Irish Genealogy & Family History Resources
Are you interested in discovering more on your Irish family history? In this section, I have included letters (and podcasts) that include stories, explanations and approaches to help you investigate your own Irish family history. You may even receive a little inspiration to break down one or two family history brick walls!
Browse the features listed on this page and jump to one that interests you, or enter a placename, surname or other item in the search box below to see related letters and podcasts.
Irish Genealogy & Family History Letters
Céad Míle Fáilte – and welcome to your Letter from Ireland for this week. I hope you are keeping well? I hear that many of our friends on the east coast of America are experiencing powerful snowstorms at the moment – I hope you are keeping safe and warm if you are being affected. And then…
Their letter contained many fascinating ancestral anecdotes, but one in particular caught my eye – it was a story about their ancestor, Helen Reynolds. You see, that surname suggests that she may have been a direct descendant of a very particular “strong woman” of ancient Ireland. Queen Maedbh of Connaught. In last week’s letter, I…
In times gone by, the first weekend in August was the start of the “builder’s holiday”. Our own family used to all pile into the car on the Friday night and head off to the wilds of Ballydehob in West Cork for a fortnight of laying about and not doing much at all. We really…
Today, we are going to have a “wander” around the place – covering two significant birthdays, one here in Ireland and one in France. Then, we’ll head over to Scotland for a reel or two. Finally, we’ll hear from a reader who ties a lot of these items together. Very international, I’ll have you know…
2.1 Million Australian citizens who identified themselves as being of Irish ancestry in the 2011 census. When I hear from our Australian readers, there is often at least one story of “transportation to a penal colony” in their ancestry.
Irish Genealogy & Family History Podcasts
In this special Irish family history episode we take two letters from our Green Room members. We chat about the approach they should take to uncover more about their respective Irish ancestral homelands.
On our latest episode, join us on an Irish genealogy trip as we embark with Boston-native Cathy Abraham back to County Cork. Unraveling the romantic tale of her great-grandparents’ elopement to America, we uncover hidden truths and visit ancestral lands connected to the O’Callaghan and Richardson families. Prepare for some fascinating discoveries!
In this episode, we look at a very difficult time in Ireland – one that triggered a time of death across the population of the island as well as emigration for many generations afterwards.
In this episode we look at two different styles of story-telling. First, Carina reads out “Which County did your Irish Ancestor Come from?”. In the second feature we ask an Irish Poet/Bard to look at the family history of one of our Green Room members and then to put the entire saga into verse.
In a follow-up to our recent episode about traveling from Cobh to Ellis Island – we head back to the Cobh Heritage Centre in County Cork and hear 7 stories of emigration from this very spot to many places around the world. Many thanks to Jack Walsh and all the team at the Cobh Heritage…