When people plan to trace their ancestors in Ireland, they normally think of searching the Church records (baptisms, marriages), Civil records (birth, marriages and deaths) and property/land records, to identify their ancestors. The following are some Genealogy repositories and online sources you may not have thought of when searching for your Irish ancestor.
Dog licences were introduced into Irish Law in 1865. The licences were issued in the same courts as held the Petty Sessions. The dog licences were brought about to identify the owners of trouble making dogs who were for example; scaring sheep, or damaging property. The information given on the licence varies, but the following information may be found on your ancestor and their dog;
A transcript and image of the original licence register entry is available on line to search on Findmypast (subscription) website
The National Archives of Ireland hold National School registers and roll books for individual schools. The registers are a valuable source for information on your ancestor, providing the following details;
You can check the list of schools registers that are available in the National Archives of Ireland
Accounts and stories about folklore and local tradition was written by more than 50,000 school children from 5,000 primary schools in the 26 counties of the Irish Free State between 1937 and 1939. The children wrote about oral history, topographical information, folktales and legends, riddles and proverbs, games and pastimes, trades and crafts. The children recorded this material from their parents, grandparents, and neighbours. Duchas.ie has digitalized the National Folklore Collection of Ireland, material from 26 counties in the Schools' Collection online: http://www.duchas.ie/en
It is always worthwhile contacting the County Library where you ancestor lived. The County Library house a local studies department which holds a collection of items for their local area, for example;
Local newspapers are a fantastic genealogical resource for researching your ancestor; you may find the following recorded on your ancestor;
You can search local newspapers online on the Irish News Archives