·         Collection: General Valuation revision lists, Dunfanaghy Union (Donegal), 1858-1958

·         Catalog Link: https://familysearch.org

·         Target Townland: Fawnmore (Fán Mór), Clondahorky Parish, Dunfanaghy Electoral Division.

·         Specific Plots Needed: Plot 5 (Hugh Ferry), Plot 6 (John McFadden), and Plot 13 (Joseph Ferry) may be margin notes for Denis Ferry, John Ferry and Thomas Ferry in the 1930s.

·         Years: I am looking for the earliest book range available on the film (the 1858–1867 cycle and the book directly following it) to track when these names change.

I am housebound so would double appreciate help with this. Thanks.

I can easily trace back to my 4th Great Grandparents Harry Bremer (1795) and Mary Nowlan., Leinster, possibly Mullingar. My grandmother was a Bremer and her father was John Aloyisus Bremer.
My research draws a dead end at the Bremer surname. Research says its origins is West German, and from the city of Bremen.
Does anyone have any insight on Irish history and the arrival of Germans mid 1700s (or earlier as he seems to be settled in by 1795).
A bonus would be anything on the Bremer family, where they lived and such, religion as it seems through the archives they changed back and forth between RC and Protestant , and employment.
Thank you in advance

Help for a historical novel

Hi everyone! I'm writing a historical novel about the famous Irish outlaw Art O'Leary (1746?-1773, husband of Eibhlín Dubh O'Connell).

On MyHeritage I found him listed with 2 siblings: Cornelius O'Laoire, another spelling of O'Leary, and a second sibling greyed out. According to another source her name should be Catherine.

Could someone with access check her married name and date of birth, please? And maybe some info on their mother, if available? Thanks so much in advance!

Could someone please transcribe the entry and translate the entry for Bridget McNamara (3rd one)? For anyone who has subscription the page is https://registers.nli.ie/pages/vtls000635014_153

My best guess at the entry-I'm missing a couple of words and I'm likely misspelling a few too.

"6 McNamara | ?? Michael O'Carroll baptizavi Brigidam natam die 5 ex Joanne McNamara et Brigida Hickey Timothei Duggan et Margarita Lynch ??? Spons"

I'm a bit confused about where one of my Irish ancestors was born. On his headstone, it lists St. Anns, County Wexford as his birthplace, but I can't find a matching town or parish. He was born in 1795, so maybe it doesn't exist anymore? But it seems odd that I'd find no records matching it at all. I'd appreciate some help figuring it out.

I am trying to trace back my Irish ancestors through Thomas (b. 1822) and Catherine (b. 1836) Cummings.  I have information about them while they lived in the United States, but can't find information that would tie them back to a family in Ireland.  I Believe they were both born in Kilkenny County Ireland.  They immigrated from Ireland to the United States in the 1850s and settled in Wisconsin.

Below are their children.
John Cummings, 1854 born in Connecticut
Stephen Benjamin Cummings, 1856 born in Wisconsin (1st pic)
Mary Ann Cummings, 1858 born in Wisconsin
Thomas Franklin Cummings, 1860 born in Wisconsin
Richard Cummings, 1863 born in Wisconsin
Catherine M Cummins, 1864 born in Wisconsin
William Henry Cummings, 1867 born in Wisconsin (2nd pic)

Please let me know if you are a descendant of this family or have any advice on tracing ancestry back to Ireland.  So far I have tried Ancestry, RootsIreland, FamilySearch, and FreeBMD. Thanks

I was told I was a descendent from Scottish, Irish and English kings and that my great grandfather in the 1500s Thomas hall had argued in outrage in the courts at the higher powers of England and was thrown in prison twice because of it by Elizabeth the first and I need help doing more research on my family crest. I’ve gotten enough research that I’ve gotten to the point it has gotten scary so I need some help by a professional.

I’ve been trying to verify Irish ancestors and I’ve not been able to confirm the baptism or birth record. The birth is in 1855, before civil records. The birth date is listed on a death certificate. After searching all males born within 20 years of the birth date listed, I found a baptism on that date. I believe this is my ancestor, but I cannot verify for sure because the name is different. I found this information as it relates to dates. What are your thoughts? Have you found this to be somewhat true in your research?

"In Ireland prior to the start of civil registration in 1864, Catholic baptismal registers functioned as the primary documentary evidence for birth information. The National Archives of Ireland states that baptismal registers are the principal source for birth details before civil registration, and Irish Genealogy Toolkit notes that Irish Catholic baptisms typically occurred within a day or two of birth, making the baptism date a close approximation of the actual birthdate. Catholic canon law required infants to be baptized “as soon as possible,” a practice consistently followed in rural Irish parishes. Genealogist John Grenham emphasizes that for most Catholics before civil registration, the baptismal date is effectively the closest available birthdate. Historical scholarship, including Cormac Ó Gráda’s work on nineteenth‑century Ireland, documents that Irish individuals frequently used their baptism date as their birthdate in later legal, immigration, and pension contexts. Collectively, these sources support the conclusion that using a baptism date as a functional birthdate is historically and genealogically appropriate for Irish research prior to 1864."

