Greenburgh Public Library Blog

Searching for Your Irish Ancestors

Have you been busy cleaning out your attic with your extra time at home? Are you intrigued with old family photographs like I am? Curious to know more about the people and the places? 

This is a picture of my maternal great grandparents, Stephen and Elizabeth Tracy.  Their story has varied slightly in details over the years about what I know.  This is a picture of them on their wedding day in 1898. According to US Census records, Elizabeth "Bessie" McGeever arrived in the United States in 1892.  She came from County Mayo in Ireland and spoke only gaelic.  Stephen was born in 1867 in the United States. His parents came to the United States from Ireland to escape the potato famine.  Stephen and Elizabeth married in 1898 and lived in Derby, Connecticut until their deaths.   

According to Ancestry.com Library Edition, there are ten places to start looking for information about your Irish Ancestors.  

As you pursue their story, document carefully who you speak to and when regarding your search.  Consider and plan your technology needs before starting your search.  It is important to remember for your search to be productive and timely; therefore effective communication for any researcher is key whether in person, on the phone, email, or via social media. 

1.) Family homes- Friends and family have lots of shared memorabilia. My sister recently told me she has a shawl that once belonged to Elizabeth.  Our mother excelled at documenting the origin of items.

2.) Census records- I looked at many census records regarding the Tracy family and concluded generations lived in their family home for nearly 100 years.

3.) Friends and Relatives - Family cousins can be good sources of information within your extended family tree.  A grandparent's best friend can know stories of the old country you never heard.

4.) Aboard a ship or crossing a border - Castle garden and Ellis Island can be good sources for you to explore. 

5.) Church records- Irish families often had close ties with their local parishes.

6.) Court records - There are several types of court records that could prove fruitful to searching for your ancestor.  Determine if the matter involving your ancestor was civil or criminal.  Many times the records are held at the county level.  

7.) In the Military - Many served faithfully served in the honor and defense of their adopted homeland.

8.) Neighborhood stories- They may not be related to you by blood but they might have been a part of the weekly stickball games. 

9.) Newspapers - Search the Google News archive for free.  It contains newspapers from over the world so be certain to have an idea of the location of your ancestor.  

10.) Cemeteries- The type of stone, the elaborate or simple carving, the age of the grave site, how many family members are buried there. 

A selection of websites devoted to Irish genealogy: 

County Mayo, Ireland Genealogy - Familiysearch.org  helps find information about birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

The National Archives of Ireland -The National Archives holds records of the modern Irish state from its foundation to approximately 1987, as well as a number of other major collections cataloged.

Ulster Historical Foundation - The Ulster Historical Foundation is a long-established, highly reputable research and publishing agency. The Foundation offers a wide range of knowledge to help on you discover your Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors.

Irish Family History Foundation  - This website contains data from 34 county genealogy centers on the island of Ireland.  The main sources on the site are Irish Catholic and other church records of baptisms, marriages, and deaths. 

In the words of Irish author, Oscar Wilde: 

"It's beauty that captures your attention. personality which captures your heart." 

To paraphrase his words, I think genealogy research captures our attention, but the stories we find of our family members inspire our collective imaginations.