Irish family history: Next steps.

Tracking your ancestors in Ireland. Best free genealogy sites for tracing ancestry.

If you've already taken your first steps to tracking your Irish family history, it's probably a bit late for this warning, but I'll give it anyway: Be aware that hunting for and finding ancestors, especially in Ireland, is an addictive pastime. If you want to jump ship, this may be your last chance!

Of course, if you've already enjoyed the thrill of discovering a previously unknown ancestor or have recently uncovered some unexpected information about your forebears, you are quite likely to already be hooked. Don't worry. You're not alone. Irish family history addicts are harmless enough and the condition will bring you pleasure in spades. It's even legal!

Trouble is, like most addictions, it makes us impatient. So, too, do our modern lives. "Now! Now! Now!" is the mantra of the 21st century and we are all guilty of expecting the answer to practically every question to be waiting for us on the Internet.

Irish genealogy isn't like that (nor is any genealogy, come to that.)

Accept that finding your ancestry in Ireland is unlikely to happen in two clicks of a mouse. It may take months or years. So slow down, enjoy the hunt, and savour the experience.

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Your next steps will depend on what you already know after your initial research but will probably include some or all of the following:

• Find out what Irish family history sources are available locally
• Check census records
• Check civil registration records ie vital statistics
• Check church records
• Check land records
• Check legal documents such as wills and probate
• Check emigration records if your ancestor left Ireland
• Place queries on online message boards and genealogy forums
• Find out more about your surname and Irish naming patterns
• Join an Irish family history society
• Contact distant relatives
• Commission a professional genealogist
• Learn more about the history of Ireland
• Learn more about the heritage, crafts and social traditions of Ireland
• Visit the area of Ireland where your ancestors lived.

There is no hard and fast rule about where you start on this second stage of your research into your Irish family history. What you already know will make some of these suggestions more relevant than others.

For example, if you don't have a pretty good idea of where your ancestors used to live in Ireland, you would be wasting your time hunting through census records. But if you know the surnames of both parties to a marriage, and an approximate date (after 1845 for non-Catholics, after 1864 for Roman Catholics), it might be better to head straight to the civil registration indexes. You'll have to use your own judgement (or commission a professional genealogist).

Irish Genealogy Toolkit will help you to develop that judgement. By following the links above or the buttons on the menu to the left (they will all appear in due course), you'll gain an understanding of the most important Irish family history sources, find out what their limitations are, and learn to use them effectively when tracking your ancestors.

• Return from Irish family history: Next Steps to Irish Genealogy Toolkit Homepage.