Basic Irish Records

In no country, more than Ireland, is it imperative that one understands some of the local history, past machination of records, and knowledge of what source records have been created versus what is available. 

This course will discuss the importance of preliminary research in one’s home country and then provide a brief history of Ireland which is useful, if not imperative, in understanding the nature and value of record sources within Ireland. From here, the discussion will be what genealogical records can tell us, with brief overviews of the administrative (civil and ecclesiastical) divisions within the island, and a discussion on Irish place names and family names. 

The course will conclude with a brief discussion on the types of records available for research in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (Eire), the importance of understanding maps for the region, and migration patterns. 

This course presents an overview of the archival and repository centres throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for conducting Irish research. Emphasis is on available records and those held by FamilySearch and other repositories.

We discuss the types of records available at various repositories, their availability, and how to access the source records, online and on-site.

This course builds on preliminary content discussed in the Irish: Understanding Ireland, History and Source Records course.

The loss of historical census records for Ireland has been devastating. Many censuses still exist; however, they are neither comprehensive nor fully extant. 

This course discusses the importance of census records and their availability for locality and time period. Also discussed are the various census forms and census substitutes (1630-present) which exist for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Various government surveys—of land and people—which act as census substitutes in the absence of censuses are included.

The course examines the differences between the various forms of church (parish) records in Ireland and in particular between the conformist records of the Church of Ireland and those ecclesiastical institutions which did not conform to the standards of the day. 

We will discuss time periods, historical backgrounds, contents of records, availability of records, access to these important record collections, and effective research procedures. Emphasis will be primarily on pre-1864 research problems in Ireland where parish registers should be used as major sources of information. These contain vital genealogical elements such as baptism/christening, marriage and death/burial entries. When used with records such as wills and deeds, parish registers can help build fairly complete family groupings. 

We will also touch on the extensive collection of marriage licenses (1629-1864) and comment on their historical background, contents, value, and availability to researchers.