Surname

Enter your ancestor's surname in this field.
The Ancestor search will check for:
a surname history;
surname dictionary entries;
variants or related names;
published or printed family histories;
the distribution of the surname as recorded in 1890;
a coat of arms for a family of the name.

In addition, if you enter a county, the number of households in that county with the surname will be returned, broken down by parish. With no county, the number of households in all counties of Ireland will be shown.

The surname is also used for some aspects of the search for information on wills.

Results will be displayed only if relevant records for the surname are found.

Unless otherwise indicated, Ancestor search checks for all variant or related names, which may result in information on surnames which are not obviously related to the name you have entered. In this case, the surname history supplied will usually explain the connection.

Religion

Choose a religion from the drop-down list. Your choice determines which church record references Ancestor search returns.
If you leave this field blank, no church records will be displayed. You must also specify at least a city or county to see church record references.

Occupation / Description

Choose a description or occupation from the drop-down list provided. Your choice directs Ancestor search in a number of ways:
1.Records related to the particular occupation or class will be displayed.
2.Some records are relevant only to propertied individuals, and the choice of description determines whether or not these are searched. These records are:
1.Wills
2.Deeds
3.Genealogical Office records
4.Newspapers

City or county

Choose your ancestor's city or county of origin from the drop-down list provided.

Ancestor search uses this information in a number of ways:
If you do not know the precise place within the city or county, and thus leave the following field, Placename, blank, an overview of the records for the relevant city or county is displayed.
If you do know the name of the relevant place within the city or county, Ancestor search uses the placename to provide precise details of the relevant records for that town, townland or street. You must be sure that the spelling of the placename matches exactly with that given in the Townlands Index.

Records depending on location are:
Church records
Gravestone inscriptions
Census records and substitutes
Estate records
Local histories
Directories
Local Journals

In addition, records relating to wills, newspaper indexes and state records of births, marriages and deaths all depend to some extent on a location of origin.

If you leave both City and County of origin and Placename field blank, no records in any of these categories will be displayed.

Placename

Enter your ancestor's place of origin here.
PLEASE NOTE: You must be sure that the spelling of the placename matches exactly with that given in the Townlands Index.

For the names of towns, please ensure that " town" follows the name, even where this apears unlikely (e.g. "Parsonstown town").

The placename you choose determines which records are displayed or printed in the following categories:
Church records
Gravestone inscriptions
Census records and substitutes
Estate records
Local histories
Directories

In addition, records relating to wills, newspaper indexes and state records of births, marriages and deaths all depend to some extent on a location of origin.

If you leave both City/County of origin and Placename blank, no records in any of these categories will be displayed.

For more help with identifying the relevant placename, see: Placenames
Examples
Tips

Left from

If your ancestor emigrated from Ireland, choose one of the departure points given in the drop-down list.

If you do not know the departure point, choose (Unknown).

Ancestor search uses your choice here, together with the year of departure, to check for relevant passenger lists. If you leave this field blank, no search for passenger lists will be carried out.

Results will be displayed only if relevant records are found.

Emigrated to

These three drop-down list boxes give options for the areas to which your ancestor might have emigrated.

Your choices here are used to search for:
printed and published works on the Irish abroad;
manuscript and printed works containing potentially relevant passenger lists.

The first box (on the left) displays a list of general areas - North America, South America, Australasia etc. The second displays a list of countries. The third displays a list of specific areas within countries. Obviously, you should not choose North America as the general area, specify France as the country, and Manchester as the specific area.

Dates

Enter the years your ancestor left Ireland, or was born, married or died in Ireland. If you are unsure, it is much better to enter even an approximate year than to leave these blank - Ancestor search does not need absolutely precise information.

Ancestor search will check for:
passenger lists (year of departure);
material on the Irish abroad (year of departure);
relevant state records of births, marriages and deaths (year of birth/marriage/death);
relevant wills records (year of death, description, county, placename, surname);