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Article Published October 26, 1999 
Taking a Genealogical Research Trip to Ireland By: Kyle Betit Making a genealogy trip to Ireland is a goal of many family historians with Irish origins. Such a trip can be more rewarding than a simple tourist visit to Ireland because you get a more personalized sense of the history, culture, and geography of Ireland. However, it is important to be prepared as best you can before you go to Ireland so that you can have some chance of success. To arrive at the counter of the National Library in Dublin and say, "My grandmother Mary Kelly came from Ireland, how can I learn more about her?" is a sure recipe for failure. Careful preparation is needed. This column draws upon my own experience of making genealogical research trips to Ireland each year on behalf of clients who either are unable to go themselves or in preparation for their own visits to Ireland. It is true that Irish research is difficult, particularly because of the absence or loss of certain important records such as the nineteenth century censuses. On the other hand, Irish research can be particularly rewarding because there is the possibility of using the records that do survive to set foot on the exact plot of ground on which your ancestors lived and worked. A. PREPARING IN ADVANCE You will need to have some fairly specific information about your Irish family before going to Ireland to do research. Usually knowing at least the county of origin is necessary. The more common the surname the more specific information you need to have about the place of origin before trying to use Irish records. Once you have determined something specific about the family's Irish origins you may be able to use records in Ireland fruitfully, but first you should be well prepared. Familiarize yourself with the available resources and conserve your time in Ireland by using Irish records available in North America before you leave for Ireland. 1. Do Some Reading Before You Go to Ireland It is helpful to be familiar with Irish record sources, administrative divisions, and record repositories before you go to Ireland. Some recommended texts including this information are: Betit, Kyle J. and Dwight A. Radford. Ireland: A Genealogical Guide (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: The Irish At Home and Abroad, 1998). Grenham, John. Tracing Your Irish Ancestors: The Complete Guide (Revised ed. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, Ltd., 1999). Helferty, Seamus and Raymond Refaussé. Directory of Irish Archives (3rd ed. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1999). Irvine, Sherry and Nora M. Hickey. Going to Ireland: A Genealogical Researcher's Guide (Victoria, BC: Ancestry Ireland, 1997). Mac Conghail, Máire and Paul Gorry. Tracing Irish Ancestors (Glasgow: Harper Collins, 1997). Maxwell, Ian. Tracing Your Ancestors in Northern Ireland: A Guide to Ancestry Research in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (Edinburgh: The Stationery Office, 1997). Ryan, James G. Irish Records: Sources for Family & Local History (Rev. ed. Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry, 1997). 2. Use Irish records and inventories that are available in North America There are a No. of repositories in Canada which have Irish records available for use. It is wise to search Irish records available in North America before going to Ireland when possible so as to spend time in Ireland on those records which are only available in Ireland. Inventories of the Irish repositories can be checked in Canada so you know what you want to order from particular repositories when you get to Ireland. Similarly, there are repositories in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and other countries where some Irish records are available for searching. Canadian repositories with Irish records and inventories of Irish records include:
Maritime History Archive St. John's, NF A1C 5S7 Canada Tel: (709) 737-8428; Fax: (709) 737-3123 Memorial University of Newfoundland Queen Elizabeth II Library St. John's, NF A1B 3Y1 Canada Tel: (709) 737-7427; Fax: (709) 737-2153 Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library 789 Yonge Street Toronto, ON M4W 2G8 Canada Fax: (416) 393-7229 Montreal Public Library Salle Gagnon (Gagnon Collection) 1210 Sherbrook Street East Montreal, QC H2L 1L9 Canada Tel: (514) 872-5923 The National Archives of Canada 395 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0N3 Canada Tel: (613) 995-5138; Fax: (613) 943-8491 Genealogy Desk Tel: (613) 996-7458 Internet: http://www.archives.ca The National Library of Canada 395 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4 Canada Tel: (613) 995-9481; Fax: (613) 943-1112 Saskatchewan Genealogical Society Library 1870 Lorne Street Regina, SK S4P 2L7 Canada Tel: (306) 780-9207; Fax: (306) 781-6021 Internet: http://www2.regina.ism.ca/sgs/ The largest collection of Irish records outside of Ireland itself is at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. The FHL has branches called Family History Centers throughout the world. Much of the microfilm (and some of the microfiche) collections of the FHL can be ordered through any Family History Center. The address of centers may be found on the FHL's web site. Family History Library (FHL) 35 North West Temple Salt Lake City, UT 84150, USA British Isles Ref Tel: (801) 240-2367 Internet: http://www.familysearch.org Heritage Centres in Ireland These should be contacted by mail, fax, telephone or e-mail well before going to Ireland. All of the counties of Ireland are now covered by operating heritage centres which have indexed at least some church records, except part of Cork City & County. Some