Ireland Genealogy
Ireland has been known by many names throughout time. The first name given to the land was Island of Woods, and this name was given by a warrior of the people of "Nin, son of Bel.” Other names were Eire, Isle of Mists, and Irlanda. It is said that the Greeks called the land Ogygia, which is to say the most ancient land.
Where did you ancestors come from?
Do you have ancestors who came from Ireland? Do you know where they lived? Do you know how to find out? Start here.
Step 1
Search the records of the country where your ancestors settled. Do this because:
- Ireland didn't keep general birth indexes or Catholic marriage indexes until 1864. It didn't keep Protestant marriage indexes until 1845.
- There are 32 counties and thousands of parishes. There may be dozens of people by the same name as your ancestor.
Many records in a country where your ancestors settled can give you clues about where they lived in Ireland. To learn about these records, click on a country where they settled.
| Australia |
New Zealand |
United States |
| Canada |
Scotland |
Wales |
| England |
South America |
West Indies |
Beginners' Corner
Choose an event to learn about in the life of your Irish ancestors:
Featured content
- Browse by topic: Pages for Ireland
- Gravestone inscriptions can be a useful source of family history information. Gravestones may give birth, marriage, and death information. They may also give clues about military service, occupation, or family members buried in the same area. Sometimes they give more information than the parish burial register or civil certificate of death.
- Topographical maps
- Here's access to The Family History Library's Patron Desktop Irish " Favorites". Please note that currently there are significant county 'collections' for just about every single one of the following genealogical subjects--including Probate, Census, Land & Property, Genealogy and Church/Civil Registration with but few county exceptions!
Counties
Click on a county to go to that county's page:News & events
- The National Archives in England have added early Irish maps c.1558 - c.1610 to their website. Mainly for the province of Ulster, the maps can be searched for by place, and new or old catalog reference.
- Irish census records, 1901 and 1911, are now being digitized by the National Archives of Ireland.
Useful websites