Where to begin?

The best place to start is with yourself, work through your parents to your grandparents and take each generation as you find it.  Searching through old records, although often rewarding, is apt to be perplexing and frustrating.  Even the most experienced researcher can take a wrong turn and end up spending valuable time ploughing through records that only lead to a dead-end.  To make more productive use of your time, it is essential to gather as much information as possible from old family Bibles, legal documents (such as wills or leases), and inscriptions from family gravestones.   This can help to pinpoint exactly where your family lived at a particular time and provide vital clues to add to names that family historians are often disappointed to find are all too popular in Ireland.  

It is also essential to talk to relatives especially those from an older generation whose memories however inaccurate may point you in the right direction.  Conversations or correspondence can lead you to other, more distant relatives or friends of the family, of whose existence you were previously unaware.  If you are lucky you may find someone who has taken an interest in the family history, perhaps has even made a start at a family tree.   They may be able to tell you if there were certain occupations or trades associated with the family, or which schools and churches they attended, perhaps where they were buried.  You may find out that the family are associated with a particular town or townland, and that a particular first name has been passed down through the generations.  Ask them if anyone has served in the armed forces or if relatives have emigrated.  If you are very lucky they may have in their possession old letters, diaries, wills or birth certificates which will save you time and money.  

Above all it is essential to find where your ancestors lived in Ireland.  Just knowing that your ancestor came from somewhere in Ireland is rarely good enough.  Knowing the county is certainly a help, but what you really need to do is identify the parish or townland or origin.  The more precisely you identify your ancestor's address in Ireland, the better your chances are of a successful search. 

For more details on where to begin click here