heritage centres are well advanced in their indexing and have a variety of sources in their databases. Many now have e-mail addresses and Internet sites, and some take credit cards to expedite service. Most of the heritage centres in Ireland belong to the Irish Family History Foundation. Current information about them may be accessed through the IFHF's Internet web site: http://www. mayo-ireland.ie/roots.htm. The information includes background history regarding the county, what records have been indexed by the centre, and what publications are available. Some heritage centres have their own individual Internet web sites and e-mail addresses. B. USING REPOSITORIES IN IRELAND 1. Republic of Ireland or United Kingdom? Of Ireland's 32 counties, 26 are in the Republic of Ireland. Six counties (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone) are in Northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Most records relating to the Republic of Ireland counties are centralized in Dublin, and those for the Northern Ireland counties are largely centralized in Belfast. The National Library of Ireland (NLI) now has a Genealogy Service staffed by Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland (APGI) which is designed to be a starting point and place to obtain help for the person in Ireland seeking to trace his or her Irish ancestors. This replaces the service formerly offered in the Genealogical Office and is located in a special Genealogy Room at the National Library 2. Dublin Repositories General Register Office Civil registration of birth, death and marriage All Ireland to 1922 Joyce House 8-11 Lombard Street East Dublin 2, Ireland Tel: (01) 6711000; Fax: (01) 6711243 National Archives Census, tax records, many manuscript materials, Estate papers Bishop Street Dublin 4, Ireland Tel: (01) 4783711; Fax: (01) 4783650 Internet: http://www.nationalarchives.ie National Library of Ireland Catholic registers, newspapers, Manuscript reading room: estate papers Kildare Street Dublin 2, Ireland Tel: (01) 6618811; Fax: (01) 6766690 Representative Church Body Library Church of Ireland registers Clerical succession lists Braemor Park Churchtown Dublin 14, Ireland Tel: (01) 4923979; Fax: (01) 4924770 Internet: http://www.ireland.anglican.org/library/library.html Registry of Deeds Registered land transactions Henrietta Street Dublin 1, Ireland Tel: (01) 6707500; Fax: (01) 8048408 Valuation Office of Ireland Griffith's Valuation manuscript tax records & revisions Irish Life Center Abbey Street Lower Dublin 1, Ireland Tel: (01) 817 1000; Fax: (01) 817 1180 Internet: http://www.valoff.ie 3. Belfast Repositories Linen Hall Library Newspapers, family histories 17 Donegall Square Belfast BT1 5GD, Northern Ireland Tel: (01232) 321707; Fax: (01232) 438586 Presbyterian Historical Society Presbyterian church registers Church House Fisherwick Place Belfast BT1 6DW, Northern Ireland Tel: (01232) 322284 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Church, tax, estate papers 66 Balmoral Avenue Belfast BT9 6NY, Northern Ireland Tel: (01232) 251318; Fax: (01232) 255999 Internet: http://proni.nics.gov.uk/index.htm C. GOING ON-SITE TO THE ANCESTRAL HOME 1. Locating a Townland The townland is the smallest official geographical unit in Ireland. A townland is a surveyed piece of ground consisting of between a few acres and several thousand acres. Usually, but not always, townlands have Gaelic names. Townlands have specific boundaries, often defined by geographical features such as river valleys, mountains and hills. The boundaries of townlands were officially surveyed in the 1830s by the Ordnance Survey. Due to their small size townlands do not usually appear on standard road maps. However, the Ordnance Survey of Ireland and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland have published modern road maps of Ireland, called the "Discovery Series," indicating townland names but not townland boundaries. The 1851, 1871, and 1901 General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland may be used to find the official spelling and the location of each townland in Ireland. The 1871 [Family History Library (FHL) microfilm #476999 item 2] and 1901 (FHL #865092) indexes are available on microfilm. The 1851 edition has been reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company. 2. Maps for Use in Ireland Maps can be helpful in getting to an ancestral townland or other location. Because the townland is a very small area, it is important in Irish genealogical research to consider records of a wider area, such as of the neighboring townlands. Maps of civil parishes showing the townland boundaries within them may be found in the following sources: The book Parish Maps of Ireland, compiled by the Derry Youth and Community Workshop under the direction of Brian Mitchell, depicts all townlands in the four Ulster counties of Armagh, Donegal, Londonderry, and Tyrone. Sketch maps compiled by the Derry Youth and Community Workshop, Derry, No. Ireland, include most counties of Ireland. Maps compiled by the Ordnance Survey show townlands in detail. These include the original six-inch-to-the-mile OS maps of the 1830s and 1840s (available on microfiche) and the modern Discovery Series maps useful for getting to a townland. 