Genealogy can quickly become an absorbing hobby, but it is not a sport for impatient or impetuous souls! The best progress is made by reducing the overall project into a number of discrete tasks, and then systematically processing each task in a conscientious and methodical manner. Far from being a mindless robotic trawl of dusty tomes, as is often portrayed, real genealogy invariably challenges the most alert mind to unravel seemingly insoluble problems with lateral thinking. Conflicting information abounds and nothing may be taken for granted.

Our members come from a wide variety of family backgrounds and each member is faced with a unique set of challenges - some easy, others not so easy. At one end of the spectrum, there are native Irish members who have been brought up on the home farm where the family has lived for many generations, and who can rattle off the names of their ancestors without pausing to concentrate. At the other end of the spectrum, there are members living abroad who have little or no information beyond their parents, and who have no idea whereabouts in Ireland their ancestors lived. Most members fall somewhere in the middle of these extremes and face common challenges that can be addressed by a series of easy-to-follow steps.

Here are the basic steps:-

If you have less than the usual amount of information, here is your best route:

• Start with the Y-DNA Test because it has the potential to save you years (decades even!) of fruitless research. A near match will indicate the most likely Irish province or county for future research. A close match can identify the likely county or parish. An exact match may pinpoint the likely parish or family. If you are a male bearing the Flannery / Flannelly surname, then you carry the crucial Y-chromosome handed down from father to son and you can take the test yourself (get family members to chip in to help with the Lab fee). If you are female or do not bear the Flannery / Flannelly surname, then you cannot take the test yourself (please don't blame us, it's Mother Nature's fault!) so you will need to find a male relative who fits the bill and get him to act as a DNA Ambassador for your family.
  
  
• Check your national Civil Records for Births, Marriages and Deaths, and carefully collect all the civil certificates for each recorded event; starting with yourself, then your parents, then your grandparents etc. until you run out of information. The key items are names, dates and placenames, and these may be conveniently laid out on the research sheets provided with your Welcome Pack.
  
  
• Next, check your corresponding Church Records for Baptisms, Marriages and Burials to corroborate the civil records. It is not unusual for names to be spelt differently in various records and all variations should be clearly noted. Church records can often provide important clues such as aunts and uncles who sponsor a child, etc., and are very important as a double-check.
  
  
• If you are living abroad and you finally tag the ancestor who was recorded as "born in Ireland", then check the Passenger Lists to see if you can identify a likely candidate. Passengers frequently migrated in groups of either family members or neighbours, and this makes them much easier to place in the Irish records. A group of family members travelling together can be checked against families recorded in Irish parish records. A group of neighbours can often be identified with an approximate location in Ireland using the occurance of surnames in searchable land records such as the Griffith's Primary Valuation CD.
  
  
• If you are living in Ireland, then check the 1901 and 1911 Census Returns to fill out the branches of your family tree.
  
  

If you have more than the usual amount of information, here is your best route:

• Start with the Irish Civil Records for Births, Marriages and Deaths, and carefully collect all the civil certificates for each recorded event; starting with yourself, then your parents, then your grandparents etc. until you run out of information (at 1864 or thereabouts). The key items are names, dates and placenames, and these may be conveniently laid out on the research sheets provided with your Welcome Pack. Try to ascertain the civil parish (or, even better, the townland) where your earliest recorded ancestor lived. It is important to bear in mind that not all life events were formally reported for the civil records. Lack of civil records is particularly common in poorer rural areas.
  
  
• Check the corresponding Church Records for Baptisms, Marriages and Burials to corroborate the civil records (or to make up for their absence, in some cases). It is important to bear in mind that the RC parish is not exactly the same as the civil parish, but it is easy enough to identify the RC parish that corresponds to any given civil parish (just ask us!). The RC registers can often add an extra generation or two to the family tree, but it is important to bear in mind that poorer rural parishes didn't keep great records and the registers may only start after 1864.
  
  
• Next, check the 1901 and 1911 Census Returns to fill out the branches of your family tree. Reported ages are frequently approximations, so it is important to use both cenesus returns as a cross-check (and maybe take the average!). The 1901 census is usually very useful for catching elderly parents who lived through the Great Famine. The 1911 census contains more details, such as the length of each marriage and number of children (both born and surviving). It can sometimes be difficult to identify the correct family where serveral families occupy the townland, especially when relatively popular Christian names are used by all, so it is advisable to first establish the family members using civil and church records before looking at the census returns.
  
