Which paid genealogy services are worth using after the free Irish records?
Judge each one by what it holds for a specific parish and period, not by its total record count. RootsIreland, from the Irish Family History Foundation, holds indexed transcripts of church registers for most counties, searchable by name. Findmypast holds a name index to the National Library's Catholic register images and a wide set of Irish collections, including court, prison and land records. Ancestry holds indexes to the civil registers and to Griffith's Valuation. Before paying, check the service's own source list for the county and years needed, then take the shortest subscription on offer and work through a prepared list of searches in that time.
Useful pages: The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · The 1926 Census guide · Coming home · Irish around the world · Plan your journey
Sources
- Findmypast and Ancestry: Irish record collection descriptions
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