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
Do you know the name of your godmother or godfather? How about the names of the witnesses at your wedding (presuming you had one of course)? Now, think about who they were – they were often close relatives or friends. However, in the past life was local – and so the sponsors and witnesses that…
The 3rd of June this year is the fifth anniversary of your “Letter from Ireland”! From that very first letter back in 2013, we’ve sent a letter out each week, compiled three books of letters, started a podcast based around these letters and set up a youtube channels for videos. Phew! Thank you so much…
Have you ever wondered what life was like in Ireland at the time your ancestors lived here? Well, this week’s letter is based around just one reader’s recent letter – but towards the end I direct her towards a very unique source that tells us a lot about Irish life in the olden days through…
There was a significant event in our own family earlier this week – but before I tell more, I’d like to share the story of one man. As we tell the story of his journey through life, you may even recognise the story of one or two of your own Irish ancestors. See what you…
Did you know that “DNA Day” was celebrated earlier this week? I wonder who made that one up! To celebrate , we recorded a podcast that will come out next week – so do watch out for it. In the meantime, we thought it would be good to lay out the facts (and best guesses)…
Irish Genealogy & Family History Podcasts
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…
Join us on a Saint Patrick’s Day Parade of Story and Song. In this episode we share two stories – one all about the places in Ireland where Saint Patrick is said to have walked and the next looks at the Shamrock and the gorse, two plants associated with this time of year in Ireland.…
In this special episode of the Letter from Ireland show we start our journey in Cobh (Queenstown) in County Cork. We chat with the manager of the Cobh Heritage Centre who has his own immigration stories to tell. We then take the route across the Atlantic that our ancestors would have followed (just slightly upgraded!)…
In this week’s episode we go back in time. First we go back to a time when the first Celtic peoples arrived in Ireland – we then go back even further to look at the period when the Celts appeared on the continent of Europe for the first time. Much of this “history” is relayed…
In this week’s episode we look at the life times and legacy of three ancient Celtic saints – with lots of fine music in between. We start with a letter all about the Irish Saint Gobnait – but you may be surprised at how her name was anglicised into different versions that you may have…