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The following is what I hope you will find to be invaluable information.
It's a compilation of things I picked up along the way in my own search,
and wish I had when I first started out! Even though you may know most
of it already, please read it thru, there just may be something you hadn't
thought of that could make all the difference and your search in Ireland
that much more successful!
Note: most of the information here pertains to searching from the U.S. first...
but hopefully it can be applied to anywhere you are searching from.
1. Searching the Records
Start from you and go backwards. Verify your birth records (also marriage, death census etc), then your parents and grandparents until you get to your emigrant ancestors. You may come across tidbits of information on these records that was previously not known to you.
This is the most important thing you can learn about Irish research: Learn everything possible about the immigrant and his/her family from their destination first. ( i.e. North American records) in order to locate a birthplace/townland in Ireland.
This is the second most important thing to learn about Irish research: It is nearly impossible to trace ancestors in Ireland without first knowing the place of origin in Ireland (townland/parish).
How far back can I realistically trace my Irish ancestry? Sadly the third important thing to know... Most Catholic lineages can typically only be traced back to the early 1800s.
You will want to have searched every possible source for clues as to this place of origin **before** you begin research in Irish records. If you do this, it will greatly improve your chance of success in doing Irish research. Potential sources include:
- obtain birth, death, marriage certificates. Search for family records in places such as Bibles, newspaper clippings, old letters, scrap books, diaries, baby books, wedding books, photo albums, birth, death, and marriage certificates. They can contain important information easily over looked. i.e. place of birth, parents names etc. Marriage records may provide other information such as ages of couple, names of parents, place of residence, witnesses. Death Certificates may give correct death date and place but check birth date and other and other information against other sources. Who gave the information? ... a spouse , a child, a sibling? and would they really know the information exactly that they were providing?
- check local libraries for microfiche of old newspaper obituaries which may contain info not found anywhere else.
- (baptisms with sponsors names, bans of marriage, funerals- these records may include parents names, place of birth etc.) cemetery records, gravestones often contain townland of birth. Cemetery records provide valuable information, but dates can be wrong, such as: birth, death dates, clues about family relationships, other information from monuments, burial records or sexton's records, cemetery deeds and plots, burial permit records, grave opening records, local funeral home . Not all graves will be marked with a stone, something that is on the gravestone may not be on the records such as a birthplace!
- Important source because land was inexpensive and readily available; may provide clues when no other record exists for relationships, locations, name of wife, married names of daughters, and heirs.
- Also called citizenship papers including ; Declaration of Intention (First Papers) - 1802 on. Petition (Second or Final Papers). Certificate of Naturalization. Declaration of Intention were often filed; but they may never have filed Final Papers. Early documents from the first half of the 1800's provide little genealogical data but it DOES vary form state to state, and time frame as to what information was required. More information was required later; therefore you may be unsuccessful in one state and hit pay dirt in another. Documents may have information such as place and date of birth, emigration date, port of entry, and arrival date. Note: some of our ancestors may have given their departure point as an answer to "Where did you come from?" They could have responded with Cobh, Co. Cork , when that is where the boat left from, but they were actually born in Co. Kerry. Prior to 1906, naturalization could take place in any county, city or federal court. After September of 1906, contact Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, 425 I St NW, Washington DC 20530. Form available at any Federal Building. Prior to 1928, wife and children automatically became citizens with husband, little reason for a female to gain citizenship on her own (couldn't vote or own land in many places).
- List names of passengers who arrived at ports on East Coast, West Coast, Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico, consists of passenger lists, transcripts, abstracts, baggage lists, and manifests. Information available from Passenger Lists depends upon time period of arrival. Could include family members and friends that your ancestor traveled with. Note: When you find an appropriate list; copy all the names as they may prove valuable later on when you have more information about family and friends. Note: its very rare that you'd find a list of people emigrating, it was the country of entry that may have kept lists of passengers.
