Tuesday 10 July 2012

A Tuesday Digest

Oughterard past and present: The Oughterard Culture & Heritage Centre has received the Most Innovative Community Archive Award from the UK-based Community Archives Heritage Group. The Galway centre merges images from the past and the present to illustrate the changes in the local urban landscape of this small town. The judges considered the technique ‘inspirational’ and ‘welcoming’. See some of these intriguing images here.

The Oughterard group was formed four years ago to collect, archive and share their local history and is part of the NMI Museum of Country Life's Community Archive Project. The latter showcases the work of communities from Oughterard, Co. Galway, as well as groups from Ballinrobe and Louisburgh/Killeen, Co. Mayo.

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yDNA kits – Summer Sale: If you've been considering taking a first dip into DNA's waters, now could be a good time because the Family Tree DNA has announced its annual Summer Sale. This sale, which applies only to yDNA, is a brief one; orders must be paid for by end of Sunday 15 July, so don't delay.

Make sure you order a new kit through a project. The Ireland yDNA Project is for males with Irish ancestry on their paternal line. There are offers for first time kits as well as for those wanting to order upgrades. Follow the link to see a list of surnames included in the Ireland yDNA Project and, just below, a further link to the discounted prices.

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Tuesday 10 July: Care and Restoration of Old Family Photos, lecture with Edmund Ross. Organised by the Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI). Dun Laoghaire College of FE, Cumberland Street. 8pm.

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Learn about Irish Wills on Family Search: The comprehensive Wiki on Irish Probate Documents and indexes has been updated on the LDS site. It's a good stab at a complex subject and explains where records can be searched. (Sadly, no update yet on when the rest of the post-1858 Wills are to be uploaded for searching, but they're coming. They are coming!)

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Saturday 14 July: Irish Research Gems of the Minnesota Genealogical Library, with Ann Eccles and Fern Wilcox. This is a class, a tour and a sharing of local research resources. Participants will learn which of the Library's resources – beyond the Irish collection – may help Irish ancestral research. 10:30am–12:00Noon. Details.

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The Gathering gathers pace: The project, which aims to generate local ideas to attract overseas visitors next year, will be arriving in Cavan (Wednesday 11th, Kilmore Hotel, 8pm) and Leitrim (Thursday 12th, Bush Hotel, Carrick on Shannon, 7pm) this week. Each meeting encourages locals to identify ways of expanding local tourism and to contact past-residents to return. A video of a recent meeting in Tralee gives a clearer idea of the project and the local brainstorming sessions. View it here.

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