3. Locating the Home Site Using Valuation Records Using the records of Griffith's Valuation and the accompanying maps, you can visit the exact home site where your ancestors lived in Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century. You can set foot on the exact farm and see what may remain of the house where your ancestors lived. The printed version of Griffith's Valuation (commonly called "Griffith's Primary Valuation") was published between 1847 and 1864. Griffith's was a valuation of land and building holdings arranged by poor law union, barony, civil parish, and townland. It includes landowners, landlords, tenants with leases, and renters. Collections of Griffith's Primary Valuation are available on microfilm, microfiche, and CD-ROM in various repositories. An Index of Surnames of Householders in Griffith's Primary Valuation and Tithe Applotment Books (commonly called Householders Index) is arranged by county. A full-name index is Index to Griffith's Valuation of Ireland, 1848-1864 published jointly on CD-ROM by Brřderbund, Heritage World and Genealogical Publishing Company. Some full-name indexes have also been published for particular counties on microfiche or in book form. Each property listed in Griffith's was assigned a No.. This No. is called the "map reference No." and is found in the left hand column of the record. The No.s correspond to a set of maps where the ancestral lands or home may be located. The original 6" to the Mile Ordnance Survey maps compiled in the 1830s and 1840s were used by the tax valuators to mark where each holding listed in Griffith's Primary Valuation was located. The maps for Republic of Ireland counties are held at the National Archives with electronically scanned copies at the Valuation Office in Dublin. The maps for Northern Ireland are held at the PRONI. Valuation Revision Books The Griffith's Valuation revision books, sometimes called "canceled" books, continue what Griffith's Primary Valuation began and detail changes in the occupiers of property over the years starting in about 1850 depending on the county. Some properties were combined, and many of the old farm houses torn down or used for other purposes. The original books for the Republic of Ireland are at the Valuation Office in Dublin. With very few exceptions, microfilm copies for areas in the Republic of Ireland are available at the FHL up to about the 1930s. The revision books for Northern Ireland are available only at the PRONI and cover the years through 1975. There are also maps corresponding to the valuataion revision books. 4. Visiting Cemeteries Many people in Ireland never had tombstones erected in their memory. Many tombstones have also been worn by the weather to the point of being unreadable. However, if a tombstone is found for an ancestor, valuable information such as birth and death dates or townlands of residence may be recorded, so it is important to check relevant cemeteries in the area of the ancestor's residence.. Relationships may also be given on tombstones. In addition, tombstones in Ireland may contain valuable emigration information indicating where emigrants settled abroad. The search for family gravestones may start with the appropriate Catholic or Protestant church graveyard. Many graveyards are attached to the churches themselves. Persons of all faiths could be buried in Church of Ireland cemeteries, since the Church of Ireland was the Established Church. Some Church of Ireland cemeteries historically had separate Catholic sections. Other cemeteries in Ireland are not associated with a particular church or congregation's building. In many parishes the ruins of the old medieval parish church has long served and continues to serve as a graveyard for both Catholics and Protestants. Other cemeteries are located in fields. If a specific townland is known, a visit on-site can be helpful in identifying relevant cemeteries. Brian Mitchell's A Guide to Irish Churches and Graveyards locates cemeteries by county, civil parish, and townland. It is based on the churches and graveyards listed in Griffith's Primary Valuation.. 5. Visiting County and Local Libraries and Archives Local libraries in the nearest town may have locally compiled cemetery transcripts, local histories, family histories and other relevant material. Many of these are listed in: Directory of Irish Archives, ed. Seamus Helferty and Raymond Refaussé. (Revised ed. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1999.) Ulster Libraries, Archives, Museums & Ancestral Heritage Centres, by Robert K. O'Neill. (Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1997.) References and Further Reading Andrews, J.H. History in the Ordnance Survey Map: An Introduction for Irish Readers. Kerry, Wales: David Archer, 1993. Betit, Kyle J. and Dwight A. Radford. Ireland: A Genealogical Guide (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: The Irish At Home and Abroad, 1998). Crawford, W.H. and R.H. Foy. Townlands in Ulster: Local History Studies. Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation and Federation for Ulster Local Studies, 1998. Derry Youth and Community Workshop under the direction of Brian Mitchell. Parish Maps of Ireland. Apollo, PA: Closson Press, 1988. French, Noel. "Graveyards: A Genealogical Resource," Irish Family History 5 (1989): 21-26. General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland. Based on the Census of Ireland for the Year 1851. 1861. Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984. Mitchell, Brian. A Guide to Irish Churches and Graveyards. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1990. Radford, Dwight A. and Kyle J. Betit. "Place Names and the Irish Immigrant," The Irish At Home and Abroad 5 (1) (1st Quarter 1998): 7-14. Radford, Dwight A. and Kyle J. Betit "What To Do if a Townland in Ireland is Known," The Irish At Home and Abroad 5 (4) (4th Quarter 1998) Smith, Frank. Smith's Inventory of Genealogical Sources: Ireland. Salt Lake City, UT: Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1994. More Irish Resources Shopping Cart & Order Desk Global Genealogy & History Shoppe 1-800-361-5168 ( 9-5 Tuesday to Saturday )
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