Genealogy & Family Tree Video Classes
Choose from our vast catalog of free and Premium genealogy video classes and tutorials. Start by selecting a topic below. Tip: On desktop use Ctrl F (Win) or Cmd F (Mac) to search the entire list of videos by keyword. Note: The search box and Categories menu on the right (desktop) or the bottom of the page (mobile) apply to audio podcast episodes and articles.
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Beginner
15 Freebies for Genealogy
Beginning Genealogy at Archives.com
Calculating Cousin Relationships
Data Flow for Genealogy
Free Genealogy
Evernote for Genealogy – Beginner
FamilySearch Strategy Essentials
FamilySearch Wiki Navigation
Getting Started with DNA Testing (Premium)
Google.com Getting Better Search Results (Premium)
Home Research – Family History at Home
Inherited Genealogy – How to Deal with It
Take Control of Preserving Your Family History Information (Premium)
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DNA
5 Tips for Understanding DNA Results with Diahan Southard (Premium)
Autosomal DNA Results: Make the Most of Them with Diahan Southard (Premium)
DNA: Glue that Holds Families Together with Diahan Southard (Premium)
DNA Match with No Tree? No Problem! (Premium)
DNA Problem Solving
DNA Q&A with Ancestry’s Crista Cowan
DNA Painter Quick review with Blaine Bettinger
Forensic Genealogist – How to Become One with Dr. Claire Glen
Forensic Genealogy Future and Phenotyping (Premium)
Gedmatch Shared Matches Tool with Diahan Southard (Premium)
Getting Started with DNA Testing with Diahan Southard (Premium)
Organizing Your DNA Matches with Diahan Southard (Premium)
Mitochondrial DNA Quick Introduction with Diahan Southard (Premium)
Mitochondrial DNA Match Page Quick Overview with Diahan Southard (Premium)
MyHeritage DNA Genetic Groups
MyHeritage DNA Results: Get the Most Out of Them (Premium)
YDNA Quick Introduction with Diahan Southard (Premium)
YDNA Haplogroups Quick Overview with Diahan Southard (Premium)
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Elevenses with Lisa (2020: The 1st Year)
Note: Elevenses videos beyond the 1st year are included under the various topics on this page.
- Pilot (Premium)
- Research Plan (Premium)
- BSO Strategies (Premium)
- Mobile Organization (Premium)
- Online Organization
- Organization Paper (Premium)
- Organizing Data Q-A (Premium)
- Organize Digital (Premium)
- Evernote (Premium)
- Saving Your Genealogy from Destruction (Premium)
- Inspiring Ways to Captivate Non-Genealogists (Premium)
- Google Earth (Premium)
- Google Search – Get Better Results (Premium)
- Creating Family History Videos (Premium)
- Learning from History (Premium)
- Using Adobe Spark Video (Premium)
- Ancestry Top Tips (Premium)
- Irish Genealogy Professional Consultation (Premium)
- Filling Blanks in Your Research (Premium)
- House History
- Free Genealogy
- Your Ancestor’s Neighborhood (Premium)
- Google Photos
- Your Online Mindset (Premium)
- Elevenses with Lisa Viewers Voices (Premium)
- Newspaper Navigator and the Library of Congress
- Google Lens for Genealogy
- House Photo ID
- Family Bible
- Google Books
- Allen County Genealogy Center
- Artificial Intelligence
- Early American Genealogy (New England)
- Passenger lists
- Viewer Voices 2 (Premium)
- Rumsey Maps
- Provenance of Records
- A Cup of Christmas Tea with Tom Hegg (Dec 2020)
Ethnicities
German Genealogy for Beginners
German Villages – How to find them
Irish Genealogy Expert Solutions Beginner Part 1 (Premium)
Irish Genealogy Filling in the Blanks Intermediate Part 2 (Premium)
Italian Genealogy
Italian Dual Citizenship
Jewish Genealogy
Native American Genealogy
Public Records Office of Ireland
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The Genealogist’s Google Search Methodology (Premium)
Google: Common Surname Search Strategies (Premium)
Google – Getting Better Search Results (Premium)
Google – 5 Genealogy Search Hacks (Premium)
Google – 5 Search Secrets for Genealogy (Premium)
Google – More Search Strategies (Premium)
Google – How to Reconstruct Your Ancestor’s World (Rootstech 2023)
Google Books – Getting Started (Premium)
Google Books – 10 Surprising Finds
Google Books – New Features
Google Drive (Premium)
Google Images Best Search Strategies
Google Lens for Genealogy
Google Photos Introductory Tour
Google Scholar for Genealogy (Premium)
Google: What’s Changed (Search Results Number) (Premium) NEW!
