Colonial Scots-Irish Immigrants:

The Irish Records

By Kyle J. Betit

The Registry of Deeds began keeping memorials of Irish deeds in 1708. Although Scots-Irish landowners and more prominent tenants may have been parties to registered deeds, the average Scots-Irish tenant was not. However, even lesser tenants were sometimes named in detailed deeds registered for their landlords. This makes it important to access land records two ways when tracing the Scots-Irish:
1) by the index to grantors;
and 2) by the index to places (the "county index").

The county index can be used to find deeds relating to a particular townland and then to examine these deeds for mention of tenants. Of course, to use the county index, a specific townland origin must already be known or suspected from other records. Records of the Registry of Deeds are also available on microfilm through the FHL. For more information, see Rosemary ffolliott's chapter, "The Registry of Deeds for Genealogical Purposes," in Irish Genealogy: A Record Finder.
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