Tracing Your Irish Ancestry

From 1800 to 1922 the UK was the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.  So, for a great deal of the period of interest to genealogists, the two islands were part of the same country.

The consequence of this is that there are no official records of migration, because the Irish in Britain during that time were not technically immigrants.  As a result, the British archives contain much more material of Irish interest.

There are a lot of similarities between the record systems of Britain and Ireland, particularly:

• The formats of the various civil registration records
• Census-taking practice
• Probate for wills
• Before census and civil registration, parish records are the only direct sources of family information for the majority of the population.

There are four categories of Irish records that are relevant to almost everyone researching their Irish ancestors: civil records, census records, church records and property records.

There are also fascinating tales of family history, passed down orally through the generations, which can be found in most families.  Irish Family History is full of myths and legends.  These stories may be curious, but always interesting and sometimes historically valuable, perhaps grounded in fact and providing a peek into the past that might not be available through other means.

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