What you'll learn

This course is for anyone with Irish ancestry who wants to understand where their family came from — not just the county name, but the history, the culture, and the forces that scattered Irish families across the world.

Each email takes about five minutes to read. No assignments, no quizzes, no upsells. Just seven well-researched emails sent one morning at a time.

The 7-day curriculum

Day 1

What your Irish surname actually means

The "O'" prefix, the "Mac" prefix, what they signify, and why so many Irish surnames were anglicised beyond recognition. Includes how to find the original Gaelic form of your own name.

Day 2

The four provinces — where did your family live?

Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Ulster — each province shaped distinct surnames and distinct histories. How to place your family on the map before counties existed.

Day 3

The Great Famine and the diaspora surnames

1845–1852. One million dead. Two million emigrated. Which US cities hold the largest concentrations of Irish-Famine descendants — and what it means for your genealogy research.

Day 4

The records that survived — and where to find them

The 1922 fire that destroyed most Irish records. What was lost, what survived, and the alternative sources — Griffith's Valuation, the Tithe Applotment Books, Catholic parish registers — that fill the gaps.

Day 5

Irish-American identity — who your ancestors became

How Irish emigrants transformed American cities, built institutions, and preserved a version of Ireland that often diverged sharply from the country itself. What "Irish-American" means and doesn't mean.

Day 6

Reading Irish place names — the landscape your ancestors walked

Townlands, parishes, baronies, counties. How Irish place names encode history — Norse, Norman, Gaelic — and how to use them to understand where your family actually lived.

Day 7

Your Irish heritage research roadmap

A practical step-by-step framework for researching Irish ancestry from the US: which databases, which archives, which local experts, and how to get past the brick walls most researchers hit.

Who is this for?

Anyone with Irish ancestry who wants to understand more than just the county name

Genealogists who've hit brick walls in Irish records and need context

People who grew up "Irish-American" but want to understand what that actually means historically

Teachers and community organisers looking for accessible Irish heritage content

Anyone planning a trip to Ireland to trace their family roots

From the publishers of Love Ireland — this course draws on the same research and editorial standards that have made Love Ireland the newsletter of choice for 64,000 readers who take Irish heritage seriously. No generic content. Real history, real surnames, real places.

More Irish surname resources

While you wait for Day 1, you can explore the origins of specific Irish surnames on this site. Each page covers the Gaelic form, county distribution, historical background, and diaspora reach of individual names.

7-Day Irish Heritage
Email Course

Learn Irish heritage in a week