Genealogical Tracing
We receive many requests to trace or provide information about living and past family members. In order to prioritise the time it takes to carry out this sort of tracing and research, we are happy to help with the following searches:
Persons directly affected by adoption or incarceration in Irish institutions ie Mother & Baby Homes/Industrial Schools/Magdalene Laundries
Persons directly affected by adoption or as a former resident in UK institutions ie Mother & Baby Homes
Tracing to enable a person to apply for a foreign birth registration
Tracing to enable a person to apply for an Irish passport
Background history to medals and other historical artefacts collections
In the case of living people, while the majority of requests are genuine, we respect the right of a living person not to be found.
Useful Family History Links
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/
This site is free and you can see a copy of the registry entry for births, marriages and deaths, providing the names of parents, witnesses and cause of death.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/united-kingdom/
This site is free. You will need to register and make an account.
This is a paid for site and you will need to take out a suitable subscription.
This is a paid for site and you will need to take out a suitable subscription
North of Ireland Family History Society. This is a paid for site. It specifically covers the 9 counties that make up the province of Ulster.
https://www.proni.gov.uk/
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/
The National Archive of Ireland is the place to search the 1901, 1911 and 1926 census for free. You will be able to see a copy of census pages, which may be in your ancestor’s handwriting. The 1926 census was the first census covering the 26 counties of Free State Ireland. People could complete it in either the English or Irish language.
There are also other collections which may be helpful.
https://www.militaryarchives.ie/en/family-research
If your ancestor served during the Easter Rising, War of Independence or Irish Civil War, this site may have their service record, medals and pension applications. It is a free site.
They do not have records relating to military service prior to 1922. If your relative was a soldier and served before or during World War I, or any time before 1922, their service was probably with one of the regiments (Irish or otherwise) of the British Army.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
There is a small charge for copies of records. This site may have military service records if your ancestor served in the English military prior to 1922, World War I or World War II.
This is a paid for site and you will need to take out a suitable subscription. The site features many Irish national and regional newspapers going back several hundreds of years. They often have discounted offers on their social media.
https://www.facebook.com/familyhistory.ie
The Genealogical Society of Ireland holds weekly ‘brick wall’ online sessions by Zoom every Wednesday at 11.00am Irish time, by Zoom. Please check their page for next session.
Other great sources of information are social media groups for villages, towns and places of employment.