What you may find on passenger lists by time frame:
Note: Check all available indexes first; unless you know port, and approximate date. But dont stop at the indexes if you dont find what you want, they are not infallible.This can be a long and tedious search unless you have some specific information such as port, date and/or ship. If you locate your ancestor, make a copy of the entire list, may be relatives and friends who came from the same location and settled in the same area. Immigration through Canada and Great Lakes - prior to 1895 no records kept by US. Government. From 1895 to 1954 records available through National Archives. National Archives - Use GSA Form 7111, Order and Billing for Copies of Passenger Lists, order from Correspondence Branch, National Archives, Washington DC 20408.
- pension records- Civil War Records - Service and pension files relating to Union are in the National Archives and are indexed. Confederate Records are located in the National Archives while others are retained by the states. Records that may be found are; Service, Certificate of disability, when dropped (death) marriage, birth of children, medical records and other information. Promise of citizenship led many to enlist, and afterward to file for Naturalization (length of residence requirement was eliminated). Form for ordering records - NATF Form 80, write to National Service Records, National Archives, Washington DC. 20408.
- see probate records
your local library or genealogy society
- Wills, deeds (Probate Packet is a file of papers which may include death date, appraisal of property, sale of property, location of heirs, distribution of the estate and other clues about occupation and lifestyle.) May be Court Records pertaining to the estate. Note witnesses, executor for possible relationships. Wills indicate how property is to be distributed, may name children and provide other information about the family such as married names of daughters and relationships. Important source because land was inexpensive and readily available; may provide clues when no other record exists for relationships, locations, name of wife, married names of daughters, and heirs.
(invaluable aid depending on the years and the questions asked, gives age, when they emigrated, other family members, occupation). Try your local library first, or largest public library, Univ. library etc. ask if they have a genealogy section, ask if they have US census records.
British census years are 10 years apart also, but you'll find the first surviving all Irish census years are 1901 and 1911. View the 1901 records available through LDS. Search the 1901 records and the 1911 records transcribed for the Kerry site. Search the 1911 Census of Ireland online at the National Archives of Ireland website.
- Record an oral history from the oldest member of the family while they are still alive. Ask birth, marriage, death, burial information for thier generation, thier parents and as far back as they can remember. Ask who emigrated from where, to where, when, with whom, and why.
- FHCs are free and open to the public another invaluable source of information for family researchers. LDS = Latter Day Saints. Check your phone book under Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ask about their nearest Family History Center. They are staffed with volunteers waiting to help you out. They have computerized data of vital records, other peoples posted genealogies and a catalogue with all their holdings listed. You can order films there that might not be at your local library... like census records.
- Obituaries which may give parents or ancestry of deceased, religious affiliation, close relatives, some accomplishments, movements and activities. Marriage notices may give information about the event, names of parents and close relatives, residence, life events, religious affiliations. Birth announcement may provide information about time and place of birth, parents, other relatives. Family reunions and social events may give accounts of family gatherings, relatives visiting or trips to visit relatives or for business, other personal information. News items such as graduation, appointments, accomplishments, movements of people in a community. May be important in preparing family history or biography and in tracing relationships. Advertisements may identify their professions or businesses. Legal notices of land sales, tax rolls, probate of wills, settlement of estates, divorce proceedings and reports of civil and criminal cases may give information about the family.
- City and Telephone Directories can help identify residence of ancestor, locate the person on the census, estimate death dates, identify other relatives at the same residence, may give occupation or profession. County and regional directories can provide information about residence, property owned, and other adult relatives in the area.
Professional directories may provide information. College directories may give years of attendance, area of studies, other activities, and biographical data. Religious directories; if your ancestor served as clergy with an established church, may find biographical Information.
2. Things To Keep In Mind
There were no exact sailing schedules as late as 1850. This resulted in some people moving for a short time to a seaport town. Note: A question "Where did you come from?" may have been answered with the port they left from rather than where they were born. Main seaports towns in Ireland were in: Belfast, Dublin, Londonderry (Derry), Waterford, Cobh (pronounced: Cove) in Cork was called Queenstown prior to 1922.
