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Findmypast’s massive collection of Irish records is about to get a lot bigger, making Irish genealogy research easier than ever before.

Findmypast are thrilled to announce the upcoming release of a landmark collection of Irish records: 10 million Irish Catholic Parish Records will be released this March, becoming one of the most important of their many Irish collections.

What you need to know:

• Covers over 200 years of history, from 1671-1900

• Over 1,000 parishes included

• 3,500 baptism and marriage registers have been transcribed from the National Library of Ireland

• This is the first time this collection has been indexed with images available online

Family historians will now be able to make all important links between generations with the baptism records and between families with the marriage registers.

These essential records cover the entire island of Ireland - both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

If you have Irish ancestry, Findmypast’s Irish records collection is the go-to resource to trace your family history back across the Atlantic.

Touching stories

Record sets like these are bound to yield many touching discoveries. Take a look at this record indicating the baptism of Ann Caroline Smith in 1877:

The image is a little difficult to read, but you can recognize Ann's entry because it's the only one with additional notes to the right. But what does the note indicate? Let's take a closer look:

The note indicates a 1908 marriage of Ann Caroline Smith to George W. Callahan in Newport, Rhode Island. But how would this have been marked, over 20 years after her baptism?

Most likely, the Catholic parish in Ireland received an inquiry from Rhode Island before Ann Caroline was officially married to George - after all, to be married as a Catholic, you need to have been baptized.

Read more: Millions more Irish birth, marriage and death records free online

For more stories on tracing your Irish heritage from Findmypast click here.