These pages are currently in process of a major update. as of July 2024.
I welcome any family contributions for inclusion within this new website. Photos email in JPG please as attachments. News items may be sent in any common text editor.
Emails to me here
This web site is designed and maintained by Mike Ivess. Buderim. Queensland Australia. I have been researching the origins of my family since about 1980 and welcome any contact with any potential relations who wish to obtain the current family tree, or add their family detailsto this site.
The surname Ivess is one of the most uncommon in the world.
With reputed Celtic / Norse origins. As the local village of Ballysteen was originally named IVERUS from the original Celtic tribe of Uibh Rossa who lived there, it is quite probable that the two local spellings IVISS & IVESS both directly derive from variations from the above. If this is the case it would certainly explain why this surname is not common elsewhere in the world.
My ancestors left the town of Askeaton, Limerick, Ireland around 1850 and emigrated to Australia from Dublin 1852. Later most of the family moved to New Zealand. The image at top of screen is St Mary’s Church in Askeaton where the family graves are located dated back into the 1600s
Today there are connected family members in Ireland, New Zealand, Queensland & Victoria Australia, Canada and England.
Use the links on the top menu for more information
I have been working on the genealogy of the Ivess Families for more than thirty years now and have still only managed to locate four separate branches to the Family Tree. I would dearly love to hear from any one who has connections with the IVESS name, no matter how distant. Especially from those whose families emigrated to the USA. We have lost all contacts with this side of the family. It is believed that the singer Burl Ives family name was originally IVESS but changed when they emigrated to the USA