Tips for Searching NARA's Irish Famine Immigrants Database

Irish Immigrants to New York 1846-1851

by Joe Beine

The National Archives (NARA) has a free online database that indexes Irish passengers to New York from 1846 to 1851. It is also available from FamilySearch (free with registration) and Ancestry (fee-based):

United States Famine Irish Passenger Index, 1846-1851 at FamilySearch this version of the database is free with registration and fairly easy to search
Irish Immigrants: New York Port Arrival Records, 1846-1851 at Ancestry (requires payment) also fairly easy to search.
Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine, 1/12/1846 - 12/31/1851 - from the National Archives (free) When you get there, click on "Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine, 1977 - 1989." On the next page click on the "search" button next to "Famine Irish Passenger Record Data File (FIPAS)." That brings up the search page. You can search by name -- use the boxes under where it says "enter values" -- type in the last name in the top one, the first name in the next one. You can also search by date of arrival.

Notes...
The 1977-1989 dates are the dates the database was created, not the dates the database covers, which is 1846-1851. There are about 600,000 total passengers listed in the database.

After finding someone in one of the above databases, you can learn how to obtain a copy of the passenger list at...

New York Passenger Lists Quick Guide, 1820-1962

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