Get Lisa’s book: The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox
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Maps & Geography
5 Ways to Use Old Maps in Your Research (Premium)
Best Websites for Finding Old Maps (Premium)
Create a Historic Map Collection for Your Research (Premium)
Davidrumsey.com Free Maps and How to Find Them
Exporting MyMaps to Import into Google Earth
Google Earth for Genealogy (Beginner)
Google Earth – How to Plot Land
Google Earth: Time Travel (Premium)
Google Earth – Ways to Use it for Genealogy (Premium)
House History Research (Premium)
House Photo Identification
Illuminating Locations (Premium)
Neighborhoods in Google Earth (Premium)
Paths – Create Emigration Paths in Google Earth (Premium)
Rural Address – How to Find & Map Them
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps – Beginner (Premium)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Applying them to Research – Intermediate (Premium)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection at LOC
Towns of Origin – 16 Ways to Find Them
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Methodology
A Month by Month Plan for Genealogy (Premium)
Big Picture in Little Details (Premium)
Birthdates Conflict and How to Solve It
Cold Case Strategies (Premium)
Females before 1850 (Premium)
Finding Hard-to-Find Records
Fixing Genealogy Errors
Free Genealogy
Home Research – Family History at Home
How Alice the Genealogist Avoids Rabbit Holes (Premium)
Living Relatives – How to Find Them (Premium)
Maiden Names – 12 Strategies for Finding Them
Newspapers – How to Get the Scoop on Your Ancestors (Premium)
Productivity and BSOs (Premium)
Rate Your Readiness for Genealogy Success
Research Plans (Premium)
Restart Your Genealogy
Search Smarter
Source Citations
Story Behind Genealogy Records
Timelines – Beginner (Premium)
Towns of Origin – 16 Ways to Find Them
Transcription and Analysis (Premium)
Witness Research
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Organization & Preservation
Archival Storage Options
Clean Up Your Genealogy Database (Premium)
DAR – How to Join
Data Organization (Premium)
Digital Organization (Premium)
Digital Preservation Library of Congress Style
Documenting Family History with Shotbox
Evernote Organization (Premium)
Evernote: Organize Your Research (Premium)
Hard Drive Organization (Premium)
Heirlooms – Passing Them and Their Stories On (Premium)
How Alice the Genealogist Avoids the Rabbit Hole Parts 1 & 2
How Alice the Genealogist Avoids the Rabbit Hole Parts 3 & 4
Inherited Genealogy – How to Deal with It
Inspiring Relatives’ Interest to Protect the Family History (Premium)
Mobile Computing Organization (Premium)
Online Productivity (Premium)
Organize All this Stuff! (Premium)
Organize Your Online Life (Premium)
Paper Organization (Premium)
Save Your Research from Destruction (Premium)
Take Control of Preserving Your Family Tree Information (Premium)
5 Family History Holiday Ideas
Photos & Videos
5 Ways to Improve Old Home Movies
Creating Family History Story Videos (Premium)
Dead Fred – The Secret to Finding Old Family Photos
(Photo) Digital Preservation Library of Congress Style
Edit Your Home Movies
Frith Photo Collection at FindMyPast
Google Images (Photos) Best Search Strategies
Google Photos Introductory Tour
House Photo Identification
How to Make a Video with an Adobe App (Premium)
Solving Unidentified Photo Album Cases (Premium)
Video Magic (Creating Family History Videos) Part 1 (Premium)
Video Magic (Creating Family History Videos) Part 2 (Premium)
Video Magic (Creating Family History Videos) Part 3 (Premium)
Videos – 10 Ways to Add Volume to Family History with Videos (Premium)
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Records
5 Reasons You MUST Look at Original Records
1931 Canada Census – 4 Fast Search Strategies
1950 Census Overview
1950 Census Questions
1950 Census Enumeration District Maps
1950 Census Indexing at FamilySearch
1950 Census Search Strategies (Premium)
1890 Census & Substitute Records
15 Freebies for Genealogy
Burial Records – 3 Places to Look (Premium)
Cemetery Research & Finding the Stories
Church Record (Premium)
Comparing the Newspaper Giants (with Sunny Morton) (New)
Compiled Family Histories at Ancestry
Compiled Family Histories & Genealogies – Best Places to Find Them (Premium)
Early American Ancestor Records with NEHGS
Ellis Island Records (Passenger, Customs & Detention LIsts)
Family Bibles (Premium)
Freedmen’s Bureau (Premium)
Institutional Records (Premium)
Marriage Records – 5 Steps for Finding Them
Marriage Records Case Study with J. Mark Lowe
Marriage Records and Gretna Green with J. Mark Lowe
Newspapers – Getting the Scoop on Your Ancestors
Newspapers – 5 Top Research Tips
Newspapers at Google Books
Newspapers – Finding Family Recipes
Newspapers – Reconstructing Your Ancestor’s Life
Newspaper Navigator at the Library of Congress
Newspapers.com – Digging Deeper (Premium)
Obituaries at Newspapers.com
Ohio Records at Ohio Memory (Premium)
Passenger Lists (Ellis Island Records)
Passenger Lists Deciphering
PERSI Like a Pro! with Allison Singleton (Premium)
School Records
Virginia Early Records
Women’s Work – Find Occupational Records (Premium)
Story & Sharing
Airplane! Director David Zucker on Family History
Behind the Scenes with Director David Zucker (Premium)
Christmas Cup of Tea with Author Tom Hegg
Creating Family History Story Videos (Premium)
Crime Stories with Author Nathan Dylan Goodwin
Elevenses with Lisa Pilot Episode (Premium)
Emigration Paths Tours in Google Earth) (Premium)
Genealogy Gems Viewer Voices 1 (Premium)
Genealogy Gems Viewer Voices 2 (Premium)
Inspiring Non-Genealogists in Your Life (Premium)
Instagram & Pinterest for Genealogy (Premium)
Interview Questions (Premium)
Learning from History with Daniel Horowitz (Premium)
Family History Narrative Research
Reconstructing Your Family’s Amazing Stories (Premium)
Self Publish a Book!
Share Your Life Story in a More Meaningful Way (Premium)
World War II Fallen Stories
Writing and Publishing a Family History Book
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Technology Tools
10 Tech Tools You Can’t Live Without (Premium)
Artificial Intelligence
AI Chatbots and Genealogy – should you use them?
AI Time Machine at MyHeritage
Apps – How to Find Essential Apps for Genealogy (Premium)
Cloud Backup (Premium)
Data Flow for Genealogy
Dropbox (Premium)
Evernote for Genealogy – Beginner
Evernote: 10 Projects to Enhance Your Genealogy (Premium)
Evernote and Collaborative Genealogy (Premium)
Evernote: Creating a Research Plan in Evernote (Premium)
Evernote Organization (Premium)
Evernote: Organize Your Research (Premium)
Evernote: Making It Effortless to Use for Genealogy (Premium)
Evernote versus Snagit
Future of Technology & Genealogy (Premium)
GEDCOMs
Google Drive (Premium)
iPad – Genealogy on the Go (Premium)
Newspaper Navigator at the Library of Congress
Online Mindset – Take Control of Your Online Activity (Premium)
RootsMagic with Founder Bruce Buzbee
Snagit (Beginner)
Snagit (Intermediate)
Tech Can Wreak Havoc on Genealogy (Premium)
Time Travel Technology (Premium)
VPNs – Why I Use One
YouTube – Find Your Family History
Websites
Which Genealogy Website Should I Use? (Premium)
Ancestry – Compiled Family Histories
Ancestry Top Search Tips (Premium)
Ancestry – What’s this Records Hint? Geneanet
ArchiveGrid (Premium)
Archives.com
Ellis Island Passenger Search
FamilySearch Strategy Essentials
FamilySearch Wiki Navigation – (Beginner)
FamilySearch Wiki Deep Dive (Premium)
Genealogy Center at Allen Co Public Library Website
Genealogy Giants – Comparing Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, Findmypast (Premium)
Google Scholar for Genealogy (Premium)
History Hub (NARA)
Internet Archive – 10 Records You’ll Love to Find
MyHeritage – 10 Don’t Miss Features
Newspaper Navigator at the Library of Congress
Newspapers.com – Digging Deeper (Premium)
One-Step WebPages with Steve Morse
PERSI Like a Pro! with Allison Singleton (Premium)
State Library of Pennsylvania
U.S. National Archives – In Person Access
U.S. National Archives Website
WikiTree (Beginner)
WorldCat – 5 Things You Should Do
Trace Your Irish Ancestors with Four Historical and Geographical Tips
Let’s trace your Irish ancestors! Irish research tips are a must-have for this historically violent little island. Senior Researcher at Legacy Tree Genealogists, Kate Eakman, shares with you four historical and geographical tips to get you off to the right start.

By Jonto at English Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
Trace Your Irish Ancestors: 4 Tips

Kate Eakman from Legacy Family Tree Genealogists
Irish research can be difficult. Although the island is small–about the same size as the state of Indiana–its violent history and many divisions makes research complicated. In addition, many United States records simply report our ancestors were from Ireland with no indication of the county of their birth. However, knowing a little bit about the history and geography can provide the necessary clues. Here are four tips that can help you trace your Irish ancestors from the United States back to Ireland.
Tip 1: Understand the Island of Ireland Today
There are two distinct political entities on the island of Ireland: Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The dividing line was drawn by England in 1922. This is an important date to keep in mind when searching for more recent Irish ancestors.
