Today, we publish the first in a series of articles written by our guest blogger, Claire Santry, who is behind the excellent website Irish Genealogy Toolkit and her associated blog, Irish Genealogy News.
In Search of the Townland
Although it is may seem logical to jump straight into Irish records in pursuit of your Irish roots, the best place to start is nearly always with your immigrant ancestor in his or her new homeland. The only exception is when you know for certain exactly where your ancestor lived in Ireland.
There’s a good reason. Most old state and church records in Ireland were arranged geographically so unless you know the location, your research won’t get very far.
The most important information to uncover is the name of the townland. Historically, this was an area that could support a cow; a flat terrain with rich soil usually meant a small townland of less than 200 acres while mountainous and boggy land typically created a much larger unit. There are more than 61,000 townlands across the island.
Take care when the ancestral townland’s name has passed down the generations as the story may have distorted with the telling. Your ancestors may, for example, have ‘come from Derry’ but did they set sail from Derry, did they live in Derry City, or did the family come from somewhere in County Derry? There’s a big difference.
Similarly, you may know the townland name was Ballyboy, but was it one of the three Ballyboys in County Galway, one of the four in County Offaly, or one of the ten other Ballyboys across the south?
To establish the exact townland of origin, start asking questions of your closest living relatives. Does any ancestral memorabilia – a bible, memorial cards, letters etc – survive? What about stories of their ancestor’s early life? Ask the same questions of your more distant relatives as you widen the net.
Immigration and naturalisation records, census records, birth/marriage and death records, wills and gravestones should also be carefully examined in your own country. Don’t just follow your direct line. Look also for siblings who may have arrived with your ancestor; did they or their children record the golden nugget? It’s also worth checking people who arrived on the same ship as your immigrant. Friends and cousins from the same town often travelled in groups.
While the townland name is the crucial key that will unlock your Irish heritage, you should also note any record of your immigrant ancestor’s year of birth and his or her religion. If you can find all three precious items you will be ready to turn to records in Ireland and uncover more about your Irish heritage.
Read more about starting your Irish research from Claire at http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/trace-family-history.html