Exploring your family tree

Exploring Your Family Tree

Researching your family history can be exciting—but it can also feel overwhelming at first. Galway Public Libraries are here to help you take the first steps with confidence.

Before You Begin: Five Simple Steps

1. Start with what you know
Begin by writing down names, dates, and places for your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Speak with older relatives—they often have valuable stories and details that aren’t recorded anywhere else.

2. Collect family documents
Gather birth, marriage, and death certificates, old letters, photographs, and family bibles. These can offer clues about names, dates, and locations.

3. Know the place
In Ireland, the townland is the smallest unit of land division. Knowing the townland where your ancestor lived is more useful than just knowing the county or parish. You can explore townlands using Ordnance Survey Ireland maps.

4. Understand parish types
Ireland has both civil parishes (used in government records) and church parishes (used in religious records). They often share names but may cover different areas. This distinction is important when searching records like Griffith’s Valuation or the Tithe Applotment Books.

5. Set a goal
Are you trying to find a specific ancestor? Trace your surname? Learn about where your family lived? Having a clear goal helps focus your research and choose the right resources.

Key Records to Explore

Births, Marriages & Deaths

• Civil registration began in 1864
• Roman Catholic records often start in the 1840s
• Church of Ireland records may go back to the 1790s
• Use both civil and church records—they often contain different details.
  Tip: A baptism record might list godparents (potential relatives), while a civil birth record might not.

The General Register Office is the central repository for these records.
You can search online at: www.irishgenealogy.ie

Census Records

The 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses are available online and free to search.
You don’t need to know the exact district—just search by name and county.
Once you find a relative, you can view everyone who lived in the same household or townland.

Emigration & Military Records

If your ancestors left Ireland, consider exploring:

• Castle Garden and Ellis Island immigration records for the United States
• Ireland–Australia Transportation Database for those transported to Australia
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission for those who died in military service

Taxation Records

These records were originally created for tax purposes but are now valuable for genealogy:

• Tithe Applotment Books (1823–1837): lists landholders by townland
• Griffith’s Valuation (1850s): lists heads of households and property details

Note: These records use civil parish boundaries, not church parishes.

Understanding Irish Place Names

Irish records often refer to different types of place divisions:

• Townlands – the smallest unit
• Parishes – civil and church
• Baronies – groups of parishes
• Counties – larger administrative areas
• District Electoral Divisions (DEDs) – used in census records
• Registration districts – used in civil records

You don’t need to know all of these to get started, but understanding them helps when searching different types of records.