Today is St. Patrick's Day, and you don't have to be Irish to know about American St. Patrick's Day traditions like wearing green or the dyed green river in Chicago. In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has historically been more of a religious holiday, and it didn't develop into the festive atmosphere of parades, beer, and green rivers in the United States until more recently. In the United States, St. Patrick's Day celebrations began as a way for Irish immigrants and Irish-Americans to celebrate their heritage despite more than a century of anti-Irish discrimination. Today, the festivities are an opportunity for people with Irish ancestry to celebrate their roots and family history.
Even if you don't have any Irish ancestry, you might be inspired to learn more about your own roots. Where did your ancestors come from, what were their lives like, and what hurdles might they have had to overcome? Explore online resources and those in our library to learn more.
We'll start with resources that are online but not in our library. These are the most comprehensive genealogy databases to start your exploration:
- Your local public library may have a subscription to Ancestry Library Edition. They might even have a librarian who would be thrilled to show you the ins and outs of the database, but if they don't, Ancestry has a treasure trove of free guides and tutorials. These guides are a great resource for anyone doing genealogy research, whether or not you use Ancestry.com. (Keep in mind that if you have a personal Ancestry.com account, it won't cross over to Ancestry Library Edition.)
- If your local public library doesn't have Ancestry Library Edition and a paid subscription isn't in the cards, check out Family Search. You do have to make an account, but it's free and very similar to Ancestry. Even if you do have access to Ancestry, you should also use Family Search alongside it. Family Search has vital records from around the world that have been digitized, like birth, death, marriage, and immigration records. Family Search also offers free one-on-one research help.
- Finally, you should also check out the National Archives' online resources. Not all of the National Archive records are available online, but records that are available digitally can be searched on the AAD search page. (The interface is older and less user-friendly than the other two databases, but they do have a help page.)
In the library, we have a couple of databases that can help you dip your toes in the water of genealogy research. The records are limited, but it might work as a jumping-off point. The Biography and Genealogy Master Index has “biographical citations” of more than 6 million people and might help you at least find some birth and death years. The Passenger and Immigration Lists Index has more than 5 million names of people who immigrated to the United States from the late 1500's to the mid-20th century, and it might help you find the port of arrival and arrival year for some of your ancestors.
If you want to invest a bit more in your family history research, several DNA genealogy testing services are available for a fee. These tests can give you a look at the big picture of your ancestry and tell you what percentages of DNA you have from different populations around the world. Before taking this step, you should read the company's data privacy policies carefully and make sure you understand them.
We won't make any recommendations here, but from my personal experience, I have taken a DNA genealogy test from one of the larger companies, and I found the results fascinating. It gives a more scientific look at what you might already know and can reveal parts of your ancestry you are less familiar with. For example, I learned that I am 23% English and Northwestern European, 20% Spanish, 18% Germanic European, 11% Indigenous from Mexico, 11% Portuguese, 5% Cornish, 3% French, 3% Basque, 2% Irish, 2% Ashkenazi Jewish, 1% Sephardic Jewish, and 1% North African. So, in other words, it's a melting pot of interesting genes. In my case, it backed up much of what I already knew and painted a more complete picture. If you do a test, you should check it periodically after getting your first results. They are occasionally updated when new population data is added to the database, and your percentages might change slightly.
Back in the library, CultureGrams can help complete the picture! Let's say you've learned that one of your great-grandmothers was from Croatia. CultureGrams can provide information about the people, customs, lifestyle, society, governments, and economies of countries around the globe. For example, you would learn that your great-grandmother probably ate a lot of seafood and that more than one-third of the country is forested. You could also learn what the current economic and political climate is like if you ever wanted to visit.
Finally, if you're interested in the surprising (and often emotional) family histories and genealogies of celebrities, we have the renowned PBS series Finding Your Roots hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in our Films on Demand and Academic Video Online databases.
So whether you're Irish or not, enjoy a pint of your favorite lager this St. Patrick's Day and celebrate the journeys that brought all of us here! Do you have any genealogy research tips to share? Or learn anything surprising about your own ancestry?
Julia Reed is the systems librarian and focuses on technology development and maintenance. She's into graphic design, photography, and spending time outdoors in her free time.