Few emigration records exist for people leaving Ireland. There are no official records for emigration from Ireland to North America prior to 1815. Your best source would be United States or Canadian immigration records for people entering. Many small ships from Ireland took people to England (especially Liverpool) to await a larger ship going to America, or to earn money before sailing to send to other family members so some people may have remained in England for a short period. (long enough to be counted on a census?) After 1851 people had to pass a medical clearance to board ship, also they had to contend with minimal clothing and food requirements before securing passage.
If you cannot get the place of origin for your ancestor, trace one or more of the families who might have moved with him or lived near him. They often stayed near each other after settling in North America. People usually traveled in groups with relatives and neighbors. If they did not come with the original group, they might migrate to a place where relatives and former neighbors have settled. Who were in the "traveling company" with your ancestor? Identify people with similar migration patterns Look for information about background of neighbors who may be from the old residence and may be related in some way to your family.
Place names, surnames and dates may have been misheard, misspelled, or misquoted, or just not remembered accurately so be flexible, be creative!
** A variance of 10 years before and after any age given on a census form for instance is not unheard of **
For Catholics especially, the further back you go into the 1800s there is less of a chance the peasantry could read or write or speak English especially in the more rural areas of the south and west of Ireland.
Names- just because your surname is spelled a certain way now, does not mean that it is the original spelling or the only way that the name was always spelled in every record. Remember (depending on the time frame of course) that due to the Penal Laws against Catholics; many of our Irish ancestors were not educated, could not read or write, and did not speak English, only Irish (Gaelic), they may or may not have used the O' in their names.
What was happening in history is important because conditions in certain parts of the country (Ireland) might have been causes for emigration. An emigration date from Ireland of 1847 to Quebec has no particular meaning if you didn't know that it was during the worst of the Potato Famine when thousands died on "coffin ships."
...and lastly remember that oral traditions passed down may be entirely
incorrect... so be flexible and be creative in your search! Click here
to read more about
Spelling and Date variations.
Surnames: Save yourself and others a lot of aggravation and get in the habit of writing the "SURNAME" only in all caps; like this:
Maurice O'CONNOR
Dates: Get in the habit of writing dates like this:
01 Mar 1999
(instead of 3/1/1999, Europeans don't write it as we do, they reverse the month and day; so remember, writing your date like this: 01 Mar 1999 can't be misunderstood as easily. Example; in a vital record if you saw this date:
3/1/99
Is that March first or January third? is that 1799 or 1899 or 1999?... depending on who or where it was written it could be either.
Locations: Get in the habit of writing about locations in this order:
City, County, State, Country.
... or as in the case of Ireland:
Townland, Civil Parish, County, IRL.
You might find references to the Chapman Codes for Ireland, which are generally accepted and which are used on the SURNAME lists for Rootsweb. Chapman Codes for Kerry and Ireland: KER, IRL
Maiden Names: Get in the habit of recordding famles by thier maiden name when appropriate.
Mary Heffron not Mary (Heffron) O'Connor
Marriages usually took place between couples from neighboring areas. Usually for first marriages couples were close in age. It was not unusual for women to die earlier than men because of the complications of childbirth. Therefore you'll find widowers married much younger women, who had never been married before. Keep in mind: There are three to four generations every 100 years. For men, the average age for men to marry was 24. Catholic men rarely married before they were 20, quite often they delayed marriage until they were 30 or 40. For Catholic woman the average age to marry was 20. Rarely did they marry before they were 16. Generally children were born every two years, but that interval extended as the woman grew older. The first child was born within a year after marriage. Usually child bearing years ended around 45. It would not be unusual to find families and neighbors migrating together and settling in the same areas and you didn't often find woman traveling alone.
Our ancestors often used the following naming procedure when choosing a name for a new child. This explains why certain names are VERY common in a given family line. It was unusual for a living grandfather not to have the first born son named after him. So much so, it was not at all uncommon to reuse that name in instances where a baby had died, another sibling would get that name also.Watching for these patterns can help in your genealogy research, sometimes it could be a clue in finding a parental given name, or identifying one family from another with similar surnames.
