Ian Maxwell, a former record officer at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, knows his history and records well. This comes across clearly in this well-written book that is easy to recommend.

This is a useful book to own if you have connection to Northern Ireland and should be added to any Irish collections.

Paul Milner, FGS Forum, Spring 2011

Long before the Irish Famine of the 1840's, migrants were regularly making their way to Britain from Ireland, with the Irish the largest ethnic group to have settled in England over many centuries.

The author, having previously worked at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, is well qualified to provide the most definitive guide yet in print of researching Ulster based Ancestry. After a brief summary of the history of the north, he takes us through the various sets of records that can help with our research, from the basic records to more detailed discussion on subjects as diverse as the 17th-century English and Scottish Plantations of Ulster, emigration and government records.

For those with Irish connections, Ian Maxwell's definitive work shows that not only is the glass not half empty when it comes to Ulster based research, at times it can be positively overflowing.

Discover my Past, England and Scotland

This is an essential guide for novice and expert family researcher alike. Northern Ireland records are sparse in comparison to the census records available to the rest of the British Isles, many major collections have been lost and destroyed ensuring a difficult task for anyone with northern Irish ancestry. In his book Ian Maxwell highlights key ways to track departed relatives down from parish records to museums as well as providing a wealth of online research resources. What makes this book an essential companion to Northern Irish genealogists is the dedication Maxwell has given to finding the most obscure and overlooked places to find forgotten records. The book is broken up by headings into easily digestible chunks of research advice and descriptions and contact details of all the places of research he covers in his book. Maxwell takes you chapter by chapter, step by step through researching your family ancestry from the very 'where to start' beginning through connecting the dots, following leads and tracking down records. This intuitive guide should be mandatory for all who wish to thoroughly research their Irish roots.

Tom

Anyone who has attempted to explore their Irish ancestry will be familiar with the difficulty of this task linked to the destruction of many major collections of civil and census records across Ireland, a lasting monument to the political turmoil which has marked much of Irish history. In Tracing your Northern Irish Ancestors, however, Ian Maxwell offers an accessible and succinct guide to overcoming these difficulties, as well as other more general potholes and frustrations frequently encountered in the pursuit of genealogical research. Maxwell further endeavours to tie in this advice with a general outline of Northern Irish history, of particular value to those new to the subject. Whether for the budding family historian or veteran genealogist this guide offers an invaluable outline of the records and resources that are available for Northern Ireland, as well as how to make use of them effectively.

T. Kiernan

Ian Maxwell is a former record officer at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). In this new guide he shows family historians how to make good use of the surviving records, particularly those of PRONI, including a range of sources often overlooked by many family historians.

Family Tree

This is [Maxwell's] latest book providing the reader with an introduction to the materials available to researchers in archives throughout Northern Ireland. It is often said that most Irish records were destroyed circa 1921, and while some were indeed lost, many survive. Maxwell not only lists those available, but shows how individuals interested in family history research can use the various records to trace their roots. This is an easy-to-use comprehensive introduction to the records held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and other repositories across the province, including those available online.

William Bortrick, British Association for Local History