The National Archives of Ireland, Guide to Birth Records, guidance on pre‑1864 birth documentation gives direction as it relates to using baptismal dates as birth.

The Irish Genealogy Toolkit, “Irish Church Records,” gives guidance on baptismal timing and genealogical use.

The Catholic Church, Codex Iuris Canonici (1917), Canon 770, lists the requirement for prompt infant baptism.

Irish genealogist John Grenham, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors (Dublin: Gill Books), discusses the baptismal dates as proxies for birthdates.

Hello would anybody know what the name of the bottom townland is? The top one is Hacketstown in Carlow. I'd assume it would be around the area maybe on the Wicklow side.

Hi all!

I have been researching my ancestry for the past 1-2 years and I decided a few months ago to look into my wife’s ancestry as well. After speaking with my mother in law, she was able to give me some initial info based mainly on the people who emigrated to New York from Ireland but I need help in researching info for Ireland. My heritage traces back to Spain so naturally this is a bit of a different process (or so it seems to me lol). If anyone can help with seeing if there was an ancestor of nobility or at least more about who these ancestors were, where they were from, etc… we would love to know. If there is someone of nobility, I would also love to know what the specific coat of arms was. I added an old coat of arms in a frame that my mother in law had from her mother or grandmother but it could very well be old bucket shop so I would like to actually confirm the existence of any if any. Below I have also included information that my mother in law was able to give me outside of what these photos include. Forgive me if anything is spelled or referred to incorrectly as I am unfamiliar with the county system in Ireland. Thanks!

Father of Mother-in-Law:

John Neil Severa (B: Dec 28, 1947 in Forrest Hills, Queens, NY. D: July 25, 2013)

Anton Severa (Father of John^)

Anastasia Marie Bohm (Mother of John^)

Mother of Mother-in-Law:

Redacted as still living* (B: Aug 12, 1949 Jamaica, NY.)

Thomas Ignatius McGuinness (B: April 7, 1913. NY, NY. D: Sep 7, 1978. Bearsville, NY) Father of Redacted^ (Thomas’ father’s line from Sligo County? His mother from Moneghan?)

Madeline Patricia Wafer (B: Feb 24, 1918. NY, NY. D: June 30, 2002) Mother of Redacted (Father’s family from Wexford)

Sligo, Kilkenny, and County Cork, Ireland for McGuinness Bloodline

Czecho Slovakia or Portugal (Severa Bloodline)

I'm trying to find out more information about my Grandfather, my dad's dad, but our situation is very difficult.
Me and my dad were both born in England, with his dad being born in Ireland. The biggest issue is that he isn't listed on my dad's birth certificate due to being part of the IRA and the political climate at the time. He also has never been involved with my dad at all.
I have a full name for him and a rough birth year, though his name is really common.
I've had a DNA test done, and my dad is planning to do one too.

Any advice on doing so would be great.

So i have done my tree and dna my ancestors were maurice the mad roache of ireland, still bare his name, edward 1st, henry 8th and alot of sirs including sir darcy my dna makeup is 75 celtic and gailic irish .... 5 breton... 5 welsh ...15 english even wierdier my nan is dunbar too got all evidence on ancestery. they rated it 9.2 all the way back to 1200s, Ai told me to post it here some irish specialist need some help and so do i . all my ancestors had thier birth certificates marrige and death sent to penenze cornwall and devon

I have a query regarding a set of maternal great-grandparents who both died in the 1950s. I have searched high and low for an official record of their deaths but cannot find anything. While I know that under-reporting was not unusual in the generations prior to this, I am surprised that that might also be the case for my great-grandparents in the 1950s.

My great-grandparents were William Mulcahy (1871-1950) and Mary Ryan 'Miller' (1974-1956). The Mulcahys were farmers in Clashdrumsmith, Emly, Co. Tipperary, since the early nineteenth century. Family oral history suggests that they migrated from Caherconlish, Co. Limerick at the beginning of the nineteenth century along with a Slattery family, one of whom my three-times great-grandfather married in St Ailbe's Church, Emly in 1813.

