Claire Bradley is a Dublin-based genetic genealogist specialising in ancestry from Ireland
Now that the excitement of the census release has begun to settle, we’re starting to get into the nitty gritty of it. We now have options for accessing it on a few different sites I know some readers of my blog will love a good source citation, so here’s how to understand and cite the…
Barely a wet week has passed since the 1926 census has launched and Ancestry has already got a trancribed version on their site. Presumably this will be the same transcription as on the National Archives version because they couldn’t have re-transcribed it themselves so quickly and the Creative Commons licence means they can just take…
The Story of Us is a companion book released on Monday to tie in with the launch of the 1926 census. It’s edited by Orlaith McBride (Director of the National Archives) and John Gibney of the Royal Irish Academy. The book is comprised of 29 short chapters, divided into 4 sections: The chapters are authored…
It’s here 100 years to the day at 00:01 on 18th April 2026, the National Archives has gifted genealogists and historians with the long-awaited public release of the Irish Free State’s 1926 census. The link to search is here. It’s free to access and you don’t need to register an account. What’s on it? This…
As a new nation in 1922, Ireland went on a spree of renaming things. This happened at a county level (Kings County became Offaly, Queen’s County became Laois) and town level (Kingstown reverted to Dun Laoghaire, Queenstown went back to Cobh) – are you sensing a theme here? It also happened with street names, mostly…
It’s time for another book review. Regular readers of my blog will know that I’m keen on people getting the fundamentals of how to research your family tree right. This isn’t a topic that fills us with excitement but it’s important. Dr Karen Cummings (owner of Pharos Tutors) is someone I know professionally and I…
Last week I posted on social media with my annual plea for releasing the Irishgenealogy.ie update. It seems they were listening to me! The site now contains All of these records are available for free!
Clients frequently ask me to collaborate with them on their family history. People have usually done a little bit themselves and then get stuck. I come in to help untangle and correct their homework! The proliferation of hint systems in online commercial genealogy sites means that it’s very easy for an error to be replicated,…
I’ve been remiss with my book reviewing schedule. So I took the time to read Researching Farming Ancestors in Ireland by William J. Roulston. Originally published via the Ulster Historical Foundation in 2021, I only bought a copy before Christmas. I picked it up intending to make a start but found it so accessible and…
As I look forward to a new year, as a small business owner and professional genealogist, here are a few things I’m hoping for. Thanks to my clients for their business and newsletter subscribers & blog commenters for their engagement this past year. I love my work & long may it last.