hi i am from ardee now living in england , my mother was norah woods she married my dad paddy martin , we lived just outside ardee until we moved to england in the 50s , i am trying to trace my family tree , i have some information but have come to a full stop can anyone help please ?
Hi Ann,
The best place to start is with what you know already, are both your parents still alive?
Find out when they were married & who their grandparents are etc. Also ask who is the oldest surviving member in any of the families, that is essential & do not waste time on it, they should be able to give you a lot of information, ask who, what, why & when, we cannot judge our ancestors by to-days standrds so try & if there is any stories do record them, you may not believe them, but you will find as I have done there is a element of truth & sometimes related to a previous generation!!. Look for your cousins, they have the same heritage as you have & as you meet people you can build your tree, I started 30 years ago & have nearly 2000 people in my tree & for the obvious reason ( I dont spend as much time on it) about 1100 in my husbands tree.
Youshoudl find your grandparents on nationalarchives.ie for 1901 & 1911 census, free site & use familysearch.org (free site) to assist you with some dates etc. you can join lots of sites like ancestry.com/findmypast/myheritage, but do prove each step of the way for yourself & be wary of people hijacking your information & them not related at all.
I hope this starts you off on a trail of discovery & if you hit brick walls, let me know & hopefully I can guide you, I live about 20 miles from Ardee.
Regards carmel