Database of Notable Irish Families
Do you have ancestry in the Irish province of Ulster? If so, we may be able to assist you with your research there. The name Ulster is an ancient one, which comes from the Gaelic Cúige Uladh, or “fifth of the Ulaidh,” meaning “ancient inhabitants of the land.” Preeminent families during those early times included the Northern Ui Neill, Airgialla, and Ulaid dynasties, whose descendants include the present-day O’Neills, O’Donnells, and other noteworthy families. During the 16th and 17th centuries, many of the older clans were displaced during the colonial period, when an influx of Protestant settlers came to the area from Scotland, Wales, and England. The historical province of Ulster is made up of nine counties, six of which (Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone) are now located in Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, while the other three (Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan) are located in the Republic of Ireland. Prior to Irish independence in 1922, all of these counties were for several hundred years under colonial rule of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Irish genealogy research is often labor-intensive and challenging and generally takes a lot time and expertise to get optimal results. If you have Irish ancestors, you’ve probably encountered many brick walls in your family tree, mainly due to a scarcity of records that are often available in other European countries. For example, in places like England, Scotland, Italy, or France, church parish registers are often available going back several hundred years, while similar records in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are often only available back to the early 1800s. This is especially true with records relating to the Catholic Church, which was suppressed in Ireland from the time of the Reformation until 1829. In addition, a nationwide registry of births, marriages, and deaths wasn’t established in Ireland until 1845 for Protestants, and until 1864 for Roman Catholics. Census records are also important and beneficial for genealogical research, but most of the Irish censuses from 1821 through 1891 have been either lost or destroyed, the only ones currently available being for 1901 and 1911. In addition, many records were forever lost in 1922, when the Public Records Office in Dublin was shelled during the Irish Civil War.
If you’re doing research on your own, we’d recommend leaving no stone unturned in the search for your family by using all of the available Irish genealogy databases and other resources at your disposal. Sites like FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, IrishGenealogy.ie, RootsIreland, and Findmypast all have extensive databases relating to Irish genealogy. In addition, DNA testing of family members through services by 23andMe, AncestryDNA, and FamilyTreeDNA could also help you identify many previously unknown branches of your tree. If you’d also like the help of professional research team, we have carried out extensive on-ground-research at repositories like the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), National Library of Ireland, National Archives of Ireland, and Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. If you'd like to learn more about your Irish ancestors, our team can assist you at all of these places.
We've worked on hundreds of families in all parts of Ireland over the last 20 years, and from our ongoing research we've compiled a large database of prominent surnames found in the nine counties of Ulster and elsewhere. Click on the links below to discover some of the Irish clans and other families we’re working on, which might give you some ideas about the kinds of discoveries we can make on your behalf in places like Belfast, Dublin, and elsewhere. For example, heraldry, church, and property records for your family might be found at the Irish National Library or Irish National Archives in Dublin, while family histories, court records, and other documentation can be found at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), or the Linen Hall Library in Belfast. Our goal is to provide a valuable resource for Irish genealogical research, where you might find important records and information relating to your ancestors in the province of Ulster and elsewhere. Although Irish research is sometimes challenging, breakthroughs can often be made through the combined efforts of skilled genealogists, working in conjunction with online databases, libraries, and other great resources. Since many records are unavailable from the 16th century up to early 1800s, DNA testing could also be a valuable tool to help you identify previously unknown branches of your family tree, or in pinpointing the exact place of origin for your family in one of the nine counties of Ulster (Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Monaghan and Tyrone).
All rights reserved. No information can be copied or reproduced from this website without the prior consent of the webmaster.
