The Irish History Show 104 Irish Genealogy
Dec 24, 2024
Nicola Morris, a leading genealogist and director of Timeline Research Ltd., shares her expertise on tracing Irish ancestors. She discusses the motivations behind Irish enlistment in WWI, the challenges of estimating service numbers, and essential steps to research military records. Nicola highlights valuable resources like censuses, medal index cards, and local archives, while emphasizing the importance of interviewing relatives for family clues. She also delves into the complexities of Dublin-specific records and archival sources, making genealogy accessible for everyone.
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Prepare Thorough ID Before Military Searches
- Do collect as much personal detail as possible (full names, name variants, birthplaces, regiments) before searching military records.
- Use marriage, birth, photos, medals or local sources to identify regiment and avoid missing records due to name variants.
Use 1901/1911 Censuses Early
- Use the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses (complete survivors) to verify birthplaces, family members and ages before military searches.
- Identify siblings who may have enlisted together to widen search avenues.
Many WWI Service Files Were Destroyed
- Expect many WWI service records to be missing because 60% were destroyed in the 1940 Blitz.
- You therefore only have roughly a one-in-three chance of finding a complete service file and must use alternative sources.