The Republic of Ireland, or Eire, is an independent nation made up of the southern 26 counties of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is predominantly Catholic, with about 3% of the population identifying itself as Protestant. Indices and links to copies of the civil birth records for the years 1864 to 1915, marriages between 1882 and 1940, and death records between 1891 and 1965 are available for free from the IrishGenealogy website. (These records include those of the Northern Irish counties up to 1922.) Official copies can be ordered from the General Records Office in Dublin.

Map of the counties of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Photo courtesy https://commons.wikimedia.org.
Northern Ireland, also known as Ulster, is a part of the United Kingdom–although it is self-governing like Canada or Australia. Although the counties of Northern Ireland are not officially used today, it is comprised of the traditional counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Londonderry (also known by the more traditional name of Derry). Although most Americans believe that Northern Ireland is a Protestant nation, the reality is that today there are almost an equal number of Catholics as there are Protestants in Northern Ireland. Civil birth, marriage, and death records can be ordered from GRONI (General Records Office Northern Ireland).
Tip 2: Turn to U.S. Census Records
From the 1880 U.S. Census through the 1920 U.S. Census, Irish ancestors who immigrated to the United States, or whose parents were natives of Ireland, simply reported they were natives of Ireland. However, since the 1930 U.S. Census was taken after the creation of the Republic of Ireland in 1922, it often noted the specific country from which ancestors originated.
In this sample (below) from the 1930 U.S. census, we can see John O’Reilly was born in “North. Ireland,” as were his mother and her parents. His father, however, was from the Irish Free State, or the Republic of Ireland. This information tells us where to search for John’s birth: in one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. His mother’s birth record will also be from Northern Ireland, and probably his parents’ marriage record also, since it is more traditional to marry in the bride’s hometown than the groom’s.
There is the potential that a much larger search will be necessary for John’s father’s birth record unless the marriage record can be found and it specifies in which of the 26 Republic of Ireland counties he was born.

John J. O’Reilly and his mother in the 1930 U.S. Census report. The detail shows where John was born, then his father’s place of birth, followed by his mother’s place of birth. The second line was the same information for John’s mother. Images courtesy http://ancestry.com.
If your Irish ancestor, or the child of that ancestor, is listed in the 1930 U.S. census, pay close attention to where they reported they and their parents were born. You might find a very helpful clue in that census report.
Tip 3: Look to Religion for Clues
While many people associate Roman Catholicism with Ireland, there are many Protestants living in Northern Ireland and fewer in the Republic of Ireland. Knowing your family’s historical religious preference can provide a small hint. If your family has always been Catholic it is likely they were Catholics in Ireland. However, as we have already noted, with almost all of the Republic of Ireland expressing a preference for Catholicism and about 45% of the citizens of Northern Ireland claiming allegiance to the Catholic faith, you can see a Catholic religious heritage is not particularly unique.
However, if your family history includes the Episcopal faith, or there is something that references “the Church of Ireland” in your family’s records, then your family was most likely Protestant when they lived in Ireland. You are also more likely to find your Protestant ancestors in Northern Ireland (with the understanding that there are Protestants throughout the Republic of Ireland).
If your family is or has been Presbyterian, there is a very strong likelihood your family is actually Scots-Irish with your ancestors immigrating to Ireland from Scotland, bringing their Scottish religion with them. You will find most of these ancestors in Northern Ireland.
Tip 4: Move on to Military Records
World War I (1914-1918) was particularly brutal to the Irish. More than 30,000 of the 200,000 men who enlisted were killed in this war. Songs such as “Gallipoli” and “The Foggy Dew” mourned the loss of so many young Irish men in foreign wars, especially since the 1922 Irish War of Independence followed closely on the heels of World War I.
If one of your Irish ancestors fought and died in World War I, you can find his name and more at the website Ireland’s Memorial Records. Many (but not all) of the memorials include the county in which the soldier was born, as seen below:

Memorial for John James of County Wexford. Courtesy Ireland’s Memorial Records.
Another website, Ireland’s World War I Veterans 1914-1918, has created a PDF list, updated every three months, which contains over 35,000 names of Irishmen who fought in World War I. If you know or suspect your Irish ancestor may have served in World War I and survived the experience, this is an excellent place to find a clue about his origins.

A sample of the list of those who served as created by Ireland’s World War I Veterans 1914-1918.
Although it can be difficult to find the correct place in Ireland for your family’s origins, there are some important clues, both historical and geographical, that can help you pinpoint a place to begin your search in Ireland.
Trace Your Irish Ancestors: In Conclusion
The 1930 U.S. census can provide an important clue to trace your Irish ancestors, as can your family’s religious heritage. If an Irish ancestor served in World War I, you may be able to determine the county in which he was born. A knowledge of the differences between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as their location and the counties within those two countries, can help you contact the proper vital records office for those all-important vital records. So, go n-éirí leat! Good luck!
The team of expert genealogists at Legacy Tree Genealogists can help bust through your brick walls. They do the research and you enjoy the discoveries!