Family History

Family History must now be one of the most popular hobbies in the world. The number of people now searching for their ancestors on the internet, or in record repositories, must have increased exponentially over the last decade. If you go to the North of Ireland Family History Society web site you will see the number of branches that now exist throughout Northern Ireland and there are links to sites worldwide.

Many books and papers have been written about how to research your family. I have found the following useful.

Tracing your Ancestors in Northern Ireland by Ian Maxwell (edited by Grace McGrath), published by PRONI, Belfast, 1997. PRONI has a series of free leaflets on Tracing your Family Tree which are available in the Search Room

Tracing your Irish Ancestors by John Grenham, published by Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1999 (Second Edition).

The Irish Roots Guide by Tony McCarthy, published by Lilliput Press, Dublin, 1991.

The Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast are publishing a series of County Guides for the Family and Local Historian. To date, two have been published.

Researching Armagh Ancestors: A practical guide for the family and local historian by Ian Maxwell, published in 2000.

Researching Down Ancestors: A practical guide for the family and local historian by Ian Maxwell, et. al., published in 2004.

Here are some thoughts on how you might go about researching your family history in Northern Ireland. Click here.