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Irish Genealogy News

Latest Irish Genealogy News

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

Irish Genealogy News: February 2026

FindMyPast has updated its British Military record collection with big top-ups to two record-sets:

British Army, Worldwide Index - more than 235,000 new additions for 1881.
Royal Horse Artillery & Royal Artillery - some 72,000 new records for 1877-1882.

Ancestry has updated two of its FindAGrave collections, both of which may help researchers with Irish ancestors. They are:

The Society of Genealogists (SoG) website has been updated with a refreshed design and a brand new Learning Hub.

This update is designed to make it easier to explore family history learning and discover trusted genealogical content in one clear place.

In the Learning Hub, both members and non-members will find:

Filters to help researchers find their topics of interest.
A new search bar allowing you to search educational content by keyword or speaker name.
All the SoG's talks and guides in one place.

IrishGenealogy.ie, the free state-managed database of BMD indexes and (some) register images, has received its annual update, adding Birth records registered in 1925, Marriage registered in 1950, and Deaths registered in 1975.

Unfortunately, while the Death Indexes for 1864-1870 are available to search, the online register images are not. This is an ongoing annoyance for genealogists widely thought caused by an inter-departmental tussle for funds.

The records now available at IrishGenealogy.ie are:

Births: 1864 to 1925 - Indexes and register images
Marriages: 1845* to 1950 - Indexes and register images
Deaths: 1871 to 1975 - Indexes and register images
Deaths: 1864 to 1870 - Indexes only

* Marriages from 1845-1863 do not include Roman Catholic church marriages.

The British Newspaper Archive, which offers much of the British Library's newspaper and journal collection in its online database, has achieved a major milestone with more than 100million pages of newsprint now searchable. (The entire database is also available through some FindMyPast subscriptions.)

Helping it along to the milestone were two new additions to the Irish collection - the Leinster Express and the Irish Railway Gazette .

The Irish Genealogical Research Society is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year with a programme of international events. The inaugural event will be hosted by BIFHSGO (the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa) on Saturday 28 March.

Professor David A Wilson will present a lecture entitled “Focusing on the Migrants: How Genealogy Has Transformed Our Understanding of the Irish in Canada”, and light refreshments will be available. The event, which starts at 2pm in Ottawa/6pm in Ireland/UK, is free to attend, either in person (at Knox Presbyterian Church in Ottawa) or online. Registration is required. See details at BIFHSGO.ca.

The Military Archives of Ireland (MAI) has released another batch of files from the Military Service Pensions Collection (MSPC). This is the largest collection held by the MAI. It contains tens of thousands of records of applications for pensions, gratuities and allowances lodged by those who participated in the fight for Independence from 1916 to 1923.

Release number 19 provides free online access to some 2,380 files relating to 1,089 men and women, all either veterans of the Irish Civil War or their dependants. Of these applications, 142 cases showed a Northern Ireland address for residence, 86 had an address in the USA, 70 in England, 12 in Scotland, 2 in Wales, 6 in Australia and 2 in New Zealand. See the names of applicants here.

Explore Release 19 highlights here, or find out more about the MSPC here.

Ancestors from Ulster? If you have family history connections to the nine counties of Ulster, you'd be well-advised to watch this free-to-view presentation of What makes the 19th century different? a lecture presented last month by Dr William Roulston.

Dr Roulston is research director of the Ulster Historical Foundation and author of the bestselling research guide Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600–1800 and of the forthcoming publication 'Researching Ulster Ancestors, 1800–1914'.

Advert for Dr William Roulston's presentation

Ideal for beginners and more experienced researchers alike, this (1hr 15mins) talk offers practical guidance and fresh perspectives on uncovering Ulster ancestors in the nineteenth century. Click the image to view.

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. Offer has expired.

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