Resources

"The Irish Roots Guide" by Tony McCarthy

This is gem of a book. Published by The Lilliput Press Ltd in 1991, it is an accounting of a researcher's search for his family roots, and a very good synopsis of the major research tools available in Ireland. Mr. McCarthy's approach to these tools is unique in the way he explains their value (or not) to a researcher, and in combining them to do the best you can with what you have. The book is now in its fourth printing. Another book by him, published in 1994 is "The Ancestor Album". Both are listed at the website for Lilliput Press.

"The Search For Missing Friends", edited by Ruth-Ann Harris and Donald M. Jacobs.

There are, so far, 6 books in the series. Published by the New England Historical Society since 1989, the editors transcribed and analyzed the advertisements placed in the Boston Pilot by those seeking information on friends and loved ones lost since coming to the North American continent. The books are fascinating reading for anyone interested in gaining an appreciation of some of the hardships faced by the Irish immigrants and how widely mobile they were in pursuit of eking out a living. Highly cross-indexed with names, one can also see townlands and counties of origin compared with port-of-calls and final destinations.