Ireland

Web Sites for Genealogists - An Australian gateway site for tracing your family history by Cora Num

See also Ireland County Sites

Archives and Libraries
National Archives of Ireland with access to research and genealogy information. Online databases include the Ireland-Australia Transportation Index (1791-1868) and census records. See Databases for details.

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Online resources include geographical, prominent persons, Presbyterian and Church of Ireland indexes plus Freeholders' Records and the Ulster Covenant databases. See Databases for details.

National Library of Ireland. with information for family history researchers including an online list of Catholic parish registers held. There is also access to the library catalogue, photographic, newspaper and manuscript databases.

ELibraries. This site is an online guide to Ireland's Library Catalogues.

Birth, Death and Marriage Records
The General Register Office offers information on birth, death and marriage records in the Republic of Ireland plus details on the location of church records.

The Ireland GenWeb Project has an ongoing project to index the Irish Birth Indexes New

and currently 1864 (the year civil registration commenced) is available for online searching.

Family Search Labs New

This show case site offers access to the Irish birth, death and marriages civil registration indexes 1864-1958 and the Irish marriage index 1845-1864 (non Catholic marriages). The index is available for online searching but the images have yet to be made available. Click on Record Search, then Europe on the map for access.

General Register Office Northern Ireland with information for the online ordering of births, death and marriage certificates for Northern Ireland. There is also a link to District Registrar Offices.

Irish Family History Foundation Online Genealogy Databases

with access to birth, death and marriage parish records for Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Cork, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Westmeath and Wicklow. Civil registration transcripts (from 1864) are available for Armagh, Galway (east), Kilkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon and Tipperary. There are also gravestone inscriptions plus 1901 and 1911 census transcripts available for some counties. A searchable index to the Griffith's Valuation is also available. More databases will be added as they come online. Surname searching is free with a cost of €5.00 to view a detailed record. See Ireland County Sites for details on each county.

Genfindit ordering service for Irish birth, death or marriage photocopies or certificates (1864-1997). Protestant marriages available from 1845.

History from Headstones lists inscriptions from 800+ Northern Ireland graveyards. The databases cover counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. There is a free surname search but there is a fee to view inscriptions.

Emerald Ancestors This paid site offers online access to 1 million+ birth, marriage, death and census record transcripts for the Northern Ireland counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. A free name search is available.

Waterford County Library. Enter Death Registers into the Search box for online access to County Waterford Death Registers (1864-1901). A search returns a full transcript from the original register.

Ireland Old News, Irish Death Notice Index to 54,100+ obituaries of people who were born and/or died in Ireland, or whose deaths were mentioned in Irish newspapers. Includes 25,000+ entries from The Cork Examiner.

Census Records
National Archives of Ireland is digitising and indexing the 1901 and 1911 Census Records. The free images for each household and institution are indexed by name, townland/street, age and sex. Currently the 1911 census is available for the counties of Antrim, Down, Dublin, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, King's County (Offaly) and Wexford. New

Irish Family History Foundation Online Genealogy Databases New has the following census transcripts available online: Cavan 1901 and 1911, Cork, 1901 and 1911, Dublin (south) 1901, Galway 1901 and 1911, Kildare 1901, Limerick 1901, Mayo 1901 and 1911 (part), Meath 1901, Sligo 1901, Tipperary North 1901 and Westmeath 1901 and 1911. More will be added as they come online. Surname searching is free with a cost of €5.00 to view a detailed record.

Clare County Library, Census Search Forms 1841 & 1851. When Ireland introduced the Old Age Pension in 1908 many applicants had no birth certificate as Civil Registration did not begin until 1864. So the 1841 and 1851 census returns were used to prove age. This database lists applicant's surname, birthdate/age, address, father's name, mother's maiden name, siblings plus census and other details.

The Leitrim-Roscommon 1901 Census Homepage offers a searchable database of 1901 census transcriptions for Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo and Sligo. Data for the counties of Galway, Westmeath and Wexford is ongoing with limited searching available.

