KEY SOURCES

1911 IRISH CENSUS

The 1911 census of Ireland, covering all 32 historic counties, is available to search for free at census.nationalarchives.ie. The website also provides access to the 1901 census, as well as surviving census fragments and substitutes from 1821 to 1851. Sadly census records for the second half of the 19th century were destroyed.

A LETTER FROM IRELAND

Initially launched as a weekly email newsletter, A Letter from Ireland ( aletterfromireland.com) contains a wealth of online resources aimed at researchers tracing their Irish ancestry.

The biggest feature of the website is the ‘Green Room’, a subscriber-only area that gives users access to video tutorials, e-books and a forum where they can discuss their research with genealogy experts.

IRELAND REACHING OUT

Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO) is a non-profit organisation that helps members of the Irish diaspora reconnect with their roots. Instead of waiting for people to ‘come home’ to research their ancestry, the organisation has a network of volunteers based across Ireland, each actively tracing the descendants of men and women who left their local area.

To help achieve its aims, the Ireland Reaching Out website ( irelandxo.com) has a vibrant online community where family historians can post their queries and browse articles about Irish people, places and events – all completely free of charge.