Genealogy in Ireland

One of my chief passions in life is helping people to trace their Irish roots. Genealogy in Ireland is somewhat different from that practised in many other countries due to the destruction of the Irish Public Record Office in 1922. In this fire all census records dating to before 1901, most wills from before 1858, and many church records, particularly those of the Church of Ireland (Anglican) were destroyed. Many records survived this destruction however, due to their not being held by the PRO, in particular Roman Catholic church records and those of the Civil Registration. Much of the lost material was also copied before the fire, and these may be consulted. Estate and land records also remain intact, and can be a valuable source of genealogical information. While much genealogical material has been made available online in recent years there remains significant sources which can only be consulted personally.

Irish Family History Research Service

What I offer is a professional and efficient family history research service. There is no charge for an assessment. In this you tell me what you already know and then what your research goals are. There is an assessment form available. Once it becomes clear that progress can be made I estimate the time involved and quote a research fee. Where there is much to do the research can be broken down into stages so that the client is always in charge of the costs.These will vary depending on what period research begins. For instance, many foreign queries concern emigrant ancestors born in the mid-1800s, so tracing these back to record commencement perhaps fifty years earlier will not take a significant amount of research.

By contrast, somebody whose most distant known ancestors may have been born in the early to mid-20th century will require much more research to reach record termination. 

paulmaccotter.comWhat We Offer:

FREE ASSESSMENT OF YOUR DATA: NO CHARGE FOR INITIAL CONSULTATION

Mainstream family history genealogy with all sources consulted

Reports and family trees in PDF booklet form

Ancestral homestead and property maps

Detailed reports provided in ‘family friendly’ form

Specialist pre-1800 ancestry research

Mentoring service for amateur genealogists

Individual record search and copying service

Member of Accredited Genealogists Ireland (formerly APGI)

Contributor to the Irish Roots genealogical magazine, the Irish Genealogist academic journal, and the Irish Lives Remembered e-magazine. Genealogy lecturer at university level.