Nature of Source
Records of Methodist baptism/birth, marriage and burial/death. John and Charles Wesley first visited Ireland in the mid-18th century and eventually established the first Methodist chapel in Whitefriar Street, Dublin in 1752. Many more Methodist Societies were established but all operated within the established Anglican Church of Ireland. As a result, records of baptism, marriage or burial may be found in Church of Ireland registers. Some Methodists jointly belonged to other denominations such as the Quakers and Presbyterian and therefore might appear in their records. A schism between Methodists who wanted to stay within the Established Church and those who wanted separation developed into a split between two groupings in 1816. The Primitive Methodists retained the links to the Church of Ireland whilst the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion moved to independence and therefore began organising their own registers of baptism, marriage and burial. Eventually the Primitive Methodists broke from the Church of Ireland and in 1878 joined with the Wesleyan Methodists to form the Methodist Church in Ireland.
In general registers were organised by circuit which consisted of a number of societies, chapels or churches and officiated over by a minister. It is important to note that some individual societies changed their circuit over time and that the registers remained in the personal property of the minister. The earliest baptism registers will begin around 1816 but mostly from 1830. Marriages were licensed to take place in a Methodist place of worship from 1863, although from 1845 marriages could take place in a Methodist chapel but in the presence of the District Registrar who anyway retained the record. Very few Methodist chapels had burial grounds, so burial records will be found in Church of Ireland registers.
Other possible records of interest include Membership Registers and quarterly Class Rolls arranged by society or circuit and session minutes of society meeting which might contain personal information on a member.
Baptism records of Wesleyan Methodists can be found in the ‘Irish Wesleyan Methodist Connexional Baptismal Register’ which contains transcriptions covering c1815 to c1845 and a listing of almost every Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Ireland around 1863. The register is available at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and at the National Library of Ireland.
Until 1869, the established church in Ireland was the Anglican Church of Ireland, a Protestant denomination. The Irish Church Act passed in 1869 (implemented in 1871) disestablished the Church of Ireland as the state church. During the 19th century, about 85 percent of the Irish population was Roman Catholic, roughly 10 percent belonged to various nonconformist denominations including Quakers, with only about 5 per cent Protestant (mainly Church of Ireland).
Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland parishes often had distinct names and covered different geographical areas. Use Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary to locate and identify a particular parish which is available online at Library Ireland. Additionally, John Grenham’s Irish Placenames provides a summary of research sources available for a particular parish including church records.
Where Found
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
PRONI holds a variety of Irish Methodist registers and records. These include baptism and marriage registers for Methodist churches, mainly from the 1800s onwards and microfilm copies and digitised records for several Methodist congregations in Northern Ireland.
The National Library of Ireland
The Library mainly holds microfilm copies of Methodist church baptismal and marriage registers.
Methodist Historical Society of Ireland
The collections include Irish Methodist printed pamphlets and periodicals and original manuscript collections of correspondence, diaries and journals of Irish Methodists. For those interested in their Methodist family history there is a large and growing collection of local church registers from around the island of Ireland, together with microfilms of Methodist registers of Northern Ireland circuits)
Local chapels
For most Irish Methodist records remain in local custody with individual churches.
Wesley Historical Society
The Society holds baptismal and marriage registers from Methodist churches throughout Ireland in microfilm and hard copy. Society archives also hold manuscript collections and early preachers’ journals and diaries. It also holds an index of obituaries from the monthly Methodist Newsletter covering entries from 1972 to 2013 and an index of obituaries from the Primitive Wesleyan Methodist Magazine.
Heritage and Genealogy Centres
Irish Family History Foundation. The Foundation coordinates 34 centres across Ireland and Northern Ireland. The centres hold a range of indexed and transcribed baptism, marriage and burial parish registers as well as many civil records, census returns and gravestone inscriptions.
Period Covered
1816 – Onwards
Genealogical Value
Baptism
Name of child, father’s full name, mother’s first name, address (townland or street), father’s occupation from the 1820s.
Marriage
Full names, ages and addresses of bride and groom, occupation of groom, names and occupations of the fathers of bride and groom, names of witnesses.
Burial
Name and address of deceased.
