Research How-To

How to do Irish Research

Begley, Donal F., ed. Irish Genealogy: A Record Finder. The book has excellent, in-depth discussions on a number of records that are less-frequently used including the Registry of Deeds, cemetery inscriptions, and more.

Betit, Kyle and Dwight Radford. Ireland: A Genealogical Guide for North Americans. This is the most useful book on Irish genealogy for those living outside of Ireland because it covers the records held by the Family History Library and often provides film numbers. It also provides the addresses, telephone, and FAX numbers of major archives and libraries located in North America and Ireland, and discusses their Irish collections.

Falley, Margaret Dickson. Irish & Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research (2 vols.) is old (1962) but excellent. This has been the standard Irish reference book for many years.

Grenham, John. Tracing Your Irish Ancestors. It is one of the most widely used books on Irish family history. Especially useful are the county source lists.

How to Use Records of Northern Ireland is fiche number 6039322.

How to Use Records of Republic of Ireland is fiche number 6039323.

Kinealy, Christine. Tracing Your Irish Roots.

Major Genealogical Record Sources in Ireland is on FHL fiche 6020291.

Mac Conghail and Gorry. Tracing Irish Ancestors.

Maxwell, Ian. Tracing Your Ancestors in Northern Ireland: A Guide to Ancestry Research in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

McCarthy, Tony. The Irish Roots Guide. This book concentrates on finding Catholics who were tenant farmer.

Mitchell, Brian. Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy.

Research Outline: Ireland. Compiled by the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you acquire only one guide to Irish research, this should be it. This inexpensive guide is available for purchase at the McLean Family History Center and also for free download at familysearch.org..

Ryan, James G. Irish Records: Sources for Family & Local History, 1997. This excellent book includes county maps and genealogical sources for each county. It tells where to find church records for every parish.