A Guide
to Irish
Genealogical
Resources on the Web


Genealogical Research Tips
   

  • Before you begin your research, find out as much information as you can about your Irish-born ancestors using:

    1. Living relatives - question them about your family history, take notes or tape record your conversations
    2. Family documents

      1. Birth, death, or marriage certificates
      2. Old photographs, especially captions
      3. Letters

    3. Your local library and state archives

    Searching Hints

    1. Be as specific as possible, while realizing that most small parishes probably won't be on the Internet

      • For example, if you think your family is from the parish of Kilshannig in Mallow, County, Cork, try searching with the terms "Mallow AND Cork" first, then try "Kilshannig"

    2. Keep a record of the sites you visit - use the bookmark feature in your browser
    3. Visit the links on the list I've compiled
    4. Join email lists, such as the lists on Rootsweb, which are organized by family name. Who knows - you may begin communicating with a cousin!
    5. Visit Ireland, and go to the parish where you believe your family belonged. On my first visit to County Westmeath, I obtained a certified birth record from the priest of my family's parish within one hour. All it took was one phone call.
    6. Realize that your name may have been spelled differently in Ireland before your family left. For example, one branch of my family 1st spelled their name Heavin, then changed it to Havens when they settled in New Haven County, Connecticut.

  • Publishing Your Research

    1. Free sites where you can publish your family tree

      1. Family Treemaker.com User Home Pages
      2. Ultimate Family Tree Family Web Pages
      3. Tripod

        4. References for website building help
      4. www.tucows.com: contains programs for downloading and design tips
      5. HTML goodies: a wonderful resource for website building
      6. Webmonkey: HTML tutorials

    2. Understand the concepts of Copyright and Fair Use visit these sites at the Library of Congress

      1. "Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work."
        Copyright Basics, Circular 1, United States Copyright Office http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ1.html
      2. "The fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies..., for purposes such as critcism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."
        Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians, Circular 21, United States Copyright Office
        http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ21.pdf

    3. Always ask permission before publishing the work of others
    4. For reasons of privacy, take care when publishing any details about living persons

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