Further References
Parish Specific
- Burn, John Southerden. The History of Parish Registers in England: Also of the Registers of Scotland, Ireland, the East and West Indies: J.R. Smith, 1862 (Available to view online or download at the Internet Archive. Also available to buy on CD at GenFair)
- Farrar, Henry. Irish Marriages: Being an Index to the Marriages in Walker’s Hibernian Magazine, 1771 to 1812: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001 (1897) (Details all the marriage entries in Walker’s Hibernian Magazine 1771-1812 plus appendix by Sir Arthur Vicars of the births, deaths and marriages recorded in the magazine Anthologia Hibernica 1793-94)
- Grundy, Joan. A Dictionary of Medical & Related Terms for the Family Historian: Swansong Publications, 2006
- Mitchell, Brian. A Guide to Irish Parish Registers: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2009 (Limited preview at Google Books)
- Mitchell, Brian. A Guide to Irish Churches and Graveyards: Genealogical Publishing Co, 2010
- Reid, Noel (ed). A Table of Church of Ireland Parochial Records and Copies: Irish Family History Society, 1994
- Ryan, James G. Irish Church Records: Their History, Availability and Use in Family and Local History Research: Flyleaf Press, 2001 (The book contains chapters by experts on the records of the eight major Irish churches including: Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Methodist, Quaker, Huguenot, Jewish and Baptist)
- Smyrl, Steven. Dictionary of Dublin Dissent-Dublin’s Protestant Dissenting Meeting Houses 1660-1920: A & A Farmar, 2009
Family History Guides
- Adolph, Anthony. Collins Tracing Your Irish Family History: HarperCollins, 2007
- Begley, Donal. Handbook on Irish Genealogy: How to Trace Your Ancestors and Relatives: Heraldic Artists, 1984
- Connell, Gretta. Tracing Your Westmeath Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2012
- Corrigan, Mario & Durney, James & Kiely, Karel. Tracing your Kildare Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2014
- Davis, Bill. Irish Ancestry – A Beginner’s Guide: FFHS, 2001
- Falley, Margaret Dickson. Irish and Scottish-Irish Ancestral Research: GPC, 1981 (1962)
- Franklin, Margaret. Tracing your Limerick Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2011
- Grenham, John. Irish Ancestors, A Pocket Guide to Your Family History: Gill & Macmillan, 2004
- Grenham, John. Tracing Your Irish Ancestors: Gill & Macmillan, 2011
- Hamrock, John. Tracing your Roscommon Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2007
- Kinealy, Christine. Tracing Your Irish Roots: Appletree Press, 2009
- McCarthy, Tony. The Irish Roots Guide. Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1991
- McCarthy, Tony & Cadogan, Tim. Tracing Your Cork Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2011
- Maxwell, Ian. Tracing Your Ancestors in Northern Ireland: A Guide to Ancestry Research in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland: Stationery Office, 1997
- Maxwell, Ian. Researching Armagh Ancestors: A Practical Guide for the Family and Local Historian: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2000
- Maxwell, Ian. Researching Down Ancestors: A Practical Guide for the Family and Local Historian: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2000
- Maxwell, Ian. How To Trace Your Irish Ancestors: How To Books, 2009
- Maxwell, Ian. Your Irish Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen and Sword, 2008
- Maxwell, Ian. Tracing Your Northern Irish Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians: Pen and Sword, 2010
- Meehan, Helen & Duffy, Godfrey. Tracing Your Donegal Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2008
- Mitchell, Brian. A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2009
- Mitchell, Brian. Basic Guide to Irish Records for Family History: Clearfield Company, 2009
- Mitchell, Brian. Tracing Derry-Londonderry Roots: Clearfield Company, 2014
- Mitchell, Brian. NEW Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy Paperback: Clearfield, 2020
- O’Connor, Michael H. Tracing your Kerry Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 1994
- O’Dowd, Peadar. Tracing your Galway Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2010
- Ouimette, David. Finding Your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide: Ancestry.com, 2005
- Paton, Chris. Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet: A Guide For Family Historians: Pen & Sword Books, 2013
- Prochaska, Alice, Irish History from 1700: A Guide to Sources in the Public Record Office: British Records Association, 1986
- Raymond, Stuart. Irish Family History on the Web: The Family History Partnership, 2007
- Roulston, William. Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600-1800: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2005
- Ryan, James. Irish Records: Sources for Family & Local History: Flyleaf Press, 1997
- Ryan, James & Smith, Brian. Tracing Your Dublin Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2009
