You've decided to trace your roots... How and where do you start?
The best place to start is at home. Your parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles - any relatives at all, could possibly give you the first clues that will help to solve the puzzle of your family history. Even close family friends can often provide very useful information. First, gather together any documents that relate in any way to your family - birth and death certificates, photographs, family bibles, scrap books with newspaper cuttings, letters, wills, military documents and even family legends. Then talk to your relatives and begin to document carefully and accurately the basic facts of your close family's genealogical history i.e. places and dates of birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial. Work backwards to your Irish ancestors by tracing birth, marriage and death certificates in local or state registries. Local churches and church archives may prove useful for records such as baptism and marriage certificates.
