Julie, This being the computer age, I suppose it is necessary to bear in mind the high regard we have for our in-house oracles. Thank goodness that I started genealogy before I had a computer, because the first thing I did was go to a library and borrow a how-to book. This is still an essential step because your ability to make progress with Irish data depends on your knowing as much about Irish political/ecclesiastical jurisdictions, history, geography and customs, as possible. Fortunately there are several excellent books to consult on that (see below). You can also find good tutorials online on the major genealogy websites like Rootsweb and the LDS Family Search site. Your goal is also to learn which sources exist for your target time period, so that you can do research with original documents or filmed versions of those. Then you can contribute on lists such as this one, as well as receive. We all started as newbies but those who have posted here to help you have also gone the route which I described above. The faster you become in command of the basics, the better your handling will be of all the names, places, and dates you find or are provided to you. You also need to keep reviewing what you have to assess its validity. The ultimate knowledge to gain is to learn to speak Irish. I am not there yet but I keep open to picking up bits and pieces as I go, like a baby. Sharon Carberry Georgia Irish records : sources for family and local history Ryan, James G. ISBN 0916489760 Tracing your Irish ancestors : the complete guide Grenham, John ISBN 0806313692 Ouimetter, David S., Finding Your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide 2005 Radford, Dwight A. & Kyle J. Betit, Discovering Your Irish Ancestors 2001 Quillen, Daniel W., Secrets of Tracing Your Ancestors 2005 ----- Original Message ----- From: <jhar9618@bigpond.net.au> ... > Sharon: I have not done the work yet to become knowledgeable on how to do Irish research because I am a complete beginner at this and have absolutely no idea how or where to start, hence my posting asking direction and help on where to start. All my tries via google have given me nothing and the mailing list was my first step to get info, my next step is gone a family history club in my own state and get some advice from them. > > Therefore I appreciate any help I get, any small directions given will be used and added to my growing knowledge. > > Jules > Perth, Western Australia