Events Calendar

Talk for NIFHS Belfast Branch, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors in County Donegal by Una Matthewson, Tuesday, 22 October 2024 at 7.30 pm.

Zoom event. Those wishing to attend should e-mail the Branch Secretary at Belfast@nifhs.org and they will be sent the link.

The aim of this talk is to give an overview of the family history resources available to the family history researcher and to introduce some of the gems of the Donegal Studies Collection.

Donegal County Library holds a valuable and diverse collection of family and local history resources relating to the history and heritage of the county.

Irish family history research can be challenging due to the lack of census returns and the relatively late introduction of civil registration. However, there is a wealth of alterative records available that can help piece together your family history, ranging from the very early Muster Rolls of 1630 to Griffith’s Valuation of the mid-1850s and may more. The Donegal Studies Collection holds many of these resources, as well as more general materials relating to the history of the province. Local history books that can often contain information that can round off your dedicated years of research, by situating your family members in a time and place.