Trace Irish and Scottish family history with genealogy records, surnames, migration clues, DNA, old photographs, ancestral places, and research methods.
Bunratty Castle is a restored 15th-century tower house in County Clare near Shannon Airport, and it is one of the easiest medieval castle visits to build into a western Ireland itinerary. This guide explains why Bunratty Castle is worth visiting,…
Dublin or Shannon for an Ireland heritage trip When you are planning a heritage visit to Ireland, you should always ask yourself “Dublin or Shannon for my Ireland heritage trip?”. Dublin Airport in County Dublin and Shannon Airport in County…
How to find your Irish clan is really a question about Irish surname history, place, and records in Ireland. In Irish genealogy, sept is often the more accurate term. It means a branch or local division of a wider family…
This isn’t abstract history for me. In 1925 and 1926, both of my grandfathers were Scottish immigrants in Pennsylvania’s anthracite region. My dad and several uncles were with them. They came over from Scotland and went straight into the anthracite…
Mount Falcon Estate is a historic estate property in County Mayo, Ireland, near Ballina and Foxford in the Moy Valley. This article uses Mount Falcon Estate as a real case study in Irish genealogy method. It begins with one verified…
Clifden Castle is a ruined Gothic Revival manor house. It is castellated and located on the outskirts of Clifden in the Connemara region of County Galway, Ireland. It was built for local landowner John D’Arcy, who is widely credited as…
Clan Sinclair is a Scottish clan strongly associated with Rosslyn (Roslin) in Midlothian near Edinburgh. It is also associated with the far north of Scotland in Caithness. The clan has historical links that reach into Orkney. The most visited Sinclair…
Buchanan Castle is a roofless, ruined Scottish baronial mansion near Drymen in Stirlingshire (Stirling council area), close to Loch Lomond. For a different layer of local history, see Loch Lomond’s hidden boating history. Built in the 1850s, it served as…
Duckett’s Grove Carlow is a ruined Gothic Revival “big house” and estate courtyard. It is located in County Carlow, Ireland, near Carlow town and the village of Palatine. The site is best known for its dramatic towers and the shell…