1st son = father's father
2nd son = mother's father
3rd son = father
4th son = father's oldest brother
5th son = father's 2nd oldest brother or mother's oldest brother
1st dau = mother's mother
2nd dau = father's mother
3rd dau = mother
4th dau = mother's oldest sister
5th dau = mother's 2nd oldest sister or father's oldest sister
3. Searching in Ireland
If, after exhausting all American records, you have not determined the place of origin in Ireland, there are several General Indexes for Ireland which could be consulted. (If you have any birth or marriage dates in Ireland from 1864 and after, check out the information below on civil registration.)
of your place in Ireland in as much detail as possible. The following Administrative Divisions will -all- be important and should be determined:
Province - there are four provinces in Ireland consisting of
several counties each. They are: Ulster, Leinster, Connaught,
and Munster. Kerry is in Munster Province.
County - there are 32 counties in Ireland. Two counties that have
changed their names; Leix or Laoighis or Laois was formerly Queen's County
and Offaly (Ua Failghe) was formerly King's County.
Barony - the barony is usually an area of land within a county. It
is based on old tribal jurisdictions. There are 325 baronies.
The Baronies of County Kerry are: Clanmaurice,
Corkaguiney, Dunkerron, Glanerough, Iraghticonnor, Iveragh, Magunihy, Trughanacmy
Poor Law Union (PLU)- In 1838, the Poor Relief Act was put into effect
and Ireland was divided into regions or "Unions and Dispensary Districts"
in which the tax payers paid for the poor. These unions had boundaries that
overlapped county boundaries and were usually centered around a large market
town. By 1850, there were 163 poor law unions and workhouses built throughout
the country, each at the center of the union. The workhouse in the town provided
relief for the unemployed and destitute, generally under very harsh conditions.
Records were kept of the inhabitants. These can provide useful research material.
Note: In 1863 Poor Law Unions became known as Superintendent Registrar's
Districts in order to record births, marriages, and deaths as a result of
the 1863 Acts for the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, and
the Dispensary Districts became known as Registrar's Districts.
The PLUs of Kerry were: Cahersiveen, Dingle, Glin,
Kenmare, Killarney, Listowel, Tralee.
Registration Districts- In 1898, the Local Government Act adopted
the Poor Law Unions as the basic administrative unit in place of the civil
parishes or baronies. The unions were subdivided into 829 Registration Districts
and 3751 District Electoral Divisions. Townlands were arranged according
to these divisions, with parishes and baronies being retained only to make
comparisons with records gathered before 1898. This is important to know
to locate data for the 1901 and
1911 Ireland census information.
Superintendent Registrar's District Map
Diocese - this is an ecclesiastical (religious) division. There are
28 dioceses for the Church of Ireland. The boundary of each diocese does
not always correspond to a county boundary. Because the Church of Ireland
(protestant) was government sanctioned, its parishes were also called civil
parishes.
Parish - this is a smaller division of diocese. It can contain several
villages or there may be many parishes in a large city. There were 2,447
civil parishes in Ireland. Since the protestant Church of Ireland was
the official church, those are the parish names that occur in official records.
List of the civil parishes in Kerry and the townlands
within each
Note: The Catholic Church had different Dioceses and Parishes. Kerry is
in Ardfert and Aghadoe Diocese. There were about 2774 Catholic parishes.
You must ask "Catholic or Protestant?" when given a parish name. When dealing
with Catholic church records, the Catholic parish name is used. Most often
the parish will have the name of the townland where the church is located,
then the name may change when a new church is built, therefore giving us
parishes with different names at different times! In America, you find Catholic
parishes named for saints. In Ireland, Catholic parishes, often have geographic
names ( in cities they have names of saints). The government did not require
birth and marriage records of Catholics til 1864. Note: If your ancestors
were Catholic and lived before 1864 you will have to determine what
Catholic parish
they lived in besides what Civil parish ....as the Catholic parish records
of baptisms may be the ONLY records and not of births, but of baptisms (which
not necessarily the same date!). Check the home page of the Co. Kerry site
for information on what townlands were in what civil parishes and how they
related to catholic parishes... and it will give the dates the parish
records started for the differing parishes. Parish
Register start dates
City and/or town - this is civil jurisdiction. There are not many
cities in Ireland.
