I’ve curated all 38 Irish genealogy seminar videos from the past five years of the annual RootsTech conference on genealogy and technology, hosted by FamilySearch.
Irish genealogy is always a popular topic at RootsTech, which offers many on-demand seminars and other videos from the past few events on their website – more than 1,700 sessions on 185 topics in over 30 languages – for free.
In addition to the videos, many include a Downloadable Resources section below the video, which allow downloads of slides, a syllabus, seminar outlines, list of links, sample materials, and other resources.
Below is my curated collection of the 38 Irish genealogy-related video seminars from 2019 to 2024:
Introductory / Overview Topics
▪️ Beginning Irish Research (~59 minutes) ⭐ NEW for 2024
▪️ Irish Family History is Easy! Seriously – 2023 (~25 minutes)
▪️ British & Irish Research: The Differences (~60 minutes)
▪️ Geography of the British Isles – A Crash Course! (~57 minutes)
▪️ Getting Started with Research in Ireland (~54 minutes) ⭐ NEW for September 2023
▪️ Coming and Going: Tracing Your Irish Surname History (~60 minutes) ⭐ NEW for 2024
Specific Topics
▪️ Reconstructing the Lives of Our Female Irish Ancestors (~57 minutes) ⭐ NEW for 2024
▪️ For Their Country: Finding Your Irish Military Ancestors (~59 minutes) ⭐ NEW for 2024
(Focused on the U.S. Civil War, World War I, and Irish War of Independence)
▪️ Tracing the Irish in Australia and New Zealand (~55 minutes) ⭐ NEW for 2024
Series: Ireland: Find Your Ancestors! (2022)
This series has a total of 5 video sessions. You can either visit the main series page, or each individual video session below:
▪️ Researching your ancestors using the resources & records of Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (~20 minutes)
▪️ Irish Heritage Family History Research Tips with Joe Buggy of Ancestry® UK (~20 minutes)
▪️ Using Irish Landed Estate Papers to Find Your Ancestors (~22 minutes)
▪️ Using Irish Land Valuation Records to Find Your Ancestors (~21 minutes)
▪️ Using Online Irish Records (~20 minutes)
Records, Archives, and Sources
▪️ Researching Irish Records (~6 minutes)
▪️ Scavenger hunt through Irish records (~59 minutes)
▪️ Genealogical Treasures in Irish Archives (~24 minutes)
▪️ Finding the Irish Cousins Who Stayed Behind (~24 minutes)
▪️ Hidden Treasures: Discovering Local Sources in Your Irish Research (~22 minutes)
▪️ How the Ulster Historical Foundation can help you find your Irish ancestors (~20 minutes)
▪️ From The Ashes: The 1922 Irish Public Record Office Fire (~60 minutes) ⭐ NEW for 2024
▪️ Unearthing the Treasures in the Irish Registry of Deeds (~60 minutes) ⭐ NEW for 2024
Newspaper-Related Topics
▪️ Uncovering Family Stories with British and Irish Historic Newspapers: Myko Clelland (~54 minutes)
▪️ Making the Most of the British Newspaper Archive (~22 minutes)
▪️ Turning the Pages of British Newspapers (~20 minutes)
Tutorials on Specific Collections and Websites
▪️ Using FindMyPast to Unlock Your Irish Family History (~24 minutes)
▪️ The Irish in the 1921 Census of England & Wales (~29 minutes)
▪️ FreeREG: What Is It and How to Use It (~23 minutes)
A look at the FreeREG project and search engine, an in-progress transcription project to make the parish registers of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) and Ireland, available free on the Internet.
In-Person Research
▪️ Planning Your Irish Research Trip (~14 minutes)
Poverty and Famine
▪️ Escaping the Famine: Irish Settlement in Canada (~25 minutes)
▪️ The Poor in Ireland: Workhouses and Poor Law (~26 minutes)
Series: Tracing the Poor and Destitute Irish (2021)
This series has a total of 3 video sessions. You can either visit the main series page, or each individual video session below:
- Tracing the Poor and Destitute Irish, Part 1 of 3 (~20 minutes)
- Tracing the Poor and Destitute Irish, Part 2 of 3 (~23 minutes)
- Tracing the Poor and Destitute Irish, Part 3 of 3 (~16 minutes)
Series: Mournful Exodus: Strategies for Finding Your Irish Ancestors’ Origins (2021)
This series has a total of 3 video sessions. You can either visit the main series page, or each individual video session below:
▪️ Mournful Exodus: Strategies for Finding Your Irish Ancestors’ Origins, Part 1 of 3 (~20 minutes)
▪️ Mournful Exodus: Strategies for Finding Your Irish Ancestors’ Origins, Part 2 of 3 (~20 minutes)
▪️ Mournful Exodus: Strategies for Finding Your Irish Ancestors’ Origins, Part 3 of 3 (19 minutes)
DNA / Genetics
▪️ Towards a Genetic Genealogy Driven Irish Reference Genome (~38 minutes)
2024 RootsTech In-Person Seminar Material Downloads
(No Videos Available; Support Materials Only)
These 4 seminars were not offered online, but only at the in-person conference. However, the handouts are available to download below:
▪️ Irish Genealogy Debunked: Busting Common Misconceptions
(2024 In-Person-only Seminar) Syllabus: 
PDF file download ⭐ NEW
▪️ Getting started with Irish Civil Records
(2024 In-Person-only Seminar) Syllabus: PDF file download ⭐ NEW
▪️ Unraveling Irish Roots: Tracing Ancestry in the Land of Saints and Scholars
(2024 In-Person-only Seminar) Syllabus: PDF file download ⭐ NEW
▪️ Who were the Scots-Irish?
(2024 In-Person-only Seminar) Syllabus: PDF file download ⭐ NEW
More Topics: The Complete Library (2019–2024)
You can view the complete RootsTech On-Demand Video Library covering all the available topics.
Select each of the seminars that interest you by browsing the seminar list at one of the links above and pressing the plus (+) “Add to Playlist” button. This option becomes available once you register and login at FamilySearch.org. 🥷