Researching Your Irish Ancestors: Beyond the Basics

Ireland research expert, Judy Wight, will teach about 17th-19th century genealogy records using different case studies in this day-after-St. Patrick's Day webinar.

This webinar is an overview of some lesser known Irish resources that may provide additional information about your Irish ancestors. Some of the sources that will be discussed include school records, taxation sources and court records.

Follow along as Irish expert Judith Eccles Wight shows you what she does to resolve an Irish research problem or two. The solution involves records in both the country of settlement and the place of origin in Ireland. This class will also ask for audience participation--what do you suggest…

Julie Andrews sings about raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens being some of her favorite things. Judy will sing (not literally) the praises of some of her favorite things found in Irish genealogical websites. This will be an interactive class where you'll be able to visit many of these…

Brenda Collins in her book, The Origins of Irish Immigration to Scotland in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, claims that over 300,000 people from Ireland went to Scotland between 1790 and 1850. Another million fled Ireland and settled in Scotland and England during the second half of the 19th century…

Where do you turn when you can't find your Irish ancestors in civil registration, church records or what few censuses survive? Experienced researchers dive right in to the Irish estate records. There is a surprising array of material in estate records that can be used to document the tenants who…

Three of the main Irish genealogical resources of key importance to those tracing their Irish ancestors are census returns, church records, and civil registration (vital records). Although pre-1901 census records were almost completely destroyed and church records also suffered from either a lack of record keeping or destruction, much still…

Prior to the 20th century, the vast majority of Irish people lived in rural areas, leasing land and property from the landowners who owned large estates, some of which were thousands of acres in size. These estates, often managed by land agents, generated large amounts of records, a number of which are particularly useful for expanding the knowledge of your ancestors. If you have exhausted the civil registration and church records, these records could be very useful in providing further information about earlier generations who lived on an estate and where exactly they lived through records such as rentals, leases and estate maps. Other valuable documents within estate records include military muster rolls, correspondence, land agent notebooks, wage books, account books and emigration records, all of which have the potential to provide information about your ancestors. Following the Great Famine, many landlords fell into financial difficulty and the government established the Encumbered Estates Court which allowed for the sale of their estates. The records generated include information about tenants and their leases that often contain really valuable information to expand your family tree.

This webinar demonstrates how Eliza Watson traced her Coffey ancestry line back eight generations from southwest Wisconsin to Ireland in 1705. An amazing feat due to the lack of Irish historical records. Her success was thanks to a newfound Irish Daly relation, extensive cemetery research, and a local historian. The webinar provides creative ways to break down an Irish research brick wall.