Townland - these are small parcels of land which sometimes
represent small farms or acreage. There are about 60,000 of them,
2000+ in Kerry.
Alphbetical list of all the townlands in Kerry
More information on understanding he administrative divisions
Many genealogists depend on census information. For Irish researchers that information is not available in most cases, including Kerry until 1901, 1911. So for those who are just now thinking about researching these "census substitutes"; you want to know about the Griffiths Primary Valuation, and the subsequent valuations and Tithe Applotement books. Note: its important to know in both instances they were taken in different years in different counties... (Note unlike a census, they will NOT list all family members but maybe able to help you locate heads of households by surname in townlands and parishes):
More information on Census Substitutes
| Year of Griffith's Primary Valuation by County | |
|---|---|
| Antrim 1861-62 Armagh 1864 Carlow 1852-53 Cavan 1856-57 Clare 1855 Cork 1851-53 Derry 1858-59 Donegal 1857 Down 1863-64 Dublin 1848-51 Dublin City 1851 Fermanagh 1862 Galway 1855 Kerry 1851/1852 (published 1853) Kildare 1851 Kilkenny 1849-50 Laois 1858-60 (see Queen's Co.) |
Leitrim 1856 Limerick 1851-52 Longford 1854 Louth 1854 Mayo 1856-57 Meath 1855 Monaghan 1858-60 Offaly 1864 (see King's Co.) Roscomon 1857-58 Sligo 1858 Tipperary 1851 Tyrone 1860 Waterford 1848-51 Westmeath 1854 Wexford 1853 Wicklow 1852-53 |
| Years of the Tithe Applotment Survey by County | ||
|---|---|---|
| Antrim 1824-34 Armagh 1825-35 Carlow 1821-37 Cavan 1823-27 Clare 1814-43 Cork 1823-37 Derry 1823-28 Donegal 1825-36 Down 1823-37 Dublin 1823-37 Fermanagh 1823-37 Galway 1824-44 Kerry 1823-37 Kildare 1823-37 Kilkenny 1823-38 Laois (Queens) 1823-38 |
Leitrim 1823-38 Limerick 1823-38 Longford 1823-38 Louth 1823-38 Mayo 1823-38 Meath 1823-38 Monaghan 1823-38 Offaly (King's) 1823-38 Roscommon 1823-38 Sligo 1823-37 Tipperary 1823-38 Tyrone 1823-38 Waterford 1823-38 Westmeath 1823-34 Wexford 1823-38 Wicklow 1824-37 |
|
Note: The Householders Index Film combines both Griffith's Valuations and the Tithe Applotments in an index by surname only. The Householders Index can be especially helpful for those WHO DO NOT HAVE A COMMON SURNAME... Or if you have a county but don't know a parish.... or know a parish but not the townland. Remember, family members not listed, just heads of households.
| The Householders Index and LDS-FHC film numbers: | |
|---|---|
| County | LDS Film # |
| Antrim Armagh, Carlow, Cavan | 0919001 |
| Clare, Cork, Londonderry | 0919002 |
| Donegal, Down Dublin | 0919003 |
| Fermanagh, Galway Kerry, Kildare, Kilkeny | 0919004 |
| Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath | 0919005 |
| Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary | 0919006 |
| Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow | 0919007 |
If the Tithe is available for that parish it will have a T but will not indicate how many families are there by that surname as in the Griffiths like this : G1, G2 etc.
