About IRISH BY ANCESTRY
Irish by Ancestry’s mission is to connect our members more authentically to their Irish heritage–while awakening them to the more modern Ireland of today.
IRISH by ANCESTRY: The fastest growing Irish ancestry focused community on Facebook
Our close-knit, high-growth network caters to a global, educated audience, adding up to 10k new members a week, and receives more than 2.5 MILLION visitors per month. Tracing Irish genealogy is delicate, vulnerable work that requires tenacity and an ability to accept what happened to force some 10 million people from their homeland.
What makes our community special is a high level of curation and moderation that protects those members, keeping them free to collaborate and share as they learn.
Without the presence of negative pressure regarding identity, our group shares not just family lines but travel plans and dreams. They are deeply connected, a rare occurrence on social platforms, in ways that keep them working toward a collective understanding. They seek to know to Irish history, culture past and present, language, art, literature, music, and most of all, where they fit in.
Irish by Ancestry provides accurate resources, proven methodologies, and the latest research guidance to make their genealogy journey easier and more satisfying.
Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Irish by Ancestry has advocates around the world to support its global members, who hail from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, and France.
The Irish by Ancestry team is dedicated to connecting the Irish from around the world and creating a protected community where all Irish descendants can feel closer to the ancestors they seek.
Our history
Irish by Ancestry was launched in Boston in 2023 by Shelagh Braley Starr, a major market journalist and serial media-tech founder. Her previous companies include MyLifeList.org, best startup in Boston (2010), a social network for bucket-listing that drove more than 100,000 global members to live more fulfilled lives. The tech was leveraged as a crowdsource engine for solutions to the global water crisis, clean energy, and healthcare. She built GoalsCorp Media, an innovative software and advertising platform that integrated travel and lifestyle brands into social conversations that converted to sales. She then began to write a novel based in Irish myth, leading her to found the Irish genealogy and culture group Irish by Ancestry before expanding it into a successful media brand.
Irish by Ancestry is part of the By Ancestry Media Inc platform that also includes a monthly subscription magazine, Related, as well as upcoming podcasts and in-person private member events to celebrate our heritage.
BY ANCESTRY MEDIA INC © 2025