Research Advice - Talks & Videos
When you tire of reading through reams of advice and risk becoming distracted by tempting new URLs to endlessly click on, get yourself a cup of tea and settle down to listen to a recorded talk or podcast or perhaps watch an entertaining video. Here are a few of my recommendations,
Irish Ancestors YouTube Channel
John Grenham started posting short videos a few years ago on YouTube. There are now over 90 of them at the last count (NOV 2023) and they range across a number of themes and topics. Be sure to subscribe to the channel and make a note to catch up with new content periodically.
He uses his website in real-time to illustrate how to find out about records and solve problems. He has also posted quite a few opinion pieces - "rants" in his own words! - where he talks about some of the issues that can make researching your Irish family history more difficult than it perhaps ought to be. I have included links to some of his videos in context on some of my other pages and here are most of them grouped into the themes John has used or others that suggested themselves to me - enjoy!
I also came across a longer general talk on researching Irish ancestry that he gave in 2018 in Limerick, which has been posted in 3 parts - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Perhaps a good one to watch with your new copy of his book at the ready to leaf through.
John Grenham started posting short videos a few years ago on YouTube. There are now over 90 of them at the last count (NOV 2023) and they range across a number of themes and topics. Be sure to subscribe to the channel and make a note to catch up with new content periodically.
He uses his website in real-time to illustrate how to find out about records and solve problems. He has also posted quite a few opinion pieces - "rants" in his own words! - where he talks about some of the issues that can make researching your Irish family history more difficult than it perhaps ought to be. I have included links to some of his videos in context on some of my other pages and here are most of them grouped into the themes John has used or others that suggested themselves to me - enjoy!
- Site Guide - Welcome, Backstory, Browse, Ancestor Report, Wizard, Tips & Tricks, Bits & Bobs and Nooks & Crannies!
- Church Records - Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Quaker and Presbyterian.
- Church of Ireland - RCBL Listings
- Roman Catholic Church - Parish Maps & Names, Baptisms Map, Marriages Map and Parish Record Transcripts.
- Irish Surnames - Is mine Irish?, Irish into English (1), (2) & (3), Major Irish, Viking, Palatine, Huguenot, Norman and Anglo Irish.
- Irish Places - Placenames (1) & (2), Townlands, Civil Parishes, DEDs, PLUs, Baronies and Counties.
- Websites of National Repositories - PRONI, National Archives (UK), National Archives of Ireland and US Library of Congress.
- Neglected Sources - Betham's Will Abstracts, Church of Ireland and the RCB Library, Online estate maps and Loan Fund records.
- Graveyards - Graveyard Records and Gravestone Inscriptions.
- Land Records - Tithe Applotment Books, Registry of Deeds and Irish Land Commission.
I also came across a longer general talk on researching Irish ancestry that he gave in 2018 in Limerick, which has been posted in 3 parts - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Perhaps a good one to watch with your new copy of his book at the ready to leaf through.
RootsTech
The annual genealogy conference hosted by the Mormon Church in America has a huge free online library of previous talks available for you view from home. A search of the library with Ireland and Irish as simultaneous keywords returned 47 talks (DEC 2023), so that's a few rainy afternoons taken care of!
You will need to register an account to view them - use your existing FamilySearch account if you have one. You can also create your own playlists from the vast library and attend the latest conference virtually when it is running.
The annual genealogy conference hosted by the Mormon Church in America has a huge free online library of previous talks available for you view from home. A search of the library with Ireland and Irish as simultaneous keywords returned 47 talks (DEC 2023), so that's a few rainy afternoons taken care of!
You will need to register an account to view them - use your existing FamilySearch account if you have one. You can also create your own playlists from the vast library and attend the latest conference virtually when it is running.
The major Irish institutions and some of the more enlightened county archives have also got wise to the power of YouTube videos for promoting themselves and attracting "virtual" visitors who might turn into actual visitors perhaps. The content can vary wildly in terms of scope and quality but there are plenty of helpful how-to-find tutorials as well as specific historical talks.
- PRONI The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland currently has over 300 videos posted. Most obviously relate to the modern Northern Irish counties, but there are also more general videos that are applicable to all Ireland. Be warned though, the broadcast quality of some of them is quite frankly appalling and I had to abandon one on maps because the filming of the projected slides flickered terribly. Another on Presbyterianism by the knowledgeable Dr. William Roulston is packed with detail, but you're going to have to make a conscious effort not to be distracted by Ethel doing her knitting or Eric enjoying his lunch in the little Zoom windows to the right!
- National Archives of Ireland is a bit light on content and seems to tilt more towards the official work of the institution and planning your visit. There are a fair few talks that feature the turbulent times of 1920's Ireland plus a few more genealogical talks, so you may find something of interest.
- National Library of Ireland has more content than the NAI but the vast majority of the videos are very short. As you might expect, the topics lean more towards the literary and poetic (in English and Irish), but again, you may find something of interest.
- Cork County Archives has posted a really great little talk - "Genealogy Websites - the Forgotten Features". The narrated slideshow covers 2 of the NAI online resources (censuses and tithe applotment books), Irish Genealogy, Find My Past and FamilySearch. I've been using these websites for years and learned at least 3 or 4 new tricks from this talk, so do enjoy it!
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2025
