This week, US President Joe Biden kicked off his four-day trip to the island of Ireland in Belfast, with his itinerary also taking him to Co Louth, Dublin and Co Mayo.
The trip coincides with the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, but it also has deep familial significance for the president.
Biden’s great-grandfather James Finegan was born in Co Louth before emigrating to America, and his great-great-great grandfather Edward Blewitt sold bricks to St Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina in 1827.
At the annual Friends of Ireland Luncheon on March 17, Biden, 80, said in his address: “My grandfather, Ambrose Finnegan, used to say — and I mean this — he’d say, “Joey, if you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough.”
If you suspect you have Irish roots like Biden, how might you find out for sure?
Take a DNA test
The best place to start is in your DNA, and tools like AncestryDNA can help you learn more about your ancestors from Ireland.
“In the DNA Story section, the Ethnicity Estimate provides a visual display of regions of the world where ancestral lines emerge. These lines can go back as far as 500 to 600 years,” explains Joe Buggy, international ProGenealogist team manager at Ancestry.
“Going deeper, many who take the test will also be shown DNA communities in their results, which reflect more recent ancestral origins from the last 200 years. These communities can be very specific and show precise locations in a country. For example, there are now 203 communities for Ireland, with some counties, such as Cork, having more than fifteen.”
Talk to your family
It sounds simple but, “Talk to your family about what they know,” Buggy advises.
“You’ll be amazed how much information about previous generations is in the stories of parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Memories can become hazy over the years, and family stories can take on a life of their own as they are passed down through the generations, so don’t take everything as absolute fact. Rather, note it all down and use it to guide your research.”
Build a family tree
“Building a family tree can be one of the quickest ways to learn about many generations of your family,” Buggy explains.
“Start with what you know, even if that just includes details about your parents or some information about your grandparents. If your ancestors are in the records, you could have a number of generations on your tree relatively quickly, including those that came from Ireland.”
Find your ancestors in census records
If your ancestors moved to England, Buggy says: “English census records are key to building your family tree.
“Many of those who moved from Ireland to England had their home county, parish or town recorded in these records. Finding the place of origin in Ireland is the key piece of information to locate, and this collection is a must to research. Census records are available on Ancestry for every 10 years from 1841 through 1911.
“There was a strong tradition of Irish women moving to England in the twentieth century to train to become nurses. Female ancestors can also be more difficult to trace as there are often fewer records from their lives.”
You may be able to access Ancestry’s UK and Ireland Nursing Registers to help with your research.
Use Irish Roman Catholic Parish Registers
Faith could be key.
“Hundreds of thousands of Irish people moved to England in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The vast majority were Roman Catholics, making the Irish Roman Catholic parish registers an indispensable collection. These records are available for practically all parishes in Ireland,” says Buggy.
