| One of the most important steps in locating your | | | | 16. Cork |
| Emerald Isle ancestors is discovering which Irish | | | | 17. Kerry |
| county they lived in. It's important to remember | | | | 18. Limerick |
| that even as late as the early 20th century, most | | | | 19. Tipperary |
| people in Ireland never traveled too far from the | | | | 20. Clare |
| area in which they were born. Entire clans of | | | | 21. Galway |
| multiple family branches often stayed in the same | | | | 22. Mayo |
| geographic area for generations. Once you find | | | | 23. Roscommon |
| the county in which your ancestor lived in Ireland, | | | | 24. Sligo |
| that will open up a whole new world of research | | | | 25. Leitrim |
| opportunities for you, and may very well lead you | | | | 26. Donegal |
| to discovering a lengthy and rich Irish heritage you | | | | In addition to these counties, there are 6 more |
| never knew about before. | | | | Irish county areas in Northern Ireland: Fermanagh, |
| There are 26 counties in Ireland. These are: | | | | Tyrone, Londonderry, Antrim, Down, and Armagh. |
| 1. Dublin | | | | The best way to find out which Irish county your |
| 2. Wicklow | | | | ancestor lived in is to examine stateside records |
| 3. Wexford | | | | that ancestor left after emigrating to the United |
| 4. Carlow | | | | States. These records can be death certificates, |
| 5. Kildare | | | | marriage certificates, birth certificates of the |
| 6. Meath | | | | ancestor's children, newspaper clippings, religious |
| 7. Louth | | | | records, and more. Usually, at least one of these |
| 8. Monaghan | | | | records will mention the county from which your |
| 9. Cavan | | | | Irish ancestors hailed. Using online databases can |
| 10. Longford | | | | also help you discover the pertinent county if |
| 11. Westmeath | | | | your stateside record resources run dry. Once |
| 12. Offaly | | | | you've found the county, you'll know where to |
| 13. Laois | | | | look for additional records on the extended family |
| 14. Kilkenny | | | | in Ireland. |
| 15. Waterford | | | | |