10 best genealogy sites for research in Ireland's regions

Finding the best genealogy sites for regional research can be a slow process simply because the number of family history websites has grown enormously in the last few years. While this growth is a positive trend, it has its downside, not least that quality does not always follow quantity.

With its 12th century tower, St Audeon's
is Dublin's earliest surviving church.

There are also a lot of personal sites. Nothing wrong with them in principle – some are absolutely excellent, and even if they are not outstandingly, researchers may make serendipitous ancestral discoveries through a third party's online research presentation. But, personal websites are not likely to prove the best genealogy sites for a majority of family historians.

Since sifting the wheat from the chaff can be time-consuming, this page aims to help out by presenting (below) a selection of ten of the best genealogy sites for regional research. If you have ancestors from these areas, you should find the contents of these sites very useful.

10 best genealogy sites, in regional order

• Cavan – 1821 census fragments. Census records survive for sixteen of the county's 35 civil parishes. These parishes are: Annagelliff, Ballymachugh, Catlerahan, Castleterra, Crosserlough, Denn, Drumlumman, Drung, Kilbride, Kilmore, Kinawley, Larah, Lavey, Lurgan, Mullagh and Munsterconnaught. This free genealogy site carries transcribed details from the census and is searchable by townland only. The 1821 census recorded the following information: name, age, occupation and relationship to head of household. Find out more about the 1821-1851 population censuses of Ireland.
• Clare – genealogy treasure trove. This fantastic resource from Clare County Library includes Directories, Tithe Applotment indexes, school registers, and a wide selection of unusual genealogy databases such as converts from Popery 1740-1783, and a list of survivors and casualties from a shipwreck. A transcript of an 1866 census carried out by the local curate in the parishes of Kilfenora and Kiltoraght is also included.
Mizen Head, the most south westerly point of Ireland
• Cork – Western parishes. This site contains a number of genealogical databases relating to the West of County Cork. Especially useful are the Civil Parish maps and lists with their Roman Catholic Parish name equivalent, and lists of Church of Ireland registers and where they're held. Also lots of useful links.
• Donegal Genealogy Resources. With more than 2500 pages of transcriptions, this impressive site covers a full gambit of records. In addition to headstone inscriptions, land, school and church records, there are an extensive number of links to parish projects and some beautiful old (and indeed, new) photographs from around the county. This really is one of the best genealogy sites available, and its owner, Lindel Buckley, is to be applauded for the hours, days and months of her life she has dedicated to providing so much information for free.
• Dublin 1850. Sweet and simple, this site gives access to Shaw's Dublin City Directory 1850 by surname search. It contains the names of all householders/businesses, together with their full address and occupation. Any additional occupants of these properties were not recorded.
• Dublin burials at Glasnevin. Before Glasnevin (Prospect) Cemetery was established in 1831, Irish Catholics had no cemeteries of their own; they had to bury their dead in Protestant churchyards or cemeteries. The first internee was a Michael Carey of Francis Street, Dublin, who was buried in February 1832. Since then, Glasnevin Cemetery has grown to over 120 acres and about one and a half million men and women are laid to rest there, including many prominent Irish figures. While this site isn't free to use, and the database (while growing) currently dates back only to 1890, it is a very useful addition to Dublin genealogy resources.
• Limerick burial registers from 1855. Burial records for Limerick city’s largest cemetery, Mount Saint Lawrence, date back more than 150 years and are fully searchable on this free genealogy site. The cemetery was first opened in 1849 when a new graveyard was needed in Limerick as a result of the both the 1830's cholera epidemic and the Great Famine of 1845-1850. Each entry in the record is handwritten and records the name of the person, the date of burial, the location of the grave, the age of the deceased and the last residence. A recent site upgrade includes a map of the cemetery with a location guide to help family historians to identify the approximate location of a grave.
Ardmore cemetery, Co Waterford
• Co Tyrone Gravestone Photos Project. This project, started in early 2008, aims to capture images of Tyrone gravestones, and those of people born in the county who are buried elsewhere. As everywhere, inscriptions become more difficult to read over time, so it is of great benefit to family historians that many of the oldest inscriptions are being preserved in this way. In June 2010 the site held the photos and inscriptions of 1,100 gravestones across Co Tyrone. (A similar project exists for Co Fermanagh.)
• Ulster Covenant & Declaration. Ulster Unionists put up a fierce opposition to Home Rule in the early years of the 20th century. The archive of the Ulster Unionist Council, held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), contains just under half a million original signatures and addresses of the men who, on 28 September 1912, signed the Ulster Covenant, and of the women who signed the parallel Declaration. In total, the Covenant was signed by 237,368 men, and the Declaration by 234,046 women. With these signatures fully digitised and searchable, the Covenant has become a hugely popular online database on one of the best genealogy sites for Northern Ireland research.
• Waterford county library This sizable website allows free access to a great range of genealogy records. Among them are searchable graveyards inscriptions, a database of people from Waterford who died in the First World War, and another containing many of the most comprehensive trade directories. The latter can be searched by name, address and, unusually, occupation.

• See also my selection of the best genealogy sites that charge for access.