Researching Your Boyle or Ó Baoighill Ancestors
Where to look, and what to look out for, when tracing a family of the name.
This site cannot trace individual families. These free, reliable resources are where most research on a Boyle, O’Boyle or Ó Baoighill family begins.
Before you start
- 1Find the townland. Irish records are organised by place, and the townland is the key that unlocks census, church and land records.
- 2Expect several spellings. The same family can appear as Boyle, O’Boyle, Ó Baoighill or Ó Baoill, sometimes in a single year.
- 3Many Boyles in one place does not mean one family. In the Rosses, a whole district could share the name, so check ages, townlands and relatives.
- 4Gaps are normal. Most Irish census returns before 1901 were destroyed, so church, civil and land records fill in the earlier story.
Census and land records
- Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911
Every household on the island, searchable by name and townland, with the original returns. National Archives of Ireland.
nationalarchives.ie
- Census of Ireland 1926
The first census of the Free State (26 counties), released in 2026; the first with forms in Irish.
nationalarchives.ie
- Griffith’s Valuation (1847–1864)
Who occupied land and houses in each townland in the mid-nineteenth century.
askaboutireland.ie
Births, marriages, deaths and churches
- IrishGenealogy.ie
Civil registers of births (from 1864), marriages (from 1845) and deaths (from 1871), with images. Government of Ireland.
irishgenealogy.ie
- Catholic parish registers
Images of Catholic baptism and marriage registers, mostly to 1880, including Donegal parishes. National Library of Ireland.
registers.nli.ie
- PRONI
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland: wills, land, church and estate records for Ulster, including material on Donegal.
nidirect.gov.uk
Places and maps
- logainm.ie
The official placenames database: Irish and English forms of every townland, with historical spellings.
logainm.ie
- townlands.ie
Townland boundaries and their parish, barony and electoral division.
townlands.ie
- GeoHive
Map viewer from Tailte Éireann, including the historic Ordnance Survey maps.
geohive.ie
Stories and lives
- Dúchas.ie
The National Folklore Collection, including stories collected from Donegal storytellers and schoolchildren.
duchas.ie
- ainm.ie
Biographies of Irish-language writers and storytellers, several of them of the name.
ainm.ie
- Dictionary of Irish Biography
Scholarly biographies of notable Irish people.
dib.ie
Emigration
- Ellis Island passenger records
Arrivals at the port of New York, 1892–1957 (free registration).
heritage.statueofliberty.org
- NSW Assisted Immigrants Index
Assisted immigrants to New South Wales, 1839–1896.
mhnsw.au
- Public Record Office Victoria
Passenger lists for arrivals in Victoria, 1839–1923.
prov.vic.gov.au
- ScotlandsPeople
Scottish civil and church records, where many Donegal families worked and settled (pay per view).
scotlandspeople.gov.uk
Sharing a surname is a starting point, not proof of a family link. Build each step on a record.