Understanding Irish Research
By Kyle J. Betit
The Challenges of Irish Genealogical Research
Ireland is one of the more challenging countries in which to conduct genealogical research. Records that help to rapidly or clearly establish family relationships - like censuses, church registers, probate and civil registration - are not as complete in Ireland as they are in neighboring countries like England and Scotland. This not only means that there are limitations to just how far back in time that most Irish families can be traced, but it also means that any research that can be accomplished will be more time consuming than research for the same time period in neighboring countries. Extension of an Irish lineage will depend upon the time period, the country in which the family lived, the social class and religion of the family, and the availability of records.
Friend's (Quaker) Burial Grounds, Belfast, Northern Ireland
In Ireland most Catholic and Presbyterian Church records usually do not begin until, on average, the 1820s. Consequently, the average Catholic or Presbyterian lineage can generally only be traced back to about the year 1800 using church records. The Church of Ireland (also known as the Anglican or Episcopal church in other countries) was the Established Church. Although the Church of Ireland registers often begin earlier than the Catholic or Presbyterian ones, over half of the Church of Ireland registers were destroyed during the 1922 Civil War, when the Public Record Office of Ireland at the Four Courts was burned.
Census records are also similarly incomplete. The earliest Irish census that survives in its entirety is dated 1901 (compared to 1841 for England and Scotland censuses). Tax records like Griffith's Primary Valuation (1847-1864) are often used as census substitutes in Irish research.
Most of the wills and administrations dated before 1858 were also destroyed in the 1922 Four Courts fire. Probate record indexes, copies, and abstracts help replace some of the lost original material.
This said, not all Irish family history research will come to a grinding halt in the early 1800s. In the case of gentry families, or the upper class, there may be extensive manuscript pedigrees that can take a family back hundreds of years. Very few such pedigrees exist for poor Irish families, but don't assume that your ancestors were peasants simply because they left Ireland.
Reason to Persevere
The fact that Irish family history research can be difficult due to the destruction or incomplete nature of some very important sets of records does not mean that Irish research is impossible. Nor does it mean that one should readily give up tracing his or her Irish ancestors. What it does mean, however, is that more eclectic alternative sources and research strategies must be employed. For instance, Ireland has an extensive series of 19th century tax records and maps. These maps will allow many researchers to locate and set foot on the exact home site where their ancestors lived in the 1800s.
Without a doubt, the destruction of the Public Record Office (PRO) forever impacted Irish genealogical research. But, it is important to keep in mind that the PRO in Dublin is only one of many national repositories. There are records housed in other national repositories like the Registry of Deeds, General Register Office, National Library of Ireland, Genealogical Office, Valuation Office, and the Public Record Office in London. There are also many records kept on a local level, church-related records, occupational records, and records in private hands such as estate, school, hospital, prison and society records.
For the average Irish family, one source that holds great promise for extending knowledge beyond the start of church records in a local area, is landed estate papers of the local landlords. The rent rolls, leases and other documents in these collections can help extend pedigrees into the 18th century.
Other sources can be used creatively to reconstruct and document a family in Ireland where more commonly used record types are not available. Examples include tax records, freeholders and voters lists, the Catholic qualification rolls, census search forms, and society records such as of the Freemasons. New publications of, and indexes to, Irish sources - including obscure records previously inaccessible to researchers - are regularly produced.
Thorough U.S. and Canadian Research is Essential Groundwork
Sources of information created in the country where the Irish immigrant ancestor(s) settled should be thoroughly examined first - especially if the only known place of origin is 'Ireland.' Irish names can be extremely common, so it is important to glean as many details as possible about the particular immigrant ancestors from records in the U.S. or Canada, before reviewing records in Ireland. If an Irish county of origin has been discovered or if the surname is uncommon, some Irish records may be used successfully. Ireland has a series of county based Heritage Centres that hold computerized indexes to church records and other sources. A search of one of these countywide databases might help to solve an immigration problem.
Helpful sources to consult in North America while trying to determine the exact place of origin in Ireland include: death records, burial records, newspaper notices and obituaries, tombstones and cemetery records, naturalization records, censuses, church records, society records, military and related records, and local histories.
Researching Irish Ancestors in a Group Context
It is important to not limit the focus of research only to the direct ancestors when trying to determine Irish origins. It is often helpful to research the lives of all the brothers, sisters, other immigrant relatives, and the children of your immigrant ancestor(s) in the hope that a document created about one of them will divulge details about the Irish place of origin or perhaps other important information such as the immigrant's parents' names.
Also important to consider are other Irish immigrants associated with the ancestor(s), like neighbors and baptismal sponsors, because immigrants often traveled together or settled in places where people they knew were already living.
