A few years ago, it was very difficult to find online resources to research your Irish ancestry. Thankfully, the situation now is completely different and there a wealth of information to discover. The good news is that much of this is free; if you know where to look. Here’s a roundup of over 125 free Irish genealogy online resources.
Birth, Marriage and Death Records
Civil registration began in 1845 for non-Catholic marriages and from 1864 for all births, marriages and deaths. Currently records are available free online (see below) for births 1864 – 1921, marriages 1845 – 1946 (to 1922 in Northern Ireland) and deaths 1871 – 1971 (to 1922 in Northern Ireland). Before civil BMDs, churches kept the records. See below for links to many free surviving church resources.
Burials and Rolls of Honour
Here are links to free resources for burial records and gravestone transcriptions as well as Rolls of Honour for fallen soldiers and seaman.
| Click on the link below to go to the resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| Find A Grave Cemeteries in Ireland | |
| From Ireland Irish Gravestone Records | |
| Gravestone photos from various Irish graveyards | |
| Interment Irish Cemetery Records | |
| Death Records for Ireland on Ancestors At Rest | |
| Partial Transcriptions from the old cemetery in Rosscarbery town | |
| Commonwealth war graves commission | Many Irish served in the British Army in WW1 and before |
| Irish Rolls of Honour | |
| Presbyterian Church in Ireland Roll of Honour 1914-1919 | |
| Presbyterian Church in Ireland Roll of Honour 1939-1945 | |
| Soldiers Died in the Great War |
Wills
Most Wills were lost in the 1922 fire at the Dublin record office. However, a few survive as do the indexes which can still provide some useful information. Here are links to most of these indexes.
Censuses and Substitutes
Only the 20th century censuses survive in their entirety (apart from the 1925 census in Northern Ireland). Currently only the 1901 and 1911 returns have been released. These are available to access for free (see below), along with the few surviving fragments of 19th century censuses. There are also links below to free records that can be used as census substitutes.
Directories
Directories can be very valuable, especially if your ancestor was a small businessman or tradesman. Here are some links to free directories and transcriptions.
Land and Property
With the loss of so many resources (especially after the 1922 Dublin fire), property records are often the only ones that our ancestors appear on. One of the most useful is the mid 19th century all Ireland Griffith Valuation (below) as this shows landlords as well as tenants. Other useful free resources are also linked.
| Click on the link below to go to the resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| Registry of Deeds Index Project Ireland | Index to collection on Family Search |
| Tithe Applotment Books 1823 – 1837 | |
| Northern Ireland Tithe Applotment Books 1823-1837 | Select Browse and type FIN/5/A |
| Rosscarbery Tithe Applotment Index 1830 | |
| Tithe Defaulter Schedules for Cork 1831 | |
| Valuation Office books 1824-1856 | |
| Griffith’s Valuation | See also Griffith’s Valuation: A Free Irish Genealogy Gem |
| Northern Ireland Valuation Revision Books |
Maps and Places
Here are links to free maps and lists of townlands and parishes etc.
Crime and Punishment
Unfortunately, extreme poverty in Ireland often forced people into crime. Here are a couple of useful free resources.
| Click on the link below to go to the resource |
|---|
| Ireland, Prison Registers, 1798-1928 |
| Ireland-Australia transportation database |
Military
All of Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom until 1922 and many Irishmen served in the British army or navy. Here are links to free resources to help you find your military ancestors.
Emigration
Famine, poverty and land clearances all forced millions of Irish to emigrate to the US and other countries. Here are some links to free emigration resources.
| Click on the link below to go to the resource |
|---|
| Immigrant Ships |
| Irish Emigration Database |
| Passenger Lists |
| Ship Passenger Lists |
Books and Newspapers
Links to free books, publications and newspapers.
| Click on the link below to go to the resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| An tÓglach Magazine | Successor to The Irish Volunteer (below) |
| Belfast Gazette from 1922 | See also An Amazing Free British Genealogy Resource: The Gazette |
| Book Transcripts | |
| Irish Manuscripts Commission Digital Editions | Many useful books for Irish genealogy |
| The Irish Volunteer | |
| Ulster-Scotts Community Network Free Publications | Free publications on Ulster’s history |
Information and Learning
Useful resources for learning about Irish genealogy and where to find records. As well as those listed below, I recommend John Grenham’s Irish Ancestors website. It’s not completely free, although the site contains a lot that is, especially the Browse section. For more, see How to use John Grenham’s Irish Ancestors Website
| Click on the link below to go to the resource |
|---|
| Irish Genealogy Information leaflets |
| Irish Genealogy Toolkit |
| Our Irish Heritage |
| PRONI Resources and learning |
Other Useful Resources
Here are some other useful resources.
I’ve included the PRONI catalogue (below) as it’s always worth checking, even if you can’t visit Belfast. You might discover a record is actually online or there is a transcription available.
For more free resources see the Free Genealogy page
Happy researching!
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