- Ryan, James. Tracing your Sligo Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2012
- Smith, Brian. Tracing your Mayo Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2010
- Smith, Brian & Kennedy, Gerry. Tracing Your Clare Ancestors: Flyleaf Press, 2013
- Stewart, Alan. My Ancestor Was Irish: A Guide to Sources for Family Historians: Society of Genealogists, 2012
Other
- Bradshaw’s Railway Map Great Britain and Ireland 1852: Mapseeker Publishing, 2013
- Connolly, S.J. The Oxford Companion to Irish History: Oxford University Press, 2007
- Coogan, Tim, Pat. The Famine Plot: England’s Role in Ireland’s Greatest Tragedy: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013
- Dickson, R.J. Ulster Emigration to Colonial America, 1718-1775: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1976
- Grenham, John. The Little Book of Irish Clans and Tartans: Book Sales, 1995
- Robinson, Philip. Plantation of Ulster: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2000
- Smith, Paul & Turner, Keith. Railway Atlas of Ireland Then & Now: Ian Allan Publishing, 2014
Websites
Irish Genealogy Toolkit
Your Irish ancestry search in Methodist records.
Methodist Historical Society of Ireland
The society is dedicated to preserving and providing access to the history and heritage of Methodism in Ireland. The society maintains a large and growing collection of baptismal and marriage registers from Methodist churches throughout Ireland. They offer valuable many other resources for researching Methodist family history, including a complete listing of Irish Methodist ministers, church records from local congregations and related archival material.
Methodist Historical Society of Ireland
Irish Methodist Baptismal and Marriage Records. The guide provides detailed historical context, explains the complex nature of Methodist records in Ireland and describes the types of records available, their content and where they can be found. It also offers practical guidance on how to locate these records.
FamilySearch Research Wiki
Ireland Methodist Church Records.
Online Dictionary of Methodism
Explore the online version of the dictionary that explores the history, development, principles and figures associated with Methodism in Britain and Ireland. It is an expanded version of the printed volume published by Epworth Press in 2000.
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
Guide to Church Records. This guide is an easy way to identify what churches are in a parish, what records exist for each church, the covering dates for each series of records (for example baptisms) and their PRONI reference number.
Irish Genealogical Research Society
Start Your Research: Church Records. The guide covers how to use church records for Irish research. It explains the survival and starting dates of church records in Ireland and covers all major denominations in Ireland including Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland (Anglican), Presbyterian, Methodist and other Protestant groups, such as Quakers and Baptists.
John Grenham
Irish Church records: Methodist Records
Irish Geneaography
Methodist Church in Ireland
Trace
Researching your Irish Methodist Roots.
MyHeritage Wiki
Irish Church Records-Methodist Church.
John Grenham
Dublin City Library and Archive Dublin Records: Dublin Graveyards Directory. The directory provides a searchable listing of all graveyards in the Dublin area and gives information on the location, contact details, titles of published gravestone transcripts, links to on-line gravestone transcripts, location of surviving burial records and other information.
The Churches of Britain and Ireland
The aim of the site is to have at least one photo of every existing church of all religions, denominations and sects in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands, and where possible, photos or artwork of churches no longer in existence.
Townland Resources
Irish Genealogical Research Society
Index of Townlands, 1901. The site offers access to the Index of Townlands from 1901. The index, published in 1904 by the Commissioners of Census, was created as an aid in processing the returns for the 1901 census of Ireland. The index provides an alphabetical listing of townlands and towns in Ireland, along with various administrative divisions such as parishes and electoral divisions.
Irish Townland and Historical Map Viewer
Tailte Éireann (formerly Ordnance Survey Ireland). The service allows users to view historical and townland boundaries and features for the island of Ireland on interactive maps. Enables fast search and pinpointing of particular Irish townlands, names and boundary features.
The IreAtlas
Townland database. Search of the IreAtlas Townland database. The results of a county or townland search show all the townlands within the requested county together with the barony and parish.
nidirect
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. In this section you can access lists of townlands arranged in the following different ways by county, by parish, within the estates of major landowners and alphabetically.