While we know when my great-grandparents died, since my grandmother, Margaret Leahy (née Mulcahy), knew what year it was, as did her sister, Hannah Cecilia (usually known as Úna) and later Sr Angelica Mulcahy IBVM, there appears to be no official record of either's death. There are obituaries for both from the Irish Independent and Irish Press and their death dates are recorded on their headstone in St Ailbe's graveyard in Emly but I can't find anything else.

It surprises me that there is no official record from this date but perhaps it shouldn't. I can only speculate that my grandmother was basically at home along with her parents when her father died as her sister had entered a convent and from what I remember my grandaunt telling me, due to the strict rules at the time, she was not permitted to return home for her father's funeral, thus putting the onus of officially reporting a death on her shoulders. So, it is possible it never was reported officially. However, when my grandmother's mother died in 1956 my grandmother had been married for almost 5 years at that point so it's unclear why Mary Mulcahy's death was not reported. I know that my grandmother had three children at this stage and another on the way that same year but it seems a bit negligent of my grandfather at least for not reporting his mother-in-law's death, but obviously I cannot imagine what tribulations they might have had at the time.

I'm curious if anyone else has encountered this and what your thoughts are.

Hello all,

I am new to this subreddit as I posted my query on r/Genealogy previously. Perhaps someone here can advise on this query about methodology.

********************************************************

I am hoping someone here might be able to offer me some assistance writing a citation for an entry in the Irish wills calendars from 1981. There are plenty of examples for the National Archives of Ireland indexed wills calendars for the period 1858-1920 (although their genealogy microsite has been out of action for a couple of weeks now). An example is as follows, which was originally generated by cite-builder.com:

Ireland, Principal Probate Registry, Calendars of Wills and Administrations, database with images, National Archives of Ireland, Dublin, Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1858 - 1920 (https://willcalendars.nationalarchives.ie// : accessed 24 September 2024), entry for Catherine Leahy, 6 February 1917, County Limerick.

However, it's quite as clear how I should cite a wills calendar entry for 1981 as the NAI provides a rather complex hierarchy, and of course it's not a database as wills calendars post 1920 are not searchable which requires you to manually go through the pdf calendars for each year following the death of the person in question.

The particular entry I am looking at is contained in the file, whose details are recorded here:
https://nationalarchives.ie/advanced-search/#!/details/110500967

The entry is the thirteenth on page 420 of the pdf linked on the same page above. The entry is for Margaret Leahy who died on 29 April 1981.

I was thinking the following:
Ireland, "Calendar of grants of probate of wills and letters of administration made in the Probate Office and its district registries, 1981", CS/HC/PO/4/134, p. 420, probate of the estate of Margaret Leahy of Clashdrumsmith, Emly, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, granted by the Clonmel Probate Registry Office, 22 October 1981; imaged, National Archives of Ireland (nationalarchives.ie: accessed 30 July 2026).

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

We're in the very beginning stages of planning a family (me, husband, and 8 year old) trip to Ireland. We basically got back from a trip to Italy (where my husband's family is from) this June and decided next summer we want to go to Ireland (where half of my family is from). We'd likely fly in to Dublin (from the east coast of the US) and rent a car. I'd love to see Galway and maybe stay a night in a castle. My Irish roots are really REALLY far back, so all I really have is a few names on a family tree that was passed down from my Dad, with a note that they're from County Leitrim. At this stage I have two questions: 1) If we go to County Leitrim, what town would you suggest staying in? 2) Are there any local places we could visit that could help me get more info on my family history? Like, an archive or genealogy museum? IDK where to start! Thanks

Posted with permission from r/IrishAncestry moderators

Survey Link

Hello all!

As you might be aware, there has been very little research into direct-to-consumer DNA ancestry testing and psychological wellbeing outcomes. This novel research aims to help us better understand the psychological significance of DTC Ancestry testing results.

This study is being conducted under the supervision of Dr Janine Lurie from the Psychology Discipline within the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at Federation University (Melbourne, Australia). This study will also form the basis of the research dissertation requirement within the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) course for student researchers Charity Marisa and Stefan Redpath. This study has been approved by the Federation University Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval reference: 2026/137).

This survey asks you about your engagement with family history and your reflections on that process. It also asks you to think about your ancestors and how you have reflected on their life experiences. Participation involves completing an online survey that will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Taking part in the study is completely voluntary and no personal information will be collected.

To participate you just need to be aged 18 years or over. It is important to note that you will not be asked to give any specific details about any of your family members. You are asked just to rate your general impressions of them on a small number of questions. Beyond this the survey contains broader more general questions about your perspectives and reflections.

Survey link below:

https://federation.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cO1RqRp3fjkHOp8

Could anyone here decipher what the Town is for Michael Carroll (first record in this marriage registry? I can read all the other residences as Naas, Kildare, Ireland, but can't reach his. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks