How to find ancestors in ireland

[borofred]

Hi All
I'm looking for some help in tracing some of my ancestors who came from Ireland but alas i do not know from which part of Ireland they came and all my searches so far have came up empty.My GG Granfather William O'Boyle and his two sons John b1843 and Thomas b1848 show up in the census records for Tipton for 1861 i have traced their movements after this date but so far i have hit a brick wall looking for them pre 1861.If a kind person could help me by pointing out where i am better off looking or any tips where to look i would be most grateful
Many Thanks
Fred

[efes123]

Hi Fred, and welcome to the message board.

It's reaally difficult, as I'm sure you've discovered, to research Irish ancestors. I can't stress how important it is to identify which part of Ireland they came from, especially with one of the more common names. I take it there are no clues in the census' in the Birthplace fields for any of them? One of the best sites I've come across is this one: http://ifhf.brsgenealogy.com/search.php but it looks like with over 500 birth records for William O'Boyle you'll need to narrow it down a bit.

Sorry I can't help much, but good luck

Phil

[laoislad27]

Records in Ireland are very hard to fine as a result of a fire in Dublin in 1922 that destroyed a lot of records.
Try these, for starters, and may narrow your search.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie (1911 census for Ireland)

http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie (Land owners)

http;//search.labs.familysearch.org (Irish Civil Registrations)

www.pilot.familysearch.org

www.eircomphonebook.ie (Ireland phone book)