Exploring Irish ancestry can be a rewarding journey,
revealing the rich history and resilience of a people whose impact is deeply
woven into the fabric of history. While Irish genealogy presents unique
challenges due to record losses and other complexities, with the right
strategies and resources, navigating these challenges can lead to the discovery
of fascinating and rewarding stories.
Before You Cross the Pond
Before you start wandering around in Irish records, for
Americans, it’s best to start your Irish research here in the States. The same applies
to other countries where the Irish migrated and left a legacy. It’s critical to learn as much about your
family here in the US, so that you can compile a comprehensive timeline of
where and when they lived here. Arrange the details about your family
chronologically in whatever format you think is most practicable based on your
comfort. For me, a plain word processing document is the easiest way to create
a timeline. I organize the details I’ve pulled from the records in a way that makes
sense.
It's simple, but super effective in pinning down where our
ancestors were at the time of important life events, such as births, marriages,
deaths. residences, immigration, military service, and so much more. This leads
to the records created by those events. Knowing an exact location can be
particularly useful for many Irish who settled in large cities here in the US.
Urban residents tended to be more mobile because they typically didn’t own property
and thus were subject to rental terms and rates, which often prompted annual
moves, so in these cases, a good working timeline is paramount.
What You Need to Know
Before you make the leap back to Ireland, there are several critical
pieces of information that will help you to be successful.
·
Name. This one’s probably easy, but bear
in mind that the way you spell a surname may not have been how your ancestors
did. In fact, your ancestor may not have spelled at all, so spelling of names
can be phonetic (e.g., Huggins, Higgins, Higgan, Huggans), and prefixes like
O’, and Mc/Mac may appear and disappear randomly (e.g., Kelly/Kelley, O’Kelly,
McLoughlin, McLaughlin, Loughlin, Laughlin, Loghlin, etc.). You may also run
across variants with Gaelic-rooted spellings.
·
Age. You might think that this would be a
rather simple thing, but if you’ve done any Irish research you know that age
discrepancies are very common. So give the ages you find in your ancestors’
records a little wiggle room. They probably did the same, and with the records
you have access to, you may find that you have more clues to that date than
they did.
·
Birthplace or residence in Ireland. This
one requires a little knowledge of Irish land divisions. There are four
provinces in Ireland, which are in turn divided into 32 counties. Beyond that
you have a number of smaller divisions, including baronies, parishes, poor law
unions, and townlands. When asked where they were from, they may have given the
name of any of these, so knowing about the various jurisdictions will help you
to locate records in Ireland. An excellent resource for this is Townlands.ie, and Brian Mitchell’s A New
Genealogical Atlas of Ireland.
·
Family structure, including extended family.
The value of knowing the names of siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws
cannot be underestimated. These families often traveled and settled with other
families from the same areas of Ireland from whence they came. You will be
incredibly grateful for your ancestors’ FAN Club (friends, associates,
neighbors), as you’ll often find them linked to them in records in various ways.
Maintain lists of all of the surnames you find associated with your people,
including sponsors, witnesses, neighbors, business partners, and any other
associates. A neighbor in Ireland may have signed on as a sponsor at a baptism,
or a witness to some other record. Seeing these ties can provide additional
evidence that you have identified the correct person in the records.
·
Immigration date. Knowing when
your family immigrated can help you determine whether you should be looking in
records here or in Ireland at a particular time. Use ages and places of births
of children where possible to zero in on this time frame. In the timeline
example above, I used birth dates and ages found in census records and the
length of time in the US listed on a death record of one family member to help
zero in on eight-year span during which the family likely immigrated.
Places to Look
So where do we find these details? Genealogy 101 tells us to
start with home sources. Your Irish origins may be hiding in a family bible,
correspondence, memorabilia, or even in heirlooms that may have originated in a
particular part of Ireland.
Of course, we have the old standby of census records – both federal
and state where available. City directories can fill in the gaps between
enumerations. Vital records may give a more precise birthplace, although
religious records are sometimes more detailed when it comes to this
information.
Historical newspapers are increasingly available online, and
some newspapers were good about putting in the names of townlands or parishes
in obituaries and in other articles. Look for Irish newspapers, which also
included links to the homeland, and also seek out other death-related collections,
like cemetery records.
Military and related records like the World War I and World
War II draft cards, can sometimes include a specific location of origin for
Irish immigrants. Pension records also include close personal details and
stories that can help you with your quest.
Probate records could include the names of family members
who stayed in Ireland, and business and account records like those of the New York Emigrant
Savings Bank,1850-1883, which are searchable on Ancestry. In this
collection, to prove identity and access an account, “test books” were used
that included personal details that presumably only the account holder would
know. In the
record extract below, Nicholas Walsh, a porter living at 52 Beekman St., gave
the bank these details about his family:
Nat of Thomastown,
Co. Kilkenny, [Ireland], Arrd. May 29 ’51 per the Scotland L’pool. Par. Living
Jno & Alice Tully, 5 Bros. Jno here, Jas, Michl & Thos in [Ireland], no
Sister. Is single.
Immigration marked an important point in their lives, and
they often didn’t do it alone. As you narrow your search for an arrival record,
keep an eye out for those familiar names. You may find groups of people from
the same area traveling together, particularly in the famine years, where
people were leaving en masse. And that migration in itself is a story that
deserves to be preserved. Knowing when they left and the history of the period
in which they emigrated can give you the reasons for their departure, the
conditions under which they would have sailed. You’ll also find some stories of
chain migration, where families came over a few members at a time, with
typically one or both parents leading the way, possibly with older children,
then later sending for the rest of the family once they were established.
Once you’ve conducted extensive research in the location
where your ancestor landed, you’re probably going to find that you already have
a good start on your Irish family history, and you’ll be prepared for the next
step of your research journey in the records of the Emerald Isle.
*Photograph courtesy Loretto Dennis Szucs, Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
