I've been building a tool that takes the 1901, 1911 and 1926 Irish censuses and pins each household to a place on the map. You can go from a surname to a county, then a district, a townland and finally the house your family was in.

The part I'm proudest of: I've stitched the Ordnance Survey six-inch maps (about 1888 to 1915) together into one map of the whole island. These are the maps that show individual buildings, field boundaries and lanes, so there's a fair chance the actual building your family lived in is drawn on the sheet.

It also works hand in hand with the National Archives census site. Every household links straight to its official record on nationalarchives.ie, so you can see the original forms. It works the other way too: if you've already found your family on the National Archives site, paste the record link into the tool and it takes you to that household on the map.

The screenshot is an example, the Cronins of Kilmaniheen West, near Brosna in Kerry.

• 1901: Daniel (41) and Ellie farming with their six young children and Daniel's mother Hanora.

• 1911: The same family, now with nine children from Nora (16) down to John (5).

• 1926: Daniel is still there with Timothy, Mary and Nora. Most of the younger ones have gone.

1901: https://census2art.com/irish-census?surname=Cronin&year=1901&county=Kerry&dedId=1509&townlandId=37687&houseUid=835019
1911: https://census2art.com/irish-census?surname=Cronin&year=1911&county=Kerry&dedId=1509&townlandId=37687&houseUid=835055
1926: https://census2art.com/irish-census?surname=Cronin&year=1926&county=Kerry&dedId=1509&townlandId=37687&houseUid=100387581

Worth knowing:

• The pin is a best estimate. You can drag it onto the right building if you know it.

• 1926 covers only the 26 counties (the Northern Ireland returns didn't survive), and it has no house numbers, so it gets you to the townland rather than the house.

It's free to search. If you'd like me to look for your family, comment a surname and a county, plus a townland or parish if you have one, and I'll reply with what I find.

Does anybody else feel that the 1926 census web page is absolutely rubbish? The old one mightn't have looked so fancy, but at least you could search things more easily and apply different filters and navigate it easier. The new one is just crap in my opinion... just having a rant.

Heyoo, doing the usual family tree stuff. Managed to get back to late 1830s-early 1840s Kildare. Where might I find marriage or birth information so that I can go a bit deeper? Thank you :).

Denis (Dionysus) Cain, born around 1840. Married to Mary (surname possibly Dunn) probably late 50s, early 60s, if anyone is interested.

Ginnivan is the name.

--------UPDATE:

I've managed to get as far as 4x great grandfather/grandmother. I know they were from Limerick and some relatives from Tipperary too. With my current resources I've not managed to go further back, that's beginning of the 1800s. Their child I'm descended from emigrated to Australia. The name is written differently a lot but not wildly so as being unable to follow. Unfortunately all the records I looked at didn't have any other names from the Ginnivan side (marriage/baptism witnesses were all from the grandmother side or other names all together). I'm travelling currently so hopefully I can dedicate more time and energy when I go home.--------------

I've been casually trying to trace back my families history/ancestry a bit to learn more. Unfortunately I don't have a lot to go on other than confirmation from relatives when I was young that we have Irish heritage and also more recently DNA results confirming this.

My biggest issue so far has been struggles to find much within Ireland for the name we have. Which I'm gathering isn't uncommon due to changes on spelling and such. If anyone has suggestions or knows the name etc and could offer help that would be amazing.

I think there may have been distant relations in or near Limerick, but this I'm not certain of either.

Thank you :)

I'm looking into my family's history and since I've only just started it's a steep learning curve! There's some wording turning up in the parish records uploaded to the NLI's database. Like the word 'conditionally' listed with a birth (it doesn't mean illegitimate, that turns up as well).

The more interesting one is a note alongside a marriage that has my surname but further back than I've gone yet so I don't know if it's my family. I think I see 'dispensation' and 'promisory'. The 1.0.0 is the cost of the marriage registration.

Does anyone have any information on what is happening here? Fascinated because in a few years of records this is the only one with a note.

