Creating a full picture of your ancestors requires educating yourself about all of the forces at play in their daily lives. From essays, maps, anthologies, historical studies and compilations of interviews and even historical novels, this page lists a number of my dog-eared and well-thumbed sources.
We need to breathe in the who, what, when, where and why of it all to have a chance of even coming close to standing in their shoes, and understanding why they turned left instead of right.
Please note that some of these resources may require a fee to access or generate reports/records depending on the resource.
I will update this as I discover additional resources. Bookmark this page!
Books, Narratives and Well Researched Novels that Build the Big Picture
These are all go-to resources that I have amassed over time and find myself reaching for regularly. While most of these titles are non-fiction, there are a few well researched novels in this list as they give an excellent depth of context to the times. Novels are indicated as such.
Please be patient as I continue to update this list which was sadly neglected and in poor form.
The Irish Diaspora and the Great Famine
Connolly, Sean. On Every Tide. Basic Books, an Imprint of Hachette. 2022.
Coogan, Tim Pat. Wherever Green is Worn – The Story of the Irish Diaspora. Hutchinson. 2000
Coffey, Michael, ed. with text by Golway, Terry. The Irish in America. Hyperion–Disney Enterprises. 1997.
Egan, Charles. Cold is the Dawn. SilverWood. 2017 [novel]
Gallagher, Thomas. Paddy’s Lament- Ireland 1846-1847 – Prelude to Hatred. Harvest, Harcourt Brace & Company. 1982
Keneally, Thomas. The Great Shame – And the Triumph of the Irish in the English Speaking World. Anchor Books. 2000. [First published by Serpentine Publishing Company in 1998].
Laxton, Edward. The Famine Ships – The Irish Exodus to America. Holt. 1998
Miles, Kathryn. All Standing – The Remarkable Story of the Jeanie Johnston, the Legendary Irish Famine Ship. Simon & Schuster. 2013
Riley, Jon Michael. The Irish File – Images from a Land of Grace. Rizzoli. 1992
Woodham-Smith, Cecil. The Great Hunger – Ireland 1845-1849. Penguin Books. 1991 [First published by Hamish Hamilton. 1962].
Ireland and Irish History
Cahill, Thomas. How The Irish Saved Civilization – The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe. Anchor Books. 1995.
Coogan, Tim Pat. The IRA – Fully Revised and Updated. Palgrave for St. Martin’s Press. 2002.
Ellis, Peter Berresford. Eyewitness to Irish History. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004
Gray, Tony. Ireland This Century. Little, Brown and Company. 1994.
Grenham, John. Clans and Families of Ireland – The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families. Salamander Books Limited. 1993
MacManus, Seumas. The Story of the Irish Race. Barnes & Noble Books. 1999. [Originally published in 1921. This edition missing all pages after page 710]
McCourt, Malachy. The Claddagh Ring – Ireland’s Cherished Symbol of Friendship, Loyalty & Love. Running Press. 2003.
McCullough, David Willis. Wars of the Irish Kings – A Thousand Years of Struggle from the Age of Myth Through the Reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Three Rivers Press. 2001.
Mallory, J. P. THe Origins of the Irish. Thames & Hudson. 2013.
Wallace, Martin. A Short History of Ireland. Barnes & Noble Books. 1986. [By Arrangement with Appletree Press. First published 1973]
Australia and Australian History
Alexander, Alison. Tasmania’s Convicts – How Felons Built A Free Society. Allen & Unwin. 2010.
Christopher, Emma. A Merciless Place – The Lost Story of Britain’s Convict Disaster in Africa and How It Led to the Settlement of Australia. Allen & Unwin. 2010.
Collins, Paul. Hell’s Gates – The True Tasmanian Story of the Escaped Convicts Who Turned to Cannibalism to Survive. Hardie Grant Books. 2002.
Flinders, Matthew. The Investigator in Port Phillip – April 1802. The Banks Society. 1802
Mead, Tom. Killers of Eden – The Killer Whales of Twofold Bay. Angus & Robertson. 1961-1991.
