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Top 6 Irish genealogy databases
My selection of the best sites for researching genealogy in Ireland, north and south.
Major Irish genealogy databases are still rather scarce compared with the selection of monster sites available to family historians researching ancestry in the UK or USA.
Certainly there are an increasing number of online offerings being launched – sometimes it seems there are new ones appearing every day – but most are limited in scale and cater to small catchment areas.
The latter tend to be free and are very, very welcome additional resources for genealogy in Ireland. They just don't have the scope most beginner researchers expect to see.
Most people starting their hunt for ancestors in Ireland are dismayed to find there aren't any all-encompassing Irish genealogy databases carrying a mix of census returns, civil registration indexes and a number of specialised records.
Unfortunately it remains the case that Ireland's family history records are as scattered in cyberspace as they are on the ground.
This will probably change. But for the present, and in no particular order, here's my selection of the top six subscription or pay-per-view Irish genealogy databases.
- FindMyPast.ie
Find My Past's launch in May 2011 was a big step forward for Irish genealogy, for here was a site being developed as a commercial partnership that includes Eneclann, one of Ireland's top genealogy and history publishers, and Brightsolid, one of the world's largest genealogy data providers.
There is great anticipation that it will grow to be as valuable as its sister site in England & Wales.
The piece de resistence of the launch offer was the inclusion of the Landed Estates Court Rentals, which had never been online before.
This collection can be an extremely useful resource, probably better appreciated by the more advanced genealogist than the beginner.
Since its launch, FindMyPast.ie has unveiled a string of collections, mostly of a niche nature, but none the less exciting for that.
There's a choice of a subscription, minimum term 6 months, or pay-as-you-go credits.
Definitely one to watch.
- Irish Origins
Irish Origins is an excellent source for accessing the definitive version of Griffith's Primary Valuation of Ireland.
 It also holds a wide range of other material of interest to those researching their genealogy in Ireland, including the Irish Wills Index (1484-1858), the 1851 Dublin City Census, Irish Royal Garrison Artillery Records,
Tranatlantic Migration passengers's lists 1858-1870 (from USA to Ireland and Britain), Memorials of the dead in Galway and Mayo, and many other resources.
All genealogy options can be searched and accessed on either a 72 hour subscription or a monthly subscription (March 2011: £6/€7.17/$10.02 for 72 hours or £9.50/€11.36/$15.87 for one month's access).
- Roots Ireland
From the Irish Family History Foundation, Roots Ireland contains the largest online collection of Irish parish records. It also holds civil registration and census records (be careful... these are cheaper or free elsewhere...see Civil Registration and Census pages).
Taking the site as a whole, no records are held pre-1700 or after about 1920 but there are big differences between counties.
To find out what is available for each county, check out the 'detailed sources list' through the FAQ page.
By March 2011, the birth, death and marriage records of two thirds of the counties of Ireland had been added to the database.
While the site is freely searchable by name, date and county, individual records are available only on a pay-per-view basis. (€5 per view in March 2011).
A discounted rate operates for multiple purchases when using the Advanced facility to narrow down results.
Tip: Before searching IFHF, make a search of IrishGenealogy.ie.
This slowly growing site holds free records of church records (with images of original register entries) for a small number of counties.
- Ancestry
There can't be many family historians unaware of this giant beast!
While, its Irish genealogy database collection is small compared with its offering for US and British resources, it has grown enormously quickly – especially since it added the Civil Registration Indexes (up to 1921 in Northern Ireland and 1958 in the Republic) and a good sized collection of Roman Catholic parish records.
See the relevant pages of this site for more information.
Among its other offers are the records of Irish immigrants arriving in New York ports 1846-1851, Tithe applotment books, Irish flax growers, Convicts transported to Australia 1788-1868, Royal Constabulary lists and indexes to Griffith's Valuation.
Ancestry has a number of monthly and annual subscriptions available.
What you have to bear in mind is that the Civil Registration Indexes are available free on LDS Family Search.
However, the Ancestry search engine is, in my view, far superior – especially for marriages; an extended view allows you to be confident of the names of both bride and groom.
If you're not sure whether this is the best subsciption for you, take a free-trial or select the 14-day pay per view option before deciding.
- If you're in Ireland or the UK, use this link to Ancesty's Irish Collection
 to take advantage of any current discounts or special offers.
- If you're in the US or Canada, use this link to Ancestry to take advantage of the best current offers.
- If you're resident anywhere else, click either of the above links.
- Past Homes
I'm a great fan of this site, probably because I love maps. The maps that form the Past Homes collection are the First Edition 6-inch-scale Ordnance Survey maps of Ireland.
They were surveyed between 1829 and 1843, so pre-date Griffiths Valuation by up to 35 years and provide an unprecedented insight into 19th-century life by capturing the physical characteristics of Ireland during a period of great upheaval, hardship and mass emigration.
However, the reason for their creation was rather more prosaic: taxation!
Regardless, such a nationwide mapping survey had never previously been attempted anywhere in the world.
These are extremely detailed maps of Ireland's townlands. They are also rather beautiful.
They can be browsed online for an annual subscription (advertised in US dollars only: $25 in March 2011).
- Irish Newspaper Archives
This site features a database of over 2 million newspaper pages from 24 publications that date back as far as 1760.
With birth and marriage records, local news matters, obituaries from the Famine of 1847-1849, reports of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 or the Easter Rising of 1916, your ancestor's lives may be captured.
This site is rather different to most other Irish genealogy databases.
It puts our ancestors' lives into a social and political context and gives us the rich detail of historical events they lived through.
A range of subscriptions is available from one day to one year. (€10 for 24 hrs/€25 for one week/€350 for one year in March 2011)
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