Why Findmypast is the Best Place to Trace Your Irish Family

2-3 minute read

By Niall Cullen | September 12, 2016

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With the largest collection of online Irish family history records in the world, Findmypast is the number one resource when it comes to tracing your Irish roots. Here's why

There are currently 111 million records in our Irish collection and that number's growing all the time. It's also more than double the amount of records you'll find on any other family history website (yes, including THAT one), giving you a much better chance of finding out more about your Irish ancestors.

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Where to Start?

Like all family history research, Irish genealogy begins at home. Collect any existing records, photographs and keepsakes you have and speak to family members, especially the older ones, about their memories of your ancestors. From there, Findmypast has all the resources you need to start building out your Irish family tree.

Start a
free online tree on Findmypast, including any information (names, dates, locations) you already know about your relatives and our hints will automatically search Irish censuses, births, marriages and deaths and suggest potential matches from the records.

The building blocks for any family tree are census records and BMDs and you'll find all you need on Findmypast. Start your search for your relatives in:

Exclusive Collections

Not only is Findmypast home to the largest collection of Irish records online, but you can also search collections you won't find elsewhere. Highlights include:

There are plenty more exclusive collections too. Go to our A-Z of records to see exactly what's available.

Your Discoveries

The amount of information you can unearth in our Irish records is endless but don't take our word for it, here are some of our favourite member stories:

"On March 1, 2016, FindMyPast released 10,000,000 new records in Ireland. I typed in my great grandfather, Michael Cranley, thinking that I would get the usual result – nothing. Not this time. There he was! His baptism in Rochfortbridge, Westmeath. I was over the moon, screaming and crying at the same time, so much so that my husband came tearing into the room, wondering what all the commotion was."

~ Barbara Gardner-Bray

"I have found some of the Irish Petty Sessions Court Registers 1828-1912 relating to my ancestors in Kerry during the 19th century so interesting, from illegally taking a hare and fishing for salmon to inciting a riot." Read more here

~ Edward Stewart

"I was unable to find any record of my Irish ancestors immigrating to the US, as so many ships' records were apparently lost. Using Findmypast I was able to search Cork newspapers and found a list of passengers for a ship that included my relatives as passengers. It was so exciting."

Pamela Shea

Hitting brick walls?
Irish genealogy expert Brian Donovan might have the solution...

Next Steps?

If you're not yet a Findmypast member, why not give us a go with a two week free trial which gives you access to all of our records, including our 111 million Irish records?