Ireland Finding Town of Origin

Finding the Town of Origin
In order to research your family in their "old" country, it is essential that you have identified the place where they came from. You must know the city, town, or parish that they came from.

Important Tips
You must also know enough about the ancestor to positively identify him in the records. Dates (even if they are approximate), places, and familial connections are key to helping you decide if a person you find, who has the same name as your ancestor, really is your ancestor.


 * Do you know the name of his/her parents?
 * Do you know his/her birth, marriage, or death date or can you calculate an approximate range of years to search for his/her birth, marriage, or death?
 * Do you know the name of the spouse? Did they marry before or after coming to the United States?
 * Do you know the names of any of his/her siblings?
 * Do you know the names of any children born in before the family emigrated?

Search Home Sources
Thoroughly go over all home sources available to you, including family history papers, copies of records, pictures, old letters (i.e. with an old address), family bibles, journals/diaries, copies of vital record certificates and church records, memorabilia etc. Interview extended family and close relatives as well as former neighbors--all of which may prove very helpful in gathering as much knowledge about an ancestor as possible.
 * Collecting Previous Research by Others Part One: Home and Relative Sources
 * Gather Family Information

Emigration Questions to Ask Relatives
Find the oldest living relatives that you can and ask them:


 * 1)  What do you know about our first ancestor to immigrate? (open-ended)
 * 2)  Have you ever heard mention of towns in Italy where the family lived?
 * 3)  Do you have contact with any relatives in Italy?
 * 4)  Do you have contact with other branches of the family in other countries?
 * 5)  When _____________ came from Italy, did he travel with other family members?
 * 6)  Do you know when _________________ arrived and which port city?
 * 7)  Did _______________ever become a citizen?
 * 8)  Did_________________fight in World War I or II?
 * 9)  When they first came, were there already family members here who they joined?
 * 10)  Did_______________ever mention their parents in Italy?
 * 11)  Were they Catholic?
 * 12)  Do you have any old letters or postcards from Italy family?
 * 13)  Do you have any pictures of family members in Italy?

Search Genealogies Compiled by Others

 * Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Two: Online Family Tree Collections
 * Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Three: Digitized Books
 * Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Four: FamilySearch Wiki Tools

Make Sure You Found the Correct Entry for Your Ancestor

 * Make sure the person you found in Italian records left Italy. Look for them in marriage and death records of the same vicinity. See whether they have children a generation later in the vicinity. These things prove they remained in Italy and would rule them out as your ancestor.
 * Match any other relationships. If you already know the parents' names, spouse's name, and/or siblings' names, make sure they match the parents' names, spouse's name, and/or siblings' names of the person you are considering in the Italian records. The parents and grandparents will usually be listed in birth records found in church records or civil records. Search for siblings' birth records and any marriage before leaving Italy in the same index.
 * Study all available entries for that name born at the same approximate time, not just the first possible match you see.
 * Consider the coverage of the database you are using. Does it cover all of Italy? Or could there be many other records not covered that could hold your ancestor's record. For example, if the database is for just one province, there are 110 other provinces which could have your ancestor's record.
 * Make sure the details you have learned about the person after they immigrate have no discrepancies with the person you found in Italian records.

Italy Records Databases to Try

 * Italy Guided Research
 * Italy Civil Registration, government birth, marriage, and death records are available online for many provinces from the early 1800s to the early or mid-1900s. These records can name grandparents in addition to parents, and towns for residence and/or birth for both.
 * There are several Italy Church Records online.
 * See Italy Emigration and Immigration for records of Italians immigrating, including some online digitized records and indexes.
 * See Italy Online Genealogy Records for other databases that might hold clues.

Records of the Country of Destination

 * Church Records: If your ancestor immigrated to a European or a South American/Hispanic country, church records can be detailed enough to identify a former residence or birthplace in the home country. These countries, unlike the United States, had state churches. In many countries, these state churches were used by the country to keep birth, marriage, and death records. Even though your ancestor was born in his former country, he may have married, and certainly died in his new country. Marriage and death records can state birthplace.
 * Civil Registration: Eventually, most governments began keeping birth, marriage, and death records. These tend to be quite detailed. Again, if your ancestor was possibly married and certainly died in their new country, those records can state birthplace.
 * Citizenship Records: If your ancestor became a full citizen, those records probably name birthplace and former residence.
 * Online Genealogy Records: See Online Genealogy Records by Location and find the online genealogy record page for your country to see other indexed collections that can be consulted.

