this name, which we account for during research.
Can a genealogy tour include Clonmacnoise?
Yes, this significant early Christian site is often a natural addition to an Offaly-based tour, alongside your family’s specific locations.
Did Offaly's bogland affect where communities settled?
Yes, extensive bogland shaped where farming and settlement were viable, and this can be a relevant factor in understanding a family’s original location.