The Griffith's Valuations, the Tithe Applotments, and the Householder's Index (indexes the first two)... are rentable from the *LDS- *FHCs
Both the Griffiths and the Tithes were compiled by parish with house holders listed by their townland... the following LDS- FHC Parish Maps include townlands within them.
| Fiche Numbers for the Parish Maps In the LDS- FHC British fiche Area |
|
|---|---|
| County | Fiche Number |
| Antrim County (2 fiches) | 6342438 |
| Armagh County (1 fiche) | 6342439 |
| Cavan County (2 fiches) | 6342440 |
| Clare County (3 fiches) | 6342452 |
| Cork County, East (4 fiches) | 6343060 |
| Cork County, Middle (4 fiches) | 6343061 |
| Cork County, West (2 fiches) | 6343062 |
| Donegal County (2 fiches) | 6342441 |
| Down County (2 fiches) | 6342442 |
| Fermanagh County (1 fiche) | 6342443 |
| Galway County (5 fiches) | 6342447 |
| Kerry County (4 fiches) | 6343063 |
| Kildare County (4 fiches) | 6343064 |
| Leitrim County (1 fiche) | 6342448 |
| Limerick County (5 fiches) | 6343065 |
| Louth County (3 fiches) | 6343066 |
| Londonderry County (2 fiches) | 6342444 |
| Mayo County (3 fiches) | 6342449 |
| Meath County (6 fiches) | 6343067 |
| Monaghan County (1 fiche) | 6342445 |
| Roscommon County (3 fiches) | 6342450 |
| Sligo County (2 fiches) | 6342451 |
| Tipperary County, North (3 fiches) | 6343068 |
| Tipperary County, South (5 fiches) | 6343069 |
| Tyrone County (2 fiches) | 6342446 |
| Waterford County (3 fiches) | 6342453 |
| Wicklow County (3 fiches) | 6343070 |
*FHC = Family History Center . They are **free and open to the public**. Check your phone book under Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (*LDS), ask for their nearest Family History Center. There are staff there who are volunteers there to help you.... they have computerized data of vital records called IGI, they have other peoples posted genealogies in the Ancestral File, and a Family History Catalog with all their holdings listed including the film numbers I have offered. You can order films from this catalog that might not be at your local library for rent ... like census records. (small fee, 3-4 wk wait) The Griffiths,Tithes and Householders Film info is in the FHC Catalog under "locality listing" then under Ireland; land and property. **Ask for their: Research Guide for the Ireland!!**
4. Need More Help?
An effective query looks like this:
Looking for information on the descendants of Alex O'CONNOR b abt. 1860 in Some Co., State. He was the oldest son of Thomas O'CONNOR and Sally FITZGERALD of Ireland, possibly Co Kerry. He married Mary GREANEY in 1885 in Another Co., State and were likely the parents of John, James, Mary, Catherine, Bridget, Patrick, Johanna. They were Catholic.
Also researching the MARTIN, MURPHY, HEFFRON, MORIARTY related families.
This query mentions a time frame, localities, and related surnames and family given names (maybe family pattern clue). The families mentioned aren't just other families in a tree but are interrelated with this primary surname, which will help cut down false leads. Begin with what you know first, then be as specific as possible, with what information you have. If you are looking for a certain person - make them the focus of your query. If you are more interested in all the information on a family line, start with the oldest information you have.
Lastly- read it back to yourself ... is it clear?
Kerry Ireland Message Board Post your query here. Also make use the search engine at the top of the page to find all posts mentioning your surname/location by placing that surname/location in the keyword box and changing the "period" to "several eons."
Quick Start your Kerry Research
hope you found this helpful!
slan, (that's Irish for good-bye)
Waterlilys
I found out something about our name that I wanted to share with you. Ready to be surprised? There are numerous misusages of Gaelic to English, the most pervasive of which is the apostrophe in the family names such as O'Connor ! Get this:
The Irish noun Ó (with an accent above) means descendant..... It has been and is confused with the contraction of the preposition "of", as in jack o'lantern. Bottom line is, our names never should have had an apostrophe! It should have been Ó Connor. (you can get that accent {called Fadda} by holding down the "alt" key while typing 0221.)
Tiocfaidh ar la
