Irish Family History: Where to Start
Irish research has a reputation for being impossible. It is not. It is different: the records that were lost are well known, the records that survived are mostly free, and the trick is knowing which to open first. This is the short version, drawn from the 69 Irish entries in the Genealogy Resources Directory.
What was lost, and what was not
In June 1922, at the start of the Civil War, the Public Record Office in the Four Courts in Dublin burned. With it went most of the census returns from 1821 to 1851, almost every will proved before 1858, and about half of the Church of Ireland parish registers. That is the loss. It is real, but it is specific.
Everything else survived. Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths from 1864, and of non-Catholic marriages from 1845, was never in the building. The 1901 and 1911 censuses survived complete. The Catholic parish registers were in the parishes. Griffith's Valuation and the Tithe Applotment Books, the two great land surveys, survived and now stand in for the missing censuses. The 1926 census, the first of the Free State, was released in April 2026. For most families the six generations a chart needs are reachable.
The ten to open first
- irishgenealogy.ie. Civil births from 1864, marriages from 1845 and deaths from 1864, with images of the register entries, free. For most Irish families this is where the first three generations come from.
- National Archives of Ireland. The 1901 and 1911 censuses complete and free, every household, and the 1926 census beside them. Also the Tithe Applotment Books and the Calendars of Wills.
- Catholic Parish Registers. The National Library's images of the registers to about 1880, free, parish by parish. They are not indexed on the site itself; the indexes are on Ancestry, Findmypast and RootsIreland.
- Griffith's Valuation. Every occupier of land from 1847 to 1864, with the maps. This is how you find the townland.
- John Grenham's Irish Ancestors. Which records exist for your parish and where they are, with surname maps. The standard reference. Much of it is free; full access is a subscription.
- RootsIreland. Twenty-three million church and civil transcriptions from the county heritage centres. A subscription, and the best one where the parish registers are not otherwise indexed. Most of the county centres in the directory are part of it.
- Irish Genealogy Toolkit and Irish Genealogy News. Claire Santry's guides and her daily news. Read the toolkit before paying for anything.
- Registry of Deeds Index Project. A volunteer index to the memorials of land deeds from 1708: the source before 1800 for families who leased or owned land.
- Military Archives Ireland. The Bureau of Military History witness statements, the pension files and the 1922 army census.
- Ireland Reaching Out. Volunteers organised by parish who answer questions about a place and its families.
Then go local
County sources matter more in Ireland than almost anywhere. Clare County Library has put Griffith's, the tithes, gravestones and the 1901 census for the county online free. Tipperary Studies, Cork City and County Archives, Dublin City Library and Archive and the county archives for Waterford, Wexford, Louth and Galway each hold something the national sites do not. The Genealogical Society of Ireland, the Irish Family History Society and the Irish Genealogical Research Society in London each publish indexes and a journal, Irish Roots Magazine is the quarterly, and Ireland Genealogy Projects is the free county-by-county forum.
Three things that trip people up
Townland first. Irish records are organised by townland, civil parish, Catholic parish, barony and poor law union, and the boundaries do not match. Find the townland in Griffith's Valuation, then use Logainm, the official placenames database, and Grenham's maps to translate it into the other units.
Names move. The O and Mc prefixes come and go through the nineteenth century, forenames were anglicised in both directions (Bridget, Delia and Bedelia can be one woman), and ages in the 1901 and 1911 censuses were often rounded or improved. Search widely.
The fire is not an excuse for a blank chart. If a generation before 1864 is missing, the parish registers, Griffith's, the tithes and the Registry of Deeds usually hold it.
Frequently asked questions
Are Irish genealogy records free?
Most of the core ones are: civil records from 1864 on irishgenealogy.ie, the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses, the Catholic parish register images, Griffith's Valuation and the Tithe Applotment Books. Subscriptions to RootsIreland, Findmypast or Ancestry buy indexes and convenience rather than records you cannot see elsewhere.
Were all Irish records destroyed in 1922?
No. The fire destroyed most of the census returns from 1821 to 1851, wills proved before 1858 and about half of the Church of Ireland registers. Civil registration, the Catholic registers, the 1901 and 1911 censuses and the land surveys survived.
Does this cover Northern Ireland?
Partly. Records before partition in 1921 cover all 32 counties, so the civil records, censuses, Catholic registers and Griffith's Valuation apply. The Northern Ireland quick read covers PRONI and GRONI for the six counties after that.
The other quick reads
All 69 Ireland entries, with filters
Open the Ireland view of the directory →Research done? See the 72 chart designs.