1o points please help how can i find my ansesctors i live in ireland and and only know as far back as my grand

Question

parents where do i start?

Answer 1

Always start your family history research with you, then your parents, grandparents and so on .... it sounds obvious, but many people try to  jump straight in before getting enough facts and go off on a wild goose chase after the "wrong" family.

Make notes of your parents names and other details, their birth dates, when they married, etc., If they are living, then sit down with them and ask them what they know of their families - make copious notes of all the say..

Do the same with your grandparents if they are living.  If not, you may have got sufficient info from your parents, but the minimum you need are their names, and birth dates - everything else can be found in the records.  Even approximate dates are useful, as they can reduce the amount of records you need to search.

Armed with as much information as you have, you can begin your research.  

If you live in or near to Dublin, you can do family history research at The General Register Office.  

They have a family history research facility at 3rd Floor, Block 7, Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1, which is open

Monday to Friday - 9.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.   There, you'll be able to search the indexes to birth, death and marriage records and obtain photocopies of records identified from the indexes.

They have the statutory indexes of:

1. Births registered in Ireland between 1/1/1864 & 31/12/1921 inclusive December,and in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland) from 1922 onwards.

2. Deaths registered in Ireland between 1/1/1864 & 31/12/1921  inclusive and in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland ) from 1922 onwards.

3. Non-Roman Catholic Marriages registered Ireland between 1/4/1845 and 31/12/1863 inclusive.

4. Marriages registered in Ireland between 1/1/1864 & 31/12/1921  inclusive and in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland ) from 1922 onwards.

5. Legal Domestic Adoptions registered in the Republic of Ireland from 10th July, 1953 onwards.

Confirm the details you already learned from your parents & grandparents, making notes as you go.  Then once you have the birth details of your grandparents, you will be able to go back further.  

In between visits to the family history research facility in Dublin, you can carry out research on the internet.  The best FREE genealogy website is the the Mormons LDS.

http://www.familysearch.org  

They host the International Genealogical Index commonly known as the IGI.  The IGI is a database of transcribed birth, marriage and death records (BMD) from around the world.  The UK and Ireland are particularly well represented.  One thing to bear in mind is always to cross-check anything you find only any database which holds transcribed records as they can contain errors.  Always check with the real documents if you are able.

There are many other good websites where you can pay for access to transcribed records, but you have the opportunity, as you live in Ireland, to see the real thing.

Good luck and good hunting!

Answer 2

I agree, start with yourself first. Also, if you want to have a better understanding of genealogy, maybe you can try taking a course on it online. I know there are many courses available online, that teach you how to trace your ancestors. I know http://www.ed2go.com/ provides one such course. Try searching here for a course, if you like.