  
• When the "definitive" records have been exhausted, it is time to turn to the "indicative" records such as the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith's Primary Valuation which are essentially land and property tax records. These records cannot provide proof of a relationship, but they can indicate a possible or likely relationship - especially if there is only one Flannery / Flannelly family farming the townland.
  
  
• If you come across a reference to a relative who migrated abroad, then check the Passenger Lists to see if you can identify a likely candidate.
  
  
• Finally, it is strongly recommended to include the Y-DNA Test in your research plan. This is because no matter how far back you trace your roots in a specific locality, there is always the chance that the previous generation migrated to that spot from the other end of the country. There are, of course, more reasons to establish a genetic signature for your family and your locality. In certain occupations such as the police, it was customary to relocate the individual to another part of the country to avoid possible conflicts of interest; so a modern Munster Flannery could easily be the descendant of an early Connaught Flannery policeman. In Connaught, the ancient identity is frequently confused by the occurence of significant surname variations (Flannery versus Flannelly) in surviving records, and the only surefire way of identifying the original ancestral group is by the Y-DNA Test.
  
  

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Here are ten additional suggestions for your campaign in Ireland :-

• Ask all of your known living relatives for details (no matter how trivial). Personal dialogue is the most effective. Make a written record of their comments and reminiscences. Start a file.
  
  
• Consult the Clan Historians, who have ready access to primary databases and references. Bear in mind that it takes quite a while to type out databases and upload them onto the website, and most of our databases are still being processed.
  
  
• If you have a reasonable amount of background detail, the relevant county family history research centre may be able to help. Click HERE for a list of centres.
  
  
• Gain access to the internet, and post a query on the most relevant genealogical forum. Update your query as you gain more information.
  
  
• Visit the library, and consult the recognised authoritative texts to identify the likely counties where your forebears may have lived. Maiden names can often provide vital clues to identify the relevant county.
  
  
• Consult the parish index and make a list of all the parishes in the likeliest county.
  
  
• Consult our transcripts of the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffiths Primary Valuation to gauge the occurrence of your family name within each given parish.
  
  
• If you are near Dublin, visit the National Library and check the microfilm copy of the most likely parish register. This is much faster and easier than inspecting the parish records in person. If you draw a blank, just move on to the next likely parish, and so on.
  
  
• If your own direct efforts are unsuccessful, try placing a personal ad in one or more of the popular genealogical magazines. Browse these periodicals for alternative record sources.
  
  
• Consult the other available record archives such as census returns, passenger lists, newspaper notices, etc. to approach the problem from a number of different angles.
  
  

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Here are the main archives in Dublin :-

• General Register Office (Research Facility)
  3rd Floor, Block 7, Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1
  Website
  Open Monday - Friday (0930 - 1630h)
  Civil records for birth, marriage and death; this is the place to search the index volumes in person and purchase a photocopy of the record.
  
  
• General Register Office (Old Headquarters)
  Joyce House, 8 - 11 Lombard Street East, Dublin 2
  Tel. 01 6354000, Fax. 01 6354741, Website
  Open Monday - Friday (0930 - 1230h; 1415 - 1630h)
  Civil records for birth, marriage and death; this is the place to purchase an official certificate over the counter.
  
  
• General Register Office (New Headquarters)
  Convent Road, Roscommon, County Roscommon
  Tel. 0906 632900, Fax. 0906 632999, Website
  Open Monday - Friday (0930 - 1630h)
  Civil records for birth, marriage and death; this is the place to purchase an official certificate by post or over the counter.
  
  
• National Archives
  Bishop Street, Dublin 8
  Tel. 4072300, Fax. 4072333, Website
  Open Monday - Friday (1000 - 1700h)
  1901 and 1911 Census Returns, Tithe Applotment Books, Griffith's Primary Valuation Survey.
  NOTE: There is a free consultancy available during normal working hours!



• National Library
  Kildare Street, Dublin 8
  Tel. 6030200, Fax. 6766690, Website
  Open Mon - Wed (1000 - 2100h); Thu - Fri (1000 - 1700h); Sat (1000 - 1300h)
  Church records for baptsim and marriage (and sometimes burial); free genealogical advice service.
  NOTE: There is a free consultancy available during normal working hours!



• Royal Irish Academy
  19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2
  Tel. 6762570, Fax. 6762346, Website
  Open Monday - Friday (1000 - 1700h)
  Ancient archives.
  NOTE: The library is not open to the general public, so visitors must first apply for a Reader's Ticket.

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