Northern Ireland Genealogy
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Getting started with Northern Ireland research
Researching in Northern Ireland is NOT the same as researching in the Republic of Ireland for the following reasons:
- Although originally Catholic, over time what now constitutes Northern Ireland became predominately a Protestant country.
- The majority of records are based on English law since it became a part of the United Kingdom.
- Many of the original records have been destroyed in the various conflicts that culminated in the 1921 "troubles", but copies of some records do exist
- Therefore a knowledge of history of this area and the potential records that could be found is essential
General Information About Northern Ireland
The Province of Ulster
Ulster in one of the historic provinces of Ireland. It consists of nine counties, six of which are in Northern Ireland and three in the Republic of Ireland.
- County Antrim
- County Armagh
- County Cavan (in the Republic of Ireland)
- County Derry or Londonderry
- County Donegal (in the Republic of Ireland)
- County Down
- County Fermanagh
- County Monaghan (in the Republic of Ireland)
- County Tyrone
Jurisdictions
The main records of value to family historians and genealogists are:
- Census (some)
- Civil Registration
- Church Records
- Court Records
- Electoral Records
- Emigration Records
- Landed Estate Records
- Local Government Records
- Military Records
- Poor Law Records
- School Records
- Valuation and Tithe Records
- Wills and Testamentary Records
A Turbulent History Destroyed Many Records - Records of Ulster ancestors have been lost due to the consistent warfare that occurred in all parts of the island of Ireland. Other countries in the United Kingdom have a more consistent set of records with less loss.
The following lists record types that could be available in some way:
- Census
- Census Substitutes
- Church
- Valuation
- Estate
- Tithe Applotment Books
- Landed Estate
- Registry of Deeds
- Wills and other Testamentary Records
- Various Printed Sources
- Emigration
- Poor Law
- Local Authority Sources
- Ordnance Survey Maps and Memoirs
- Electoral Records
- Solicitors Records
- Business Records
- Crown Records
- Militia, Yeomanry, and Irish Royal Constabulary
Web Sites
- Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
- General Register Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI)
- Ancestry Ireland
- Northern IrelandGenWeb
- GenUKI
- Stirnet Limited: Families Database: Index (unfettered access requires fee or significant data contribution; manually search index for surnames of interest)
- Huggins Family of Northern Ireland
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