The Problem Of St. Patrick (irish History Genealogy)
We in Ireland are looking forward to next weekend, when we celebrate St. Patrick is Ireland’s most famous saint. He lived from ca. He was born in Roman Britain, apparently in a well-to-do family. This did not protect him from being kidnapped by Irish marauders who sold him into slavery in Ireland.
He managed to escape and return to his homeland, where he became a priest. It was in this role he returned to Ireland, this time to convert the then still pagan Irish to Christianity.Nowadays, his day – 17 March – is a huge celebration across the world.Every year our “an taoiseach” (Irish Prime Minister) gets to visit the White House in Washington to offer the sitting President of the USA a bowl of shamrock.The parade in New York City, this year under Grand Marshal Loretta Brennan Glucksman,is one of the biggest parades on New York’s calendar. It has been going since 1762 (although initially it was a gathering and not a parade).And of course people drink and eat green food, fountains spout green water and landmarks “go green”. Last year a record 278 iconic landmarks and sites in 44 countries were turning green for St Patrick’s Day – the biggest number to date.In Ireland St. Patrick’s Day has been turned into a 5-day festival. This year it takes place from 15-19 March.
You can read all about it here:It is also a busy time for genealogists, as many Americans, Canadian, Australians, etc. Want to learn more about their Irish roots. If you have a friend, family member or acquaintance who is interested in his or her Irish ancestry, can you imagine how happy they would be to get professional help?Here at Genealogy.ie we sell vouchers in USD, EUR and GBP and in various amounts. You can order them by clicking on the picture below.
Today, we have so many at our fingertips. Yet it’s often hard to identify your relatives with any certainty amongst millions of other people. You might know you have Irish heritage of some sort but be at a loss for exploring it further. And once you do get started, there are plenty of challenges along the way, some invigorating, and some just frustrating.This article is for you if you’ve gotten stuck in your Irish family history research. My tried-and-true method for getting unstuck is as follows:. Take a break. Treat myself to some Baileys.
Try something new.It’s that “try something new” step that this article focuses on. Getting unstuck requires a little creativity and a willingness to pursue new research avenues. Below, I offer seven tips: seven new avenues to explore, seven new things to try, seven new ways of looking at your research. But first, determine what your roadblocks may be. Let’s go through a few common problems you may encounter while exploring your Irish roots. Genealogical records never existed or have been destroyed.
Maybe there are gaps in official state or church records. Maybe a time of upheaval led to the loss or destruction of records.
Where Was St Patrick Born
These problems get worse the further back you go in history. In the Middle Ages, you’ll likely run into considerable challenges locating your ancestors unless they were literal royalty, or at least prominent aristocrats or authorities. You can’t find any relevant records. You’ve tried a few Google searches or run an ancestor’s name through a genealogical database, but nothing good has turned up. You’re overwhelmed by the sheer amount of resources and information out there and aren’t sure how to undertake an organized research agenda. Xbox 360 backup creator v2.9. You’ve got some crucial information wrong.
Perhaps you go looking for your great-grandparents in County Cork when really they hailed from County Kerry. Or all you know is “Ireland,” rather than a precise county or town.
Or you’ve searched for a specific ancestor by name without finding any results, but you haven’t tried searching common spelling variations of the name. In many cases, identifying the precise source of your difficulties is the first step to resolving them! Try to put your finger on what, exactly, you are trying to learn or discover.Many people run into issues because they have extremely foggy notions of what they hope to discover. “I want to learn more about my family.” Great but what does that mean?Pinpoint what questions you want to be answered and what knowledge you seek to gain from your research. Specific goals are achievable goals, and specific problems are solvable problems.Now, on to some advice for overcoming roadblocks in your genealogical research! #1: Focus on location.It’s really not enough to know only that your ancestors came from Ireland.
To find records, you need to narrow the location down as much as possible, at least to the county, ideally to the exact town or city.Conducting with living family members is a great way to learn specific locations. You’ll, of course, want to about their lives, prompting them to tell their most memorable stories, harrowing adventures, and tales of derring-do.But remember also to ask them for mundane facts like specific locations (and dates and names). Some sample questions to ask:. When and where were you born?. When and where were your parents born? Your grandparents?.
When did your family immigrate to New Country? Where did they settle? How did they come to live in Town?. When did you move to City?. What do you know about your family name? Where does it come from? Has it always been spelled this way?.
What religion is your family? How long have they belonged to their faith? The more you can nail down specific details, the better your chances of finding relevant records, whether birth certificates, census records, or immigration records.#2: Get (and stay) organized.Sometimes roadblocks arise because you’ve been successful with your research—finding tons of information, raw data, and records—but you haven’t kept everything organized.Over time, as more and more records pile up, you lose track of your research and overarching goals. How are these people connected? How does the overall story hang together?If you’re serious about genealogy, I recommend investing in some form of. There are multiple options available at various price points.
Examples include:. (free!).These software programs essentially serve the same purpose: Organizing your data and displaying it in an accessible format.So before you get too deep into your family history, set yourself up with one of these programs to make your life that much easier.Now a few of you may prefer kicking it old-school with just a pen and paper—and that’s fine too. A paper notebook may be more difficult to search, and you won’t be able to sync results with anything else.
St Patrick Miracles
But if you’re an organized note-taker who prefers traditional ink and paper, that’s certainly possible. #3: Consider naming variations.are a complicated topic! Surnames are an essential part of conducting searches, but they’re not as stable as a genealogist might wish. You could spend ages trying to find your ancestor Mary Riley—but she’s listed in records as Mary O’Reilly! Or you can try out Ancestry’s helpful video, “”Since Irish genealogy is so popular, there’s also a wealth of information specifically tailored to you!
St Patrick Patron Saint Of
Ancestry offers this webinar on the topic “.” #5: Try different kinds of records.Let’s say you’ve already had some success tracking down the basic church and civil records: baptisms, marriages, deaths, census records, maybe even military service. And now you’re looking to expand and flesh out your knowledge of your ancestors. You want something more.Now’s the time to learn about the great variety of additional records that can potentially add some color to your family tree.In this case, you’re not so much stuck as ready to move on to more advanced things. Nonetheless, you may be wondering where to go from here.
What’s next, once you’ve exhausted the more obvious sources?I suggest diving into a couple of longer guides to Irish family history. The first is offered by the National Library of Ireland (available as a PDF ). It walks you through various record genres and explains how to find and use sources like tithe applotment books, estate papers, maps, wills, court records, and prison records.The second is Sean Murphy’s excellent, which will acquaint you in-depth with a wealth of source types: Newspapers, occupational records, directories, and more. Created in 2017, this guide is still pretty up-to-date. Plus, it’s freely available online! If a trip to Dublin isn’t in the cards just yet, you can email or call the NLI. You can also seek out an online genealogical community such as the.Or, as suggested above, try to find a local Family History Center.
Their staff volunteers are knowledgeable and happy to lend a hand. Call up beforehand to explain the kind of help you would like, and see if they are able to assist you.Join your. These societies are yet another place where you can seek advice from more experienced researchers and maybe even meet some travel buddies for your trip to Ireland!Do you have any tips for getting started in your Irish genealogical research? Share in the comments!This article was submitted to the IrishCentral contributors network by a member of the global Irish community. To become an IrishCentral contributor.