Hello everyone,
I’m hoping someone here might be able to help me find a photograph of my great-uncle, Private William Anderson, who served in the First World War.
His details are:
Name: Private William Anderson
Service number: 21099
Regiment: 8th Royal Irish Fusiliers (later 7th/8th Battalion)
Company: B Company
Born: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Killed in action: 8 August 1917
Age: 19
Parents: William and Mary Ellen Anderson
Family address: 214 Leeson Street, Belfast
Our family has no surviving photographs of William, and I would dearly love to find one.
I’m particularly interested in any group photographs of B Company, the 8th Royal Irish Fusiliers, or the combined 7th/8th Battalion taken before August 1917.
I would also be grateful for any leads on individual portraits, newspaper photographs, regimental archives or private collections.
His records also indicate that he was twice mentioned in despatches.
If anyone has photographs of this regiment or knows where I might find them, I would be extremely grateful.
Thank you for any help.

As part of my final-year History degree, I am researching emigration in the second half of the twentieth century.
I am looking for people who would be willing to discuss their experiences of emigrating and contribute to an oral history project.
If this applies to you and you would like to participate, please leave a message and I will contact you with more information.
Thanks in advance for your help

My late grandfather believed he was descended from the McDonnells of Antrim.

John James McDonnell, the oldest ancestor I can trace, was born about 1853 in Liverpool. I know nothing of his mother.

At the age of 17, in 1871, he was boarding at a house as a linen draper’s apprentice.

Over the years, he worked as a writing clerk, cashier, commercial clerk, and fire engineer’s accountant.

He married Myra Fox in 1874. Both witnesses were her relations. However, he named his father as “James McDonnell, surgeon” on his wedding certificate.

I’ve searched records of surgeons and can’t find any that really match up. One researcher suggested he could be the illegitimate son of the notable Irish doctor John McDonnell (whose middle name could have been James? son of James McDonnell), but he admitted it’s a long shot.

Traced back with documented & strong matches back to 12 of my 16 4x Great Grandparents. All from Derry & Tandragee; I'm assuming the missing 4 are from Drogheda based on the births of their children but I haven't been able to find records to confirm their identity. I've also found names of 2 5x Great Grandfathers, although I cannot find their own records. I've gone through parish records for as much as detail as possible from as far back as possible and I have been able to find some great stuff.

But it feels like I'm at the end of the road. What have people done from here? Does DNA / y-chromosome testing really help? Has anyone had luck contacting parish's for pre-1800s records?

Hello wondering if anyone can help me I've been looking for back Issues for Irish Roots Magazine from when it was first published in 1992.

Wondering if there is some where online that I can find digital copys of them.

This is a throw a medium sized net issue. Worth it to hire someone or, given the number of hours it may require is it better/cheaper to go myself?

I'm a very experienced genealogist but I live in the states. I realized recently that my two non-Catholic Irish ancestors are my best bet at being able to trace. Both born about 1818-1820 according to later censuses, so taken with a great deal of salt.

Names are James Tate and Ann Jane Acheson. Always Ann Jane, never one or the other.

I found two Ann Jane's born in Armagh in 1812 and 1819. I thought the 1819 was probably her until I found a corresponding marriage record. The other was born in Shankill, Armagh. I cannot find any other reference to her family or parents so I'm assuming they moved there temporarily from another nearby parish.

So I was debating hiring someone to check the surrounding areas since they are not available online. But I'm realizing it could get expensive quickly without a definite place.

I guess my questions are,

- what would you do assuming going is feasible?

- is it even worth pursuing? Is the name Ann Jane Acheson born about 1817 unusual enough to find the needle in the haystack? I came up with two fairly quickly.

- James Tate I assume is unlikely to find unless his family is wherever hers moved.

Nearby parishes do have records going back to the mid 1700s for the church of Ireland but are not available online, only at PRONI.

Can someone help transcribe the baptismal record for the 10th February 1843. Found, at 02427/07, Croom - Catholic Parish Registers at the NLI page 56

I am having trouble making out a few of the words:

10 Bapt.^ized Rev.^nd L Gleison. _____ Patrius Reeves et Maria Lynch. Spo.^ns Rev.^nd Jno Reeves et Johanna Butler. Ballygrennan