“Strategies for Finding Your Irish Ancestors”

Donna Moughty

$69.99

** Note: Due to a higher recording resolution, the file for these course recordings is very large, about 2.8 GB total. High-speed Internet connection is recommended to download your purchase. **

Success in Irish research is highly dependent on discovering the exact location in Ireland of ones ancestors and typically clues to the location are in records in the United States (or other country where they settled). Although researching in Ireland can be a wonderful experience, research at home is key to successfully identifying your Irish ancestor.

In the first session we’ll identify the problems inherent in Irish research due to the destruction of records in the Public Records Office fire in 1922, as well as the government’s destruction of census records. We’ll define the administrative districts of Ireland and the records kept within each jurisdiction and look at the types of records in North American that can help identify your ancestor’s place of origin.

The subsequent sessions will look at other record groups, both online and off, to continue your research in Ireland. The focus will be on major collections such as civil registration, land and tax records, and church records. In each case, strategies for effectively utilizing these records will be presented.

Because of Irish naming patterns there are frequently multiple people of the same name living in the same area. The assignments for this course will focus on strategies for using multiple resources to identify your specific ancestor.

Donna Moughty, a professional genealogist and former Regional Manager for Apple Computer, has been conducting family research for over 25 years. She teaches and lectures on a variety of subjects including methodology, Internet, Irish research and computer topics for genealogical societies, libraries and at national conferences and institutes. She also provides consultations, research assistance and training.

In addition to national and regional conferences, Donna attended the National Institute for Genealogical Research at the National Archives, the Third and Fourth Irish Genealogical Congress in Ireland, the Salt Lake Institute – Irish Research, and the Institute for Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University where she was an instructor for the Irish course in 2011. She is a member of Association of Professional Genealogists and served as chair of the Professional Management Conference from 2005–2008, and a member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild. Donna conducts research trips to Ireland each year and has lectured at the Back to Our Past Conference in Dublin. Her weekly genealogy blog can be found at www.moughty.com.

Course Schedule

Day 1

• Lecture 1: “Beginning Your Irish Research”: Using North American records to identify the place of origin of your ancestor.
• Lecture 2: “Identifying Your Ancestor in Irish Land and Tax Records”: Although never intended as a census substitute, The Primary Valuation of Ireland managed by Richard Griffith has become a key resource for locating Irish ancestors.

Day 2

• Lecture 3: “Unpuzzling Ireland’s Church Records”: Prior to the start of civil registration in 1864 (1845 for Protestant marriages), the only source for family information may be church records.
• Lecture 4: “Research Your Irish Ancestor Online”: Not all of the records burned in the 1922 fire. Collections that have been inaccessible in the past are being digitized and indexed providing additional resources for experienced researchers.