Welcome
Welcome to the Irish Special Interest Group, the first WAGS' Special Interest Group to be formed, probably because at the time, most members seemed to have at least some Irish connection.
Our Motto Irish research: challenging - not impossible!
Tips
Come along - to the Irish Special Interest Group meetings, share what you have learned, share details of your ancestors, be inspired, get tips and ideas. The group loves a challenge, bring along details of your research 'Brick Wall' using our questionnaire to our next meeting
Explore - the many informative guides, newsletters and meeting notes on this page including -
Irish Family History Records Timeline - see what records are available, where and over what period NEW!
New to the Irish Special Interest Group - how the group works, how to start researching NEW!
Post Your Interests (FHWA members) - Post details of your Irish ancestors (names, places and dates, as much as you know) under the Members Interests Directory. This may increase your chances of being found by a distant cousin - or at least someone researching in the same area. Go to Home > Members Area > Members Interests Directory.
Links - Check out the Links page of the WAGS website. There are over 100 links to websites related to Irish family history.
Join- the Irish SIG forum- details at the top of this page, share your search with the world
Current Irish SIG projects
- County Research Guides - guides to family history research in each of the 32 traditional counties of Ireland (Northern Ireland and the Republic), plus one more for when the birthplace county is unknown. If you'd like to help please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The first six guides were launched on 15 January 2017 and two more were launched on 21 Jan 2018. The template or model guide shown below with the guides under Publications.
- Developing an online index of relevant biographical and historical articles from 18 years of Perth's Irish Scene magazine.
- Working in partnership with researchers in Ireland to discover what happened to the young women who came to Western Australia on the Palestine in 1853 from the Mountbellew Workhouse in Co. Galway
Irish Family History Seminar Sun 28 May 2017
Nearly 80 people attended the Irish Family History Seminar at the State Library of WA on Sunday 28 May from 1pm-7pm. 90% were members of WAGS, associates or affiliated societies. 34% were members of the Irish Special Interest Group of WAGS.