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Ireland Emigration and Immigration

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See the "Irish Emigration to North America: Before, During, and After the Famine"tutorial on FamilySearch.org.

Online Databases

Emigration and Immigration

Emigration records are about people leaving a country. Immigration records are about people entering a country. Records of emigration and immigration include passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, records of passports issued, lists of transported prisoners, and registers of assistance to emigrate. These records may contain the name, age, occupation, destination, place of origin or birthplace, date of departure, and date and ship of arrival of the person immigrating or emigrating. Names of fellow passengers may suggest familial relationships or provide hints about a passenger's place of origin or destination.

No records are required for movements within the British Isles countries (England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Isle of Man, and Channel Islands). Records were not required for free emigrants to the United States until 1773, to Canada until 1865, or to Australia, New Zealand, the British West Indies, or South Africa until the twentieth century. No countrywide, official record was kept for people leaving Ireland.

Where Did My Ancestors Come From?

Are you looking for an ancestor who came from Ireland? Do you know a specific place, or only a county? Many people have information that one or more of their ancestors came from Ireland but they don't know where. Start with step 1. Click on a locality to learn more.

Step 1: Search records in the country where your ancestors settled

Here are reasons why you should search records in the country where your ancestors settled:

  • There are 32 counties and more than a thousand parishes in Ireland. It is possible to find dozens of people by the same name and in the same time period as your ancestor. Which one will you choose?
  • Country-wide vital records of the population of Ireland were not kept for the whole population until 1864. If you are looking for an ancestor before then, you may need to use surname distribution tools to narrow your search down to a specific county and parish. An online surname county distribution tool is available at John Grenham's Irish Ancestors

Records in the country to where your ancestors immigrated can provide clues about where they lived in Ireland. To learn about these records, click on a country where they settled.

Step 2: Search the records in Ireland

Post-1864

A good place to start searching in Ireland when your immigrant ancestor was born or married after 1864 is to search the index to Ireland's civil registration records for births, marriages and deaths. The index is found at FamilySearch.

In 1864, Ireland began statutory registration of births, marriages and deaths throughout the whole country. Important data content of these civil records can be critical for proving genealogical connections in Ireland--when surnames are less unique or uncommon. Parents names (including mother's maiden), place of event, witnesses, informant name and relationship, age or date of event, signature, address at time of event, and occupations are usually given. For example, searching for an ancestor with a unique surname in the deaths index for those born prior to 1864, may provide you with possible clues to the next-generation name[s] of parent[s].

For those ancestors with common surnames, it still will require diligent searches, usually in the records of the country of settlement to help you determine a precise place or, at least the county of your immigrant's Ireland origins.

For those whose ancestors were not Roman Catholic, Protestant marriages began in the year 1845. All Civil Registration continues up to the present.

Sometimes it is possible to guess where an immigrant originated through surname distribution maps.

Pre-1864

Before 1864, few Irish records index the entire population. Here are some records that are indexed.

Immigration into Ireland

Immigrants to Ireland came primarily from elsewhere within the British Isles or from continental Europe by way of England. Specific groups of immigrants included refugees from various wars (such as the French Revolution), Huguenots, Germans, and Jews. Ireland kept no official immigration records, so you must rely primarily on (1) English records of immigrants who passed through England on their way to Ireland and (2) emigration records of the country from which your ancestor moved.

No consistent records of arrivals into the United Kingdom were kept until 1836. Beginning in 1836, certificates of entering aliens were kept. These are arranged by port. They provide name, nationality, profession, date of arrival, country last visited, and the signature of the alien. The Public Records Office, Kew has an alphabetical index to these certificates.

Beginning in 1878, passenger lists were kept of those entering the United Kingdom (see "British Records of Irish Emigration" in this section). Passenger lists no longer exist for the years between 1878 and 1883. Records surviving from 1883 to 1891 are for the Irish ports of Cork (Queenstown), Londonderry, and Belfast. After 1891 the records are more complete. However, passengers from Europe or the Mediterranean are rarely listed. These passenger lists are arranged by port and are kept at the Public Record Office, Kew.

One good, though limited, source of information on British immigrants, especially for before 1836, is naturalization and denization records. Other sources of information on people entering Ireland include court records, state papers, and plantation and settlement records.

