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
When I am travelling in Ireland and someone asks me – “Where are you from?” – the answer is usually expected to be the county where you live. It’s only when I travel abroad that I start to think of myself as an “Irish man” as opposed to a “Cork man”. Do you have a similar experience?
Many readers often ask about the origin of an Irish first name in their family tree. Sometimes, it’s an unlikely Irish name such as “Jeremiah” – or sometimes a rare name such as “Gobnait”. It’s no secret that many of our shared Irish roman catholic ancestors borrowed names from the saints and angels of the…
When we lived in England during the 1990s, a phrase that I heard many times was “teaching granny to suck eggs”. Maybe you have heard it in your family? It was used in a context of not wanting to insult another person by stating what should be common sense already e.g. standing in front of…
Carina here – a bit of a change from Mike. I came downstairs earlier and pulled Mike off the keyboard to sent him back to bed – still stressing about “never missing a Letter from Ireland yet”. So I said, don’t worry, I’ll do it instead.At this stage I read the Letter from Ireland each…
Don’t you just love that word – “Diaspora”? Apparently, it comes from the Greek word for “scattering”. The reason I bring this up today is because Ireland appointed it’s first “Minister for the Diaspora”. I first remember the word being used in the context of an “Irish Diaspora” when President Mary Robinson used to light a candle of…
Irish Genealogy & Family History Podcasts
In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Podcast show, we travel to the city of Glasgow in Scotland to meet two proud Glasgow natives of Irish ancestry. Come with us as we get a unique perspective on this city that saw the arrival of so many Irish immigrants from the 1800s onwards.
As we reach the end of series 4 of the Letter from Ireland Podcast show, we’d thought we would share just 7 of our favourite moments. It was a tough choice and we hope you enjoy them!
Do you wonder what it takes to really get your Irish Family History research REALLY humming? We interviewed Irish-based genealogist – Jayne McGarvey – and asked her to share 3 signs that you are making progress as an Irish ancestry researcher.
Would you like to take a trip with us from Queenstown to Ellis Island? Join us on a journey as we first travel to Queenstown (Cobh) in County Cork before touring around Ellis Island in the USA – meeting some very interesting people along the way!
Do you need help figuring out HOW to trace your Irish ancestry back to Ireland? Well, we talk to an American Genealogist to get some hints and tips.