Irish Homelands
The website offers a tool for exploring Irish townlands. Users can access a detailed list of townlands and search by parish or county if you’re unsure of the townland name.
John Grenham
Irish Placenames. 1851 General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, parishes and Baronies of Ireland. Search the entire Index, together with street listings from Dublin, Cork and Belfast cities, more than 65,000 entries in all.
Irish Genealogy
Family Research 2016: Placenames. This article explains and explores how townlands and parishes got their names with links to useful resources.
Online Databases
- Ireland, Non-Conformist Births & Baptisms. The dataset includes Limerick non-conformist baptisms. A collection of registers of births and baptisms provided by Joint Presbyterian and Methodist Congregation of Christ Church, Limerick.
- Limerick non-conformist baptisms – A collection of registers of births and baptisms provided by Joint Presbyterian and Methodist Congregation of Christ Church, Limerick
- Ireland, Non-Conformist Marriages. The dataset includes Limerick non-conformist baptisms. A collection of registers of births and baptisms provided by Joint Presbyterian and Methodist Congregation of Christ Church, Limerick.
- Fermanagh Cemetery Records, 1669-2011 The record set comprises 10,376 records from 21 cemeteries in seven parishes in County Fermanagh. Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, and Methodist are included in the records.
Irish Genealogical Research Society
Datasets Include:
- Early Irish Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes. The transcribed indexes cover the period 1660 to 1863 for the period before civil registration was fully implemented in Ireland in 1864. The sources used include newspapers and journals, land deeds, Chancery bills, Memorial Inscriptions. army records and old age pension applications.
- Clanchy Marriage Index. Search an extensive Card Index of marriages gleaned from some of the Society’s unique manuscript collection and pedigree files. The index covers the entire island of Ireland.
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
Name Search: Datasets include:
- 1740 Protestant Householders Census. Surviving fragments of census of Protestant heads of households relating to the Hearth Tax returns in 1740 in parts of counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Donegal, Londonderry, and Tyrone.
- 1766 Religious Census Returns Listing of heads of households of Protestant and Roman Catholic families in over 30 parishes in Ulster and other parts of Ireland.
- 1775 Dissenters’ Petitions. Petitions from Protestant dissenters (mainly Presbyterians and Roman Catholics) seeking legal rights from discriminations under Penal Laws.
Roots Ireland
Irish Family History Foundation. The site offers a unique database of more than 22 million Irish records from 34 county genealogy centres on the island of Ireland. The main sources on the site are Irish Catholic and other church records of baptisms, marriages and deaths. The site also features Census Records, Gravestone Inscriptions, Griffith’s Valuation for Ireland, Irish Ship Passenger Lists and Census Substitutes for Ireland.
Ancestry
Belfast, Northern Ireland, The Belfast Newsletter (Birth, Marriage and Death Notices), 1738-1925. Notices were primarily from Protestant denominations, particularly Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist families. Catholic notices appeared in later years.
Emerald Ancestors
Northern Ireland Ancestor Search. Emerald Ancestors provides instant access to one of the largest collections of Northern Ireland genealogy records available, containing birth, marriage, death, church registers and census records for over 1.5 million Irish ancestors.
Dublin Cemeteries Trust
Search fully transcribed and digitised burial registers covering Dublin’s Glasnevin cemetery, the largest nondenominational cemetery in Ireland, opened in 1832. Also covered the cemeteries Goldenbridge, Palmerstown, Dardistown, or Newlands Cross from 1828 to the present day.
Interment.net
Search transcribed entries from the Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, containing graves of over 1.2 million people. It opened in 1832 and is the largest nondenominational cemetery in Ireland, originally named Prospect Cemetery. More transcripts with headstone photos can be found at the Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives.
Ancestry
Irish Records Index, 1500-1920. This database is an index containing a wide range of Irish historical records held at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The index includes details such as name, date, residence and item numbers drawn from Farrar’s Index to Irish Marriages 1771-1812 as found in Walker’s Hibernian Magazine, first issued in 1771 and discontinued in 1812, histories, pedigrees, parish registers, probates, and orphan’s court records.