Records to Search Created in the United States

 * U. S. Immigration Records: Finding the Town of Origin

Where Did My Ancestors Come From?
Are you looking for an ancestor who came from Ireland? Do you know a specific place, or only a county? Many people have information that one or more of their ancestors came from Ireland but they don't know where. Start with step 1. Click on a locality to learn more.

Step 1: Search records in the country where your ancestors settled
Here are reasons why you should search records in the country where your ancestors settled:


 * There are 32 counties and more than a thousand parishes in Ireland. It is possible to find dozens of people by the same name and in the same time period as your ancestor. Which one will you choose?
 * Country-wide vital records of the population of Ireland were not kept for the whole population until 1864. If you are looking for an ancestor before then, you may need to use surname distribution tools to narrow your search down to a specific county and parish. An online surname county distribution tool is available at John Grenham's Irish Ancestors

Records in the country to where your ancestors immigrated can provide clues about where they lived in Ireland. To learn about these records, click on a country where they settled.

Post-1864
A good place to start searching in Ireland when your immigrant ancestor was born or married after 1864 is to search the index to Ireland's civil registration records for births, marriages and deaths. The index is found at FamilySearch.

In 1864, Ireland began statutory registration of births, marriages and deaths throughout the whole country. Important data content of these civil records can be critical for proving genealogical connections in Ireland--when surnames are less unique or uncommon. Parents names (including mother's maiden), place of event, witnesses, informant name and relationship, age or date of event, signature, address at time of event, and occupations are usually given. For example, searching for an ancestor with a unique surname in the deaths index for those born prior to 1864, may provide you with possible clues to the next-generation name[s] of parent[s].

For those ancestors with common surnames, it still will require diligent searches, usually in the records of the country of settlement to help you determine a precise place or, at least the county of your immigrant's Ireland origins.

For those whose ancestors were not Roman Catholic, Protestant marriages began in the year 1845. All Civil Registration continues up to the present.


 * Republic of Ireland availability: 1845 (marriages); 1864 (births and deaths) to present


 * Northern Ireland availability: 1922 to present

Sometimes it is possible to guess where an immigrant originated through surname distribution maps.

Pre-1864
Before 1864, few Irish records index the entire population. Here are some records that are indexed.


 * Griffith's Valuation, 1848-1864
 * Tithe Applotment records, 1825-1835
 * Registry of Deeds, 1708-present

Immigration into Ireland
Immigrants to Ireland came primarily from elsewhere within the British Isles or from continental Europe by way of England. Specific groups of immigrants included refugees from various wars (such as the French Revolution), Huguenots, Germans, and Jews. Ireland kept no official immigration records, so you must rely primarily on (1) English records of immigrants who passed through England on their way to Ireland and (2) emigration records of the country from which your ancestor moved.

No consistent records of arrivals into the United Kingdom were kept until 1836. Beginning in 1836, certificates of entering aliens were kept. These are arranged by port. They provide name, nationality, profession, date of arrival, country last visited, and the signature of the alien. The Public Records Office, Kew has an alphabetical index to these certificates.

Beginning in 1878, passenger lists were kept of those entering the United Kingdom (see "British Records of Irish Emigration" in this section). Passenger lists no longer exist for the years between 1878 and 1883. Records surviving from 1883 to 1891 are for the Irish ports of Cork (Queenstown), Londonderry, and Belfast. After 1891 the records are more complete. However, passengers from Europe or the Mediterranean are rarely listed. These passenger lists are arranged by port and are kept at the Public Record Office, Kew.

One good, though limited, source of information on British immigrants, especially for before 1836, is naturalization and denization records. Other sources of information on people entering Ireland include court records, state papers, and plantation and settlement records.