'Your Irish Ancestors' provide an entertaining insight into everyday life in
Ireland during the past four centuries. Aimed primarily at the family and social
historian, Ian Maxwell's highly readable guide introduces researchers to the
wealth of material available in archives throughout Ireland.
Many records, like the early twentieth century century census returns and
school registers, will be familiar to researchers, but others have been
traditionally overlooked by all but the most experienced genealogists. Each
chapter takes the form of a detailed social history showing how the lives of our
ancestors changed over the centuries and how this is reflected in the records
that have survived, and it is in this broad historical approach that Ian
Maxwell's work stands out from other guides to Irish genealogy.
'Your Irish Ancestors' is more than just a technical 'how-to-do-it' book, for
it will help family historians put their ancestral research in historical
perspective, giving them a better understanding of the world in which their
ancestors lived.
Contents:
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Birth, Death and Marriage
2. Irish Country Town
3. Life in the Towns and Cities
4. Religion
5. Primary Education
6. Industry - Working Life
7. The Irish Poor Law and the Great Famine
8. Migration
9. Emigration
Research Guide
- A. Where to Start
- B. Census Records
- C. Birth, Death and Marriage Records
- D. Census Substitutes
- E. Wills and Testamentary Records
- F. School Records
- G. Landed Estate Collections
- H. Land and Valuation Records
- I. Church Records
- J. Poor Law Records
- K. Records in Britain
- L. Emigration Records
Select Bibliography
Index
