google-site-verification: google65e716d80989ba07.html Follow Friday - Irish Origins | The Armchair Genealogist

Follow Friday - Irish Origins

I joined Irish Origins last year in my attempt to uncover my Irish ancestors. I had only just begun to research my Irish family tree and I had little knowledge of Irish records. I found the Irish origins site to be very helpful in not only providing a database of documents but in providing me with critical information on the history of Ireland, the records that are available or not available for my ancestors and the meaning and history of each of these collections.

Irish Origins is part of the Origins Network; this is a database offering records for tracing your British, Scottish and Irish ancestors. The collections date back to the 13th century. It contains over 3000 books and cds that are available through the Origins shop. You can also view rare and vintage books, photos and maps online.

The subscription comes in several different packages, you can purchase a total subscription, which includes British, Irish and Scottish records, or you can purchase these subscriptions individually.

For the purpose of this post, we are going to focus entirely on the Irish Origins subscription.

Irish Origins offers a very affordable starting point for researching your Irish family. My Irish ancestors arrived in Canada 1832 and records prior to this date remain scarce. Irish origins offer me some glimmer of hope. As of this post, they offer the following collections for you to search.


Griffith’s Primary Evaluation of Ireland
1851 Dublin Census
Irish Wills Index 1484-1859
Rare 19th century directories
Irish Royal Garrison Artillery Militia Attestations 1872-1915
William Smith O’Brien Petition 1848-49
Irish Ports to USA 1890 Passenger Lists
Irish Origins Library
Children’s Employment Commission Part II
Census of Elphin 1749
Tithe Defaulters 1831
Electoral Register for Land 1832-38
Memorials of Dead – Galway and Mayo
Brian J. Cantwell’s Memorial of the Dead
Transatlantic Migration 1858-1870
Directories of Ireland
Griffiths survey, maps and plans

This database understands that you may not require a long-term commitment and has made their subscriptions very flexible. You can sign up for 72 consecutive hours for $7.40 US or subscribe to a month for as little as $14.74 monthly. This is handled via credit card online and should you take the 72- hour plan you are charged once. If you subscribe to the monthly plan, you will be charged each month until you cancel your subscription. Which is easy and quick so do not feel like you will be purchasing more then you require.

I now check back regularly to the What’s New section of the website, where I can see if they have added any new collections since my last membership. This website offers very detailed information about the individual collections including dates and geographic locations that the collections pertains to, so you know upfront whether a specific collection applies to your needs.

If you discover a document that identifies an ancestor, you save a screen shot to your computer, or you can order a hard copy for an added fee.

In my opinion Irish Origins should be included in your ‘to follow” list if you have Irish ancestors in your family tree.

Other Irish databases to consider read about
Irish Family History Foundation