This post looks at 26 of the best genealogy books for British and Irish research. Everything you need to know about researching your ancestors from these countries is covered in these books. There are books here for the beginner as well as the seasoned researcher.
Great Britain
Genealogy: Essential Research Methods
The author, Helen Osborne, is a professional genealogist and through examples from her own work, she shows you how professionals get results. She also demonstrates how to build research plans, find the right documents, record and organize your results and present your findings. Although the focus is on England and Wales, the lessons learnt from this book can be applied anywhere.
Tracing Your British and Irish Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians
Focusing on British as well as Irish ancestry, Jonathan Scott describes the key stages of research. The principal sources are looked at and there are tips on how to get the best out of them.
Britain: A Genetic Journey
DNA testing has recently become a powerful tool for genealogy research. Using new research, which included the largest ever sampling of DNA in Britain, Alistair Moffat shows how everyone in the British Isles is descended from immigrants.
Great British Family Names and Their History: What’s in a Name?
This book, by John Moss, looks at several hundred family names and delves into their beginnings and derivations. It makes use of old sources, such as the Domesday Book and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.
Tracing your Pre-Victorian Ancestors
It is usually relatively easy to trace your ancestors back to the start of civil registration in the early 19th Century through censuses and vital records. But, unless your family was wealthy or aristocratic, it is much more difficult to get back any further. This book, with a focus on Great Britain, gives practical steps on how to research and make best use of the records that are available before civil registration.
Scottish Genealogy Fourth Edition
Bruce Durie is a leading academic and writer on Scottish genealogy. A new fourth edition of his popular work is now available. He shows in detail how you can make the most of the rich resources available in Scotland. This is a must have book for anyone serious about Scottish genealogy.
Tracing your Rural Ancestors
Most people with British ancestry will have rural ancestors, often agricultural laborers. This guide for family historians by Jonathan Brown looks at our ancestors rural life, work and society. It looks at sources from the middle ages up to the twentieth century.
Tracing your Scottish Ancestors
The author, Ian Maxwell, has split the book into two; the first half is a great overview of the social history of Scotland. This is really useful to read before delving into the main record sets of Scottish genealogy in the second half.
Tracing your Scottish Ancestors: The Official Guide
This book has been produced by the National Records of Scotland and is really a detailed companion guide to Scotland’s People and will help you get the most from the website.
Tracing your Glasgow Ancestors
Glasgow grew rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries to become the largest city in Scotland and a powerhouse of the British Empire. Ian Maxwell looks at the history of the city as well as describing the rich sources of records available for research.
Tracing your Welsh Ancestors
Beryl Evans’ book is a basic text for researchers of Welsh descent. Most of the book looks at the variety of sources available – the archive repositories, including The National Library of Wales, civil records of all kinds, the census, parish registers, wills, the records of churches, chapels, schools, businesses, tax offices and courts, and the wide range of printed records.
In Search of Your British & Irish Roots A Complete Guide
This book is a bit out of date, but is a useful instruction manual for locating records in Britain and Ireland. It describes how best to contact Family History Societies and archives to help you with your research.
How to Trace Your Family Tree in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales
This book covers not only Ireland but also England Wales and Scotland.
Tracing your Ancestors’ Childhood
Sue Wilkes explores the history of childhood and education and looks at relevant records and archives. She describes childhood experiences at home, school, work and in institutions, with a focus on the Victorian era.
Tracing Your British Indian Ancestors
In this book, Emma Jolly looks at British Indian history and at all the relevant resources for genealogy research. She explains the information held in the British Library, the India Office Records and The National Archives. Also covered are the records of the armed forces, the civil service and the railways, as well as religious and probate records, and the other sources available.
Finding Answers In British Isles Census Records
This is a deep dive into the British census since 1821. There is an overview of the history of the census as well tips for getting the most out of these valuable records.
Tracing your Police Ancestors
If you have ancestors who were in the British police service then you should find this book useful. Stephen Wade explains and describes the various archives and records and provides a discussion of other sources.
Tracing your Textile Ancestors
Many of us have ancestors who worked in the textile mills. This book describes the history of this industry in the 18th and 19th centuries as well as looking at its decline in the 20th century. The author then looks at the variety of records available for research.
Ireland
Tracing your Irish Ancestors
If you only buy one Irish genealogy book, this is the one I would recommend. It is really three books in one. Firstly it is a directory of the records available for Irish research; secondly it’s a guide that takes you though the different types of records and shows you how to make the most of them; and finally it’s an Irish Catholic Parish directory (with maps) showing what records survive by year and where they can be accessed.
Your Irish Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians
Although originally published in 2008 (this is a 2014 reprint), I would still recommend it as more than half of it is devoted to a social history of Ireland which helps put Irish genealogy research into context.
The Family Tree Irish Genealogy Guide
Claire Santry is a respected journalist and writes the popular Irish Genealogy News blog. This book takes you through the resources available online for Irish research as well as giving you tips on finding records that can help you. There is also background on Irish history, geography and administrative divisions. It also includes case studies.
A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland
Brian Mitchell’s atlas was first published in 1986 and this is the 2nd edition. It contains maps for all of the 32 counties in the Republic of Ireland as well the 9 in Northern Ireland. There are at least four maps for every county:
- Civil and Church of Ireland parishes
- The baronies and Church of Ireland dioceses
- Poor law unions and the parishes included within the probate districts of the county
- Roman Catholic parishes and dioceses
- Presbyterian congregations for the nine Northern Ireland counties
Tracing your Irish Family History on the Internet
Chris Paton is well known in the UK as a writer of genealogy books, magazine articles and his popular Genes Blog. This book is an extensive look at many of the resources that are now available online both in the North and South of Ireland. It is an essential introduction and reference source for Irish genealogical research.
Tracing Your Northern Irish Ancestors
This is another book from Ian Maxwell. This time the focus is on Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom after the Republic of Ireland gained independence in 1922. The book explains the difficulties of research in Ireland as well as describing the records available in the North and how to access them.
For more genealogy books see the Resources section.
Happy researching!
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