Honest answers,
before you begin.
A homecoming is a serious undertaking, and you should know exactly how it works before you start. Here are the questions families ask us most — answered plainly.
Before the questions, see what a homecoming actually looks like.
What exactly do you do?
We trace your family back to its source in Ireland, prove it with real records, and then host your family there to stand on the ground your people left. It is one continuous thing — the research and the homecoming, done by the same hands.
How is this different from a DNA kit or a heritage bus tour?
A DNA kit hands you a list of percentages and cousins you have never met. A bus tour drives a hundred strangers past a castle. We do neither. Your family's historian does months of deep documentary research into your specific family, builds the proven line back to the townland, and then we bring your own family there on a private, hosted journey built entirely around what we found. It is custom, not copy-paste — your trip is drawn from your family's research, not a fixed route everyone takes.
Who actually does the research?
Your family's historian. We use every modern resource a serious research practice can reach — archives and tools most genealogists never touch — to search further and faster than one researcher ever could. But every finding is reviewed by a person, traced to a real source, and honored before it ever reaches you. That is the difference between a printout and a homecoming.
What if you can't find my family, or hit a wall?
We tell you the truth. Some lines are well documented and some are hard ground. Before any journey, the Research Sprint exists precisely to find out honestly what your family's story can bear. If a wall is genuinely unbreakable, you will know early, with the evidence in hand — we never invent a story to sell a trip.
Do I need to have done a DNA test already?
No. If you have DNA results, they help and we use them. If you don't, the documentary research stands on its own and we can advise on testing if it would open a door.
Who comes on the trip?
Your family. One house, up to sixteen people — typically three generations under one roof, on the land your people left. It is private to your family, not a group of strangers.
How long is the homecoming?
A full hosted journey runs roughly nine days in Ireland, with the research, travel, archives, townlands, and the home parish woven together so each day lands. Every itinerary is bespoke, so the exact shape is built around your family.
Is everything arranged for us?
Yes. One house for everyone, the route, the transport, the meals, the archive appointments, the local historians and contacts. We design the days; you say yes and we carry the rest. Your hosts are with you the whole way.
Can we add a photographer and filmmaker?
Yes — it is our most-loved add-on. A private photographer and filmmaker travel quietly with your family and capture the whole homecoming. You go home with a beautifully cut commemorative family film and a gallery of stills, kept forever on your private family page.
What does it cost?
It is a premium, bespoke service and it is priced that way. The Research Sprint begins around $2,500, the deeper Heritage Buildout from around $6,000, and a full hosted Historian + Journey from around $20,000. Every journey is priced to the family, the research it requires, and the homecoming you choose to build.
Why is it by application?
We take a small number of families at a time and do each one properly. The application is how we make sure your family's story gets the attention it deserves, and how we know we are the right people to tell it.
How far ahead should we begin?
The research alone takes months before anyone packs a bag, and the best houses and historians are booked early. The sooner you begin, the more your homecoming can become. Most families start with a single conversation.
Where do we start?
With one conversation about your family — a name, a county, a half-remembered story. From there we tell you honestly what we can do and where the first door is.
What happens to our family's information?
It is yours. Your research, records, and photographs live on your own private family page, kept for your family — not sold, not shared, not turned into a product for anyone else. We are in the business of protecting your story, not monetizing it.
What do we keep when it's over?
Every household leaves with a bound family history — the research, the records, the photographs, the story made whole. And your living family stays connected on your private family page, so the discovery keeps going long after the trip.
Still wondering about your family?
That is exactly the conversation to start with. Tell us the name and the question that matters most.