About Us and A Letter from Ireland.

Mike and Carina Collins of A Letter From Ireland

Welcome to A Letter from Ireland.

 

Let me guess - you’ve been interested in tracing your Irish Heritage and Family History for some time now.

 

Maybe you've already travelled to Ireland? Perhaps you wonder if you will ever get here?

 

What you DO know is that your ancestors left Ireland for a better life - bringing with them their values and beliefs, many of which were passed to you and your own family.

 

Since 2013, we've shared our weekly "Letter from Ireland" and it has attracted over Two Million people of Irish descent around the world. They find that our Letters, Blog posts, Videos, books and Podcasts help them to understand what life was like for their Irish Ancestors.

 

For some, this information provides a rich backdrop to help with research on Ancestry Record sites. For others, the Letter connects them with their Irish roots in a very real and visceral way.

 

Here are just some reasons why some of our readers keep coming back to "A Letter from Ireland" for more:

 

“Trace your surname, discover where your ancestors may have lived and step into this fascinating and beautiful land that we love”. Sandy Laferriere.

 

“If you have Irish blood running through your veins, or even if you are just interested in Ireland, this site is essential.” Patty McCoy.

 

“You and Carina are melding a very important aspect of Irish history and heritage to our personal genealogical endeavors. Thanks for bringing it all to life for us!” Jack Healy.

 

 

Now, I think it’s time to introduce ourselves! We are Mike and Carina Collins - a husband and wife team based in County Cork, Ireland.

 

Our Irish Heritage adventure started when we noticed many people asking questions on Facebook about Irish surnames and the homelands of their Irish Ancestors.

 

We started to answer with our local knowledge - and those answers took the form of a weekly email called “A Letter from Ireland”.

 

In each Letter, we share stories of counties, surnames and heroic Irish individuals who made new lives for themselves across the world - often in the harshest of circumstances. Sound like any of your Irish ancestors?

 

Today, we travel around Ireland - gathering stories and sharing them with you through our weekly letters, blog posts, videos and podcasts.

Would you like to see the Letter and Podcast survive and thrive for the future - and receive some personal benefits along the way?

Recent Posts

Irish ancestry case study - Module 7 of Course

Module 7: Conclusion and What to do next

In this module we wrap up the course by examining all of our discoveries so far – and then decide on next steps, further research questions and what you can do next.

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Irish land records - Module 6 of Course

Module 6: Let’s Search the Irish Land Records

In this module we continue our Irish record search strategy by examining relevant Irish Land records and correlating the information we uncover with previous discoveries for Patrick Dolphin and his family. We encourage you to replicate the searches we share in our case-study so you can use these approaches later for your own Irish ancestry research.

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Irish church records - Module 5 of Course

Module 5: Let’s Search the Irish Church Records

In this module we examine the RC Irish Church records – looking for further evidence of the origins of Patrick Dolphin and his family.

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Irish Record Sets - Module 3 of Course

Module 3: Irish Record Sets – What’s Available and Where to find them

In this module we look at the Irish record sets available and where to find them. We will pay special attention to the record sets that are easily available online.

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Irish Land Divisions - Module 2 of Course

Module 2: Irish Land Divisions – What You Need to Know before Searching the Irish Records.

In this module we look at the Irish land divisions you are likely to come across as you search the Irish records. We then illustrate how to use this information using our case-study family.

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