Many records documenting the history of Ireland and her people were lost forever when fire swept through the Dublin Public Record Office in 1922. This disaster, following the destruction of the Record Tower in Dublin Castle in the early 18th century, and the destruction by government order of the 1861-1891 census returns, means that Irish researchers must face the loss of most 20th century Irish census records, along with civil, probate and parish records valuable for Irish family history research.

While there are a few notable records that survive that cover the majority of Ireland, including Griffith's Valuation and the 1901 Ireland census, the majority of Irish records available to genealogists cover smaller areas, including fragments of early censuses, and especially parish records. Despite these limitations, however, many sites offer valuable data for researching Irish ancestry in the form of extractions, transcriptions and digitized images. To get you started tracing your Irish ancestors I've highlighted 12 of my favorite Web Sites for Researching Irish Ancestors.

Hundreds of free genealogy and family history videos almost disappeared, perhaps forever, last week when Megan Smolenyak announced that Roots Television would be closing its virtual doors. Luckily, enthusiastic support for the site through emails, tweets, Facebook and messages, has convinced Megan that there is a demand for educational genealogical videos and that Roots Television meets a different need, and even audience, than network reality genealogy shows like Who Do You Think You Are? and Faces of America.

Thank you Megan for continuing to provide us all with such a rich genealogical resource. We're glad Roots Television decided to stick around!

A new free online index of Minnesota marriages from all 87 counties went online last month.The Minnesota Official Marriage System (MOMS) shows the bride and groom's name, the year of marriage, and the county that maintains the record. Marriage certificates can be ordered for a fee. A list of counties with their index dates is available here.

The Minnesota statewide marriage index is a great addition to other wonderful online Minnesota vital records collections and indexes, including the Minnesota Birth Certificates Index and Minnesota Death Certificates Index from the Minnesota Historical Society

World-renowned African-American genealogy expert Tony Burroughs is giving a free genealogy seminar for the Ancestry.com webinar series this coming Thursday, March 11, at 8:00 p.m. EST (GMT +5). In his free webinar, "Avoid Traps in African American Genealogy," expert Tony Burroughs will share his unique wisdom and experience to help you in your search for your Black roots. Visit Ancestry Webinars to learn more and to register.