Irish American genealogists need to determine their ancestor's exact
origin in Ireland before they can begin researching Irish records. The
records that provide this information are generally located in New World
records such as naturalizations, tombstone inscriptions, banking and
insurance records, missing friends advertisements or obituaries.
Genealogists can increase their chances of successfully finding records
with exact origin by employing strategies that avoid false assumptions,
tie together disparate records, and widen the focus of research to
include siblings, other relatives, and friends.
Avoid making
assumptions about your ancestor.
Many people say that they have researched all the available records
for their ancestor but cannot find any mention of their exact place of
origin in Ireland. Their search did not go beyond census and civil
registration records. They have assumed that their ancestor was too poor
to generate probate records or deeds or to have had a tombstone; that
their ancestor never bothered naturalizing; or that their ancestor
probably did not fight in the Civil War, so they have not bothered
searching for these records. Starting out with low expectations for your
ancestor will guarantee failure.
To ensure success, do not make assumptions about your ancestors.
Until you have eliminated each of these sources by actually looking for
them, you cannot say your ancestor did not generate any records. In
fact, even the poorest people can be found in the records of almshouses,
orphanages, settlement houses, state hospitals, mental institutions,
prisons, courts, newspapers, churches, schools, undertakers' and police
logs. Even though your ancestor may have been a common laborer or
servant, he or she probably can be found in a number of standard
sources. Search federal and state censuses, civil registrations,
naturalizations, burial records, military rolls, church baptisms and
marriages, passenger arrival lists, probate court records and deeds, and
street directories.
Use sources that link
to other records
Two good sources for beginners are the 1920 and 1900 federal
censuses. These are indexed by soundex, which makes it fairly easy to
locate Irish immigrants in big cities. The census records for these
years provide the year of immigration, the citizenship status
(naturalized, alien, or pending), the year of naturalization, how many
years in the U.S., and how many years married. From these records you
can estimate the time frame for searching naturalization records and
passenger arrival lists. You can also determine whether or not your
ancestor was married in the U.S. or in Ireland. If the number of years
married exceeds the number of years in the U.S., then the marriage took
place in Ireland. If they number of years married is less than the
number of years in the U.S., then you can search for a marriage record
in the U.S. The birthplaces and ages of a couple's children will help
you determine the year of immigration. If a twenty-year-old child was
born in Ireland, and an eighteen-year-old child was born in the U.S.,
then the year of immigration took place eighteen to twenty years before
the census year. The 1870 census indicates whether the person is an
eligible voter (look for naturalizations), and the 1860 census lists the
value of personal and real estate (look for probate records and deeds).
Marriage records are some of the most reliable sources and can help
pinpoint an ancestor in a big city. Consider the source of the
information. The information on death certificates comes from distraught
family and friends, undertakers and physicians, and can be inaccurate.
"Our dear, departed uncle John said he sailed from Derry, so that must
be where he was born." (Uncle John is no longer around to correctly
state he was from Buncrana, Donegal, fifteen miles northwest of Derry.)
But the information for the marriage record is from the bride and groom,
who state the names of their parents and their birthplaces. In
addition, the marriage record often indicates the priest or minister as
the source. You can then determine through street directories and church
directories the location of the priest or minister in the year of your
ancestor's marriage. This will help you pinpoint the ward and street
your ancestor (or the bride's parents) lived on, and differentiate your
Patrick O'Brien from the fifteen others in the street directory.
Death certificates, undertaker records, and obituaries may provide
the place of burial, so you can look for the tombstone. In some states,
the state death record does not provide the burial place, but the city
record does. In this instance, the city death certificate would be a
better choice. You can also determine the name of the undertaker from
the death certificate and the obituary. Undertaker records may also
provide the burial place and other details. Some undertaker records even
list the birthplace in Ireland.
While federal census records were collected every ten years, many
street directories, especially for large cities, were printed every
year. Street directories can help you track the movement of your
ancestor from one address to another over the years, ascertain the ward
number necessary for using the federal censuses, and find in which
parish your ancestor lived. Street directories can also help you
determine the date of death. If you are uncertain about the date of
death, find your ancestor in a street directory, look ahead ten years to
see if your ancestor is still listed. If he is listed, look ahead
another ten years, until you cannot find him. Then look back five years,
and ahead or back two years, until you have found the year in which
your ancestor disappears from street directories. Several factors can
cause this disappearance: your ancestor could have moved to another
town, gone to California, moved in with his daughter, or died. At least
you have a time period in which to search the death records.
Furthermore, many early-twentieth-century street directories give the
actual date of death of your deceased ancestor.
Associate your ancestor
with as many people as possible
The most common mistake researchers make is focusing only on their
direct ancestor. Even if you research all the records that mention your
ancestor, you may not find the exact birthplace in Ireland. You can
increase your chances of success if you increase the number of people
you are looking for. When you visit the National Archives, or the county superior court, bring
a list of several people associated with your ancestor in addition to
your direct forebear. Irish men and women did not generally emigrate by
themselves and live alone once they arrived in the New World. They often
traveled with their peers or siblings from the same village or parish.
Once they arrived at the docks of New York, Boston, or Philadelphia,
they were ushered into Irish American communities, often consisting of
people from their former villages or counties. They formed their own
congregations; many were led by clergy from home. Every town had its
Kerry Corner or Cork Hill. Friends and relatives often appear in records
as godparents for baptisms, witnesses for marriages, or witnesses on
wills, deeds, and naturalization records. They are the adjacent families
in the census records, the beneficiaries of insurance policies, or the
next of kin in probate records. Make note of the other people with the
same last name in the town directory. When going through your family
papers, make note of whose Mass cards are in your grandmother's prayer
book, who donated gifts to your mother's bridal shower, or whose
photographs are displayed in the family album. Once you have assembled a
list of people associated with your ancestor, research their origins in
addition to your own.
Researching Irish women can be difficult because, until 1920 women,
with few exceptions, did not naturalize. And they are less likely to
appear in many records, such as deeds or military records. Nevertheless,
the same strategy can apply to women, i.e., associating your female
ancestor with as many males as possible. Instead of looking for your
great grandmother's naturalization, look for her brothers' or cousins'
records.
This list of strategies implies that the genealogist will actually
turn off their computer and go to the local or state archives to access
these records. Although many records are becoming available over the
Internet, most of these sources can only be accessed by visiting an
archive, courthouse, church, or library. The Internet is extremely
useful for bringing researchers together to share information about
their common ancestors. But you should always refer to the sources used
and double check the information whenever possible. By maintaining a
wide focus when researching Irish ancestors and chasing down every clue,
no matter how unlikely, researchers can improve their chances of
successfully determining the exact origin of their immigrant ancestor.