It is natural to want to know who your ancestors were and to want to know about their lives. Sadly, knowledge of our ancestors has been lost too most of us. There is no need however, to be ignorant about our ancestors, it is possible for anyone to search through the records and draw up a family tree.
The purpose of this site is to help you to trace your Irish ancestry by giving an account of what is involved in genealogical research in Ireland. It seeks to answers many of the basic questions that might be asked by those interested in their Irish ancestry.
The assumption is that you have no knowledge at all of genealogical research. It will take you step by step through the process of drawing up your family tree. You must always keep at the back of your mind that in genealogy a person must go from the known to the unknown.
Ask Yourself Some Questions
The first step is to ask yourself some questions about the ancestor or ancestors that you are interested in, such as the following:
Place of birth
Names of parents
Religion
Trade, profession, occupation or employment
To whom married
Where married
Names of children
Any other information
Which Line?
Which branch of your family are you going to trace? The further back you go, the more branches your family tree will have, and these branches will divide into more branches and so on. It is simpler to start on your paternal line, since you have to follow only one surname.
If you come to a stop with your paternal line, leave it for a while, and follow another line. There will always be plenty of branches to follow.
In your great grandfather’s generation, there are eight different surnames and all may be of interest to you.
Ancestor is defined as a person from whom one’s father or mother is descended and tracing your ancestors should not be confined to the paternal line only.
Preliminary research
The next step is to talk to your family and make a note of what they have to say. You should then gather up all the information possible from documents, such as certificates of birth, marriage and death from graveyard inscriptions from memoriam cards and whatever else can be got hold of. With the information now obtained, you are in a position to talk to an elderly relative.
How far back can you go?
After searching through the records, referred to the majority of Irish people are most unlikely to be able to trace their ancestors back further than the late eighteenth century.
The reason for this is that the earlier records are based on the ownership of property and, as practically the entire Irish population was dispossessed in the seventeenth century, the records of their existence are scarce.
To download a free copy of Legacy Family Tree 3.0
