Genealogist John Grenham believes the future is bright for digging into the past. He tells Katie Hannon and Colm Ó Mongáin on Drivetime that family researchers in Ireland have never had it easier - at least when compared to his own experience starting out decades ago. John offers useful pointers for anyone looking into their family history. Listen back above.
Any mention of the destruction of public records at the Four Courts in Dublin in 1922 is usually followed by the (understandable) hand-wringing of historians at the loss of such valuable material and archives which could be critical to genealogy researchers. Genealogist and author John Grenham focuses on the postives:
"One of the things that happened in 1922 at the start of the Civil War is the destruction of so many records. And that, if you want to be very, very glass half full about it, that's simplified research."
John has written a guide to family history reseach in Ireland called Tracing your Irish Ancestors and his Irish Ancestors website links to publicly available genealogy resources. He says the resources we have in Ireland are pretty good, and they're getting better:
"There are really only four major sources that everybody will be using. There's the 1901 and 1911 census returns, and they're online at nationalarchives.ie; soon to be joined by the 1926 census, praise be to God. There's the state records of births, marriages, and deaths. The historic ones, births up to 100 years ago, deaths up to 50 years ago, marriages up to 75 years ago. They're all free online on irishgenealogy.ie."
John explains that data sources on land valuation such as Griffith's Valuation can add crucial information to an ancestry search. Colm raises the planned transfer of the Land Commission files to the National Archives and John says historians are pretty exicted at the prospect:
" Yes, that's a wonderful, the last, the final frontier, I think, in research; because in order to prove title, people had to produce all sorts of family documentation. And that became part of the file then for the land commission. And so there's all sorts of goodies in there, wills, family trees, letters of attestation from local clergy and gentry and so on."
For Grenham, the ongoing improvement in access to resources is a revolution compared with earlier decades of painstaking research:
"For the first 30 years of my career, that was not true. I spent all that time fishing through keyholes and knitting with boxing gloves on. And now somebody's opened the door, turned on the lights. I'm having a great time."
The reasons for looking into your family's past have changed, John says. As families get smaller, he believes people are more interested in who came before:
"Extended families in Ireland have shrunk dramatically. I had 71 first cousins. My son has three. And that's pretty typical. So when that happens, people become more interested in the much broader context."
As well as internet access and better resources, some of the emotional impediments to family history research have been removed. Fears about uncovering dark secrets have faded, John says:
"Most people feel there's a skeleton somewhere. And in most cases there aren’t. Most ancestors are pretty ordinary people. It used to be that being born outside marriage was a big secret. At this stage, nobody gives a hoot."
Here are some of John Grenham's tips for starting out researching your own family tree; and you can get more information by listening to the interview above or on the RTÉ Radio App.
- Start at home: Speak to older relatives first and record names, dates, places and stories.
- Identify the family member who is the biggest source of information on family history.
- Use the censuses: The 1901 and 1911 censuses are online at nationalarchives.ie and 1926 census records will be available in April 2026.
- Check civil records: Births, marriages and deaths are available online at irishgenealogy.ie.
- Explore land records: Griffith's Valuation can place ancestors geographically.
- Don’t fear the truth: Most family trees are made up of ordinary people with pretty ordinary lives.
- Only seek expert help when you can't progress on your own: Professional genealogists are best used when records run out.