Don't wait until it's too late to ask your older relatives and friends about family history!

Irish Heritage News recently published an exhaustive list of questions, intended for chatting with people of Irish descent. However the guidance applies to anyone attempting to record oral heritage -- "the stories, memories, traditions and beliefs passed down through generations."

Probing questions in more than 20 categories will help you plan an interview that starts with informal, non-threatening inquiries and gradually moves to deeper discussions.

Here are a few of the topics:

• Ancestry and family origins
• Our family and the local area
• Daily life, including school and work
• Marriage and parenthood
• Technology and modern conveniences
• Health and medicine
• Religious practices
• Traditions and customs
• Fun and recreation
• Weather events
• The Famine, the troubles, and Irish independence
• Migration
• Irish identity
• Other personal memories

Read more about structuring these important conversations here.