Many of us have a longing to find out where we came from, who are we descendant from, and find out about all the stories that lay before us in our ancestors. This page lays out some helpful information on how you can Discover your Ancestors and we hope you find it useful.

The Newry, Mourne and Down Council Museum website on Discover your Ancestors has a great online resource available by clicking here. TiChulain Cultural and Activity Centre in Mullaghbane have many church records, get in contact by clicking here.

Search for your ancestors through time working the the various sources available from the;

Parish Records

Entire collection of Catholic parish register microfilms held by National Library Ireland are online now at registers.nli.ie

Twentieth Century

Census returns; Old age pension claims, or ; The Ulster Covenant (1912)

Nineteenth century 

Householders Index; First Valuation; Tithe Applotment Books; Griffith’s Valuation; Surnames from 1841-1851 census

17th and 18th century

Fiants of the Tudor sovereigns; Muster rolls; Census of Ireland, c.1659; Poll tax returns; Hearth money rolls; Census of Protestant householders, 1740; Religious census, 1766; Dissenters’ petitions, 1775; Flaxgrowers list, 1796; Agricultural census, 1803

Government Related Records include

Election Records; Grand Jury Records; Board of Guardians Records

Printed Sources

Ordanance Survey Memoirs; Street Directories; Newspapers

Civil registers of births, marriages and deaths provide basic family history information. Prior to the commencement of civil registration the main sources of family history information are church registers.

Until the early part of the twentieth century, most of the land in Newry and Mourne, like the rest of Ireland, was split between a number of landed estates. In most cases the origins of these estates went back to the early seventeenth century and the scheme for the plantation in Ulster. Estates changed hands through inheritance, marriage and purchase.The records generated by the management of landed estates are a major source of genealogical information.This registry was established in 1708 under the Registration of Deeds Act (Ireland) of 1707.

The national system of elementary education was established in Ireland in 1831. From the Reformation the proving of wills and the granting of administrations in Ireland became the exclusive concern of the established Church of Ireland.

If you want to discover more you can get in contact with Pauline Loughran by clicking here.