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Latest Irish Genealogy News

Rolling news for Irish family historians
Last updated on 28 January 2026

Irish Genealogy News: January 2026

*Terms apply.

Now here's a great way to get into the flow of a new year!

A big saving is available on Ancestry DNA test kits via the Ancestry UK site. You can save £30 per kit.

The discount will expire on Friday 13 February at 11:59pm (GMT/IrishTime).

Click the image to find out more.

The most recent Irish additions to the online British Newspaper Archive (BNA) are noted below.

New Titles:

Larne Weekly Recorder & Northern Express, 1883

Irish Temperance League Journal, 1863-1870, 1874-1896

Athlone Times, 1889-1902

Updated holdings:

Tyrone Courier (1919)

Connaught Telegraph (1919)

Ulster Gazette, 1878

Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette, 1888-1896

* The BNA is included with some FindMyPast subscriptions.

Work on a brand-new PRONI website is underway. Unlike the existing one, which is hosted on Northern Ireland's government services platform NIDirect, the new one is being designed with the archive's users in mind. It promises to make life easier for researcher's wanting to explore online collections, discover local history and keep abreast of events and workshops.

RootsIreland has added more than 8,000 19th-century census substitute records to its County Kildare database. They are as follows:

Slater's Trade Directories for Co. Kildare, 1846 and 1881 (3,234 records);
Thom's Directories, 1849 and 1854 (511 records);
Voters' Lists of Qualifying Freeholders and Leaseholders from the Leinster Express newspaper, of 1836 (4,533 records).

You can find information about these records here.

Public wifi continues to be unavailable at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland due to essential maintenance and infrastructure upgrading. This will be the case until further notice.

Public internet machines on the ground floor and in the Heritage Café also remain unavailable. However, public internet is available on the Internet machines in the the Public Search Room.

For your diary: PRONI is to continue offering extended opening hours to its Search Room and Reading Room on selected dates in early 2026.

Upcoming Late Thursdays (to 8pm):

Thursday 19 February
Thursday 19 March

Upcoming Saturday Openings (10am to 2pm):

Saturday 7 February
Saturday 7 March