Genealogy in Ireland

I would highly recommend doing as much research as you can before you get there. It might be worth your while to get a one or two month subscription to Ancestry international and see what you can find out before you go. Chances are that if it's not on Ancestry (or some other web site) then it may be difficult, if not impossible, for you to find out anything while you are there unless you are going to devote a whole lot of time to it. If there is census information available then either a government web site, or Ancestry, has probably already made it available online. If you are hoping to find out things from other sources you will need to have a pretty good idea of where to look before you get there. Local history organizations, church records, birth/death/marriage records, and even newspapers may hold some information, but it can be a needle in a haystack if you don't already know where to look. I can't help you with any specific web sites as my ancestors are from the north, but if you know the name of a town then try google and see what you can find for local historical societies. I tried to find my ancestors many years ago when I was in Belfast, but as I had so little information (some of which I later learned was wrong) that it turned out to be a waste of my time. I have since found out more about them through Ancestry and connecting with someone else who was looking for the same people.

Anita,
Thank you for your reply.
Many of my family I believe also comes from the North. However the specifics are challenging to come by. I have been on Ancestry for years and have never been able to nail down exactly where they came from. I even have their naturalization paperwork but it has very little information about where they came from on those documents. Unlike my Sicilian ancestors that came over in the early 1900s, their naturalization paperwork specifies the town they came from, the ship they sailed on, and the date they arrived. My wife's family is also from Ireland and were always told the family came from Cork. However, I have learned information passed down like this can often be inaccurate or be mistaken as to the port they sailed from.
We are also researching quite common names like Burns, Morrissey, Andrews, O'Connor, Gibson, and Corkery(which I have also seen as Corcoran). I can find many of these names in documents on Ancestry and otherwise, but am not completely certain if these are my family members.
Well, perhaps I will just enjoy the Irish countryside and the Dingle peninsula on my trip and leave the ancestry work for another time. Thank you for your insights.

Mark

Have you tried www.nli.ie (National Library of Ireland)? When we were in Ireland it was recommended to me as a great online source for Irish genealogical research. I confess I haven't really explored it thoroughly but you might find it helpful.

Thank you PJ,
I will have a look.

Mark

Ciaran,

Thank you for these resources. I will have a look.

Mark