GENUKI

What It Is
GENUKI is an acronym for "Genealogy for the United Kingdom and Ireland," and it is one of the premier websites for the purpose stated by its name.

GENUKI is a directory website--it directs you to other websites through links. For that reason, its use is totally free--though it may link you to websites which require payment. GENUKI was created and is maintained by volunteers and it is not to be used for commercial purposes.

How It Is Organized
GENUKI is arranged by locality and by topic--the same as the Family History Library Catalog.


 * There are topics for the United Kingdom and Ireland as a whole, which are thus general in nature.
 * There are topics for each country in the United Kingdom and Ireland (with no division between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), which include information pertaining to a country as a whole.
 * There are topics for each county in each country, which include information specific to that county.
 * There are topics for some parishes in counties, which include information specific to that parish.

Thus, if you are interested in a particular type of record for a given place, it is a good idea to look at the topic pages for that topic at several different levels. For example, if interested in Church Records for the parish of Jarrow in Durham, you would look at the topic Church Records for the parish of Jarrow, the Church Records topic for the county of Durham, and possibly even the Church Records topic for England.

There are also informational topics such as:


 * Guidance for first-time users
 * Getting started in genealogy
 * Researching UK and Irish genealogy from abroad
 * F requently A sked Q uestion S (and the answers according to GENUKI)
 * Upcoming UK and Ireland genealogical events
 * Guidance for potential contributors to GENUKI

How to Use GENUKI
Go to www.GENUKI.org.uk. On the main page, you can click on one of the informational topics, or you can enter the collection. You enter the collection by clicking on either:


 * 'United Kingdom &amp; Ireland' in the upper left-hand corner of the page,
 * the large GENUKI icon in the center of the page,
 * or 'Enter this large collection...' found in the top part of the yellow panel located under the icon.

When you enter the collection, the next page gives you information about the United Kingdom and Ireland and shows a map with links to the various countries. You can click on the links or on the map.

On the top of this page is a link to 'Information related to all of the United Kingdom and Ireland.' Clicking on th is link takes you...


 * ...down below the map to the general topics for the UK and Ireland. Clicking on one of these topic links takes you...
 * ...further down the page to that topic.
 * Under each t  opic are links to other GENUKI pages or websites of interest.

Country Pages
When you click on a country name or map link, you are taken to the GENUKI page for that country. The page includes:


 * A list of counties in the country, with links to their pages.
 * Information Related to All of [Country], with topics and links. Click on a topic link and you are taken further down the page to that topic.
 * Under each topic are links to other GENUKI pages or websites of interest for that topic.

County Pages
A county page includes the following:


 * Historical information about the county.
 * A list of topics for information related to that county, with links.
 * Under each topic are links to other GENUKI pages or websites of interest for that topic.
 * At both the top and bottom of a county page are links that will take you to a list of towns and parishes in that county.

Town or Parish Pages
Clicking on the link for the towns or parishes within a county takes you to a list of said towns and parishes. Click on the name of a town or parish and you will be taken to another page which may contain:


 * Historical information about the town or parish.
 * A list of topics specific for that town or parish, with links.
 * Under each topic are links to other GENUKI pages or websites of interest for that town or parish.
 * At the top of the page is a link to 'Neary Places' which takes you to a searchable database that allows you to do a radius search for places near your town or parish of interest.

GENUKI is regularly updated. It is a great tool for finding information to help you with your family history research.