Getting started

Before beginning a genealogical search in the National Archives, it is essential to collect as much information as possible about the family being investigated and it is helpful to know the following pieces of information:

• The name of the family
• The parish or townland in which they lived
• The approximate date of birth, marriage or death

If a name, a place or an approximate date of birth, marriage or death is known, the best point at which to begin is:

• For a person living around 1901 or 1911: the census returns
• For a person living in the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s: the Primary Valuation (also known as Griffith’s Valuation)
• For a person living in the 1820s or 1830s: the Tithe Applotment Books

If the date of a birth, marriage or death is known, further details can be sought in the records described elsewhere in this section. If the parish or townland in which the family lived is not known, the sources below may be of further assistance, especially if the surname is unusual:

• CD-ROM index to Griffith’s/Primary Valuation;
• Indexes of Surnames in the Primary Valuation and Tithe Applotment Books (one or more volumes per county);
• Table showing surnames with five or more entries in the birth indexes of 1890 and the main counties in which they were found (Irish Genealogy, a Record Finder, pp 199–232);
• Testamentary card index and other indexes to wills and testamentary records;
• Marriage licence bonds;
• Indexes to genealogical abstracts;
• Miscellaneous card index;
• Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilisation (see Genealogical publications).