Irish Genealogy Toolkit will guide you to your Irish ancestors


Irish genealogy gained a reputation long ago for being a frustrating one-way street to disappointment and headache.

Thankfully, calming potions and analgesics are no longer essential equipment for the amateur genealogist because family history in Ireland has entered a golden era.

More and more records – many of them free – are now available online and offline.

So, if you've been longing to find out who your ancestors were, and how they lived, there's never been a better time to start looking.


Free information, free tools, free advice

No matter where in the world you now call home – whether it be the Canadian Rockies, the Australian Outback, one of the world's great ‘emerald’ cities such as Liverpool (UK) or Boston (USA), or the beautiful craggy coast of Donegal – you’ll find page after page of relevant advice on this website plus the very latest information on genealogical resources in Ireland. Here's just some of what you can expect to discover here on Irish Genelealogy Toolkit:

Not all of these pages are yet available, but they'll appear as Irish Genealogy Toolkit develops. In the meantime, take a look around by clicking on the buttons to the left. You'll soon see this isn't just another website listing hundreds of genealogical databases (although I'll show you where to find the best), nor will it attempt to sign you up for magazine subscriptions or commissioned research.

As the site develops, you'll find all the information and contacts you need to help you to discover your heritage in Ireland. Whether you are just starting out on your family history search or you've already made some headway on your journey, Irish Genealogy Toolkit will lead you to a greater understanding of how your ancestors lived and where you come from.

Meet the ancestors

Thanks to some of the Irish genealogy sources that have become available in recent years, I've managed to trace my Irish roots back to 1723 on my maternal line and to 1806 on my paternal line. Not bad for a supposedly impossible exercise, eh?


Among the folks I've discovered is my 3xgreat grandfather Edward Doolittle, seen here at the launch of a new Wicklow lifeboat, the 'Robert T Garden', on 7th September 1866.

Born in 1812, Edward was coxswain of the lifeboat and Wicklow Harbour Master. His grand-daughter is the woman (Sydney Doyle) at the top of the page, photographed with her ten children in Bagenalstown, co Carlow, in 1909. That's my Nana on her lap.

Along my ancestral trail, I've extended my knowledge of Ireland's social and political development, picked up a bit of Latin, learned to decipher 18th and 19th century handwriting, been riled by many historical injustices, and stood and stared at the very same gentle hills and dramatic seascapes that my Irish ancestors stood and stared at. It's been a fascinating and rewarding journey – and one that hasn't ended yet.

This website is my chance to share the knowledge I've gained with others who want to discover their roots in the Emerald Isle for themselves. When relevant, I'll be using my own ancestors (I don't think they'd mind) to demonstrate certain aspects of Irish genealogy, but I'd love to hear about your ancestors, too, and how you tracked them down.




Christmas is coming

It's fast approaching so take a break from your Irish genealogy research and start preparing some delicious traditional fare such as Irish plum pudding. Best prepared and part-cooked three to six weeks in advance, this recipe is a sure-fire winner.


Glasnevin Cemetery

Glasnevin gravestone

Glasnevin is the final resting place of more than 1.2m Irish people including the heroes of the 1916 Easter Rising. It is currently undergoing extensive restoration.

Latest News

Publication of the 1911 census records has been delayed (again.) Returns for Antrim, Down and Kerry will not appear online until December, according to the National Archives in Dublin. (28 Oct 2008) More about the digitisation of census records...

A free and searchable database of Irish placenames, with some sound recordings, has gone online at www.logainm.ie (1 Oct 2008). More...

Irish Ancestors who emigrated to Canada? Canadian Passenger Lists 1865-1935 have gone online at Ancestry.com with 14-day free trial. (16 Sept 2008)

The 1864 birth registration index is online, free of charge, at www.irelandgenweb.com. (11 Sept 2008)

1911 census records for Kerry, Antrim and Down will go online, free of charge, in October. (21 July 2008)

The Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) petitions the Taoiseach (PM) to release the complete returns for the 1926 census.(26 June 2008)

Roman Catholic parish registers for Cashel & Emly and Cloyne & Kerry now available on microfilm at National Library of Ireland. (27 May 2008)

Top FREE sites

Check out my top ten absolutey free Irish genealogy sites. These include some of the very best resources for Irish family history research.


This site is dedicated to my mother, Hester Tierney Santry, seen here enjoying an afternoon out with her younger brother, Paddy, at the tennis courts in Bagenalstown, co. Carlow, in about 1936.





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