The majestic Great Sugar Loaf mountain in County Wicklow, Ireland overlooks
the home townlands of Kate’s McGuirk and Byrne ancestors who emigrated to
Albany, NY after the Potato Famine.

Irish Ancestry ~ Our Specialty

Let us use our research skills to help you discover the history
of your Irish ancestors, who they were, how and where they lived…
and how they helped shape your life!

We both have numerous ancestors who emigrated from Ireland to the U.S. We especially enjoy the challenge of helping clients identify their immigrant Irish ancestor(s). Once an immigrant Irish ancestor is determined, then the excitement begins with the effort to pinpoint where in Ireland the immigrant ancestor was born, baptized or lived prior to emigrating. We have traveled to Ireland 11 times in the past 12 years and have an in-depth understanding of the conditions that have driven Irish people to leave their homeland for places unknown such as the United States.

 We work with our clients to help them identify their ancestors back in time, and most importantly to help them “walk in the footsteps” of their ancestors.  If we can identify where a client’s Irish immigrant ancestor lived in Ireland, then we can produce historic and modern maps that allow the client to visit the home townland of their ancestor and to actually walk in their footsteps.

Other areas of special interest to us: French Canadian Ancestry and New York State Ancestry

Wonderful to work with…

Doing my own ancestry was too daunting for me. Kate and Mike chased my relatives through Ireland with the ease of the professionals they are. They were wonderful to work with. The finished product is a lovely notebook, actually a binder, full of information that can be added to in the future. I have so much new information on my great-grandparents, 2nd greats and 3rd greats! They also found enlightening information on their private lives. So glad I had this done.
Andrea & Frank R S., Glastonbury, CT

I’ll stand in the places where my ancestors lived…

Many thanks to Kate and Mike for their dedication.  They were so easy to work with and prompt in responding to my questions.  Above all, they were able to find information about my family history; much more than I could find. They were able to give me real, tangible details (maps included) of my Irish heritage that I will be able to use when I make the trip to Ireland.  And with it, I will actually be able to stand in the places where my great-grandparents lived.  Looking forward to it!  Thank you both so much.  This is priceless to me!
Sara C., Pittsburgh, PA

What is an Irish townland?

From Wikipedia: A townland (Irish: baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: toonlann[1]) is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering 100–500 acres (40–202 ha). The townland system is of Gaelic origin, pre-dating the Norman invasion, and most have names of Irish origin. However, some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors, plantation divisions, or later creations of the Ordnance Survey. The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60,679 in 1911. The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands.

Historic Map from the 1850s of two townlands in Co. Wexford where Mike’s Whelan ancestors lived.

Why are Irish townlands so very important?

If one wants to “walk in the footsteps” of an Irish ancestor, then it is critical to pinpoint the ancestor’s home townland.  With over 61,000 townlands in Ireland, it is like trying to complete a jigsaw puzzle. Those 61,000 townlands lie within 2,500 Civil Parishes, 1087 Roman Catholic Parishes and 450 Church of Ireland Parishes, all of which typically overlap one another.  All of these parishes are within the 6 counties of Northern Ireland and the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland.  It can be a mind-boggling task to pinpoint where your Irish ancestors lived so you can physically “walk in their footsteps.”

Mike standing near three gravestones of his Kennedy ancestors in White Church Cemetery near Dunganstown, Co. Wexford.
Mike shares these Kennedy ancestors with U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Gratitude for all their help…

I cannot thank Kate and Mike enough for assisting me in identifying the names and townlands of my Irish ancestors. I had been doing my own research for a couple of months, but was at a dead end and realized I needed professional help. Within one week, their diligence, caring, commitment and expertise uncovered invaluable information and documents, which ultimately unraveled my family mystery.

During this time, I felt they were just as emotionally vested in my journey and got as excited as I did when uncovering new information. They knew all the questions to ask, people to contact and search engines to use. It was such a calming feeling to know I wasn’t in this journey alone and I had very competent “detectives” working their hardest for my cause.

Upon my return to Ireland, being able to walk the land of my 2nd and 3rd great grandparents and aunts and uncles will be a dream come true. From the mouths of Kate and Mike, our ancestors “want to be found” and Old Friends Genealogy is certainly the service you want “chasing” your relatives. I am very thankful to have gone through this journey with them, and I feel like I’ve not only uncovered my family from long ago, but I’ve gained two new friends.
Cathy H., Saco, Maine