Historical Background

• Although nowadays the idea of a class system is anathema, during your research you need to consider your ancestor(s) status and occupation, to know what specific records to search, writes Fiona Fitzsimons. Find out more about social class.

• Fiona Fitzsimons considers the Quagmire of Administrative Districts. Beginning with townlands and working upwards she brings some clarification to this vexing issue for family historians.

• Fiona Fitzsimons continues her consideration of Administrative Districts, with a look at civil parishes, baronies and counties.

Records - General

• Don't rely on indexes alone; always examine the original record - a digital scan or photograph will do, but never rely on an index, advises Fiona Fitzsimons. Find out more about the importance of original records.

Parish Records

• Finding that elusive baptism record...Fiona Fitzsimons discusses what to do if you can't find the baptismal record of the eldest child of a Roman Catholic family where the family is known to have lived around the time of the birth. Find out more about baptism records.

Burial Records and Gravestones

• Fiona Fitzsimons discusses the importance of burial records and gravestones to the genealogist or historian.

Land Records

• Fiona Fitzsimons explains the limitations experienced by many genealogists working with the Registry of Deeds. Here she suggests methods to overcome some commonly encountered obstacles.

• Griffith's Valuation is an essential 'gateway' source to other historic records. Fiona Fitzsimons shows how to get the most out of Griffith's Valuation.

• If you find your ancestor in Griffith’s Valuation, you will almost certainly find sufficient evidence to examine other records, such as the House and Field Books, writes Fiona Fitzsimons, Eneclann’s Director of Research.

• The Registry of Deeds was established in 1708 by Act of Parliament. The Registry of Deeds was intended to copperfasten changes in landownership in the preceding 140 years, and to underpin the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy. Eneclann's Research Director, Fiona Fitzsimons, explains the functions and uses of the Registry of Deeds.

• There are huge gaps in the Irish historical records, and so Irish research must inevitably focus on those records that survive, many of which were never intended as 'vital records'. Fiona Fitzsimons discusses how to get relevant information on your family history from the Registry of Deeds.

• The Landed Estates Court Rentals are one of the lesser known, and consequently under-used sources for anyone engaged in Irish research.
Fiona Fitzsimons describes the type of evidence you will find in the LEC Rentals, and outlines a few tried and tested research tips to get the most out of this source.

Other Records

• Marriage Licence Bonds were more widely used by all denominations in Ireland, than is often appreciated. In the late 17th and 18th Centuries, even Quakers and Catholics of substance might choose to the marry in the Established church to protect their property and inheritance rights, writes Fiona Fitz.

• Fiona Fitzsimons explains the uses and limitations to a genealogist using the different editions of Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland.

• Eneclann's Research Director, Fiona Fitzsimons, discusses marriages in the run-up to Lent.

• Fiona Fitzsimons explores the reasons why so many immigrant Irish in the U.S. and Australia recorded their date of birth as Saint Patrick’s Day.

• It is important to know your 'family health history' as a means of identifying potentially serious medical conditions. Fiona Fitzsimons explains how to find out more about your family health history.

• Fiona Fitzsimons makes the connection between Adams’s auction on the Irish Famine, and Diarmuid Ferriter’s Limits of Liberty, currently being shown on Tuesday nights on RTÉ.

• Fiona Fitzsimons provides a quick glimpse into one of the lesser-known collections, the Collins Papers, held in the Military History Archive, itself a lesser-known repository.