Sheehy, Tom. Battlers Tamed A Sandbelt – Moorabbin 50 Years A City. City of Moorabbin. 1985
France and French History
Norwich, John Julius. France – A History From Gaul to de Gaulle. John Murray Publishers. 2018.
Prost, Antoine. Petite Histoire de La France Au XXeme Siecle. Librarie Armand Colin, Paris. 1979.
Robb, Graham. The Discovery of France. Picador. 2007
Military Histories – All Forces and Countries
Vermont Revolutionary War Rolls. Tuttle. 1904 [Binding Copy]
Ames, Arthur C. Ed. Team “B” 326th Air Service Group – They Kept ‘Em Flying. Wetzel Publishing Group. 1946.
Eberly, Robert E., Jr. Bouquets from the Cannon’s Mouth – Soldiering with the Eighth Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserves. White Mane Books. 2005.
Stalls, Carol and Patterson, Geoffrey. Comp. A Soldier Lived in My House – A WWI History of Caulfield. Glen Eira Historical Society and Caulfield Retired Serviceman’s League. 2017.
Various. The 9th Sees France and England. AAF Publications Company. 1947
Scotland and Scottish History
Bain, Robert. The Clans and Tartans of Scotland. Collins. 1938
Moffat, Alistair. Scotland’s Forgotten Past – A History of he Mislaid, Misplaced and Misunderstood. Thames & Hudson Ltd, London. 2023 and 2024
The National Archives of Scotland. Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors – The Official Guide. 5th Ed. Birlinn. 2005
Emigration and Immigration
Brownstone, David M., Franck, Irene M., and Brownstone, Douglass. Island of Hope, Island of Tears – The story of those who entered the New World through Ellis Island – In their Own Words. Barnes & Noble Publishing. 2000.
Cannato, Vincent J. American Passage – The History of Ellis Island. Harper Collins. 2009
Charlwood, Don. The Long Farewell – The Perilous Voyages of Settlers Under Sail in the Great Migration to Australia. Burgewood Books. 1981
Coan, Peter Morton. Ellis Island Interviews – Immigrants Tell Their Stories in Their Own Words. Barnes & Noble Inc. by arrangement with Facts on File Inc. 2004. “More than 100 immigrants from all over Europe and the Middle East offer accounts of those difficult steps that carried them to and through Ellis Island’s legendary Golden Door.”
Frost, Alan. The First Fleet – The Real Story. Black Inc. 2011.
Miller, Kirby and Wagner, Paul. Out of Ireland – The Story of Irish Emigration to America. Roberts Rinehart Publishers. 1997.
Reeves, Pamela. Ellis Island – Gateway to the American Dream. Barnes & Noble Books. 2000
General Research and Writing Reference
The Board for Certification of Genealogists. The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual. Millennium Edition. Ancestry. 2000
Shown Mills, Elizabeth. Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian. Genealogical Publishing Company. 1997
Shown Mills, Elizabeth. Ed. Professional Genealogy – A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers and Librarians. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 2001
Britain and British History
Room, Adrian. Guide to British Place Names. Longman. 1985
England and English History
Camp, Anthony J. Everyone has Roots – An Introduction to English Genealogy. W H Allen Co. Ltd., 1978
McCarthy, Justin. A History of Our Own Times – From the Accession of Queen Victoria to The General Election of 1880. In Two Volumes. Harper and Brothers Publishers. 1880.
Cemeteries and Other Burials
Inskeep, Carolee. The Graveyard Shift – A Family Historian’s Guide to New York City Cemeteries. Ancestry. 2000
Keister, Douglas. Stories in Stone – A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography. MJF Books. 2004
America and American History
Crane, Stephen. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Other Writings About New York. Barnes & Noble Books. 2005. [Original publication of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets was 1893.] [Novel]
Eakle, Arlene and Cerny, Johni. Eds. The Source – Guidebook of American Genealogy. Ancestry. 1984
Burns, Annie Walker. Kentucky Vital Statistics – Record of Marriages in Fayette County Kentucky. For the Period of Years 1803 to 1851 Inclusive. Higginson Book Company. 1931.
