Friday 13 April 2012

Some snippets of news

A collection of shorts for the mid-month weekend:

Stamping out the letters: In all the RMS Titanic hoo-hah of the last two weeks, has anyone mentioned that RMS stood for Royal Mail Ship? Well, it was news to me.

And it's appropriate that An Post has launched a set of stamps commemorating the sinking in which five postal clerks drowned.

Apparently, the clerks tried to carry the 200-odd heavy sacks of letters from the mail room to what they thought was the safety of the upper decks. They died in the process, and the keys to the RMS Titanic mailroom was found on a chain on one of their bodies.

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Waterford ancestors?:
Waterford County Archives, which is housed in Dungarvan's Central Libary, is closed until 6 May. The closure is indicative of just how understaffed Ireland's local authority funded archives service has become – the Waterford County Archives is a one-person show, and she's taking annual leave. That's what you call trimmed to the bone.

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GSI website hacked: The website of the Genealogical Society of Ireland (www.familyhistory.ie) has been hacked. It happened just before Easter and the web url directs you to a gobbledegook message from the hacker.

The GSI's facebook page is operating normally.

UPDATE 14 April: The GSI hope the website will be repaired over the weekend.

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Carlow County Museum reopens:
After being closed for some 18 months, Carlow County Museum has reopened in the newly restored former Presentation Convent on College Street, Carlow.

The Museum is the last piece of the Cultural Quarter ( Library, Tourist Office, Visual and George Bernard Shaw Theatre, Carlow Cathedral, Carlow College, Carlow Tourism, Eigse, Glor Ceatharlach and Carlow Court House ). It is also one of only twelve county museums in the 26 counties of Ireland.

Hopefully the home page of the Museum's website will catch up with events soon!

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