Irish family history, County Mayo first
Find the next useful step in your Irish family history
Irish family history is not one search. It is a sequence, and almost everyone gets stuck because they are given the step after the one they are actually on. This site works out where you are, tells you what the next useful step is, and points you at the people and places that can help with it, starting with County Mayo.
What this actually does
Work out where you are
Five short questions, in plain language. No account, no upload, nothing kept unless you ask us to keep it.
Tell you the next useful step
Not everything you could ever do. The one or two things that actually move you forward from here.
Point you at who can help
Where we have checked an organisation and can stand behind it. Where we have not, we say so instead of filling the gap.
The five stages, and why they matter
Almost everyone who gets stuck is stuck because they were handed the step after the one they are on. A county genealogy centre cannot help you before you have a county. A guide cannot take you to a townland you have not found. Knowing which stage you are on is most of the problem.
- Irish connection
“I know my family was Irish.”
- First clue
“I have a surname, a family story or a DNA result — but no place in Ireland.”
- County identified
“I think I know the county.”
- Parish or locality identified
“I know the parish.”
- Ancestral place identified
“I can point at the place on a map.”
Wanting to go to Ireland is not a sixth stage. It is a separate thing about you, it never changes your research stage, and it only decides whether we mention the steps that involve being there.
Where we are honest with you
This is a new site covering one county, and it will say so rather than pad itself out. Where we have checked an organisation and can stand behind the facts a recommendation would rest on, we will name them. Where we have not, you get the reason instead of a filler suggestion.
Nothing here is a paid placement, there is no advertising on these pages, and no organisation has paid to appear or to appear higher.
How we choose and check the people we list · Why we sometimes cannot recommend anyone yet · What we do not claim