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

How An Irish Name Becomes an English Name

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…

O'Mahony shop front

Using a Simple Irish Ancestry Timeline

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…

Did Many of Your Ancestors STAY in Ireland?

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…

Emigration from Ireland

The Irish Ancestry Trail

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 Road with placenames in west Cork

Irish Placenames – An Overview

Just this week, I received a request from Helen Wyse (always listen to someone with Wyse as a surname!). Helen said: I am very curious about the naming conventions used for townlands, baronies, villages etc. which seem to repeated over and over again.  So many places are prefixed or suffixed in such a way that it…

Irish Genealogy & Family History Podcasts

An Irish American Story – From County Kerry to Illinois (#306)

In this episode of the Letter from Ireland Show we follow the trail of one Irish Emigrant family all the way from County Kerry to Chicago and Illinois in the USA. Join us as we start in the family homestead just outside Listowel in County Kerry.

From the Mouths of Babes – A Wonderful Irish Ancestry Resource (#304)

There is a wonderful Irish Ancestry Resource that many of us overlook when we are “scouring” the records for the smallest hint or connection. It also has the benefit of being very entertaining. See if you have used this resource in the past – or plan to in the future!

A letter from Ireland podcast

Voices from Australia – A Trip Along the Irish Ancestral Trail (#212)

Would you like to hear some Irish Voices from Australia? Last March we headed to Australia on the Irish Ancestry Trail – and this podcast features just some of the people we met along the way.

DNA Testing – Our Experiences with Irish Ancestry DNA (#209)

What have your experiences with DNA testing for Irish Family History been like? Successful? Frustrating? Or somewhere in between? In this episode of the Letter from Ireland show, we share our own recent experiences.

One Listener’s Story – A Letter from Australia to Ireland (#208)

So many people left Ireland for Australia in the early to late 1800s. Some were sent for “seven long years transportation” while others went of their own accord to seek a better life. Here we have just one story connecting so many threads between Australia and a County in Ireland.