Where do I research ancestors from County Clare?
Clare is one of the best served counties in Ireland. The Clare Heritage and Genealogical Centre in Corofin, the country's first genealogy centre, put the county's church registers and civil records on RootsIreland, and Clare Libraries' local studies centre in Ennis runs a free online collection that researchers in other counties can only envy: the complete 1901 census for Clare, Griffith's Valuation, tithe books, school registers and graveyard inscriptions, all free. Start with the library's site, use RootsIreland for the parish registers, and remember that Clare Catholic registers for the Killaloe diocese are also at the National Library, free and unindexed. The county archive is in Ennis for anything paper.
Useful pages: The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · The 1926 Census guide · Coming home · Irish around the world · Plan your journey
Sources
- Irish Family History Foundation: RootsIreland and the county genealogy centres, rootsireland.ie
- Clare Libraries: local studies and archives, including the free online genealogy collections, clarelibrary.ie
- National Library of Ireland: Catholic parish registers, registers.nli.ie
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