The Book of Ulster Surnames has over 500 entries of the most common family names of the nine county province of Ulster, with reference to thousands more. It gives the meaning and history of each name, its original form, where it came from - Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales or France - and why it changed to what it is today. The index is an essential asset to the publication - providing nearly 3,000 surnames and variant spellings, cross-referenced to the main listing. The book includes notes on some famous bearers of the name and where in Ulster the name is now most common. This new edition by the Foundation also includes an article by the author on the Riding Clans of the Scottish Borders, many members of which came to Ulster during the Plantation. The result is a reference book which details much about the history of the Ulster Irish as well as the Scottish and English who arrived from the seventeenth century onwards, and is packed with surprising insights into the origins of a complex, turbulent people.

Ireland was one of the earliest countries to evolve a system of hereditary surnames. More than 4,000 Gaelic, Norman and Anglo-Irish surnames are listed in this book, giving a wealth of information on the background and location of Irish families. Edward MacLysaght was a leading authority on Irish names and family history. He served as Chief Herald and Genealogical Officer of the Irish Office of Arms. He was also Keeper of Manuscripts of the National Library of Ireland and was Chairman of the Manuscripts Commission. This book, which was first published in 1957 and now is in its sixth edition, is being reprinted for the fourth time and remains the definitive record of Irish surnames, their genealogy and their origins.

One of the greatest frustrations for generations of genealogical researchers has been that reliable guidance on sources for perhaps the most critical period in the establishment of their family's links with Ulster, the period up to 1800, has proved to be so elusive. Not any more. This book can claim to be the first comprehensive guide for family historians searching for ancestors in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Ulster. Whether their ancestors are of English, Scottish, or Gaelic Irish origin, it will be of enormous value to anyone wishing to conduct research in Ulster prior to 1800. A comprehensive range of sources from the period 1600-1800 are identified and explained in very clear terms. Information on the whereabouts of these records and how they may be accessed is also provided. Equally important, there is guidance on how effectively they might be used. The appendices to the book include a full listing of pre-1800 church records for Ulster; a detailed description of nearly 250 collections of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century estate papers; and a summary breakdown of the sources available from this period for each parish in Ulster.

His new book, Finding Your Irish Ancestors, is intended as a companion volume to the venerable Pocket Guide. Making use of the case study technique employed in the Pocket Guide, this new book expounds on topics that are not found in his earlier book and expands on others that are. For example, Irish surnames and place names represent a treasure trove of historical information and contain genealogical clues that are frequently overlooked by researchers. Accordingly, Finding Your Irish Ancestors includes two chapters on the importance of surnames and the importance of place names in family history. The place name chapter, for instance, explains the etymological origins of a number of Irish townlands and the importance in Irish research of the all-important finding aid the General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland. Another neglected topic is the role of local history in Irish genealogy. In the final chapter of his new book, Mitchell uses the case study method to illustrate how delving into published town histories and unpublished local manuscript collections can unearth buried evidence on Irish ancestors. Although a list of government-supported Genealogy Centres in Ireland can be found in the Pocket Guide, Mitchell now shows the reader, in some detail, how best to use these important resources. And he ought to know, inasmuch as he has administered the Derry Genealogy Centre for more than a decade. The chapter pertaining to emigration and Irish passenger lists includes a brief history of 19th-century Irish emigration, while another one focuses on how to make the best use of church registers--perhaps the single most important source in Irish genealogy. Drawing on his first-hand experience as a genealogist and as a geographer, Brian Mitchell delivers a new volume that is full of first-hand explanations and expertly drawn maps of Ireland and Northern Ireland. If you own a copy of the Pocket Guide, you are sure to want Brian Mitchell's latest collection of Irish genealogy essays, Finding Your Irish Ancestors.

The dynamic history of North West Ireland can be seen in the richness and variety of it surnames. Mitchell has attempted to compile concise but informative histories of those surnames which are most closely associated, through numerical strength or uniqueness, with North West Ireland.

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names of Ireland contains more than 3,800 entries covering the majority of family names that are established and current in Ireland, both in the Republic and in Northern Ireland. It establishes reliable and accurate explanations of historical origins (including etymologies) and provides variant spellings for each name as well as its geographical distribution, and, where relevant, genealogical and bibliographical notes for family names that have more than 100 bearers in the 1911 census of Ireland. Of particular value are the lists of early bearers of family names, extracted from sources ranging from the medieval period to the nineteenth century, providing for the first time, the evidence on which many surname explanations are based, as well as interesting personal names, locations and often occupations of potential family forbears. This unique Dictionary will be of the greatest interest not only to those interested in Irish history, students of the Irish language, genealogists, and geneticists, but also to the general public, both in Ireland and in the Irish diaspora in North America, Australia, and elsewhere.