The 1901 and 1911 Census returns provide excellent information for those researching their ancestors. But if you need to go back into the nineteenth century, then some of the best resources are Church Records.

Each of Ireland's original thirty two counties are divided into parishes, and those in turn are divided in townlands. The parishes can vary in size from the 1 acre of a parish in Derry, to many thousands in other counties. Parish records will provide details of births, marriages and possibly burials (varies from parish to parish) in a given parish.

The date from which parish records begin for a given parish can vary from the late 1700's or earlier, to the mid 1850's. As a general rule cities and towns tend to have the earliest records.

If you don't know the specific parish from which you ancestors may have originated, the best plan may be to look at the index to Griffith's valuation. This was a survey carried out in the mid-nineteenth century, and the index compiled in the 1960's gives a breakdown per county, but more importantly per parish, showing the occurrence of a particular surname in that parish in Griffith Valuation, and also an earlier source, the Title Applotment Books from the 1830's. This means if you don't know the parish, you may be lucky enough to find the surname only occurs in one or two parishes in that county and so the parish records in which you search is greatly reduced. Be aware that the level of literacy was very low at the time, and the hence you will need to allow for subtle variations in spelling of the surname of interest to you. For more information on Griffith's valuation, click here . Or alternatively you can have us carry out a search of Griffith's Valuation and other major Irish records for you by clicking here . 

Parish records are available to view on microfiche at the National Library and National Archive. Even if you know the date of some occasion, birth, death or burial, be aware that it is better to search at least five years either side of the date if you don't have instant success in finding the entry required. As in the absence of people having many personal written records at the time, dates are based on the people's memory.

Parish records are contained within the hand written books maintained by each parish. The records will normally contain baptisms and marriages, and in some cases burials. The starting date of records varies immensely from parish to parish. In some cases they date back to the 1750's where as in others the may only begin in the 1850's.

The records will be written in either English or Latin. Don't be intimidated by the prospect of trying to decipher Latin!  Baptisavi is Latin for baptism, and In matrimonimum indicates a marriage. But  each book has baptisms in one section and marriages in another. The top of each page will normally give the year, and the Month is normally also clearly displayed.

Baptismal records will normally give you the date, child's name, mother's maiden name, father's name and if you are lucky the name of the godparents or sponsors.

With Marriage records you normally find the date, name of the couple marrying and any witnesses.  But if your lucky you may find ages, the name of the father and other useful information. But it will just depend on how diligent the parish Priest of the time was!