Preparing for Searches

Most Church of Ireland parish registers do not have indexes and there is no single comprehensive index to all their contents.

In general, in order to prosecute a successful search in parish registers you need a name, a date and a place name.

However, there are a number of ongoing projects to index genealogical material on a county basis and some of these projects have included Church of Ireland records: details may be had from the Irish Family History Society.

The Cobh Genealogical Project (mervillecobh@eircom.net) is indexing Church of Ireland parish registers in Co. Cork.

The following publications and agencies can help with your preparations:

1. Donal Begley (ed.), Irish genealogy. A record finder (Heraldic Artists, Dublin, 1981)
2. John Grenham, Tracing your Irish ancestors (Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1992)
3. Maire Mac Conghail & Paul Gorry, Tracing Irish ancestors (Harper Collins, Glasgow, 1997)
4. Brian Mitchell, A new genealogical atlas of Ireland (Genealogical Publishing Co, Baltimore, 1988)
5. Handlist of Church of Ireland parish registers in the Representative Church Body Library
   (copies of this list, which is updated regularly, are available from RCB Library to download free of charge, please click here)
6. Association of Professional Genealogists, c/o Genealogical Office, 2 Kildare Street, Dublin 2, Ireland
7. Irish Family History Society, PO Box 36, Naas, Co Kildare, Ireland
8. National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8, Ireland
9. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), 2 Titanic Boulevard, BELFAST, BT3 9HQ
10. Ulster Historical Foundation, Bradley Thallon House, Unit 44D, Kiltonga Estate, Belfast Road, Newtownards, BT23 4TJ
11. The Irish Genealogical Research Society, Church of St Magnus the Martyr, Lower Thames Street, London, England