KaraShannon. Irish ancestry is a pain to research as many of the documents have been lost.
my Irish families moved to Scotland and Staffordshire ( Fathers side and Mothers side). census results only show place of birth as Ireland, but where?
I know through talking to my oldest cousins that my Fathers family came from County Monaghan and I found another person searching the same line on my mother's side and they came from Roscommon, although may have another link to Galway. so hard as spellings have change so much and many anglesised their names to sound less Irish
I have had much more luck researching my one Norfolk route, where I live today, my Maternal grandfather. I found a group of fellow relations from around the world and their research goes back to 15th century, for one. ranch if my tree.
It does not help that I never knew my Scottish family, as in those days it was too far to travel to without a car and my Mother's father left the family home when she was 12 and she never saw him again after she was 17, so I really don't have much anecdotal information.
Good luck, you may find it raises more questions than answers but I love it!