Monday 2 February 2015

Irish family history and heritage events, 2 – 14 Feb

Monday 2 February: History of Derry through the River Foyle, with Roy Hamilton. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Foyle Branch. Venue: City's Central Library, 35 Foyle Street, Derry, Co LondonDerry BT48 6AL. 7pm. All welcome. Note: Rescheduled to 16 Feb due to adverse weather conditions.

Monday 2 February: Family and Business Memories of Killyleagh – T M Martin and Sons, with John Martin. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Killyleagh Branch. Venue: Killyleagh Masonic Hall, 50 High Street, Killyleagh, BT30 9QF, Co Down. 8pm. All welcome.

Monday 2 February to Friday 27 February: Londonderry Papers Exhibition. The exhibition focuses on the ‘Ark’ club set up by Edith, Lady Londonderry, in 1915 and immortalised in the Dodo Terrace at her gardens at Mountstewart. Members of the Ark club read like a roll call of the great and the good in British and Irish society at the time. Members were given a nickname, based on an animal or a mythical creature. Venue: Comber Library, Newtownards Road, Comber, Co Down BT23 5AU. Telephone for more details: 028 9187 2610.

Tuesday 3 February: Hidden pages from WW1, a seminar exploring previously unknown archival sources on soldiers and civilians, recounted by the curators who recovered them. Five short presentations (from 7:30pm), a Q&A session, private viewing of the cathedral's Lives Remembered exhibition and wine reception at 7pm. Chaired by Bryan Dobson. Hosts: Irish Society for Archives and St Patrick's Cathedral. Venue: The Lady Chapel, St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. Open to the public, free and no need to book.  Details.

Tuesday 3 February: The Digital Mapping of Ireland’s Eighteenth-Century Built Military Heritage: Or, Rambles in Rural Armagh, with Ivar McGrath. Host: School of History and Archives Research Forum. Venue: Room K114, University College Dublin. 4 p.m. Free admission. All welcome. Details.

Tuesday 3 February: From the Plum to the Pau France, with Claire McElhinney. Host: North of Ireland Family HistorySociety, Omagh Branch.  Venue: Omagh Library, 1 Spillers Place, Omagh, Co Tyrone BT78 1HL. 7:15pm. All welcome.

Wednesday 4 February: Military Antiques Roadshow. Bring along your WW1 artefacts to have them viewed and catalogued by experts, watch the documentary The Boys from East Belfast, and attend two talks at 2pm and 3pm. Host: Living Legacies 1914–1918. Venue: St. Mark's Parochial Hall: Heyn Hall, 2 Sydenham Avenue. Belfast BT4 2DR. 1–4pm. Free.

Wednesday 4 February: Seeking Refuge: Germany to Ireland in the 1930's, a half-day Conference. To mark Holocause Memorial Day, this event will examine the impact of the rise of the Nazi regime on Jewish communities in germany and Northern Ireland. Venue: PRONI, 2 Titanic Boulevard, Belfast, BT3 9HQ (Lecture Theatre). Starts 2pm. Three speakers. Free but need to reserve your place by email proni@dcalni.gov.uk or telephone: 028 90 534800.

Wednesday 4 February: Gone but not Forgotten – the Church of Ireland Graveyards of the City of Dublin, with Dr Raymond Refaussé. Host: Old Dublin Society. Venue: Dublin City Library & Archive Conference Room, 138–144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2. 6:30pm. Free admission and all welcome to attend.

Wednesday 4 February: Charity during the Great Famine in Connaught, with Ciaran McCabe. Host: Strokestown Park Winter Spring Lectureseries. Venue: Strokestown House, Co Roscommon. 8pm. Admission €5.

Wednesday 4 February: The victualling trade in Cork during the American War of Independence, with Joe Varley. Host: Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. Venue: Crawford Art Gallery, Emmett Place, Cork.

Wednesday 4 February: The Home Front: Newry and Mourne in the Great War, with Dr Robert Whan. Host and Venue: Newry & Mourne Museum, Bagenal's Castle , Castle Street, 1A Bank Parade, Newry BT34 2BY. Time: 7:30pm. Light refreshments served. Free but need to book by phone to 028 3031 3173 or email.

Wednesday 4 February: The Digital Mapping of Ireland’s 18th-Century Barracks: The Armagh Story, with Ivar McGrath. Venue: Seanchas Ard Mhacha, Cardinal O Fiaich Memorial Library and Archive, 15 Moy Road, Armagh BT61 7LY. 8pm. Free admission. All welcome.

Thursday 5 February: Famine times in Blarney and district, wtih Michael Murphy. Host: Blarney and District Historical Society. Venue: Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney, Co Cork. 8pm. Everyone welcome.

Thursday 5 February: The Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland and its resources, with Valerie Adams. Host: North of Ireland Family History Society, Belfast Branch. Venue: Holywood Arches Library, Holywood Road, Belfast BT4 1NT. 7:30pm. All welcome.

Saturday 7 February: Beginning Genealogy Class, with Barbara Scanlon. Host & Venue: Kansas City Irish Center (KCIC), Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Road, Suite 700, Kansas City, Missouri 64108, USA. Free to members of KCIC. $5 for non-members. No need to register. Starts at Noon. Tel: 816-474-3848.

Saturday 7 February: Photography and other pastimes, with Pat Holland. Part of The Big House lecture series. Venue: Tipperary County Museum, Mick Delahunty Square, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. 10am to Noon, with refreshments provided. €5 per session. Bookings: julia.walsh@tipperarycoco.ie or 076 106 5564.

Saturday 7 February: Migration and the First World War, with Professor Keith Jeffery. The 14th Annual Irish Migration Studies Lecture. Host and Venue: Mellon Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster American Folk Park, 2 Mellon Road, Omagh, Co Tyrone BT78 5QY. 11am to 2pm. Tea/coffee registion from 10:30pm. Admission £12 (conc £10), includes morning tea/coffee, lecture and finger buffet lunch. Booking advised, by email or tel: 028 8225 6315.

Monday 9 February: The story of Limerick Palatines, with Austin Bovenizer. Host: Limerick Historical Society. Venue: Room 301, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. 8pm. Admission is free and everybody is welcome.

Tuesday 10 February: The Comerfords in Ireland: disentangling myths and legends, with Rev Comerford. Host: Genealogical Society of Ireland. Venue: Dún Laoghaire FE Institute, Cumberland Street, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 8pm. Admission: €3.

Tuesday 10 February: Book launch: Fighting for Republican Spain, by Barry McLoughlin. Host: Irish Centre for the Histories of Labour and Class. Venue: Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, Middle Street, Galway. 6pm.The book includes bio details on the 230 Irish volunteers who went to defend the Spanish Republic. All welcome.

Tuesday 10 February: The Hanging of the Kearneys in Tallaght, 1816, with Eamonn Maloney. Host: Tallaght Historical Society. Venue: County Library, Tallaght, Co Dublin. 7pm.

Wednesday 11 February: Mourne men and U-boats, with Matt Maginnis. Host and Venue: Newry & Mourne Museum, Bagenal's Castle , Castle Street/1A Bank Parade, Newry BT34 2BY. 7:30pm. Light refreshments served. Free but need to book by phone to 028 3031 3173 or email

Wednesday 11 February: Linguistic Connections between Ireland and Scotland, a lunchtime talk with Professor Mícheál Ó Mainnín. Host and Venue: PRONI, Titanic Boulevard, Belfast. Lecture Theatre at 1pm. Free but need to book by email to proni@dcalni.gov.uk or telephone to 028 90 534800.

Thursday 12 February: National Archives of Ireland's publication plans for 2015, with Catriona Crowe. Hosts: Eneclann and Ancestor Network. Venue: Boardroom, National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8. 2:30pm. Free, but need to book by email. Limited to 12 attendees.

Thursday 12 February: The forgotten copper mines of West Carbery, with Paddy O'Sullivan. Host: Cork Literary and Scientific Society. Venue: Crawford Art Gallery, Emmet Place, Cork City. 8pm. Admission: €8.

Friday 13 February: Irish soldiers on film, with Captain Labhras Joye. Host: Military History Society of Ireland. Venue: Griffith College, South Circular Road, Dublin 8. Non-members welcome. 8pm.

Friday 13 February: Where did they all go? Irish emigration in the 19th century, an evening seminar. Host: Edenderry Historical Society. Venue: Town Hall, Edenderry, Co Offaly. Details.

Saturday 14 February:  Learn to love your computer, again: how to get better results from the digital tools at your command, with Mary Cahill. Hosts: Eneclann and Ancestor Network. Venue: Trustees Room of the National Library, Kildare St, Dublin 2.  2pm. Free, but need to book by email. Limited to 16 attendees.

Saturday 14 February: Drop-in Genealogy workshop, with Mayo Genealogy Group. Venue: NMI, Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co Mayo. Free. No booking required and new researchers welcome. 11:3am–1pm.