Greenwood, Val D. The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy. 2nd Ed. Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., 1990
Keller, Allan. Life Along the Hudson. Sleepy Hollow Restorations Inc. 1976.
Lewis, Tom. The Hudson – A History. Yale University Press. 2005.
National Archives Trust Fund Board – National Archives and Records Administration. Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives. Revised 1985
Philbrick, Nathaniel. Mayflower – A Story of Courage, Community and War. Penguin Group. 2006
Taylor, Alan. American Colonies – The Settling of North America. Penguin Books. 2002.
Watkins, T. H. The Hungry Years – A Narrative History of the Great Depression. Henry Holt & Company. 1999
Canada and Canadian History
Simpson, Patricia and Pothier, Louise. Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours – A Chapel and its Neighbourhood. Editions Fides. 2001
Record Compilations..Dusty but Useful
In constant development, this area includes information compiled through years of research.
CANADA
Les Bas-Poitevins du Canada – annotated, translated extract of the names of people from the Poiteau/Vendée region of France who arrived in New France during the 17th and 18th centuries. These individuals were part of the 10,000 Pioneer Families of Québec.
Record Lookups by Region
Click on the link following the record description to request a lookup.
AUSTRALIA
- Newspapers – KinQuery.Com
- Vital Records – Births, Marriages, Deaths, Probate for most states – KinQuery.Com
IRELAND
- Vital Records — Birth, Marriages, and Deaths
- Republic of Ireland – General – Kevin McCormack – kevmccresearcher@gmail.com
- Kevin is a researcher based in County Cork, Ireland, with access to records in most counties, but particularly in Cork and Louth.
- Republic of Ireland – General – Kevin McCormack – kevmccresearcher@gmail.com
UNITED STATES
- Military Records
- World War II
- United States, US Army Ground and Air Forces
- “Team ‘B’, 326th Air Service Group, They Kept ‘Em Flying” – KinQuery.Com
- United States, US Army Ground and Air Forces
- Revolutionary War
- State of Vermont
- Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War, 1775 to 1783 – KinQuery.Com
- State of Vermont
- World War II
- Vital Records – Births, Marriages and Deaths
- United States – Fayette County, Kentucky, 1803 to 1851 – KinQuery.Com
- “Kentucky Vital Statistics”, Record of Marriages in in Fayette County Kentucky for the Period of years 1803 to 1851 Inclusive, Compiled in alphabetical order by Annie Walker Burns, 30 November 1931
- United States – Fayette County, Kentucky, 1803 to 1851 – KinQuery.Com
| AUSTRALIA | |
| TROVE, Newspapers and other media, as digitised, from across Australia | https://trove.nla.gov.au/ |
| Tasmanian Library, great resource for heritage documents including a massive digitised collection of records relating to convicts in Tasmania | https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Pages/Home.aspx |
| CANADA | |
| Library and Archives Canada Note: many items are in French. (Contact Me for help with French records.) | https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/genealogy/Pages/introduction.aspx |
| BAnQ Numérique – Bibliothèque et Archives nationales de Québec (National Library and Archives of Québec). Massive online repository of records, interface is in French. (Contact Me for help with French records.) | http://numerique.banq.qc.ca |
| FRANCE | |
| Listing of traditional occupations in French with English translations. | https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/France_Occupations |
| IRELAND | |
| Irish Ancestors, Great resource for records and historical explanations | https://johngrenham.com |
| Roots Ireland, Catholic Church Records from across Ireland | https://www.rootsireland.ie |
| PRONI, Public Records Office of Northern Ireland | https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni |
| National Library of Ireland | https://www.nli.ie/ |
| Louth Genealogical Sources | http://jbhall.clahs.ie |
| UNITED STATES | |
| Coming Soon! | |
| GLOBAL | |
| Cyndi’s List – a long established list of genealogical resources spanning the globe | https://www.cyndislist.com |
| The Internet Archive – massive collection of digitised material spanning all subjects, accessible for free. Great resource for old, out of print publications | https://archive.org/about/ |
| More to come! |











