Winters Genealogy

Glenosheen, Co. Limerick

The Winters Genealogy website presents the results of research into the Winters family line whose earliest documented origins can be traced back to the Castle Oliver Estate in the South East of Co. Limerick in Ireland. The progenitor of this line was John Winter. The records of the Castle Oliver estate reveal that he held a "Lease for lives" at Ballintubber, Co. Limerick, dated 1785. Three children John, Chris and Philip Winter were also named on the lease.¹

The website traces the descent of the Castle-Oliver Winters from their progenitor, John Winter, down to the present day. Each individual in the lineage has a dedicated biographical page that records, where known, their dates of birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial, along with any relevant biographical details. For privacy reasons, entries for living persons are omitted.

In addition to the main line, the website also investigates several family lines related to the Winters through marriage. Each of these lines has its own earliest known ancestor identified, and descendants traced down to the present day. Similar to the main line, each person in these lines has a separate biographical page, with living individuals omitted.

The absence of early documents presents challenges in tracing the Winters ancestry further back in time. Fortunately, recent advancements in DNA tests have provided conclusive evidence that the Castle-Oliver Winters share a common ancestor with those of some Winter(s) families in Co. Cork, near the border with Co. Limerick. This discovery is discussed in more detail in one of the Stories menu items.

It is tempting to associate the Winters family’s early years with the Palatine immigration in the early 1700s, considering that several Palatine families were settled on the Castle Oliver Estate around 1760 onwards. However, there is no evidence to support this claim, as discussed in another Stories menu item.

The website can be explored in different ways through the items in the menu at at the top of each website page, as follows:

• The Family Lines section serves as a starting point for exploring the Winters family line, as well as other family lines related by marriage, namely: Meredith ; Wilkinson ; Strong ; Barrer ; French ; Robinson; Chapman; Naylor; Higgins.
  The Schematic Diagram, part of the Charts menu, provides a visual representation of the connections between these various family lines.



• The Surname Index allows users to directly access the biographical page of a person of interest. Each family line has its own index, and there’s also a comprehensive index for the entire website. By clicking on a surname, users can find everyone with that name, and clicking a first name leads to their biographical page.


• The Search functionality enables users to find individuals based on their name, dates, spouse’s and parents’ names.


• The Charts section provides a list of indented charts that summarise the lineage of each family line. Each chart includes names of individuals linked to their biographical pages.


• The Images feature offers links to photos and other images in biographical entries, sources and citations, as well as miscellaneous photos.


• The Maps section displays maps that show the locations of the earliest ancestors and census entries for various family lines.


• Records For selected individuals and families, this section provides links to images of original records of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials, census entries, headstones, and transcriptions of Royal Irish Constabulary Service Records.


• The Stories section offers broader information about key events, locations and properties. It also includes noteworthy accounts of individual achievements, and a discussion about earlier ancestry. For example, it covers the history of Castle Oliver and its association with the Winters line, the Upper Sunville farm where the Winters lived for over a century, the Irish Palatines and their settlement at Castle Oliver, and the connection with Winter(s) families of Co. Cork revealed by DNA studies.

A footer menu appears on every webpage and provides access to:

• A Site Navigation page that summarises how to explore the various features of the website, and explains the meaning of different icons that are used.
• A Calendar displaying the anniversaries of individuals who share their birthdays on the current day, within the current month, or in any other month of the year.
• A Useful Links page providing some general resources for Irish family history.