Country of Arrival Records -- Immigration Records Passenger lists vary in content, depending on the time period. Early lists usually do *not* mention a town of residence in the old country, while late 19th/early 20th century passenger lists (in this case Ellis Island) do. If the lists don't give a place of origin in Ireland, they may at least mention the last known residence prior to emigration. This is helpful because it takes your research overseas and into a whole new set of records. What do you do if you don't know the exact date of immigration or your ancestors came into Castle Garden - whose records are *not* indexed? Where do you begin? Usually, the naturalization records will give a date of immigration. Using this date, you can then search the list of vessel arrivals. These arrivals were recorded by the Harbor Master and copies can be found at the LDS, the National Archives and the New York Public Library - just to name a few repositories. The 'Register of Vessel Arrivals at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports' is kept in two separate listings: chronological by date of entry and alphabetical by name of ship. The information it contains is the date of arrival, nationality of the ship, port of departure and sometimes the captain's name. NOTE: The 'Register' is a listing of *all* vessels that sailed into New York Harbor, whether they carried passengers or not. What if you don't have a date of immigration or a ship name? Locating the records isn't impossible, but it will take some time. Work off all the census information you have regarding the year of immigration until you have a window of time to work with. Your ancestor came from Ireland. You will now need to familiarize yourself with the different ports of departure for Irish emigrants for the time period you're interested in. This is where it can become complicated. The major port of departure for *all* of the United Kingdom was Liverpool. Many Irish moved to England seeking employment, so your ancestor could have left directly from Liverpool. Also, by the mid 1880s, most steamships leaving Liverpool stopped at Belfast or Queenstown to pick up passengers. However, if you go to search the 'Register of Vessel Arrivals' for NY Harbor, the list will only tell you the original port of departure. It doesn't list any stops made along the way. You need to view the actual manifest for those details. NOTE: Most of the steamship landings in New York Harbor for the late 1800s are listed as leaving Liverpool! I just want to prepare you for the sheer number of ships you'll face. The major ports of departure for Ireland were Belfast and Queenstown (Cobh). Ships left from other ports in Ireland also, but not on as regular a basis. Once you've strained your eyes and brain and have discovered (hopefully) the correct ship, date of arrival and have checked the corresponding passenger list, then you can order the actual manifest. You will need to send your request to the National Archives - Northeast Region in New York City. When you request a copy of the manifest, be sure to request the entire manifest, rather than just the page your ancestor appears on. This way, you can check to see if other family members emigrated with them! IMPORTANT: The National Archives will *not* undertake a search of passenger lists for Castle Garden without a ship name and date of arrival. The records for this time period are numerous and none of it is indexed. What if your ancestors arrived in New York prior to 1820? Unfortunately, those records no longer exist. The federal government did not require passenger lists to be kept until 1820. There are some pre-1820 passenger lists around for other US ports, but according to the National Archives, none have survived for New York. You will then want to consult the following works - which can be found at the LDS: Filby, William P. "Passenger and Immigration Lists Bibliography 1538-1900." Detroit: Gale Research, 1988. FHL Book # 973 W33p 1988. Filby, William P. "Passenger and Immigration Lists Index." Detroit: Gale Research, 1981. FHL Book # 973 W32p. Passports will be discussed in a later post. Take care, Tracy