Looking at Every Resource as an Opportunity – (Part 2)

In Part 2 of this blog, I would like to discuss how to keep an open mind in your research. Often we discount a research technique because we failed to see it as an opportunity.

Keep your Mind Open and Sights Broad in Research

If you keep your sights broad in approaching any genealogy research, I can guarantee that you may learn more than you anticipated. In turn what you have gleaned can be utilized in your Irish and Irish immigrant research. What is important to keep in the back of your mind is that Irish research is among some of the most difficult of any ethnic group. That in itself can open up new and innovative ways to approach your research.

Comparing Irish Research and American Slave Research

For example, if you find that someone is giving a class on American slave research prior to 1865, then by all means attend that class. You just might learn more in an African American class than in an Irish class! The reason for this is the two have some eerie similarities in how you approach both the history and the records. Pre-1865 slave research is just as difficult as Irish research prior to when local parish registers begin. In both cases, you have to identify, and then access, the records of the family who had immediate control over the local population. In the case of slave research, this would be the owners of the slaves and the plantation they lived on. In the case of the Irish, it would be the local landlord and the family’s estate papers. At that point, the principles are exactly the same: 1.) Who was the owner or landlord; 2.) Does the family plantation or estate records survive and if so where are they deposited; 3.)  Do these family papers make any mention of the people under their care and control?

I do highly suggest you keep all options open in your research and look for what may help you in Irish research.

If you would like assistance in “thinking outside the box” in your research Click Here.