Sources and Records This installment of our family history and genealogy recommendations and referrals, takes you into the first and essential document records research materials. These may be found as you gather clues from all your known relatives, including all those with a common ancestor, or from public records and archival materials, representing the paper trail of your family's life and journeys. Remember to always include the eldest members of your extended family in your heritage project goals and research analysis. We did an interview poll of professional family history researchers based in Ireland, and found the following rank, of the top ten places to seek for clues regarding a place of origin in Ireland. Surprisingly, the time tested standard references were at the top and throughout the lists. Suggesting that if you are methodical in your approach, checklist your search options, and stick to the most obvious avenues first, you may have the best opportunity for success in discovery. Heading the list were the census, and vital records. If you are still searching backwards to your American immigrants from Ireland, you have a wealth of census years to browse and search through. You can follow the path and progression, and family growth, over every ten years from 1940 to 1850. Further lists are available from 1840 to 1790, though with less specific details. So particularly if your people came from Ireland during this period, you have a pretty good resource from these preserved Federal records. The type of information available on the census varies by year. State sponsored census are sometimes also available in the middle five year increments. Other jurisdictions might include city tax rolls, city directories, school yearbooks, voters lists, and appraisal records. Typical information found in the census provides: current place of residence, age, year and sometimes month of birth, marriage status and family, sometimes including duration, place of birth, and often of parents as well, occupation, economic status, and in the a couple years the date of arrival and naturalization. These can be significant in observing a family, to gage the community, and finding others nearby who might be from the same origins or migration group. Census are great, however, the origin may simply say "Ireland". But don't give up on number one. Willie O’Kane, with the Research Department at www.irish-world.com, reminds us to explore any written records from forebearers. "Locating a parish, town-land or village is a key part of the search and if you are able to do so, this is a great advance." Vital records, are an extension of the birth, marriage, and death information, and can be found with excellent particulars in civil registrations, church books and parish registers, family heirlooms or bibles, cemetery records, gravestone memorial markers, and obituaries. These documents, or indexes of the same, often show the parents names, places of residence, specific date of birth death or marriage, relatives or associations, and in some cases more detailed history. Information on vital or identifying dates, might also include Administration Wills, Probate, funeral cards or mass memorials, funeral home and burial records, social security or insurance beneficiary records, hospital or doctor records if available, anniversary announcements, school or orphanage records, marriage Banns publications marriage Bonds or parish news, birthday and christening baptismal or birth notices. Nick Barratt, a lead researcher from the BBC’s “Who do you think you are” series, emphasizes that it is of primary importance to "Look at any certificates for a parish of birth / marriage / death." Next of significance are ship arrival and naturalization records. Ellis Island has an extensive digitization of their port of entry papers. Earlier arrivals may be listed in extract indexes like Philbys, Irish to America, or other print and online compilations. More recent Irish might have had registration with cultural societies or acclimation groups, such as Chicago Irish Immigrant Support, the Irish American Heritage Center, or Gaelic Park.Those from Ireland seeking US Citizenship should have on file their Declaration of Intent, and/or Final Naturalization. These are maintained by regional archives like the National Records Administration on South Pulaski in Chicago, which serves the Great Lakes including Ohio, or through other regional depositories or the court of record where they lived. Military service and pensions forms are often treasure troves of personal history information. Helen Kelly, genealogist at www.helenkelly.com in Dublin, says that "army papers are probably the best sources to provide such information." They regularly include detailed identifiers, armed forces involvement chronologies, medical conditions, financial, family relationships and residence changes. Feargal O'Donnell of www.genealogyireland.ie echoes the importance of this list "and if these are unsuccessful you should try for any siblings in the above sources." Other family members should also be traced and compared, because documentation is not always consistent in the extent of information within, and any one of which might have the detailed identifier you are looking for in regards to Ireland or other specifics. Remember, one of the important reasons for obtaining as many of the above references as possible, is to clearly delineate your particular persons from anyone else with the same name, especially if it is a common name. The more information you can use and compare will help you find and pinpoint your certain Ireland Ancestors. The final four suggestions take us closer to the fringes of Ireland research. Again, it is always recommended to be as thorough as possible here in the States first, but eventually you will start to get glimpses of your homeland. What if my ancestor was so poor I don't think they left any records? Steven C. Smyrl, President of the Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland, assures us that "Even in Ireland that’s not really possible." What were the naming patterns and religion of your people, their social status, their regional accent or language, trade occupation or business, where was the name most common in Ireland, who may have traveled with the migrant, where were they from, what neighbors or family members may have had more background known about them, did they patronize certain charities or social societies back home or geographic origin institutions? Eileen M. Ó Dúill, genealogist at www.heirsireland.com adds that "It depends on when they left Ireland and how much information is available about the ancestor's parents and county of origin which will allow research in records in Ireland." The more "kith and kin" you have gathered, you can start to triangulate, and follow other parallel trails that might be stronger than your particular person alone. You will start to see familiar names in Ireland records covering the same aspects and perspectives in similar documents as those above. And you will be in a better position to recognize the specific identities of those same people, in a definite place, at the right time. The residual benefit of all this knowledge will also give you a much more heartfelt picture of the lives, struggles, and strengths of your predecessors pursuits, affiliations, and biography. Next time we will look at some of those important Ireland resources. =welcome>about>help>back(to"help")>NEXT: here

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