The principle source to search for data on Ireland at the Heritage Library is our catalog. There are about 303 entries for the keyword “Ireland”. These include about 12 CD ROMs. The entries are comprised of books and compilations covering Irish history, people and geography. The majority of these items are in the section devoted to Ireland in the book collection. Some of these books are special editions with multiple illustrations and worthy of a good browse.
There is also a great deal of information shelved, outside of the Ireland section, in the General Reference and Family History sections. For example, to search for later Irish immigration records, one might look for the book Immigrant & Passenger Arrivals 929.32573 NAT, published by the National Archives, in the General Reference Section. Examples in the latter section are the general reference books that provide data about all of the British Isles.
The Library is also a special place to search the Internet for Irish records and other historical data because of the subscription web sites, because of the availability of librarians to consult with about your research and because of the organized approach to searching that is possible with all the information available in one place. The high-speed connections at the library to its 10 or more patron's computers make researching the Internet for Ireland related information easy.
For example, on our paid Ancestry.com subscription one can click on the Search Records tab on the home page, find the link to “List Recent or All Databases” and then go to “I” to find the Ireland material. There is the following list:
· Ireland 1766 Religious Census
· Ireland Gazetteer and Surname Guide
· Ireland Householder's Index, County Antrim
· Ireland Topographical Dictionary
· Ireland, The Royal Irish Constabulary 1816-1921
· Irish Flax Growers List, 1796
· Irish Immigrants: New York Port Arrival Records, 1846-1851
· Irish Independent Newspaper Obituaries: May 2001-June 2002
· Irish Quaker Immigration into Pennsylvania
· Irish Records Extraction Database
· Irish Records Index, 1500-1920
· Irish Settlers in North America before 1850
The researcher should check the Links button on the Library’s home page for web sites relating to Irish data where there are about 30 web sites of special interest.
From time to time the library has had a trial subscription to Otherdays.com which, because of its extensive content, is perhaps the most useful of any specialized Irish web site. This site is recommended for anyone planning to do significant research of Irish records over a period of time or in preparation for a research visit to the country. An individual yearly subscription was recently being offered for only $44.00.
The Family History Library of the Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City publishes comprehensive Research Outline guides for many States and Countries. The 48-page guide for Ireland can be purchased from the bookstore at the Library for $1.50. In general, it tells what records are available and where to find them. Because of the turbulent history and the accompanying destruction of records, it is particularly useful to use have these lists. By using this guide in conjunction with the LDS’ Family Search web site, you can identify film numbers of useful microfilm records. These films can be ordered thru the Library’s exclusive LDS film service and then viewed at the Library.
Cyndi’sList provides about 300 links to Ireland information. The particular advantage of Cyndi’s List is that the information is in the form of other internet links. These can then be accessed in most cases to directly view the basic data, as contrasted with only revealing where the basic records can be found. Exploring Cyndi’s list is a very useful activity for most research.
