Going to Ireland: A Genealogical Researcher's Guide Book

In a few weeks, a few months, next year, sometime-you are going on a genealogical research trip to Ireland. Success will depend upon having names to work with and on some knowledge of place and time; progress will be better if some things are done before departure. How do you prepare, and do your best to insure research time is well spent? Start with this guide. The authors have considerable experience in helping genealogists begin their research in North America and in guiding them through the steps they must take in Ireland.

The book introduces researchers to Irish boundaries, Irish records and Irish repositories. There are suggestions for what to do at home, outlines of the contents and services of archives and libraires in Ireland, as well as some travel advice. The bibliography lists those how-to books and reference works which will build understanding and even speed the process. As well as being full of useful information, this handy guide is easy to take along. Don't leave home without it!

About the Authors:

Sherry Irvine grew up and was educated in Canada, England and the USA. Her history degree is from Queen's University, Canada, and her post-graduate degree from the University of Illinois. She has taught genealogy courses since 1984.

In 1993 her first book was published, Your English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans (Ancestry). A second book, Your Scottish Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans (also issued by Ancestry) became available early in 1997.

Irvine lectures at major conferences in Canada and the United States, and for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. She established Interlink Bookshop and Genealogical Services in Victroria, BC, Canada, in 1988 to provide finding aids, maps, research books and consulting services for those doing British and Irish research. In addition, she leads research tours to Britain and is the editor of the Newsletter of the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History. In 1997 she was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Nora Hickey was born in Cork, Ireland, and educated at Loreto College, Manchester, England. After returning to Ireland in 1974, she studied history and philosophy at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, a constituent college of the National University of Ireland. Her B.A. thesis was genealogical; a study of the Norman family, the de Berminghams of Leinster.

For many years she served as Honorary Editor of Local History Review, the journal of the Federation of Local History Societies, of which she was a founder member. Subsequently, she was Honorary Editor of Irish Family History. She is the country advisor for Ireland to the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History.

Mrs. Hickey was a founder director of the Irish Genealogical Project until she resigned in 1991 to develop her own business, Cork Family History, an Irish genealogical, family history and heritage information service. This brings her to the USA several times year to lecture and hold seminars. She also hosts a County Cork Summer School and organizes research visits to the Dublin archives.