Family history resources

Family history research sets you on a path of finding the traces of your ancestors in a wide range of records, both private and public.

Private records might include family bibles, photo albums, letters, diaries and, of course, family histories compiled by someone within your extended family.

Public records might include birth, marriage and death certificates, wills, census information, ship passenger lists, military records, court and police records, newspaper articles, cemetery headstone transcripts, parish records and so on.

This section is a bit technical but gives a good overview of the different types of online resources that will help you trace your Irish ancestors.

• Gateways. Sites that are lists of links to other sites. Good gateways are continually updated and pruned — like well-maintained gardens.
• Record holders. Sites maintained by organisations that hold family history records. Typically these are institutions like archives, libraries and public records offices. These sites provide access to databases of their particular holdings.
• Aggregators. Sites that provide access to a range of record-holder databases. Typically their pages are easy to use and faster than going to each database. Some are free, some are commercial.
• Specialists. Sites developed by people who are passionate about one aspect of family history research. For example, sites on Irish convicts transported to Australia.
• Communities. Sites that link people doing research on the same families (surnames), place of origin (Irish counties), type of ancestor (Irish convicts). Communities enable people to share and exchange information.

The sections below have links to these different types of online resources.

Coraweb

Developed and maintained by Australian professional family history researcher Cora Num, starting in 1997.

• Coraweb — resources in Australia
• Drill down to Coraweb — Resources in Ireland

Irish gateways

• Grenham’s Irish Heritage & Genealogy — developed and maintained by Irish genealogist John Grenham and organised by county (select counties on the map in the upper righthand corner)
• Ireland Genealogy Project and Archives — resource sites for each county, some unique resources such as photos and headstone transcriptions
• IrelandGenWeb Project — local resource sites for each county

United Kingdom gateway

• GENUKI (free) — access a vast collection from the UK and Ireland Genealogy

American gateway

• Cyndi’s list
• Drill down to Cyndi’s list — Ireland & Northern Ireland — developed and maintained by American professional family historian Cyndi Howells since 1996

Commercial and non-profit databases that ‘aggregate’ or draw data from a range of sources including record holders.

• FamilySearch (free) — hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, it includes Irish research wiki, free Irish online course, Irish birth, baptism, marriage and death records
• Ancestry.com.au (commercial, membership fee) — originated in the US and has affiliates in Australia and the UK. You can search for free, but need to join to see the records
• RootsIreland (commercial, register for free search, pay for documents) — database of 17 million Irish records including birth, death and marriage. All but eight counties are online. Partial search for free, join for full search

Your local public library or genealogical society may have subscriptions to these and other commercial genealogical websites.

Sites that focus on and add value to a particular research area or that hold a unique set of records.

• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies — the Family History Unit has resources for people with Indigenous and Irish ancestors
• Irish Convicts to NSW (1791–1849) — maintained by Australian genealogist Peter Mayberry
• Irish Genealogy — more than 2 million pre-1900 church record transcripts and images for counties Carlow, Cork, Dublin and Kerry
• Placenames Database of Ireland — in Gaeilge and English with an interactive map
• A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland — compiled by Samuel Lewis in 1837, hosted by Library Ireland
• Griffith’s Valuation — a database of property valuations 1847–1864
• Registry of Deeds Index Project Ireland — a database with 60,700+ index records online

Websites where you can see what others are doing — often organised by surname or place.

• Irish Times, Irish Ancestors — tools and links for family history research
• Coraweb, family history and historical societies — listed by Australian states and territories
• RootsWeb — a free community attached to Ancestry.com
• WikiTree — a collaborative worldwide family tree

No list is complete without favourites. Museum staff and the Heraldry and Genealogy Society Canberra like:

• Ordnance Survey maps, 1829–42 (opens in new window) — these hand-drawn maps have the most exquisite detail
• Clare County Library — one of the best Irish local history and genealogy websites
• Irish wedding photographs on Flickr (Public Records Office of Northern Ireland collection)
• Irish Wattle — a blog exploring Australia’s Irish ancestry
• Archivist and family historian Shauna Hicks

Our special thanks to the Heraldry and Genealogical Society of Canberra (HAGSOC). For help with researching your family history, go to HAGSOC’s research centre in Aranda, Canberra. HAGSOC has an excellent library collection and reading room.