Irish Emigration--Irish Diaspora

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Off to America

The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants especially in countries such as the United States (see Irish Americans), the United Kingdom Irish migration to Great Britain and Irish-Scots, not to be confused with Ulster-Scots aka Scots-Irish), Canada (Irish Canadians, Irish Quebecers, Irish Newfoundlanders), Australia (see Irish Australians), New Zealand (see Irish New Zealanders), and Argentina (see Irish Argentine), where vibrant Irish communities continue to exist. To a lesser extent, Irish people also immigrated to Chile Irish Chilean), Brazil Irish Brazilians), Uruguay (see Irish Uruguayan), Mexico (see Irish immigration to Mexico), South Africa Irish South African), and nations of the Caribbean (see Irish immigration to Barbados, Irish people in Jamaica, Irish immigration to Puerto Rico, Irish immigration to Saint Kitts and Nevis) and continental Europe (see Irish people in mainland Europe). The diaspora contains over 80 million people and it is the result of mass migration from Ireland, due to past famines (especially the Great Famine), poverty, and political oppression. [1]

Reasons Irish Emigrated

Emigrants leave Ireland

The Irish throughout history had many reasons for leaving Ireland. As well many among those remaining in Ireland would have emigrated but were unable to, due to poverty or impoverishment. Many Irishmen during the Great Famine years who did embark were in such sickened and critically weakened condition that death followed many while traversing the high seas to their new world home.

Generally, the Irishman's reasons for emigrating--if not compelled to do so, to countries abroad were due to an intolerable convergence of circumstances including, but not limited to:

  • dire economic conditions that destituted families
  • austere political policies such as the Crown's Penal laws (from 1695-1829)
  • a series of circumstances surrounding devastating crop failures especially in the mid-19th Century.
  • social and religious persecution against most nonconformists and Catholics (the dominant segment of Irish society)

For a more complete list detailing the devastating effects of the Penal Laws and the main reasons for emigrating, read Compelling Reasons Why The Irish Emigrated.

See the "Ireland Beginning Research Series Immigration Part 2: Famine and Post Famine Sources" tutorial at FamilySearch.org.

Types of Emigration from Ireland

Emigration from Ireland began as early as 1603, when people immigrated to areas such as continental Europe, the islands of the Caribbean, the British colonies, and other parts of the British Isles. Emigration increased during periods of civil or religious unrest or famine in Ireland as well as during various gold rushes in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States. The period of greatest emigration began around 1780 and reached its peak from 1845 to 1855, when between one and two million people left Ireland because of the potato famine. The following categories of emigrants account for most people who emigrated from Ireland:

  • Free emigrants. Starting in the seventeenth century, emigrants left Ireland to seek opportunity in a new land; to flee religious persecution, poverty, or oppression; and to seek political asylum following rebellion in Ireland.
  • Assisted emigrants. In the nineteenth century, qualified emigrants received passage money or land grants as incentives to emigrate. Assistance was viewed by officials as an alternative to providing poor relief for able-bodied, unemployed workers and for the starving masses during famine. After 1840, colonies such as New Zealand and Australia offered money or land grants to skilled workers to attract needed immigrants.
  • Transported prisoners. From 1611 to 1870, more than fifty thousand Irish criminals were sentenced to deportation to a penal colony for a number of years. Beginning with Irishmen who rebelled against Cromwell's army in 1649, political prisoners were also often deported. Many Irish prisoners were sent to America, primarily to Virginia and Maryland, until 1775. From 1788 to 1869, over forty thousand Irish prisoners were sent to Australia. Many of those deported were later pardoned on the condition that they would never return to Ireland.
  • Military personnel. Soldiers serving overseas were offered land or other inducements to settle in the colony where they were serving when they were discharged. This settlement practice was common for soldiers in Australia from 1791, Canada from 1815, and New Zealand from 1844.

Records of Irish Emigrants in Their Destination Countries

Dark thin font green pin Version 4.png One option is to look for records about the ancestor in the country of destination, the country they immigrated into. See links to immigration records for major destination countries below.



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Links to Ireland-related articles
  1. ↑ "List of diasporas", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diasporas#I, accessed 29 June 2021.
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