Databases
Ancestry.com Irish databases include: Marriages index 1771-1812; Irish records extraction database; Irish records index 1500-1920; Griffiths Land Valuation index 1848-1876; wills index 1536-1857; Royal Irish Constabulary index 1816-1921; Irish flax growers list 1796; Ireland 1766 religious census; Irish emigrants (USA/Canada) plus gazeteers, topographical dictionaries, landed gentry publications and more. The records are fully indexed with a free surname search. Subscription options offer access to information or digitised records. Use the Search button then Browse by Location-Ireland to see what is available.

WorldVitalRecords.com New is a commercial site that aims to provide affordable access to genealogy material. Irish records available cover prisoners (1780-1867); gazetteers and topographical dictionaries; will indexes and abstracts; obituaries; migration records (Canada/USA); census records and published family histories. Click on Browse International Data and select Ireland from the drop down box to see what is available on this ever expanding site.

Registry of Deeds Index Project New aims to index all of the names that appear in the memorial books held at the Registry of Deeds, Dublin, This repository hold wills, land transactions and other deeds from 1709. Currently there are over 40,000 index entries online from 1709 to the 1860s.

Library Ireland is a Free Irish Reference Library. The transcripts of a wide range of old books, including directories, are available online with full text searching. Topics covered include Irish antiquities, biography, genealogy, history (general, local and social) and literature.

Ulster Historical Foundation offers access to 2 million+ online records. The wide variety of databases cover Northern Ireland parish records and some civil registration records. Other databases include directories, trade and occupational lists, wills, passenger lists and much more.

Irish Newspaper Archives

offers free searches and access to digitised copies (fees apply) of Irish national and regional newspapers. These include Anglo-Celt (Cavan, 1908-2001); Connaught Sentinel (Galway, 1927-2003); Connaught Telegraph (Mayo, 1975-2003); Connaught Tribune (Galway, 1909-2002); Donegal News (1980-1985); Freeman's Journal (1763-1924); Galway City Tribune (1984-2002); Irish Farmer Journal (1957-1998); Irish Independent (Dublin, 1905-2003); Leitrim Observer (1923-1976); Meath Chronicle (1897-2002); Munster Express (Waterford 1933-1960); The Nation (1842-1861); The Nenagh Guardian (Tipperary 2008); Sunday Independent (Dublin 1935-2006); Southern Star (Cork, 1892-2000) and Tuam Herald (Galway, 1994-2000).

Irish Family Research. This paid site offers access to online databases including directories and the Memorials of the Dead Database c1500s-1910 with many of the transcribed headstones no longer in existence.

Enhanced British Parliamentary Papers on Ireland contain information on Ireland and its relations with Britain from extensive social inquiries and census enumerations to transcripts of semi-literate emigrant letters. Worth a search for surnames and placenames of interest.

Irish Origins index and digital images of the Griffith's Valuation (1847-1864) records and maps. Other records include Irish Wills index (1484-1858), Dublin City census 1851 and 1901, Diocese of Elphin census 1749, tithe defaulters 1831, militia attestations index (1872-1915), William Smith O'Brien petition (1848-1849), British and Irish passenger lists 1890, transatlantic migration 1858-1870, Irish 'strays' in England & Wales census (1841 & 1871) plus access to photos, maps and books. There is a free name and place search. A fee applies to access the records. Free access to this site is available through the National Library of Australia eResources. New

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland online indexes include:
Freeholders' Records which list those who were entitled to vote at elections or those who actually did vote. Over 5,500 digitised images from pre-1840 registers and poll books are linked to the name index.
The Ulster Covenant was signed in September 1912 by over 500,000 people who opposed Home Rule for Ireland. These signatures have been digitised and indexed and are fully searchable.
Will Calendars project to index and digitise early wills proved in the district probate registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry 1858 to c1900.

National Archives of Ireland online Index to the Famine Relief Commission Papers (1845-1847). These papers include distress reports and incoming letters.

Act of Union Virtual Library is a unique collection of pamphlets, newspapers, parliamentary papers and manuscript material contemporary with the 1801 Act of Union between Ireland and Britain. The site is searchable by keyword and digital copies of the original documents are available.

