Introduction
The websites in this list are presented chronologically. The National Library document and The Irish Times’ Ancestors page are presented first as they are not confined to a particular date or dates.
- A general guide to researching your family tree is available from the National Library of Ireland, http://www.nli.ie/pdfs/famil1.pdf
- The Irish Times’ Ancestors page is a search tool which guides the user towards what is available and where it is to be found. For the most part, it will steer you towards resources which are not available on the web. In such cases, it will provide the addresses (physical not virtual) of where these resources are to be located. As the site itself stresses ‘Please be clear: the record references returned by the searches are, in the main, bibliographical and do not include the original records -in other words, they are detailed aids to research rather than the research itself ‘ (http://scripts.ireland.com/ancestor/subscription/index.cfm, 19 July 2004). This is a subscription site and costs $60 for a thorough search of the site.http://www.ireland.com/ancestor
- Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild lists half a million passengers who arrived in the United States since the 1600s right up to 1929. The site is searchable. http://immigrantships.net/index2.html
- When looking at Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages there are, at least, three websites to consider. All three document records available at their offices; the actual records are not available online but are available in Dublin, Ireland. However, the information you are seeking may simply not be available anywhere so it is worth referencing these sites first as this may save you an unnecessary trip.
(a) The National Library of Ireland lists its collection of Roman Catholic Church records. These predate 1880.
http://www.nli.ie/family_hr.htm#pr
(b) The General Register Office gives an account of its collection of civil or State registers which cover the period 1864 to the present.
http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
(c) Church of Ireland registers are described at http://www.ireland.anglican.org/library/libroots.html. These cover the period 1750 to the present. - Trade Directories from 1751 to 1894. These list the owners of businesses in urban centres. Copies may be available at the local public library in your area, or in the National Library of Ireland. Some public libraries also have a selection of these crucial primary sources freely available on their website.
- The National Archives of Ireland Transportation Records Database is a searchable database of records relating to convicts transported to Australia between 1788 and 1868 inclusive.
http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/transportation/search01.html - Tithe Applotment Books compiled between 1823 and 1837. These list the occupiers of land holdings in rural parishes. In Ireland, Copies may be available at the local public library in your area, or in the National Library of Ireland. Some public libraries also have their local Tithe returns freely available on their Internet website e.g. www.clarelibrary.ie
- Famine Irish Passenger Record Data File. This is a searchable database of 604,596 persons who arrived in the United States between December 1846 and December 1851.
http://aad.archives.gov/aad/file-unit-description.jsp?file_id=640&coll_id=1002 - Griffith’s Valuation, compiled between 1848 and 1864, lists all occupiers of property living in Ireland at this time. An index* of names occurring in the Valuation can be searched at http://www.genealogy.com. This is a subscription site and at the time of writing the cost of subscribing is $14.99 per month or $79.99 per annum. One important warning about this site is that subscription is automatically renewed. In the case of an annual subscription you will receive a warning before renewal; in the case of a monthly subscription you will receive no such warning. Some local public libraries also have these indexes freely available on their website.
- Ellis Island Records. This lists all people who came through Ellis Island between the years 1892 and 1924. The site is searchable athttp://www.ellisisland.org/search/index.asp
- The Censuses of 1901 and 1911 lists all people living in Ireland in these years. These may be accessed at the National Archives of Ireland or at the local public library in your area. Some public libraries also have their local returns freely available on their website e.g. www.clarelibrary.ie
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Debt of Honour List is a searchable database of all soldiers in Commonwealth countries who died during the two World Wars. It is estimated that 35,000 Irish people were killed in the First World War while serving in the British army
(http://www.tcd.ie/General/Fusiliers/DUBFUS/RDFA/HTML/rdfa_top.htm, 19 July 2004) http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspx
