Ok so there's a possibility I might be irish. How does one start searches with not many info?

Question

(Read my previous question for more info if you wish)

I only know my great grand fathers name with his year of birth, nothing else.

I looked on the major sites for info. But coudn't find anything. And I am pretty good at the google thing, so I know I went to all message boards possible.

There is a lot of info about that one guy who came from France to Ohio and changed his last name to something more english, but not many info about my french name.

So, other then google and those messages boards and sites I went to, how else could I find infos?

Can't ask family, they are all dead.

Answer 1

Irish research is difficult.  It's not impossible, but it is really hard.  I gave up on my Irish lines ages ago.  Put simply, the records just aren't there.  Most of the censuses were destroyed (deliberately) by previous Irish governments, and a huge fire in 1922 during the civil war destroyed most of the other early parish registers.  Not an awful lot survives, and unless you're really sure of a village or specific place in Ireland, the task is just impossible.  I tried looking for John Dillon, recorded in the English census as born in Ireland circa 1850.  That's as close as it gets.  Dublin, Belfast, Cork or anywhere in between, I've no idea.  Searching is just impossible because so many records are missing.  I'm immediately suspicious of anyone who claims to have Irish ancestry going way back into the mists of time because by and large, reliable records just don't exist.  Nothing can be proved or disproved.  I could go out now and invent several extra generations on my Irish line, put it on the web, and future researchers would take it as fact, when its really complete fiction.  Be very wary in this part of the world.  Irish genealogy is a complete minefield.

Answer 2

im half irish on my mother side and my nana said that in ireland they have a huge building full of family records so its worth going over there and checking it out , you could make a holiday of it. good luck.

Answer 3

I am Irish too so i found a map that has all Irish last names and in the area they came from so see if you could find this on google and see if you can find your grandfathers last name on this map it kinda cool.

Answer 4

I went to read your prior question.. and you have your questions/answers private.  Not everyone will take time to sift through the old questions, but I did.

Next.. start with yourself. You don't need to post your private info on the board. You DO need to start, from the beginning, with the rule of having documentation. Jumping to a file about some guy from France, when you don't have proof concerning gr grandpa is one of the number one mistakes that new researchers make. You have no idea if the guy from Ohio is even related to you.

If EVERYONE is your family were dead.. you would have to depend on records and documents. again.. the documents are what you use anyway.

What you need (after you have documented your grandparents), is documentation of when your great grandfather DIED, as well as when he was born. If he was living prior to 1930 (which you find from more recent records).. he'll be in the census records.  Someone here would be happy to do a lookup for you in ancestry.com (the only place with ALL census records).  No one can help with lookups, unless you tell us who we are looking for. Your local library will normally subscribe to ancestry, if that is your preference.

SOMETIMES.. it is much more understandable, when someone can demonstrate how to find the records. As things stand.. your questions are useless,  since they have nothing explicit for us to work with.

Answer 5

You mentioned your great grandfather's name being French in your prior question.  However, your name is only a small part of you.  For instance, there is your mother's family.  On your father's side your, maternal grandmother's family, your maternal great grandmother's family and so.

Do you know that you can be directly descended from over a thousand people in 10 generations and over a million in 20 generations?  I say you could because chances are some place back down the line distant cousins married.  People who lived in small towns and villages when transportation was by horse and buggy were usually all kin to each other somehow. They often times didn't have an opportunity to meet outsiders.

Your ancestry pyramids as you go back.  So, the possibility of you having some Irish heritage is very good.

The best thing to do is to trace your family starting with yourself and working back one generation at a time.  You do this by documenting everything as you go back. Get birth, marriage and death certificates and depending on the faith, baptismal, first communion, confirmation, marriage and death records can be valuable.

Don't depend entirely on the web. Forget about googling your name.

Go to your public library and see what all they have. They might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com you can use.  Ancestry.Com has lots of records and seem to be getting more all the time. They have all the U.S.censuses through 1930. The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet.  They have U. K. censuses also.

Just don't take as absolute fact everything you see in family trees on ANY website, free or paid. The info is user submitted and mostly not documented or poorly documented.  Even when you see the same info repeatedly by many different subscribers that is no guarantee it is correct. A lot of people copy without verifying.  The information can be useful as clues as to where to get the documentation.

A Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints(Mormon) Church has records on people all over the world, not just Mormons.

In Salt Lake City, they have the world's largest genealogical collection. Their Family History Centers can order microfilm for you to view at a nominal fee.  

I have never had them to try and convert me or send their missionaries by to ring my doorbell.  I haven't heard of them doing to to anyone else either.

While at the library and Family History Center, you will probably have an excellent opportunity to talk with other researchers and sharing ideas and experiences can be very valuable.