National Archives and Records Administration. Scroll down to Most Requested then click on Immigration Records and then scroll down to Famine Irish Passenger Records. These list over 604,596 persons who arrived in New York during the Irish Famine (1846-1851) and the ship of arrival.

General Information
GENUKI UK & Ireland Genealogy. This extensive gateway site has an alphabetical list of sites relating to all aspects of Irish research. A must to visit.

RootsWeb Mailing Lists for Ireland (87). A great way to find others with similar research interests.

FamilySearch. Click on Search then Research Helps then the letter I for access to a series of excellent guides for Irish research.

Irish Family History New and genealogy comments, tips, news and reviews. This blog site is a good way to stay in touch with what is new.

Irish History Online. A bibliography of Irish history (1936-2003), created by Writings on Irish History online in association with the Royal Historical Society.

Irish Famine Memorial, Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney. This site offers detailed information about this Australian monument to the Great Irish Famine. It also details the Earl Grey Scheme that enabled 4,000+ adolescent female orphans to emigrate from Irish workhouses to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide 1848-1850. Click on Orphans then Ships for a list of the ships that brought these girls. There are also shipping lists online for selected ships.

Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association. This site has wealth of information on Ireland in the Great War (1914-1918). About 200,000 Irish people served in the Allied forces in the Great War and over 35,000 of those died on the battlefields.

Royal Munster Fusiliers. This well designed extensive site is dedicated to this Irish Regiment of the British Army that was disbanded in 1922. Contains detailed historical information, timelines, information on uniforms, graves and memorials plus photographs, biographies and much more.

Irish War Memorials. This site includes photographs of each memorial, the text of all inscriptions and site location details. The online database can be surname searched for individuals.

Jo Mitchell's homepage features an Irish Churches Project where researchers are able to view pictures of the churches attended by their ancestors. There are hundreds of photographs arranged by denomination and then by diocese. Most of the photographs have been donated by fellow researchers.

Nick Reddan's Newspaper Abstracts with 11,300+ abstracts from various Irish newspapers (1750-1840) sorted by selected family names. Papers include the Freeman's Journal, Dublin Weekly Journal, Hoey's Dublin Mercury, Pue's Occurrences, Belfast Newsletter and Limerick newspapers.

Moving Here provides free online access to resources which record and illustrate the migration of the Caribbean, Irish, Jewish and South Asian communities to England over the past two centuries.

Clann Chaomhánach - Origin & Early history of the Kavanagh/Cavanaugh Family. This site is a great example of an Irish clan site. There is lots of interesting information and articles.

Maps, Place Names and Surnames
See also Counties Clare, Galway, Mayo and Sligo
Ireland's Historical Mapping Archive 1829-1913. This paid site contains digital copies of Ireland's Ordnance Survey maps. There are over 30,000, very detailed maps, of Irish localities spanning 1829 to 1847 and 1888 to 1913. This site is searchable by county or townland. There are several subscription options available including 5 euros for one day's access.

Ask About Ireland - Griffiths Valuation. New The Family Name Search returns occupier names, placename, county, parish, details, access to the original page, maps (both 1850s Griffiths map and 2000s modern Google map and townplan if applicable. The Place Name Search returns the placename, county, barony, parish, townland plus options to view a list of occupants (plus access to digital image of the original valuation) and access to maps.

Irish Ancestors Placename Search of 65,000+ entries from 1851 General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland. Free searches include a list of the placenames in the civil parish, adjoining parishes list, most common surnames 1855 list and a summary of sources for the parish. A fee is required to access the source details plus other site features.

The IreAtlas Townland Database. Features online searching by townland, county, barony, parish or poor law union. A great site for locating Irish place names.

Ireland's History in Maps by Dennis Walsh.

Online Irish Names Directory. This site is a surname gateway site. The surname lists are arranged by county and can be searched online. It is also possible to add surnames being researched to this site

Wills
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland - Will Calendars. New

This new ongoing project is indexing and digitising early wills proved in the district probate registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry 1858-c1900. There is a fully searchable index to the will calendars (abstracts) available plus the facility to view the will calendar entries. The second phase of the project will link the index entries and the will calendar entries to copies of the wills.

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Ireland