Irish Genealogy is genealogy. The same principles of good genealogical research that guide all genealogy research guide Irish research.

Begin with yourself and work from the present to the past.

• As a good first exercise, gather all of the records and sources that serve to document your life.
  • Sources may be the obvious such as birth or marriage records, but they may also include pictures, yearbooks, letters, newspaper articles, and even souvenirs pointing to a trip or former residence.
  • Next, record and document the lives of your parents and siblings. (Note names, dates, places, and people’s relationships).
  • Then move on to recording what you know about other ancestors and relatives even if you can not document this information right now.
• Look for records about what you know but cannot yet prove. This is where the research gets more interesting.
  • Questions to ask:
    • What source or record would give information about the “fact” about the person or event in their life? Would it be a civil or church record? Would it be an obituary, a tombstone, a will, a family bible, a picture or even information supplied by a relative?
    • Where would you be able to find that record? Would it be at home, at a relative’s home, at a church, at a cemetery, at the county courthouse, or at a library or archive?
    • How do you get this information from its repository? Do you call, write, visit or have someone get it for you? Can you rent films from the Family History Library or get books or films through interlibrary loan?
• Move on up your ancestral line – generation by generation.
  • Start with the oldest ancestor that you are certain about and have sources that, taken together, establish the relationship between that person and you.
  • Next look for that person’s parents, spouse(s), siblings and all children.
  • Look for records that support that person’s relationship to you through your most recent proven ancestor.

Keep records of your search and organize your results.

• Document all your findings:
  • Write the source citation on every note you make and copy of a record you keep.
  • Cite every fact that is not commonly known as to where you got the information. Do this on you r charts and writings.
  • Purchase a copy of Elizabeth Shown Mill’s Evidence Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian.
• Fill out the basic genealogy charts with the information you have gathered.
  • Pedigree charts. These show your ancestors and the key events of birth, marriage and death.
  • Family Groups sheets: These show each couple and their children. Set up one per couple such that if a person had children by more than one spouse they would be shown as parent on a sheet with each spouse.
  • Research Logs: These show in abbreviated form what records you have searched, what you looked for and what you found.
  • Correspondence Logs: This record notes who you wrote to, what you asked about, and what sort of response you got.
• Set up a filing system.
  • Keep all you notes and copies of records in a way that enables you to find things easily.
  • Review at least one of the several good books about organizing genealogical research material.

Share your results with others.

• Write up your findings. Go beyond the charts and write about the lives of your ancestors. Look for more about them than just their birth, marriage and death. Use your research to create a biography that tells about their lives and the times they lived through and places where they spent their lives.
• Cite every fact as to where you found the information.
• Explain how you have dealt with conflicting information and why you came to your conclusions.
• Share this with relatives - it may inspire them to help or to share more of what they know. It gives a purpose to all of your research efforts.

Continue to learn.

• Read: At least one good basic genealogy book, books about Irish genealogy in particular, books about different types of records, genealogy research journals and magazines, Internet sites that cover genealogy research principles, Irish genealogy in particular and your ancestors’ place of origin in Ireland.
• Attend: Genealogy society meetings, workshops, national conferences and genealogy institutes.
• Join: Your local genealogy society and the Irish Genealogical Society International.
• Help: Volunteer to help your genealogy society and your local genealogy or historical society or archive.
• Just do it: The best way to learn how to do genealogical research is to do it. This is the only way to get results. So – get going.