A Guide to Tracing Your Family History

During the last three centuries hundreds of thousands of people left Ulster (the six counties of Northern Ireland plus the three border counties of Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal in the Republic of Ireland) to seek new lives around the world. They included hundreds of thousands of Scots Irish Presbyterians who settled in North America from the early 18th century and great numbers of Irish Catholics who emigrated there in subsequent centuries. Many left for other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.

Today, many descendants of these Ulster migrants are returning to these shores to find out more about their roots. They are joined by many local people whose curiosity about their ancestors is just as great.

But how do you go about tracing your family tree? Where do you start? Who can help, advise, or even do the work for you?

This brochure (download link below) is intended as a simple guide to tracing your ancestors in Belfast and Northern Ireland.

TO DOWNLOAD 'A GUIDE TO TRACING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY', CLICK HERE.



Tracing Your Family History - Key Organisations:

1.  The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) www.proni.gov.uk 
The official place of deposit for public records in Northern Ireland. PRONI hold millions of documents which relate chiefly, but by no means exclusively, to present-day Northern Ireland. The earliest record dates from 1219, with the main concentration of records covering the period 1600 to the present. The records fall into three general categories:
· Records of Government Departments which in many cases go back to the early nineteenth century;
· Records of courts of law, local authorities and other non-departmental public bodies;
· Records deposited by private individuals, churches, businesses and institutions.

2.  The Ulster Historical Foundation
The Ulster Historical Foundation promotes an interest in Irish history and genealogy, with particular reference to Ulster. UHF offers an ancestral research service, publishes books, organises conferences and lecture tours and runs a membership association, known as the Ulster Genealogical and Historical Guild.  www.ancestryireland.com

3. Family Ulster www.familyulster.com
Family Ulster is a family research and tour service which provides professional genealogical research into individual family trees.  Tours of any town, street, church, school, graveyard known to a visitor’s  ancestors can be arranged.

4. The Linenhall Library www.linenhall.com
Information includes a card index to personal names dating back to 1802

5.   Belfast Family History Centre www.familysearch.org