County Checklist

Once you know a likely county or region, your family-history search becomes much more focused.

Use this checklist to move from a broad family story to a specific place.

Step 1: Identify the county

Ask:

• Which county is named in family stories?
• Does a death certificate, obituary, census, or gravestone mention a county?
• Does a passenger list or naturalization record mention a birthplace?

Step 2: Narrow to parish, townland, village, or burgh

In Ireland, county alone is often not enough

• parish
• townland
• nearby village
• registration district

In Scotland, try to identify:

• parish
• burgh
• county
• nearby town or district

Step 3: Match the place to the right records

Ireland

civil records → census → parish registers → land records → local archives

Scotland

statutory records → census → church registers → valuation rolls → wills → local archives

Step 4: Look for nearby heritage clues

Places can connect your family to:

• castles
• churches
• graveyards
• ports
• old estates
• market towns
• clan or local-history sites

Step 5: Link place to site content

• Top 20 Castles in Ireland for Genealogy Travelers
• Top 20 Castles in Scotland for Genealogy Travelers
• Castles category archive

Step 6: Move to the country guide

• Ireland Genealogy Resources
• Scotland Genealogy Resources

Continue Exploring

• Back to Start Your Irish and Scottish Roots Journey
• Use the Starter Checklist
• Explore Free Resources