New research has revealed that the top ten famous Irish individuals that people would like to discover they are related to are:
 
1.      Michael Collins
2.      Oscar Wilde
3.      Grace O'Malley
4.      Brian Boru
5.      Daniel O'Connell
6.      Mary Robinson
7.      Arthur Guinness
8.      James Joyce
9.      William Butler Yeats
10.  Charles Stewart Parnell

 The research by clan genealogy company Eneclann also revealed that

·         69% of Irish people don’t know the names of all their great-grandparents
·         94% would like to find out more about their family history

In the poll , Eneclann, Ireland’s leading Irish historical researcher and publisher, revealed that while 89% of Irish people are able to name all of their first cousins and grandparents, only 31% are able to name all of their great-grandparents*.
 
This Stephen’s Day , December 26th sees the launch of Ireland’s first ‘Start your Family Tree Week’, an opportunity to find out more about your Irish family history.  The initiative, which is supported by Eneclann, the Genealogical Society of Ireland, the Irish Genealogical Research Society and the Irish Family History Society, aims to encourage people to find out more about their family history, and to hand down the stories and memories to the next generation.
 
‘Start Your Family Tree Week’ aims to encourage people to find out more about their families in a fun and interactive way.  People can sign up for a series of seven daily emails from 26th December – 1st January.  Each email is designed to help you develop your family tree further and includes advice and features from experts, links to useful websites and competitions  People can participate by visiting www.startyourfamilytree.ie and signing up for the newsletter.
 
Rachel Murphy of Eneclann said ‘Christmas is the perfect time to start exploring your family history; with many of your relatives all gathered together in the same place, it’s a perfect opportunity to share family stories, and ask questions about what life was like in the past.  As a people with a strong oral tradition, you’d expect we would still be passing the stories down the generations but our survey shows that an overwhelming 92% of people regret not having asked relatives more about their lives.’

More details from www.startyourfamilytree.ie